Refresh Cathode-Ray Tubes

Cathode is heated to produce electrons as a cloud.

Control Grid reduces the number of electrons leaving the Cathode =
Brightness Control. A high negative voltage applied to the control
grid will stop the electrons. A smaller negative voltage on the
control grid decreases the number of electrons passing through.
Since the amount of light emitted by the phosphor coating depends
on the number of electrons striking the screen, the brightness of a
display is controlled by varying the voltage on the control grid. A
control knob is available on video monitors to set the brightness for
the entire screen.
Accelerators are used to impart enough energy to produce light
when they strike phosphor.
Focusing Systems in a CRT is needed to force the electron beam to
converge into a small spot as it strikes the phosphor. Otherwise the
electrons will repel each other, and the beam would spread out as it
approaches the screen.
Deflection Systems An electromagnetic field or an electrostatic field
can be used to deflect a stream of electrons in some linear manner.
In electrostatic method, the beam passes between two pair of metal
plates. A voltage difference is applied to each pair of plates
according to the amount that the beam is to be deflected in each
direction.
Fluorescence Light emitted while the phosphor is being struck by
electrons.
Phosphorescence Light emitted once the electron beam is removed.
Resolution
The maximum number of dots (pixels) that can
be displayed without overlap on a CRT is
referred to as resolution.
Resolution of a CRT depends on the type of
phosphor used and the focusing and deflection
systems.
E.g. A 640-by-480 pixel screen is capable of
displaying 640 distinct dots on each of 480 lines,
or about 300,000 pixels. Good quality systems
have a resolution of about 1600X1200 and even
more.
Random-scan & Raster-scan Monitors
Refresh CRTs can be operated either as random-scan or
as raster-scan monitors.
Random-scan Monitors
In Random-scan Monitors, the electron beam is directed
only to parts of the screen where a picture is to be
drawn. These monitors draw a picture one line at a time.
They are also referred as vector displays or calligraphic
displays. The component lines of a picture can be drawn
and refreshed by a random-scan system in any order
specified. This type of system is suited for line-drawing
applications.
A pen plotter is an example of a random-scan hard copy
device.
Raster-scan Monitors
Raster-scan Monitors shoot the electron beam over all
parts of the screen, turning the beam intensity on and off
to coincide with the picture definition. The picture is
created as a set of points starting from the top of the
screen. Definition for a picture is now stored as a set of
intensity values for all the screen points, and these
stored values are painted on the screen one row (scan
line) at a time. These are well suited for displaying
colors & shading. TV sets and Printers are examples of
systems using raster-scan methods.
higher refresh rates are needed.
This is done by interlacing scan lines.
First, all points on the even-numbered
lines are displayed.
Then, all points along the odd-numbered
lines are displayed.
Color CRT Monitors
Beam Penetration Method
Used in Random-scan monitors
Two layers of phosphor (usually red & green) are coated onto the
screen.
The displayed color depends on how far the electron beam
penetrates into the phosphor layers.
A beam of slow electrons emits only the outer red layer.
A beam of very fast electrons penetrates through the red layer and
excites the inner green layer.
At intermediate beam speeds, combinations of red and green light
are emitted to show additional colors, orange & yellow.
Disadvantages
Only 4 colors are possible.
The quality of pictures is not so good.

Shadow Mask Method
Used in Raster-scan systems (including color TV).
The screen is coated with tiny triangular patterns, each containing
three different closely spaced phosphor dots.
One phosphor dot of each triangle emits a red light, another emits a
green light, and the third emits a blue light.
There is a shadow-mask grid just behind the screen, which contains a
series of holes aligned with the phosphor-dot patterns.
There are three electron guns, one for each color dot. The three
beams from the guns are deflected and focused as a group onto the
shadow mask.
When the three beams pass through a hole in the mask, they activate
a dot triangle, which appears as a small color spot on the screen.
The phosphor dots in the triangles are arranged so that each electron
beam can activate only its corresponding color dot.
Advantages
Much wider range of colors.
Clearer character formation.
Better cost/performance.
Direct - View Storage Tube
(DVST)

Primary Gun is used to store the picture pattern.
Flood Gun maintains the picture display.
High-speed electrons from the primary gun strike the
storage grid, knocking out electrons, which are attracted
to the collector grid.
Since the storage grid is non-conducting, the areas
where electrons have been removed will keep a net
positive charge. This stored positive charge pattern on
the storage grid is the picture definition.
The flood gun produces continuous flow of free electrons
that pass through the control grid and are attracted to the
positive areas of the storage grid.
These electrons penetrate through the storage grid to the
phosphor coating.
The finer the grid the higher the resolution of the DVST
(Direct View Storage Tube).
Plasma-Panel Displays

A plasma panel display is made up of millions of phosphor-coated gas-filled
pixel cells. i.e., millions of tiny cells (pixels) containing minute amounts of
gas are sandwiched between two sheets of glass. A series of vertical and
horizontal electrodes, placed on the front and rear glass panels, are used to
light up individual points in the neon. When electrically charged, they
produce an ultraviolet beam, which activates the phosphorous coating of the
cell transmitting light through the glass surface. Color images are produced
with different colors of phosphorous. The result is a totally flat screen with
incredibly brilliant images.
An individual neon point in a plasma panel is turned on by applying a "firing
voltage" of about 120 volts to the pair of electrodes. Once the point is turned
on, the voltage on these electrodes is then lowered to a "sustaining voltage"
level (about 90 volts) that keeps the neon cell glowing. Erasing the screen
is accomplished by lowering the voltage on each electrode below the
sustaining voltage level.
Disadvantages
Number of points that can be displayed by a plasma panel is limited.
High cost than that of a refresh CRT.
Advantages
No refreshing is required.
They have flat screens and are transparent, so displayed images can be
superimposed with pictures from slides.
LED and LCD Monitors
LED and LCD Monitors
Two other technologies used in the design of graphics monitors are
light emitting diodes (LED) and liquid-crystal displays (LCDs).
These devices use light emitted from diodes or crystals instead of
phosphors or neon gas to display a picture. LEDs and LCDs are
particularly useful in the design of miniscreens used with some
graphic games.
LCD Vs CRT
There is no flicker on an LCD display because, while a CRT must
be refreshed, the LCD has a constant source of light over the whole
screen. Once a pixel is on, it stays on until turned off.
The image is always perfectly "focused" over the entire screen.
The amount of heat generated by an LCD monitor is considerably
less than a CRT monitor, resulting in a lower load on air
conditioning.
LCD Monitors offers brightness twice (approximately) than that of a
CRT Monitor
LCD Monitors have less size and weight when compared to CRT
Monitors