PICTURE TUBES

• The picture tube is a cathode ray tube

(CRT) with an electron gun and a phosphos
screen inside the evacuated glass envelope.
• Electron gun produces a beam of
electrons.
• Beam is accelerated to the screen by the
positive anode voltage.
• The inside of the faceplate is coated with a
luminescent material that produces light
when excited by electrons in the beam
• Magnetic deflection is used with external
coils around the neck of the tube so that
the electron beam will scan the whole
picture area.
• Monochrome Picture Tube: 1 electron gun
• Colored Picture Tube: 3 electron gun;
Red, Green, Blue (RGB)
Heater Voltage and Current
• Voltage Rating: 6.3 V (for the 3 heaters in series)
• Current Rating:
• 450 mA – 600 mA for monochrome tube
• 800 mA – 1800 mA for color tube
• In most color picture tubes, the 3 heaters for the electron
guns are internally connected in series.
• If one heater circuit becomes open, the circuit for all the heater
becomes open.
Instant-on Operation
• Developed to keep the picture tube heater near the
emission temperature but at a reduced heater voltage
when the TV set was switched off yet plugged into the
power outlet.
• The heater is partially on, but has only one-half power.
When the TV set is ON, full power is applied to the heater
and the picture appeared within a fraction of a second.
Faceplate
• The phosphor screen coats the inner surface of the
glass faceplate to form the viewing screen. The glass
must be thick to withstand air pressure that exerts a force
against the vaccum inside.
• Because of the presence of vaccum inside the CRT
envelope, there is a danger of a violent collapse called
implosion (glass scatters).
• Ways to address implosion
1. By using a very thick glass layers (transparent and resinous)
2. By mount a prestressed steel band around the faceplace
Deflection Angle
• The maximum angle that the electron beam can be
deflected without striking the sides is called the
deflection angle.
• Typical values: 70°, 90°, 110° and 114°
• Ex: a tube with a 110° deflection angle has a maximum deflection
of 55° to either side of the center axis.
Anode High Voltage
• The second anode for the electron gun has the positive
high voltage needed to accelerate electrons to the screen
for the desired brightness.
• Ultor – term used for all the electrodes that have the
maximum accelerating voltage. Typical values are the ff:
1. 3 kV for 1 in. monochrome tube
2. 10 kV for 12 in. monochrome tube
3. 20 kV for 19 in. monochrome tube
4. 30 kV for 25 in. color tube
Anode High Voltage
• The voltages are too high for a connection at the
socket pins. Instead, the ultor, or anode,
connection is recessed cavity on the wide bell of
the glass envelope. Sometimes referred as
anode button.

• The anode connection passes through the

envelope and makes contact with a conductive
coating inside the glass bell which reaches back
into the neck of the tube. This coating is a black
graphite called Aquadag. (Aqueous
Deflocculated Acheson Graphite)
External Conductive Coating
• The outside surface of the glass bell is also coated with
aquadag.
• This coating is connected to chassis around by spring
clips or a bare-wire harness, usually mounted on the
metal frame that holds the deflection yoke. A small,
circular area around the ultor connection is left clear
without external coating.
• The grounded outer coating on the picture tube minimizes
radiation of electric interference at the vertical and
horizontal scanning frequencies.
Anode Capacitance
• The glass envelope acts as a capacitor, formed by the
inner and outer coating with glass as the dielectric.
• Anode capacitance: 2000 pF for 25 in. Tube
• This anode capacitance forms the filter capacitor of the
HV supply. A flyback supply is used, with the high-voltage
induced during horizontal retrace time.
• Nominal Horizontal Frequency = 15, 750 Hz
• Ripple Frequency = 15, 750 Hz
Electron Gun
Magnetic Deflection
• All picture tubes, either color or monochrome, use
magnetic deflection with V and H scanning coils in an
external yoke around the neck of the tube.
• Vertical Scanning Coil (V)
• Horizontal Scanning Coil (H)
Deflection Yoke
Horizontal Deflection Coil
Tricolor Picture Tubes
External Components:
1. Deflection yoke – The V and H scanning coils deflect
all three beams to form the scanning raster.
2. Convergence yoke – has individual adjustments for
each color to make the beams converge through the
openings in the shadow mask.
3. Color purity magnetic rings – adjusted for beam
landing at the screen, to obtain good color purity. The
two magnetic rings are moved as a centering
adjustment for all three electron beams.
Screen Phosphor

Phosphor Color Persistence Use

Number
P1 Green Medium Oscilloscope
P2 White Medium-short Monochrome
Picture Tube
P22 Red, Green, Blue Medium Tricolor Picture
Tube
P31 Green Medium-short Oscilloscope
CRT Manufacturing
1. Shadow Mask
2. Aperture Grille (Trinitron)
Shadow Mask
• A perforated metal sheet inside a color monitor. Most
color monitor screens use cathode-ray tube (CRT)
technology in which electrons are fired from an electron
gun onto a phosphor coating on the screen's faceplate.
Picture Tube Precautions
1. High Voltage Precautions
2. X-Ray Emission – produced when a metal anode is
bombarded by high-velocity electrons generally with an
anode voltage above 16 kV.
• Lead and leaded glass are used for shielding against X-ray penetration

• Hold-down circuit is used to protect against X-ray

radiation.
1. High voltage is cut off, resulting in no brightness
2. Horizontal sweep frequency is increased
• Makes the picture out of horizontal sync and reduces high voltage.
1. Three electron emitters (for red, green, and blue
phosphor dots)
2. Electron beams
3. Focusing coils
4. Deflection coils
5. Anode (collector)
6. Mask for separating beams for red, green, and blue part
of displayed image
7. Phosphor layer with red, green, and blue zones
8. Close-up of the phosphor-coated inner side of the screen