What Are CRT TV's?

A cathode ray tube (CRT) TV is a set that uses a vacuum tube and photon emissions to send its picture image. All older model analog TV sets are CRT TVs, as this is the TV technology used for several years to make television sets.

Function

The CRT has an electron gun at its rear that shoots a constant stream of electrons. The stream illuminates phosphors on the glass screen from the back, creating the picture.

Competition

CRT TVs are being rapidly surpassed by flat-panel models like LCD (liquid crystal display) sets, which shine the picture image through a chip instead of a tube.

Current Use

Some rear projection TVs use a CRT model. Unlike the older TVs, these sets employ three CRTs instead of one, using one tube for each primary color: red, green and blue.

Benefits

CRT TVs, especially their HD versions, often produce a clearer picture than their LCD counterparts, especially in producing contrast and black level.

Disadvantages

One disadvantage of CRT TVs is their size, as the tube is bulky. These sets also carry the risk of screen "burn-in" if one image is shown on one spot on the screen for too long.