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I just read about how LCD displays were based only on black&white contrasts, and only colour filters on each subpixel generated the colour of a pixel. However, how does that happen for a CRT?

Is it the same process? If not, during the screen sweep, is there one beam modulated differently during each third of a pixel period that react in some way with the screen? Or three identical beams targeted at each subpixel coated with a different reactor? Or even three different beams targeted at each subpixel made of the same reactor?

Bonus question: how does the screen glow upon photons hitting its surface?

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    $\begingroup$ Have you read en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode_ray_tube $\endgroup$
    – KvdLingen
    Mar 15, 2014 at 19:43
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    $\begingroup$ Bonus question: how does the screen glow upon electrons hitting it's surface. - I'm sure that's what you mean. Whilst you're in Wikipedia, look up "shadow mask". $\endgroup$ Mar 16, 2014 at 13:15
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for both your answers. Believe it or not but I was focusing on sites like HowStuffWorks etc. and didn't try that one on Wiki. Great catch on "shadow mask", that page is actually even more useful and I didn't know the term. You could have answered instead. $\endgroup$ Mar 16, 2014 at 17:49

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a tube-type color CRT contains three hot-wire electron guns with collimation electronics and steering electrodes which train the output of each on the front face of the tube, which contains pixels consisting of chemicals called phosphors that glow red, green, or blue when struck by an electron beam.

each of the electron guns carries the signal for one color and its beam is steered and modulated so it only strikes pixel locations corresponding to that color. In this way, the red gun paints the red intensity signal onto the red phosphor dots, the green gun onto the green phosphor dots, and the blue gun onto the blue phosphor dots.

Inside the tube and near the screen with the phosphor dots on it will be a thin metal screen with tiny perforations through it which acts as a guide to ensure the red gun finds the red dots, etc.

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