What’s an electron gun?

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An electron gun inside a CRT produces a beam of electrons that illuminates a phosphor coating on the inside surface of a TV or computer monitor. The beam must hit each pixel about 70 times per second to produce a particular color on the screen. Modern flat screens do not use an electron gun.

An electron gun is a collection of electronic parts inside a cathode ray tube (CRT) of a television or computer that produces a beam of electrons to illuminate a phosphor coating on the inside surface of the glass of a television or computer. a monitor. The electron gun is the heart of the CRT found in televisions and computer monitors. It is made up of several parts, including an electrode placed inside the CRT that produces a highly focused beam of accelerated electrons. The beam creates a visible image within the large glass screen. Modern flat screen televisions and computer monitors do not use an electron gun.

The element, or filament, in an electron gun is heated and held at a high negative voltage. The TV or computer tube screen also holds a high charge, but this charge is the opposite of the electron gun’s charge. When the filament reaches a certain temperature, the electrons have enough energy to escape the negative voltage and fly, or shoot, into the screen, illuminating the phosphors that coat the glass. The simplest example of this type of phenomenon are electrically charged particles in solar winds that strike Earth’s atmosphere and cause the aurora borealis, or northern lights, to glow in the sky.

The electron gun fires a concentrated beam of electrons at the CRT glass. This beam must hit each pixel on the screen about 70 times per second. The inner surface of the screen is coated with a phosphorescent material that glows a specific color when struck by these electrons. The beam must hit a precise point with the right frequency of electrons to produce a particular color on the screen. A mask ensures a direct hit on a specific point and provides a crisp and clear pixel on the screen.

The phosphors inside the screen stay lit for only a fraction of a second, so the electron beam has to refresh them continuously to keep them bright. The electron gun starts at the top left of the screen and fires a beam of focused electrons at the screen from left to right. On a typical 800 x 600 resolution screen, the electron gun must transmit electrons across 800 pixels per line across 600 lines 75 times per second or more. The magnetic fields help guide the electrons to the pixels more accurately. When these electrons hit the inside of the TV screen, they become light energy and leave the screen as light.




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