Photonics Dictionary

A vacuum tube with an electron gun at one end and a fluorescent screen at the other. Electrons emitted from a heated filament are accelerated by a series of annular anodes at progressively higher...

A plane that lies at right angles to the tube axis that has the deflection center.

Envelopes for cathode-ray tubes are made by blowing glass in the same manner as light bulbs. They have a fairly flat end face to carry the phosphor material applied internally.

A fiber optic end plate constructed by drawing a bundle of parallel fibers embedded in glass and cutting it into thin slices. These slices are assembled in a plane and heated to produce a...

A high-quality, narrow-angle lens of high aperture designed for low magnification in the recording of cathode-ray tube images.

The luminous trace formed on the cathode-ray tube screen by the motion of the electron beam.

A cathode-ray tube having a screen that is coated on the back with a thin film of aluminum, which serves to intensify the propagation of light.

A cathode-ray tube that generates symbols for use in other displays. The tube operates by scanning specific characters on the target and generating them as video signals to other cathode-ray systems.

A character generation CRT that functions on the principle of secondary emission. The target holds a set of aluminum characters, select characters being scanned by the electron beam. The secondary...

A highly accurate cathode-ray tube used to display information with the utmost efficient stability and resolution. The information is viewed as a series of points, particularly suited for...

A light-tight box that receives light from an object or scene and focuses it to form an image on a light-sensitive material or a detector. The camera generally contains a lens of variable aperture...

In display technology, an expression of resolution given by the number of pixels in both the horizontal and the vertical axes of a cathode-ray tube or similar device.

An analog method of moving a cathode-ray tube beam across a display screen face, commonly used in high-performance vector and character generators.

The part of an electrical circuit in which the electrons leave (a cathode-ray tube) or enter (an electrolytic cell) a unit in the circuit.

The loss of focus of a camera sensor because of excessive brightness, characterized by the enlargement of spot size and halation on a cathode-ray tube.

The manual shifting bias control of a cathode-ray tube that determines both the average brightness and the contrast of a picture.

A cathode-ray tube, driven by a computer, that receives impulses of information from the computer and displays it in a series of lines, circles, curves or other graphic forms to be viewed by the user.

A term used in data processing to describe a cathode-ray tube that displays graphic or character data.

An accurate cathode-ray tube display used to provide visual representation stored in a computer for the interpretation and evaluation of the data.

The circuit that regulates an electron beam's deflection in a cathode-ray tube.

The progressive defocusing of a cathode-ray tube display image that occurs when the deflected electron beam impinges on the cathode-ray tube screen at a slant.

A metal coil or coils wrapped around the outside of the neck of a cathode-ray tube. Current passing through the coils produces a magnetic field, which can be used as an alternative to deflection...

The observation of a reproduced television picture on the face of a cathode-ray tube.

A cathode-ray tube in which secondary emission electrons form a display of high intensity.

The observable illustration of an image, scene or data on a screen such as a console or cathode-ray tube, seen as a graph, report or drawing.

A cathode-ray tube that either splits an electron beam from one source or uses beams from two sources to produce two beams, each of which can produce separate traces, but which can overlap.

A cathode-ray tube that increases the brightness or size of an image or forms a visible image from invisible radiation. The focal plane for the optical image is a large, light-sensitive, cold...

The deflection of a beam of electrons, at regular intervals, across a cathode-ray tube screen, according to a definite pattern.

The recording of the information contained in a modulated electron beam onto photographic or silicon resin-coated materials. A direct recording method involves the passage of the recording medium...

The use of an applied electrical field to focus a cathode-ray tube's electron beam.

The face of a cathode-ray tube (CRT) that has a fiber optic sheet attached to its surface. The sheet's fibers are at right angles to the face, allowing the transmittance of the fluorescent trace...

A fluorescent screen refers to a phosphorescent or fluorescent-coated surface that emits visible light when exposed to other forms of electromagnetic radiation, such as x-rays or ultraviolet light....

The time it takes a cathode-ray tube's electron beam to return to its starting point after completing one line, one field or one trace.

The moving spot of light emitted by a source, generally a cathode-ray tube, to illuminate specific points of an area carrying light and dark regions according to a specific pattern.

A microscope that uses a flying spot scanner, directed through the eyepiece, as a light source to determine the features of a transparent specimen. The flying spot is modulated by the varying density...

1. A mechanism that permits the focusing of an optical system.2. A means of obtaining the sharpest image from a cathode-ray tube display by adjusting the size of the spot where it reaches the screen.

One of the electrodes used to focus the electron beam of a cathode-ray tube. As the electrode's voltage is changed, its electrical field is changed, resulting in a change of the electron beam's spot...

1. In a cathode-ray tube, the glow surrounding a bright spot that appears on the fluorescent screen as the result of the screen's light being reflected by the front and rear surfaces of the tube's...

An optical system that superimposes a synthetic display providing navigational or weapon-aiming information on a pilot's or driver's field of view. The system includes a cathode-ray tube, collimating...

The process in which the electron beam of a cathode-ray tube varies in intensity in accordance with the magnitude of the signals it receives.

Also known as gas focusing. The introduction of an inert gas into a cathode-ray tube for the concentration of the electron beam. The gas molecules are ionized by the electrons, producing a core of...

1. In relation to cathode-ray tube displays, errors in the signal's amplitude, phase or both that result in small, rapid aberrations in size or position of the image. 2. Errors of synchronization...