A new display storage tube for use with reflective projection optical systems

A new projection storage tube designed especially for reflective optical systems has been developed by ITT Laboratories for the Federal Aviation Agency and the Bureau of Ships. This tube has a 4.5 inch diameter display having a maximum brightness of about 14,000 foot lamberts at a final anode voltage of 15 KV. The tube is capable of resolving about 600 raster lines per display diameter and gives a uniform brightness display. The faceplate of the tube is spherically-curved to match the associated optical system. A unique flooding system consisting of a ring-shaped flooding gun and spherically-curved collector and insulator backing screens provides a display with less than 10% shading from center to periphery and a maximum phosphor current of 1800µa. Utilization of the ring-shaped flooding gun permits positioning of the writing gun on the axis of the tube. This provides a tube with the same shape as a conventional CRT and eliminates the pattern distortion associated with off-axis writing guns. The design of the unique flooding system is discussed in detail and the overall performance of the tube presented.