A cathode ray tube or CRT is a specialized vacuum tube in which images are produced when an electron beam strikes a phosphorescent surface. Television sets, computers, automated teller machines, video game machines, video cameras, monitors, oscilloscopes and radar displays all contain cathode-ray tubes. Phosphor screens using multiple beams of electrons have allowed CRTs to display millions of colours.

The first cathode ray tube scanning device was invented by the German scientist Karl Ferdinand Braun in 1897. Braun introduced a CRT with a fluorescent screen, known as the cathode ray oscilloscope. The screen would emit a visible light when struck by a beam of electrons.

TV Tubes

TV tubes are basically cathode ray tubes. An electron beam is produced by an electrically heated filament, and that beam is guided by two magnetic fields to a particular spot on the screen. The beam is moved so very quickly, that the eye can see not just one particular spot, but all the spots on the screen at once, forming a variable picture.

Colours are produced by having 3 or more differently coloured screen spots activated at once to a variable degree.

The 2 magnetic fields are one for the vertical deflection, one for the horizontal deflection, and they are provided to the beam by external coils.

Oscilloscope Tubes

Oscilloscope tubes are basically the same as TV tubes, but the beam is guided by two electrostatic fields provided by internal pieces of metal. It is a necessity because an oscilloscope uses a very large range of synchronisation frequencies for the deflection, when a TV set uses fixed frequencies, and it would be too difficult to drive large coils on a so large band of frequency. They are much deeper for the same screen size as a TV tube because the deflection angle is little.