Do Thin CRTs exist?

Those that where on the market are or have been discontinued and for good reason. On short neck monitors I have found that focus and convergence, especially in the corners and around the edges is a big problem.

Short neck monitors have the electron gun positioned closer to the face of the tube. As you move the gun closer to the face of the tube, the angle of deflection of the electron beam increases. Conventional tubes are typically 90-degree deflection, short neck tubes are 100-degree deflection. Deflecting the beam at a greater angle produces a more oblong beam shape especially in the corners and along the edges of the screen.

Try this experiment: Take a flashlight and aim it directly at a wall. You will see the beam shape is small and round. Now aim the light up into the corner near the ceiling. You will notice that the beam shape spreads out. The more acute the angle, the more the beam spreads. As the beam spreads out the focus of the beam is also degraded.

In simple terms, this is basically the same thing that happens in a CRT. This is also why monitors with curved screens on average tend to have better focus and convergence uniformity.

Jim Witkowski
Chief Hardware Engineer
MonitorsDirect.com

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