CA1278813C - Cathode-ray tube having inline electron gun comprising screen grid plate having openings with inline and transverse dimensions to independently control the horizontal and verticalsizes of the electron beam spot - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A high resolution color display tube has an electron gun comprising three inline cathode assemblies, a control grid with three inline apertures, a screen grid with three inline apertures, a screen grid slot plate with three inline substantially rectangular slots each associated with a different one of the apertures in the screen grid, and a main electron lens. The screen grid slot plate is attached to the screen grid on the side thereof facing the main electron lens. Each of the cathode assemblies produces an electron beam having a given beam current. Each of the slots in the screen grid slot plate has an inline dimension and a transverse dimension which are selected for the given beam current to independently control the horizontal and vertical sizes of the spot produced by each of the electron beams at a distance from the electron gun.

Description

~L~788iL3 1 RC; A 83 ,376 CATHODE-RAY TUBE HAVING INL~E ELECTRON GUN COMPRIS~G
SCREEN GRID PLATE HAVrNG OPENINGS WITH INLINE AND
TRANSVERSE DIMENSIONS TO lNDEPENDENl~Y CONl ROL TE~
HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL S7ZF~S OF T~E ELECTRON BEAM SPOT

This invention relates to cathode-ray tubes, and particularly to an improved inline electron gun for use in high resolu~ion color display tubes.
BACKGROUND OF TEE INVENlION
Over the past several years, the cathode-ray tube has evolved as an important means for displaying information in computer terminals. This is because the cathode-ray tube is a well-developed, cost-effective device with fast writing and erasing speeds. Previously~ most display tubes were of the 15 monochrome type; however, recent needs have been for high resolution color displays, to properly present the increasingly sophisticated and complex information generated by compu~ers.
Many of the cornmercially sold high resolution color display tubes have used delta electron gun and dot screen systems. When 2 0 properly set up, such tubes have very good center and corner solutions and good electron beam convergence. However, it is known that the conventional circuitry required for a delta elec,tron gun is not only costly, but also subject to drifts. Since display tubes are usually viewed at close Tange, such convergence 2 5 drifts are very undesirable.
It has been determined that a self-converged system using an inline electron gun, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.

3,772,554, issued to R.H. Hughes on Nov. 13, 1973; a self-converging yoke; and a dot screen provides improved display tube 30 performance because of the elimination of convergence drift.
However, the performance of the electron beam spot at the corners of the display tube tencls to suffer, because of the self-converging yoke. Since the corners are just as important as the center of the tube when displaying characters thereon, there is 3 5 need to improve display tubes and especially the inline electron guns thereafter, to improve performance at the corners of the . .

~ 78~3 - 2 - RCA 83,376 1 Such an improved inline electron gun is described in U.S. Pat. 4,514,659, issued to H-Y. Chen on April 30, 1985. That electron gun includes a conventional control grid,and a screen ~rid which includes three rectangular slots located at the apertuLes on the side of the screen grid facing away from the control grid. The slots extend lengthwise. in the inline direction of the inline apertures, and have a ratio of the depth of the slots to their width in the range of 0.13 to 0.23. The length of the slot i5 such that it appears to be infinitely long, optically, and does not affect the elec-tron beams in at least one dimension. Each of the slots is substantially equal in size to the other slots, and each is substantially tangent to the beam-forming aperture associated therewith.
The inline electron gun described in the Chen patent was designed to obtain optimum tube performance at a peak electron beam current of approximately 200 microamperes (uA).
The display screen of a high resolution color display tube comprises a mosaic of bl~e-, green-, and red-emitting phosphor elements grouped in triads of the different emitting colors. A shadow mask having a multiplicity of apertures therethrough is spaced from the display screen. Each aperture in the shadow mask is associated with one of the triads on the screen. In such display tubes, there are often regular pixel patterns displayed on the display screen. A pixel is an electronically generated burst of an electron beam which excites a portion of the display screen. It iB desirable to keep the pixel small for high resolution. However, these pixel patterns can visually intereact with the aperture structure in the shadow mask to generate moire patterns and graininess in the characters and graphics produced on the display screen. The intensity of the interaction is related to the size and spacing of the shadow mask apertures and the size and spacing of the pixels. The former generally cannot be reduced because of ~ ~8~3 - 3 - RC~ 83,376 1 pc~ti~al limitations on: the manufacturin~ of the shadow mask and the phosphor screen, the light out~ut of the screen, and the register tolerance between the shadow mask and the screen. Consequen~ly, it has been fou~d that the minimum spot size of the individual electron beams must be made sufficiently large in order to minimize the intensity of the interaction. However, the spot size cannot be made too large, or resolution would be adversely affected.
The aperture structure of the shadow mask and the pixel patterns differ in the horizontal and vertical directions. Also, the focusing effects of the self-converging yoke of the displa~ tube are different in the ho~izontal and vertical directions. The scan distance the electron beam travels during the on-time of each pixel also increases the effect of the spot size in the horizontal direction. As a result, the minimum spot size that can be produced without creating moire patterns or graininess in the characters on the display screen is different in the horizontal and vertical directions. Thus, it is necessary to provide a means for independently controlling both the horizontal and the vertical dimensions of each of the electron beam spots generated by the electron gun.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIGN
In accordance with the present invention, a hi~h ,resolution color cathode-ray tube has an elec-tron gun comprising a plurality of inline cathode assemblies,a con-trol grid with a plurality of inline apertures, a screen grid with a plurality of inline apertures, a screen grid plate portion with a plurality of inline openings each associated with a different one of the apertures in the screen grid, and a main electron lens. The screen grid plate portion is disposed on the side of the screen grid facing the main electron lens. Each of the cathode assemblies produces an electron beam. Each of the openings in the screen grid plate portion has an inline dimension and a transverse dimension which are selected to independently control the horizontal and vertical sizes of - 4 - RC~ B3,376 1 the spot produced by each of the electron beams at a distance from the electron gun, so as to maximize resolution and to minimize moire patteLns and character graininess.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DR~WINGS
FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal view of a cathode-ray tube inline elec-tron gun embodying the present invention.
FIGURE 2 is an enlaLged sectional view of the area within the circle 2 of FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 3 is a plan view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.
FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the present invention FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a third embodiment of the present invention.
DET~ILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIGURE 1 illustrates an electron gun 10 compr;sing three inline cathode assemblies 12 (only one of which is shown), a control grid (Gl) 14, a screen grid tG2) 16, and a main electron lens including a first focusing electrode (G3) 18 and a second focusing electrode ~G4) 20, all mounted in spaced relationship on a pair of insulator support rods 22. The three inline cathode assemblies lZ
pLoduce three inline electron beams (not shown). The control grid 14 is adjacent to the cathode assemb`lies and has three inline apeLtures 24 (only one of which is shown in FIGURE 2) aligned with the cathode assemblies 12. For convenience and to avoid cluttering the drawing, the cathode assemblies, which are conventional, are not shown in FIGURE 2. The screen grid 16 is located adjacent to and spaced from the control grid 14. The screen grid 16 is formed to provide three levels. The lowest level of the top side of the screen grid 16 includes three inline apertures 26 which are aligned with the three apertures 24 of the control g~id 14. ~ screen gLid plate portion 2~, shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, is attached to the intermediate level on the upper ~urface of the screen grid - 5 - RCA ~13,376 1 16. The screen grid plate portion 2B has th~ee inline openings therethrough which preferably comprise substantially rectangular slots 30, 32 and 3~. While rectangulal slots are preferred, any elongated opening may be used. Slots 30, 32 and 34 may be identical in size, or the sizes may be unequal as described below. Since the screen grid plate portion 28 is attached to the intermediate level of the screen grid 16, the slots 30, 32 and 3~ are longitudinally spaced from the apertures 26 in the screen grid 16, creating the effect of a thick slot formed in the relatively thin material of the screen grid.
The first focusing electrode 18, as shown in FIGUR~ 1, comprises a pair of cup~shaped members 36 and 38 joined together at their open ends 40. The cup-shaped member 36 includes three inline apertures 42, only one of which is shown in FIGURE 2, formed in the bottom and through which electron beams enter the first focusing electrode 18. The apertures 42 are aligned with the inline apertures 26 in the screen grid 16. The cup-shaped member 3B includes three large inline apertures (not shown) through which the electron beams exit from the first focusing electrode 18.
The second focusing electrode 20 includes a cup-shaped lower member ~4 and a plate member 46 each of which has large apertures (not shown) therethrough. The apertures in the main lens of the electron gun 10 have a constant beam-to-beam spacing and are aligned with the screen grid apertures 26.
One preferred embodiment of the electron gun 10 i~
particularly optimized when the approximate dimensional constraints presented in the TABLE below are met. In this preferred embodiment, two of the cathode assemblies L2 produce electron beams having a peak electron beam current of approximately 200 uA, and the other cathode assembly 12 produces an electron ~eam having a peak electron beam current of approximately 380 uA. The latter electron beam impinges on the red-emitting phosphor screen elements (not shown) on the display screen. The difference in electron ~7~3a~3 - 6 - RCA 83, 376 1 beam currents is required because of different phosphor efficiencies and color temperatures of the particular phosphor materials. In the preferred embodiment presented in the TABLE, the outer slots 30 and 34 are oEfset ~o that the inline distance from the center of 510t 30 to the center of slot 32 is 4.99 mm,and the inline dimension from the centeL of slot 32 to the center of slot 34 is 4.65 mm.
The purpose of the offset i8 discussed below.
TABLE
Diameter of control grid apertures 24 0.46 mm Control grid to scLeen grid spacing 0.20 mm Diameter of screen grid apertures 26 0.46 mm Thickness of the screen grid (at the apertures) 0.38 mm Spacing between screen grid apertures 5.08 mm 15 Screen grid plate portion dimensions slots 30, 32 (inline x transverse) 2.16 mm x 1.78 mm slot 34 (inline x transverse) 3.81 m~l x 2.54 mm thickness at slots 0.25 mm Longitudinal spacing from top of screen ~rid plate portion to the top of the lowest level of the screen grid (at the apertures3 0.56 mm GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
It is known that a lower electron beam current is required for color display tubes than for commercial picture tubes. Commercial color picture tubes are generally operated at a peak electron beam current of about 4.0 milliamperes (mA) or higher. Most color display tubes operate at an electron beam current substantially lower than that. typically less than 400 u~. The preferred electron gun described herein i~ designed to provide optimum tube performance at a peak electron beam current of approximately 200 u~ for the cathode assemblies addressing the blue- and the green-emitting phosphor elements, and approximately 380 u~ for the cathode assembly addressing the red-emitting phosphor elements of the display tube ~creen .

~788~3 - 7 - RCA 83,376 1The screen grid plate portion 28 described he~ein differs from prior screen grid slot structures, ~uch as that disclosed in the above ci-ted U.S. Pat. 4,514,659, in that the former not only improves the shape of the 6 electron beam spot on the display screen but also substantially prevents visual abnormalities such as moire patterns and character graininess.
In the present electron gun 10, two of the cathode assemblies 12 operate at a peak electron beam current of 200 uA, and the third cathode assembly operates at a peak electron beam current of 380 u~. The sizes and shapes of the slots 30, 32 and 34 in the screen grid plate portion 28, in conjunction with the longitudinal spacing between the plate portion ~8 and the screen grid 16, the thickness of the screen grid 16 and the diameter of the screen grid apeLtures 26, are among the factors which control the sizes and shapes of the electron beams exiting from the screen grid. By properly selecting the inline and transver6e dimensions of each of the slots 30, 32 and 34 and the longitudinal spacing between the top of the plate portion 2~ and the lowest level of the screen grid 16, the convergence angle of each individual electron beam can be controlled in the horizontal and vertical directions.
This, in turn, controls the horizontal and vertical spot size on the display screen relati~ely independently for each electron beam. The longitudinal spacing from the ~op of the auxiliary plate 28 to the lowest level of the top of the scLeen grid 18 is believed to be effective in reducing aberration6 in the electron beams. The 30longitudinallr spaced slot~ 30, 32 and 3~ affect the field more strongly in the screen grid apertures 26 than comparable size 610ts formed in the surface of the screen grid 16 or a ~lat slot plate attached directly to a flat surface oE a screen grid electrode, and allow larger and mora manufacturable slots to be used.
In the present example, the laLgest ~lot 3~ is associated with the electLon beam having a peak electron ~J~7~38~3 - 8 - RCA 83, 37~i 1 beam current of 380 uA. The screen grid aperture 26 has a diameter oE 0.46 mm, and the 610~ 3~ associated therewith has an inline dimension of 3.81 mm and a tLansverse dimension of 2.54 mm. Thus, the inline or horizontal axis of the slot 34 is about 3.33 times the diameter of the a~erture 26. and the transverse or vertical axis of the slot 34 is about 5.56 times the diameter of the aperture 26. The slot 3~ provides the small amount of horizontal and vertical focusing desired for the hi.gher current electron beam. The convergence angle of the higher current electron beam is such that a relatively large electron beam size is provided in the main electron lens.
The large beam size i8 demagnified therein to provide an optimum size electron beam spot at a distance remote from the electron gun 10.
Conversely, the smaller slots 30 and 32, which are associated with tha electron beams having a peak electron beam current of 200 u~, have an inlina (horizontal) dimension of 2.16 mm and a transverse (vertical) dimension of 1.78 mm. The screen grid apertures 26 associated with the slots 30 and 32 have each a diameter of 0.46 mm. Thus, the horizontal axis of slots 30 and 32 is about 4.72 times the diameter of the apertures 26, and the vertical axis is about 3.89 times the diameter of apertures Z6. The smaller slots 30 and 32 in the plate portion 28, in conjunction with the screen grid electrode 16, provide stronger focusing, similar to the effect of a thicker screen grid.
The lower current electron beams exiting from 610ts 30, 32 are more strongly focused horiæontally anl vertically than the higher current electron beam exiting from slot 34, to provide a convergence angle that produces a smaller electron beam spot in the main electron lens and a larger electron beam spot at a distance remote fLom the electron gun 10.
The dimensions disclosed for the slots 30, 32 and 34 are selected to independently control the electron heam spot sizes and to equalize the spot sizes at the shadow - 9 - RCA 83,376 1 mask ~or the different electron beam currentB ~ 60 as to maximize ~solution while minimizing moire patterns and character graininess.
In the preferred embodiment described herein and shown in FIGURE 3, the outer slots 30 and 34 are offset or asymmetric with respect to the outer screen grid apertures 26, so that each of the outer slots is displaced toward the center slot. In normal operation, the G3 and G4 electrodes converge the outer electron beams and the center beam at the center of the screen. If the G3-G~ voltage ratio is varied, e.g., by changing the G3 focus volta~e relative to the G4 ultor voltage, misconvergence of the electron beams occurs. If, for example, the G3 focus voltage is made more positive, the G3-G4 main lens is weakened, and the outer electron beams tend to misconverge outwardly. At the same time, the increase in G3 focus voltage relative to the G2 screen grid voltage strengthens the G2-G3 lens convergence action. The outer slots 30 and 34, located asymmetrically inward of the outer screen grid apertures 26, distort the electrostatic f ield formed in the vicinity of the outer apertures 26 and tend to converge the outer electron beams toward the center beam. The outer slots 30 and 3~ thus compensate for the misconvergence that occurs in the main lens.
Likewise, if the G3 focus voltage is made less positive, the G3-G4 main focus lens is strengthened, and the outer beams tend to converge inwardly. Simultaneously, the decrease in G3 focus voltage relative to the G2 screen grid voltage weakens the G2-G3 lens convergence action.
The outer slots 30 and 34 distort the electrostatic field less strongly, so that the outer beams tend to misconverge outwardly from the center electron beam after the outer beams pass throuyh the aeertures 26 in the screen grid electrode 16. The net effect i8 that the asymmetric ~lots 30 and 34 provide a compensating f ield between the screen grid ~G2) 16 and the first focusing (G3) electrode 18, which offsets any changes in the main lens, i.e., between the G3 and G4 electrodes, caused by f ocus voltage variations.

~7~38~3 - 10 - RCA 83,376 1 This type of correction i8 de~cribed in U.S. Pat.
4,523,123 issued to H-Y. Chen on June 11, 1985.

The amount of offset of slots 30 and 34 depends on the sizes of the slots in the screen g~id plate portion 28, the longitudinal spacing between the top of the plate portion 28 and the lowest level of the top side of the screen grid, and the diameter of the screen grid i~pertures. In tubes where the focus voltage variation is not a significant problem, the outer slot6 130 and 13~ of the screen grid plate portion 128 can be symmetrically disposed about the ou-ter apertures 26 in the screen grid 16, as shown in a second embodiment illustrated in FIGU~E
4. In this second embodiment, the dimensions and electron beam currents are otherwise identical to those described in the first preferred embodiment.
The present invention also is applicable to display tubes or other types of cathode-ray tubes,including color picture tubes, in which the cathode assemblies operate at substantially equal electron beam currents. In a third embodiment, the slots 230, 232 and 234 in the screen grid aperture plate 228 have e~ual dimensions in the horizontal and also vertical directions. For an electron beam current of 200 uA and a screen grid aperture diameter of 0.46 mm, the slots 230, 232 and 234 typically have a ho~izontal dimension of 2.54 mm and a vertical dimension o~ 1.78 mm.
The above-described embodiments are not meant to be limiting: and different types of electron guns, as well a6 various combi.nations of screen grid thickness, aeerture diameter, plate portion thickness, slot dimension~, and longitudinal spacings between the top of the plate portion and the lowest level on the top side of the screen grid, are within the scope of this invention~

Claims (11)

1. A cathode-ray tube having an inline electron gun comprising:
a plurality of inline cathode assemblies for producing a plurality of inline electron beams, a control grid adjacent to said cathode assemblies, said control grid having a plurality of inline apertures aligned with said cathode assemblies, a main electron lens spaced from said control grid, and a screen grid disposed between said control grid and said main electron lens, said screen grid having a plurality of inline apertures aligned with said control grid apertures, wherein a screen grid plate portion is disposed on the side of said screen grid facing said main electron lens, said screen grid plate portion having a plurality of inline openings therethrough, each of said openings being associated with a different one of said apertures in said screen grid and longitudinally spaced therefrom, and each of said openings having an inline dimension and a transverse dimension selected to independently control the horizontal and vertical sizes of the spot produced by each of said electron beams at a distance remote from said electron gun, so as to maximize resolution and to minimize moire patterns and character graininess.

- 12 - RCA 83,376

2. A cathode-ray tube having an inline electron gun comprising:
three inline cathode assemblies for producing three inline electron beams, at least two of said electron beams operating at different electron beam currents, a control grid adjacent to said cathode assemblies, said control grid having three inline apertures aligned with said cathode assemblies, a main electron lens spaced from said control grid, said main electron lens including a first focusing electrode having three inline apertures directed towards said control grid and three inline apertures directed away from said control grid, and a second focusing electrode adjacent to and spaced from said first focusing electrode, said second focusing electrode including three inline apertures facing said first focusing electrode, a screen grid disposed between said control grid and said first focusing electrode, said screen grid having three inline apertures aligned with said control grid apertures, and a screen grid plate portion disposed on the side of said screen grid facing said first focusing electrode, said screen grid plate portion having three inline openings therethrough, each of said openings being associated with a different one of said apertures in said screen grid and longitudinally spaced therefrom, and each of said openings having an inline dimension and a transverse dimension, said dimensions being adjusted to control the horizontal and vertical size of the spot produced by each of said electron beams at a distance remote from said electron gun, so as to maximize resolution and to minimize moire and character graininess.

13 RCA 83,376

3. The cathode-ray tube described in Claim 2, wherein a center one of said three inline openings of said plate portion is located symmetrically about a center one of said three inline apertures in said screen grid, and outer ones of said openings in said plate portion are asymmetric with respect to outer ones of said apertures in said screen grid, each of said outer openings being displaced toward said center opening.

4. The cathode-ray tube described in Claim 3, wherein one of the outer openings in said screen grid plate portion is the larger outer opening and is displaced a greater distance toward the center opening than the other outer opening in said screen grid plate portion.

5. The cathode-ray tube described in Claim 2, wherein two of said openings in said screen grid plate portion are substantially identical in size, and the third of said openings in said screen grid plate portion is larger in inline and transverse dimensions than said other two openings.

6. The cathode-ray tube described in Claim 5, wherein said openings in said plate portion are located symmetrically about each of the associated apertures in the screen grid.

7. The cathode-ray tube described in Claim 2, wherein said openings in said screen grid plate portion are substantially rectangular.

RCA 83,376

8. A cathode-ray tube having an inline electron gun comprising:
three inline cathode assemblies for producing three inline electron beams which converge to a spot at a distance from said electron gun, two of said electron beams having a peak electron beam current of approximately 200 microamperes. and the third electron beam having a peak electron beam current of approximately 380 microamperes, a control grid, a screen grid and a main electron lens arranged successively in the order named for focusing said electron beams, said control grid being adjacent to said cathode assemblies and having three inline apertures aligned with said cathode assemblies, said screen grid being disposed between said control grid and said main electron lens, said screen grid having three levels with three inline apertures formed in the lowest of the three levels, said apertures being aligned with said control grid apertures, and a screen grid plate portion attached to the intermediate level of said screen grid on the side thereof facing said main electron lens, said screen grid plate portion having three inline substantially rectangular slots therethrough, each of said slots being associated with a different one of said screen grid apertures and longitudinally spaced therefrom, the two slots associated with the screen grid apertures through which the electron beams having an electron beam current of approximately 200 microamperes pass having an inline dimension and a transverse dimension smaller than those of said slot associated with the screen grid aperture through which the electron beam having an electron beam current of approximately 380 microamperes passes, and each of said slots acting on the electron beams passing therethrough to independently control the horizontal and vertical sizes of the spot produced by each of said electron beams at a distance from said electron gun, so as to maximize resolution and to minimize moire and character graininess.

RCA 83,376

9. The cathode-ray tube described in Claim 8, wherein a center one of said three inline slots of said plate portion is located symmetrically about a center one of said three inline apertures in said screen grid, and outer ones of said slots in said plate portion are asymmetric in the inline dimensions with respect to outer ones of said apertures in said screen grid, each of said outer slots being displaced toward said center slot.

10. The cathode-ray tube described in Claim 9, wherein the larger outer slot is displaced a greater distance toward the center slot than the other outer slot.

11. The cathode-ray tube described in Claim 8, wherein said slots in said plate portion are located symmetrically about each of the respective screen grid apertures.