Over the last few decades, the information medium has become overwhelmingly visual in context. "A television in every room, and a computer in every home!", has become the new mantra of the post-modern consumerite. Whether, though, you're soaking up the snappy philosophical witticisms of "Gilligan's Island", or surfing the 'net for the latest super-IPO rumors, your likely to be sitting infront of a fine example of yesteryear's technology. As shocking as it may be to the young, budding technocrats of the wired world, the majority of their ultra-swank $3000 Trinitron TVs and computer monitors are still based on the principle of slamming electrons into a phosphorescent screen. CRT technology, as it's known, uses an electron gun mounted in a vacuum tube to paint the images you see. Every time an electron hits a sub-pixel, the phosphor is energized and emits a colored photon, with specific colors managed by blending Red, Green, and Blue light.

If you really think about it, the mere fact that this method even works is an eternal credit to the ingenuity of engineers. On the other hand, this really is a fairly clumsy and resource hungry method of display images. If you doubt me, turn off your TV, turn it around, look at its profile, and check its recommended power voltage. You'll immediately notice three things: 1)Your television is really heavy, 2)Its really large, and 3)It uses a lot of electricity (Probably around 80 watts, depending on the screen size). The vast majority of the power, size, and weight of the device isn't coming from the circuit boards, or the audio systems either; it's the result of the huge internal CRT structure. These three features have been a problem for scientists and engineers with their own various goals. CRTs are obviously lousy as a portable medium; who, after all, wants to lug about a 40lbs laptop that consumes over 80W, and requires a car battery to operate for more than 10 minutes? Big screens are a problem too; CRTs get increasingly heavy and power hungry as the screen size increases, and the time required for every pixel on the screen to be energized goes up. What you end up with is a large, dim screen that consumes as much power as a space heater and that takes a small army to move about.

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