Deth

Fitness and everything else

Magnet Vs Old CRT TVs

Something has reminded me of the time we discovered the cool colors that are produced if you brought a magnet close to a TV screen. This wouldn’t work on a modern flat screen LCD TV, but the big old box picture tube types it did. The magnet made rainbow types of discolorations around it with the television powered on. Eventually, the screen got messed up, and it didn’t go away. We tried turning it off and back on and then unplugging it and plugging it back in, but the slight discoloration was still there.

Luckily, for our asses, the color distortions went away after it was turned off for a while. Man, my dad was pissed off. It wasn’t like we could afford to go buy a new TV, that one that was given to us when someone else got a new one. It was a nice console TV, but a hand me down one from a neighbor.

Now I know the reason that this occurred was that the magnet causing the electron beam of the cathode ray tube to deflect in unwanted ways. They used coils to generate magnetic fields to guide the electron beam to where it was meant to go. The electrons would hit incorrect areas of the screen and cause their phosphors to glow.

Kids can’t get into trouble doing that these days.