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duskwuffyesterday at 3:01 AM2 repliesview on HN

> There are still some types of CRT-related vacuum tubes in production for applications digital equivalents are objectively less performant in.

Like what? The only significant applications I'm aware of for vacuum tubes nowadays are high-power RF amplifiers (including household microwave magnetrons) and intentional X-ray emitters.


Replies

numpad0yesterday at 4:34 AM

Night vision goggles. The photodiode + CsO + lead coated charged glass capillary amp thing is apparently still superior to solid state image sensors with amplifiers in metrics like SNR, minimum luminosity, and longer wave IR response. The performance gap is wide enough that there's a Chinese Norinco subsidiary that entered the market during 2010s by licensing technology from an EU company.

protocoltureyesterday at 5:42 AM

You can get these tiny 3 inch black and white CRTs from china. They arent really good for anything but writing hackaday articles tho.