One key flaw to this idea is simply mass. The best CRTs we ever made were probably the Trinitron tubes, which are notoriously hefty. A good living room TV set weighs 100-200 pounds!
The CRT itself is heavy, it's all glass and metal. Then you have to consider all the electronics required to drive it. Transformers and coils are very dense.
Whereas an LCD panel on its own is a very thin sheet of glass and some plastics. It's all driven digitally, so your entire control system is one fat chip.
Multiply this weight by the number of screens in a starship (hundreds? Thousands?) and you've got a problem. This extra mass significantly affects maneuverability and acceleration. You'd have to reduce mass elsewhere in the ship, most likely by reducing passenger count.
And good luck if you have to transport these things from a planetary surface. CRTs are inherently fragile and don't handle high acceleration well.
Magentic interference is also a likely concern. Every screen in the engine room would turn into a colorful mess any time the reactor is running. You'd have to invest even more mass into magnetic shielding.
All in all, I find this unlikely. Mass is too important in space travel. As other commenters mention, once you have the ability to produce ICs outside of earth, it's not that far of a leap to produce LCDs.
LCDs are simply better in every way that matters. Even refresh rate is arguably unimportant today, and will likely be solved entirely by the time we're thinking about interstellar travel.
Comments
One key flaw to this idea is simply mass. The best CRTs we ever made were probably the Trinitron tubes, which are notoriously hefty. A good living room TV set weighs 100-200 pounds!
The CRT itself is heavy, it's all glass and metal. Then you have to consider all the electronics required to drive it. Transformers and coils are very dense.
Whereas an LCD panel on its own is a very thin sheet of glass and some plastics. It's all driven digitally, so your entire control system is one fat chip.
Multiply this weight by the number of screens in a starship (hundreds? Thousands?) and you've got a problem. This extra mass significantly affects maneuverability and acceleration. You'd have to reduce mass elsewhere in the ship, most likely by reducing passenger count.
And good luck if you have to transport these things from a planetary surface. CRTs are inherently fragile and don't handle high acceleration well.
Magentic interference is also a likely concern. Every screen in the engine room would turn into a colorful mess any time the reactor is running. You'd have to invest even more mass into magnetic shielding.
All in all, I find this unlikely. Mass is too important in space travel. As other commenters mention, once you have the ability to produce ICs outside of earth, it's not that far of a leap to produce LCDs.
LCDs are simply better in every way that matters. Even refresh rate is arguably unimportant today, and will likely be solved entirely by the time we're thinking about interstellar travel.