A method for measuring the luminance distribution of an electron beam spot was described, which is fundamental to evaluate the resolution of a color display tube. First, to achieve high sensitivity and wide dynamic range identical to those of visual inspection, we proposed the use of an ICCD camera for imaging and two levels of sensitivity. With that method, we were able to measure the luminance distribution of an electron beam spot over a range of currents that extends from the extremely weak cathode current region to large current that correspond to the peak luminance. Specifically, we were able to measure the entire distribution shape from the base to the peak for beam spots in the cathode current range from 20 µA to 300 µA, while compensating the absolute luminance level. Second, a reconstruction algorithm of entire beam distribution from the shape of the masked part of the beam was also proposed, in which shift error is compensated to reduce the variance in measurement results caused by jitter noise in the conventional image processing method. That algorithm improves the reproducibility of repeated measurements. Specifically, a function for estimating the actual shift from the first-order moment of the image was incorporated into the spot shape reconstruction algorithm, resulting in a reduction of the standard deviation for repeated measurements of the horizontal beam spot diameter at 5% intensity from 0.02 mm to 0.005 mm.

A 14. 4-in. diagonal EL display with 640128 pixels has been developed in red/green multicolor structures by using a new phosphor layer consisting of Zn1-xMgxS:Mn and ZnS:Mn. The display is designed for 240 Hz-frame rate, enabling the luminance to be improved by a factor of two. In addition, the contrast ratio is strongly enhanced by optimizing the black background structure and color filters. Improved characteristics make it possible for the EL panel to meet the requirements for the public information display taking advantages of high-reliability, crisp image and wide-viewing angle. Furthermore, the possibility of full-color EL displays will be described on the basis of "color by white" approach.