The phosphors on CRT screens don't last forever.
You only want to
light them when necessary.
So once upon a time I went to one of our labs for an implementation project. One of the
local techs was showing me around the server room and among the various bits was a
probably early 2000s CRT that was just collecting dust. It was an eMachines flat screen
with the silver bezel. Well, being the proud owner of a silver-bezeled Trinitron, I asked
if I could take it off their hands on the way back and have myself a decent CRT monitor
again to match my TV. I was told no can do, and in the process learned why it was sitting
there. It had been a display for a piece of equipment that ran all sorts of
radiochemistry stuff and had been on so frequently that critical identifying information
re: the lab was burned into it from the LIMS system landing page that was on the screen
daily for years. They legally had to destroy it at some point and just kept it around as
a test monitor in the meantime. I've heard similar stories with screens used in
sensitive sites like military installations, that the retentive properties of the phosphor
screen made them a legitimate security concern.
- Matt G.