Talk:Cold cathode

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Contents 1 Arc or glow discharge? 2 Patents? 3 Common usage? 4 Definition of "Cathode Ray"

[edit] Arc or glow discharge?

Is a neon lamp really an example of arc discharge? I thought it was glow discharge. A neon sign, on the other hand...

Atlant 18:02, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Patents?

An anonymous editor has added examples of CC patents. Is there any evidence that these particlular ones are practical or have been the basis of any commercial development? Simply browsing patent files is not likely to be very fruitful in this regard. --Blainster 12:16, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Well, I'm tempted to give any patent by Philo Farnsworth the "Okay" based just upon his name and fame, and looking at the first patent, it seems reasonably relevant. I'm not sure it goes to "the heart of the matter", but it's not bad or spam or anything like that.

Atlant 15:56, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Common usage?

Right now, if one searches for "cold cathode" in Google, one gets a whole bunch of ads for the PC case mods using "cold cathodes", and mostly after those, comes more generic items. I'd love to see a "Common Usage" section, with at least one question answered: what sort of power supplies are really required? The case mods are all being sold with inverters, which convert from PC power supply input (12VDC, approx. 4W per tube) to (I think, based on some blogosphere statements only) ~300 VAC at some unknown Hz and low current. If this is true, I think it should theoretically be possible to build an AC-to-AC power supply cheaper than those inverters, losing less power to heat in power conversion, and very useful to implement those wonderfully inexpensive cathodes for room and desk lighting and more. Anyone have a clue where to look for the skinny?

[edit] Definition of "Cathode Ray"

In section 2 the following definition is given:

"Cathode rays - The positive ions created when some electrons are removed from the molecules of a gas at low pressure."

I thought that "cathode ray" was the name originally given to what we now consider to be a stream of electrons being attracted from the cathode towards a more positive anode.

CacheHue 04:22, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm on your side of the definition, but we should remove that archaic reference entirely.

Atlant 12:10, 9 June 2006 (UTC)