“[The term] phosphorescence . . . comes from the Greek phosphoros meaning morning star or Venus. It could also be translated literally as carrier of light. The light effect known as phosphorescence occurs when energy delivered in the form of an electron beam is captured by substances on the screen (molecules) and then released in the form of light.

The colored picture on a television screen is actually produced by three different light-absorbing and light-carrying molecules concentrated in triple rows of tiny patches each approximately 0.2 mm. in diameter. When they glow, a particular type of additive light mixinga so-called partitive mixtureis made, using the three colors red, green, and blue (RGB).”

—from Color Systems in Art and Science, edited by Klaus Stromer, translated from the German by Randy Cassada, 1999.