Secret life of machines

But... they're displaying something. Some odd effect of heat on the display tube? But wouldn't the heat cause a compromise somewhere in the glass that would break the vacuum preventing this type of display?

... and who disposes of TV's like this anyway? Probably some crazy dictator. (3rd image on page, darn website image protection. disclaimer: image from Indiana Jones, I do not support the opinions expressed within)

[Edit: fixed link because it would only show the image from the containing page]
[Edit: generalized to "compromise" for clarity]

No they had a pile of TVs running showing something then lit the pile on fire and they slowly stopped working as the fire burned.

PS your link doesn't work.

I'm guessing that the images are due to the effect of the heat on the chemicals that make up the 'phosphor'. As to the glass - it should melt before it cracks, presuming that it heats fairly evenly and isn't subjected to a sudden partial quenching. Because the tube is in vacuum, the most pressure ever exerted is 1 atmosphere, as a crushing pressure. Since the glass is at its most brittle when cold, if it handles 1atm when cold, it should have no problem when hot (until the glass starts to melt anyway ) . If it were a sealed bottle with air inside it, then the air would expand creating a far higher pressure than 1 atm. That, and the fact that glass is stronger under compression than under tension, would cause the bottle to explode.

msaeger: Oh, that's horrific! That's worse than the Flesh Fair from the movie AI. "Put on a little show for us as we slowly kill you!" My sympathy for inanimate objects must be a deep-rooted psychological issue.

genixia: Interesting, I figured it would be tough to melt that thick glass. I ment to say "compromise" instead of "fracture", to generalize it. Post edited.

Seems wasteful to burn working TVs, if they did work. I'd like to burn some wasteful people, instead, think how much less impact there would be on the world if we'd get rid of some of them.

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Light a man a fire, he stays warm for a day; Light a man on fire, he stays warm for the rest of his life.

My fave was the episode where they build a giant fax machine to explain the concept...I was kinda suprised to find out that the general idea for the facsimile has been around since the turn of the century....