noun
- Plural of phototube; vacuum tubes or gas-filled tubes that convert light into electrical signals, used in light-detection applications.
Usage: technical; electronics
Examples
- The camera used phototubes to detect and measure light intensity.
- Early television systems relied on phototubes to convert images into electrical signals.
- Phototubes were essential components in vintage light meters and spectrophotometers.
- The laboratory installed new phototubes in the optical measurement equipment.
- Phototubes have largely been replaced by modern semiconductor photodetectors in contemporary devices.