Display panel and method of manufacture thereof

Claim 1

A display panel including a gas-filled envelope having a base plate and a face plate hermetically sealed together, said face plate having a viewing window, a plurality of parallel cathode strips disposed generally vertically on the top surface of said base plate, a plurality of horizontal anode strips on the inner surface of said face plate, said anode strips overlying said cathode strips, each crossing of an anode strip and a cathode strip defining a glow discharge cell, and an insulating plate having a bottom surface and a top surface and a plurality of parallel channels therein, said plate being seated on said base plate so that said channels define rows of elemental cathode portions of said cathode strips, each channel being aligned with an anode strip, each row of elemental cathode portions being aligned with an anode strip and operable therewith, cathode glow being visible to a viewer through an anode strip and a channel, said insulating plate being coated, on said top and bottom surfaces and on the walls of said channels, with an opaque material so that cathode glow cannot be seen by a viewer other than when viewed directly through an anode and a channel in said insulating plate.