* The mass-market application of microchannel plates is in image intensifier tubes of night vision goggles, which amplify visible and invisible light to make dark surroundings visible to the human eye.
* A 1 GHz real-time display CRT for an analog oscilloscope (the Tektronix 7104) used a microchannel plate placed behind the phosphor screen to intensify the image. Without the plate, the image would be excessively dim, because of the electron-optical design.
* MCP detectors are often employed in instrumentation for physical research, and they can be found in devices such as electron and mass spectrometers.