a display arrangement utilizes a fluorescent screen 3 to provide readily alterable bright displays . the arrangement can provide a fairly large display surface , but can be of very small thickness . it contains electron emissive cathodes 5 , and field electrodes 7 positioned closely adjacent to the cathode to control the emission of free electrons . electrons which are freely emitted are accelerated to a mesh electrode 4 which is held at a modest positive voltage . a fluorescent screen 3 having a positive potential of several thousand volts is positioned closely in front of the mesh electrode . in preferred embodiments of the invention , a number of separate cathodes and / or separate field electrodes are provided , so that selected regions of the screen can be illuminated to provide desired display patterns . individual regions of the screen can be switched on and off by the application of very low switching potentials to the field electrodes and / or the cathodes .