Cathode ray tube having an internal neutral density filter

A composition and method of forming an internal neutral density filter (40) on a luminescent screen (22) assembly of a cathode ray tube (CRT) (10) is disclosed. The luminescent screen assembly is formed on an interior surface of a glass faceplate panel (12) of the CRT tube. The luminescent screen assembly includes a patterned light-absorbing matrix (23) that defines three sets of fields corresponding to one of a blue region, a green region and a red region. An internal neutral density filter is formed on the light-absorbing matrix. An array of blue, green and red color phosphors (42, 44, 46) is formed on the internal neutral density filter corresponding to one of the blue region, the green region and the red region defined in the light-absorbing matrix. The internal neutral density filter has a composition including a red pigment, a blue pigment and at least one non-pigmented oxide particle.