Do televisions give off harmful radiation?

It is true televisions give off radiation as nearly all electronic devices do so - but it is certainly not harmless. Additionally, you can have your child watch TV from a couple feet away all day long and the child won't suffer from anything (even watching TV at close distances is not harmful).

The only thing 'harmful' is actually just stressful on the eyes and that is watching a very bright TV set in the complete dark. The reason so is that your pupils have to constantly dilate and constrict whenever you watch bright scenes become dark and vice versa - that's why professional home theater systems make use of 'ambient lighting' where the walls behind the TV are dimly lit so that when a bright scene becomes dark, the dimly lit walls keep the room a slightly bright enough so your pupils will not have to dramatically adjust.

Besides that, watching TV is perfectly healthy asides from you being quite lazy and inactive on the couch! :)

-Kevin

Televisions in some ways are like mini x-ray machines. They use an electron gun to shoot particles at the screen that has a phosphor coating, which causes this area of the screen to 'glow'. The glass that the picture tube is made of actually contains lead, which helps to block the stray particles that may try to pass through the glass. Also, most CRT televisions have what they call an x-ray cut off circuit that will shut down the television if it should over voltage. So, unless you are sleeping with your head resting against the nice warm screen with the television on, you are quite safe.

This rumour dates back to the early days of computing, when people used antiquated CRT displays (which apparently were somehow "dangerous" for you). I don't know if it has any real basis, though! Most modern computers use flat LCD displays, which don't give out any kind of radiation as far as I can tell. If computers did do that kind of thing you describe, wouldn't someone had noticed it already and, well, call the authorities?

No, otherwise the whole world would have an increased risk of cancer, surely? I think there's more risk of standing right next to a mircrowave when it's turned on (though I don't know this for sure)

No and it won't make you go blind from watching too much either. Those are old wives tales.

Yes! Don't you feel your brain rotting already?

Not to humans, only to dogs! Yikes!