A picture display device having a vacuum envelope which is provided with a transparent face plate bearing a luminescent screen having a multiplicity of predefined areas (pixels) and with a rear plate, said display device comprising a plurality of juxtaposed sources for emitting electrons, a plurality of electron current transport ducts cooperating with the sources and extending substantially parallel to the face plate, and an active selection structure for selectively extracting electron currents from the transport ducts and for directing said currents towards pixels of the luminescent screen, characterized in that the active selection structure comprises a preselection structure having extraction locations which can be activated and communicate row by row with the transport ducts and a selection plate having apertures which can be activated and are each associated with a pixel, each activatable extraction location of the preselection structure being associated with at least two activatable apertures of the selection plate, and in that means for intercepting unwanted electrons are arranged between each transport duct and the associated selection apertures.