Nanocrystalline graphite field emitters fabricated on silicon substrates have been characterized in terms of current voltage, pressure dependency, long term stability, work function and lateral momentum. The work function is 4.0-4.2 eV and the cone angle of emission due to the lateral momentum of the emitting electrons in less than 1 degrees. It is shown that with proper pre-testing treatment and copper anodes, these emitters can operate for over 5000 h without significant changes in emission current. They also operate at pressures of 5 x 10(-5) Torr with current fluctuations DeltaI/I of less than 1%. A quite complex emission pattern develops in conjunction with CRT phosphors. The transmission coefficient of electrons exiting a grid can vary from 1-50% depending on which phosphor is being used.