Not sure how true this was, but at a previous airline we were told that the (CRT) screens were kept dim to prolong their life - I think the max brightness/contrast is adjustable via the software.
Fantastic, Problem was that made them hard to see, hence people would try to clean them aggressively to see the actual graphics !
"Gorilla glass" is a Dow Corning invention, I think. it is now used on cellphones etc. It is harder than normal glass, so it resists scratches. However, the hardening process makes it brittle, so it can more easily crack if knocked.