Basics of Plasma TVs

Plasma TVs are a new type of display that uses technology fundamentally different from other televisions. Although Plasma displays are not a new invention (research on them dates back for decades), it is only recently that the technology to manufacture Plasma TVs at a relatively cheap cost have been developed. Commercial Plasma TVs have now been on the market for several years. They initially 'wowed' many home theater enthusiasts with their size and weight (and particularly their thinness), but initial displays were very expensive and lacked picture quality comparable to other technologies.

However, with advances in manufacturing technology, Plasma TVs are now a viable, and in many ways superior, alternative to other display types (see Advantages of Plasma TV for more information). Plasma TVs are now available in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from 32- to 63- inches wide, and with larger displays on the horizon. The picture quality has greatly improved, as have sharpness, black levels, and brightness. Prices have also come down dramatically, and many shoppers can now consider Plasma TVs to be cheap enough to buy.

So, how do Plasma TVs work? What makes them different? Well, in a nutshell, a Plasma TV works by suspending an inert gas such as neon or xenon in between two glass plates that are meshed together. Between the glass panels there are generally over 1 million pixel cells capable of producing 16.7 million colors. This inert gas is excited by a charge from an electrode, one per pixel of the display, turning it to plasma (hence the name), and causing ultraviolet light to be created. Of course, we cannot see UV light, but this light is used to illuminate phosphors built into the glass, creating visible light. Since each pixel includes red, green and blue phosphors, the need for space is reduced. Likewise, since each pixel includes all three colors, there is no need to scan the image as with traditional cathode-ray tube displays, allowing Plasma TVs to produce exceptionally bright and colorful displays.

In less technical terms, Plasma TV displays can be though of as having 1 million or more microscopic light bulbs (pixels) arranged between glass plates. These pixels are illuminated by plasma gas, and are able to produce red, green, and blue individually, and any of 16.7 million colors in between. The bulbs are controlled via the television's microprocessor corresponding to the images that are to be viewed.