Plasma - How does it Work?

Plasma televisions are the revolutionary flat screens that have made CRT televisions a thing of the past. Digital broadcasting and other technological advances have led to increasing demand for improvements in the way that we watch television. Plasma TV’s offer viewers a much improved picture and also have the advantage of being much thinner than their CRT predecessor. Plasma TV’s use gas as a means of displaying pictures on to the screen. They consist of neon-xenon gas which is suspended between two panes of glass. Once electrically charged the gas emits coloured light creating a pixel. Each pixel is made up of 3 separate sub-pixels, one red phosphor, one blue phosphor and one green phosphor. These colours blend together to create the overall pixel colour, this gives plasma TV’s a bright display and a wide colour range. As each pixel is lit individually plasma TV’s have a 160 degree viewing angle, meaning images don’t lose their quality no matter where you sit. From whatever direction you view, a plasma TV, exudes nothing but a smooth uniform picture, the lack of curved surfaces prevent distortion and glare which was typical of standard TV’s.

Plasma TV’s only tend to be manufactured in larger sizes due to difficulties and increased costs of producing smaller models. In comparison to their LCD rival they are much more cost efficient, a 42” plasma TV can cost half the price of a 42” LCD. In regards to picture quality there is very little difference between LCD and plasma TV’s, although LCD’s have a much better resolution. It all comes down to personal preference. One downfall of plasma TV’s is there susceptibility to screen burn, any stagnant images that are left on screen for prolonged periods of time, such as station logos, can create a shadow which is permanent once burnt in.