Plasma TVs : How They Work

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LCD and plasma TVs share much in common. Both are flat-panel displays, have wide screens, and are considerably less bulky than traditional CRT televisions. There are similarities in performance too, and LCD and plasma TVs in comparable price ranges typically provide comparable big screen experiences. However, that’s where the similarities end. How these technologies achieve that performance is remarkably different.

Plasma TV

The basic concept of any television – CRT, LCD, and plasma TVs – is to display a video signal onscreen by lighting the pixels that comprise the screen. In most systems, there are three pixel colors: red, green, and blue. The TV achieves the full color spectrum by varying the intensity of individual reds, greens, and blues, and then blending those colors in various proportions.

In plasma TVs, each pixel has three fluorescent lights, one each for red, green, and blue. The essential element in a fluorescent light is the plasma, which is gas comprised of free-flowing ions and electrons. In the natural state, there are an equal number of protons to electrons, which means that there’s not much going on.

The fun starts when the device introduces an electrical current to the gas. The balance of the gas is upset. Protons rush to the negatively charged area of the plasma, and electrons rush to the positively charged area. During this chaos, the protons and the electrons are colliding with each other. This commotion excites the atoms in the plasma, which cause them to release photons.

In plasma TVs, the plasma is comprised of xenon and neon atoms. When these atoms are excited, they release ultraviolet photons, which are not visible to the human eye. However, plasma technology uses those ultraviolet photons to react with phosphor material that exists in the cell of each pixel. Phosphor is material that gives off light when exposed to other light.

Earlier we mentioned that each pixel in Plasma TVs has its own red, green, and blue lights, or subpixel cells. By varying the pulse of electrical current flowing through those cells, the set can blend these default colors in many varying intensities to create hundreds of distinct colors.

One of the main advantages to plasma is that you can create wide screens that are extremely thin. This is because the plasma has no practical width requirements. Another advantage is that since plasma TVs light each pixel individually, it provides better viewing angles than LCD tvs can typically provide. The individual lighting also allows for vibrant brightness and deep blacks.