{mosgoogle}How Does Plasma Technology Work?

The secret to plasma TV technology is found in between the two thin panels of mounted glass that make up the screen. These panels are made up of pixels, which are small pockets of compressed gas. Each of these pixels consists of three sub-pixels, which consist of blue, green and red phosphors.

The thing that makes the plasma TV so unique is that each of the sub-pixel is individually controlled using advanced electronics capable of producing more than 16 million unique colors. When the pixel receives an electric current, the gas in the television reacts to form a plasma, which in turn produces light. This light then reacts with the red, green and blue phosphors in order to provide a higher contrast ratio and a better picture. There is considerably less flicker on a plasma screen, due to the fact that all the pixels are emitting light at the same time.

In addition, there is no backlighting or electron beam associated with the plasma TV, and this provides a sharper, brighter and richer picture with a very thin screen. The thinnest and lightest plasma TVs are barely more than three inches thick, and the true flat screen eliminates the fading and distortion at the edges that often accompanies CRT televisions.

These plasma TV displays also provide a much higher screen resolution than CRT televisions, and in addition most sets are capable of displaying a number of different signals, including HDTV (high definition television), DTV (digital television) as well as XGA, VGA and SVGA signals from a computer.

Plasma TVs are also free of the scan lines that plague traditional CRT televisions. The conventional CRT television uses a beam of electrons which scan the picture tube from top to bottom. As the phosphors are lit the image is created. This results in visible scan lines, but plasma TV technology includes built in line doubling, which further improves the quality of the images, particularly when viewing a standard analog signal like broadcast television of VHS tapes.