Plasma Televisions: A Brief Overview

One of the newest crazes to hit the television industry
over the last ten years is plasma televisions. Commonly
seen in sizes thirty-seven inches and larger, this type of
television uses two noble gases - neon and xenon - that
mixes together in small cells between two plates of glass
to create plasma when electrified.

The plasma emits light and with subpixels found in the
cells the gas inhabits, pretty much every color of the
rainbow is formed and properly displayed.

Plasma technology is not as new as everyone thinks. The
first plasma display was developed in 1964 at the
University of Illinois and was used primarily for computer
screens.

The original colors that the plasma screen displayed were
monochrome, usually orange or green on a black background,
and sometimes even yellow.

These screens were very popular in the 1970’s because of
their low maintenance, large screen size and relatively
small profile. IBM followed suit and produced their own
plasma screens in 1983, and in 1997, Pioneer sold the first
plasma television set.

While plasma televisions are still holding their own in the
current electronics market, they are beginning to decline
in popularity as newer LCD (liquid-crystal display) models
are advancing to the forefront.

One of the biggest drawbacks of a plasma set is the screen
burn-in. This is where one image has been displayed for a
long period of time and a ‘ghost’ of the image has burned
into the screen. This never goes away and the quality of
the picture will continue to decrease over time.