What Is A Plasma TV And How Does It Work?

So just how does a plasma TV work? It's an interesting question, because it is due to the way this type of television works that we can understand why the plasma TV has been so successful.

For years the plasma TV has had a firm foothold in the HDTV market, and it's success doesn't seem to be about to stop any time soon. Even though there has been stiff competition from other flat screen technologies such as LED and LCD TVs, the plasma TV has maintained a strong market position.

So why has the plasma TV been so successful against its competitors? It's because the picture quality of a plasma TV is still leading the way after all these years - and the other types of television are still trying to catch up.

The excellent picture has always been the strength of plasma TV technology and it is for this reason that it can hold of the challenge of its cheaper rivals.

To understand how it produces such a good picture, let us look at the way a plasma TV works.

A plasma screen TV is similar to an LCD TV in that it is a type of flat screen TV, and the screen is made from a large grid of small pixels - but that is where the similarity ends.

The pixels in a plasma TV are filled with a gas, and these pixels are positioned between two electrodes. Keeping all this together are two glass plates at either side. Each pixel is also coated with a phosphor material and it is this phosphor that interacts with the gas particles to create colour.

The two electrodes at either side of the pixel are charged with a voltage and this causes an electric current to flow through the pixel cell - and therefore through the gas. This current stimulates the gas atoms and causes them to release ultraviolet photons.

The photons that are created then interact with the phosphor coating on the walls of the cell to create light which can be seen by the human eye, and it is this colour which makes the image we see on our screen.

In actual fact, each individual pixel in a plasma screen is divided into three smaller pixels, each with a phosphor that creates red, green or blue light. As you are probably aware, by mixing red, green and blue in different amounts we can create all the colours in the spectrum. Therefore, each pixel can be accurately set to the exact colour required for the picture as a whole by varying the level of electrical charge in each pixel. By doing this across all the pixel cells in the plasma screen, it is possible to create an image with an excellent picture quality and colour accuracy.

It is the fact that each pixel is individually lit throughout the plasma screen which makes a plasma TV picture stand out from the other technologies such as LED and LCD TVs.

So there we are, now we understand how a great picture is created by the way a plasma TV works. There are limitations with LCD and LED technology which mean that they are still trying to measure up to the picture quality of a plasma television.

However, just before you dash out and buy a plasma TV, you need to understand the full picture as there are many other things to consider before you will know which TV is the best for you to buy. Follow the links below to get the full story on the plasma TV.

Pete Bradshaw is a contributor to the-home-cinema-guide.com, a resource about home theater systems and other audio-visual equipment such as the HDTV buyer guide. Go to the website for more information and advice at the plasma TV guide, plasma TV buying guides and much more.

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