How Does Plasma TV Work?

Have you ever wondered, how does plasma TV work? If you are trying to decide between a plasma or an LCD set, knowing what to expect with the technology can help you choose-and it can also help you understand why plasma screens are so pricey.

Plasma TV And The Science Of Inert Gasses
Plasma screens are composed of thousands of tiny pockets of xenon and neon gas. These inert gasses emit ultraviolet particles when charged with electricity. While we can't see the ultraviolet particles themselves, the particles react with phosphorous coating inside each cell, converting the energy to visible light. Because each cell produces light individually, instead of relying on a single backlight as in other television technologies, plasma screens are not prone to the uneven light distribution that plagues some low-end LCD TVs. This helps to produce an overall sharper image with better contrast values.

How Plasma Produces Colors
Each cell of a plasma screen contains three subpixels, which contain phosphorous coatings that emit red, blue or green light. By varying the electrical current to each cell, the ultraviolet particles stimulate the subpixels in different combinations and intensities, producing a range of over 16 million possible colors. This broad range of color reproduction, combined with the lighting properties of plasma screens, makes the picture extremely realistic and vivid.

The Benefits Of Plasma Screens
Plasma screens boast several benefits over other television technologies, but chief among them is great image quality with a glare-free viewing experience. While the backlight style of LCD TVs makes the optimal viewing setting a dark room, plasma screens don't rely on the same lighting methods and are equally suitable for well-lit and dimly lit rooms. While some plasma screens come with a protective layer over the screen that can cause glare issues, most plasma screens produce high-quality images in any lighting.

Viewing angle is another area where plasma screens have clear benefits over other television technologies. Unlike CRT or LCD TVs, plasma screens boast a 160-degree viewing angle, producing high-quality, uniform images far outside the range of other television technologies.