Plasma Television Viewing Is Great and Fun

The Fluorescent Light Bulb Is The Secret

The technology behind Plasma Television is different from the conventional television. In a conventional television there is a cathode ray tube or what is commonly known as CRT.

The cathode ray tube is fundamentally a big vacuum tube in which an electronic beam,
emanating from a single point in the neck of the tube,
scans the surface of the tube rapidly,
which, in turn illuminates the red, green,
or blue phosphors on the tube's surface in order to create an image on the screen.

However, in the Plasma Television the technology is based on fluorescent light bulb. The screen or display is made up of cells.

Each of these cells consists of two glass panels and the gap separating the two glass panels are infused and sealed with neon-xenon gas. This gas does not leak and need not be filled. When the Plasma TV is in use, the gas gets charged eclectically at given intervals.

The image on the screen is created as a result of this electrically charged bas striking the red, blue and green phosphors. Each of the coloured phosphors is known as a pixel.

In the event of a pixel failing it cannot be repaired. This can be seen in old Plasma TV with tiny dark spots. Each spot is a failed pixel. If large number of pixels fails, you will not get the image on the screen and the panel has to be replaced.

The immediate advantage that is visible to everyone who looks at a Plasma TV is its thin, flat appearance unlike the conventional television which is box like and bulky. This is made possible due to the non existence of the bulky Cathode Ray Tube in a Plasma TV.

- A plasma television can last for over thirty thousand hours. Assuming that a Plasma TV is used for 8 hours a day, it can last for as long as 3,750 days or over 10 years!

- A conventional CRT television loses about 30% of its brightness after about 20,000 hours. This happens slowly and you don’t see that happen until the need to periodically adjust the brightness and contrast controls to balance arises.

- Although the life time of a Plasma TV may vary from brand to brand, this will stand true for established brands.

- The pixel range of Plasma TV varies from model to model. Depending on this pixel range Plasma TV can also be HDTV.

In order for a Plasma TV to be regarded as an HDTV or HDTV-ready the television must be able to display a vertical resolution of at least 720 lines. The common Plasma TV in the market has only 480 vertical lines, top to bottom, or a pixel count of 852 x 480.

The 852 denotes the horizontal lines, left to right of the screen. These Plasma TVs are commonly known as EDTV or Enhanced Definition Televisions.

For a Plasma TV to display HD images the pixel count should be 1024x768 or higher. Plasma TVs with such resolutions are also available in the market but the price will be higher than the normal Plasma TVs. When shopping for a Plasma Television, make sure to check if it is an EDTV or and HDTV-ready unit.

How Long Does a Plasma TV Last for