Plasma

What are Plasma TV's and how do they work?  Plasma TV's have been around now for some time.  With CRT TV's going out of the market Plasma and LCD TV's have become the most popular.  HDTV has also had consumers going out to update their CRT TV to an LCD or Plasma.  I will try to simplify the explanation of Plasma HDTV technology without giving you a long drawn out scientific explanation of how it works.

Plasma TV technology is made possible by many tiny cells that are between two panels of glass holding a mixture of gasses. The gas in the cells are then electrically turned into a plasma.  The plasma then excites phosphors to emit light. The idea is to illuminate tiny colored fluorescent light to produce an image.  Plasma is the central element in a fluorescent light, a gas made up of free-flowing ions  and electrons.  The plasma TV varies the intensity of the different lights to produce a full range of color.

Generally the lifespan of a plasma is 30,000 hours, however, many manufacturers clain 60,000 hours under optimal conditions.  Plasma technology for HDTV has been improved over the years leading to the longer lifespan claim by the manufacturers.