What Is Plasma Television?

Have you noticed why plasma TVs are thin and flat, while CRT TVs are bulky and shaped like a box? It's because plasma doesn't need the cathode ray tube. There is no need for an electron beam to scan and light up blue, red and green phosphors on the tube to create an image. In plasma TV, the display consists of cells. Each sealed cell contains charged plasma for every pixel (a set of blue, red and green). When in use, the charged gas strikes the pixels to produce an image.

Plasma television is an HDTV or high definition TV that is very different from the conventional CRT or cathode ray tube. Compared to the outdated standard TVs, which used analog broadcasting and less resolution, high definition uses digital broadcasting and has a million or more pixels that merge together to create a sharper image.

To know more about plasma television, here is a list of its advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

1. Plasma television is a flat or slim type television. It weighs about 50-80 pounds only compared to cathode ray tube TV that weights about 400 pounds. Moreover, it consumes less space than the CRT. It can fit into any place where a TV with a bulky rear end cannot.
2. It displays amazing colors up to 16.77 million, much better than cathode ray tube television. With this characteristic, it has the capability to display an accurate likeness to real life.
3. Uniform brightness allows the image to appear evenly. No fuzzy or blurry effect.
4. It's capable of receiving VGA and SVGA signals from computers. Computer gamers prefer to use plasma because of large viewing, high resolution and fast response time. But that's before the production of LCD.
5. Plasma TV is resistant to magnetic field. It doesn't suffer any distortions when a device that emits magnetic field is placed near a plasma TV.
6. As a flat screen TV, glare and image distortions are minimized if not eliminated.
7. Although plasma TV already contains high resolution, it has a feature called built-in line doubler. This enhances or doubles the resolution of ordinary TV signals when you are not watching a high definition source.
8. Its wide screen allows you to watch high definition images in their natural sizes and proper aspect ratio.
9. Years ago, plasma was obviously more expensive than the ordinary televisions. However, with the arrival of LCD TV, prices of plasma televisions have dropped.

Disadvantages:

1. It is possible to have the image burned into the display if the same image is shown constantly for a period of time, even as little as twenty minutes. This is due to phosphor technology used in plasma TV. Good news is, this can be avoided as long as you don't stay tuned to the same image by changing channels.
2. According to manufacturer's estimate, plasma has a life span of only 30,000 to 60,000 hours, which is the number of hours before losing its brightness. However, it's long enough for television manufacturers to come up with something new and you to get tired of your plasma TV.
3. Parts can be easily damaged and irreparable.

Of all the television brands, only four of them are top sellers online, namely: Panasonic, Samsung, Pioneer and LG.

Years ago, plasma television was considered the best TV. Now, LCD TV has taken the center stage by storm, with its enhanced features and capabilities.