For many years, the technology that allowed you to sit in your home and watch audio and video was based on a tube technology. Very basically, light was shined into a tube which then projected the image onto the screen of your television set. The technology behind the plasma TV screen isn't so very much different in some respects, but is very different in others.



First, keep in mind that plasma TV screens aren't a new idea. Almost as long as people have had the power to watch television, there have been those with the idea for plasma television. It was during the 1960s that a college professor created the first plasma TV screen, though manufacturers weren't anxious to pursue the technology until much more recently.

The technology is based on a series of very small lights. The lights are fluorescent and each pixel has three colors - red, green and blue. The lights are illuminated based on the code of the image being received so that the viewer sees a series of lights that form an image.

Plasma TVs have nothing to do with blood. In this case, plasma is a gas. The gas in its neutral state is stagnant. When electricity is introduced into the situation, these particles become active and light is released. The process is very fast, making it possible for pictures to be updated quickly so that you have the impression of a moving image when watching the television.

There are some other technologies that have been tried along the way. The liquid display screen works in a very similar manner and the result is a quality picture, though some argue that the plasma TV is the ultimate viewing experience.

One of the most beneficial points of the plasma TV is the fact that the layers needed to make this technology work are very thin, resulting in a television screen that is mere inches thick. Even for a very large screen, the thickness of the layers changes little, meaning the screens are easy to handle, mount and view.

There's no doubt that technology will continue to develop as new people have better ideas for bringing audio and video into our homes. But when you see the crisp clear images of a plasma TV, it's rather difficult to imagine how it could get any better than this.