Information about Plasma Displays and a comparison with LCD Technology.
LCD or Plasma, Which One For The Future?
People tend to confuse terminology with regards to television let's take for example the �plasma television�. Well technically there is no such thing as a plasma television what you are actually referring to is the display and actually a plasma display panel (PDP) is only one of several types of flat panel displays now commonly used for large TV sets or displays.
To bring it down to its most simplistic form plasma display works effectively by housing many thousands of tiny cells located between two panels of glass which are held in a mixture of inert gasses usually Neon or Xenon.
Again to be simplistic about it effectively what happens is that the gas in the cells is electronically turned into plasma which then triggers off a reaction with the gas and causes phosphors to emit light therefore depending on the temperature of the gasses and the electrical current depends which colours the phosphors turn into.
Now I know this is a gross over signification of what actually a Plasma Display actually does and this will no doubt cause many a technical geek to start foaming at the mouth but in a nutshell that's what plasma displays do.
Developed in 1964 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne the actual technology of Plasma displays has been around for some time and indeed is possibly the oldest of the so called �second generation� of technologies in use in television today.
Plasma Display screen sizes can of course vary like most technologies but it is interesting to note that from an initial start where the sizes were little more than 21 inches Plasma technology displays have now grown rapidly to become the largest and widest of all screens by and large available at the present time.
LCD TV�s have certainly closed the technological gap that had hitherto existed between the two technologies and all of the previously strong areas that Plasma had dominated over the years are no longer really applicable at the present stage in time.
In these eco friendly times you will find that one of the main selling points with LCD screens nowadays lies with the fact that Plasma tend to be very power hungry (and as such warm) and by and large heavier so very much of an environmental disaster zone as far as TV�s are concerned.
From 2006 onwards industry analysts noted that effectively LCD TV�s were overtaking plasma displays particularly in the large a 40inch plus market where basically plasma previously enjoyed a massive dominance since the inception of technology. Another interesting industry trend is that effectively manufacture of plasma displays has consolidated from about 50 odd plus brands available but these are only from five manufactures so the upshot of that is that plasma technology is fighting back in terms of economy of scale because as you can imagine with 50 brands from five manufactures there are certain economies of scale with regards to the reduced duplication of internal technology.
{Historically the superior brightness of Plasma Technology made it a favourite amongst TV designers for the faith rendition it gave the picture quality however this is now starting to be matched with the latest and better quality LCD TV�s appearing into the marketplace.|Over the years it has been felt that some of the technological aspects of Plasma technology leant it self more to the higher end of screen performances such as greater brightness control, screen resolution etc) however this is now changing. Whereas LCD was very much seen as a cross between the poorer relation and junior technology of the two, now things have changed and LCD is seen as being very much the technology of the future.
About the Author
Stephen Morgan writes quite regularly on the Internet about TV and Home Entertainment issues and more on the above can be found at flat screen tv mounts and also at http://bestflatscreentv.biz </p>
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