Plasma display

Some TVs use a special gas.

This gas is kept in millions of tiny cells. When electricity flows, the gas glows. This makes the picture on the screen.

These TVs were very big. They were the first large flat TVs. They were very bright.

Other TVs became cheaper and lighter. Now, most people use different kinds of TVs.

A plasma display is a type of flat screen. It uses millions of tiny parts called cells.

Each cell holds a mix of gases. These gases include noble gases and a tiny bit of mercury vapor. When electricity flows through a cell, it creates plasma. Plasma is an ionized gas. This means the gas responds to electric fields.

Plasma TVs were the first large flat screens for people to buy. They were very popular for big televisions. They had deep blacks and bright colors. They also had a wide viewing angle. This means the picture looks good from the side.

But things began to change. Other screens, like LCDs, became cheaper. LCDs were also lighter and used less power. By 2013, plasma TVs lost almost all their market share. Making them for the US market ended in 2014. Making them for China ended in 2016. Now, most people use OLED displays instead.

A plasma display is a special kind of flat-panel screen. It uses millions of tiny compartments called cells to make a picture.

These cells are sandwiched between two layers of glass. Inside each cell is a mix of noble gases and a tiny bit of another gas, like mercury vapor. When high voltage electricity flows through a cell, the gas turns into plasma. Plasma is an ionized gas, which means it responds to electric fields.

This glowing gas helps create the light you see on the screen.

How the display works is quite fascinating. When electricity moves through the plasma, electrons flow through the cells. Some of these electrons strike mercury particles as they move. This action momentarily increases the energy level of the particles. This process helps the display create its images. Because of this, plasma screens were known for having very deep blacks. They also had a great color spectrum and a wide viewing angle. This meant the picture looked good even if you were sitting off to the side.

The history of this technology goes back a long time. A Hungarian engineer named Kálmán Tihanyi described a plasma system in 1936. Later, in 1964, three people co-invented the first practical plasma video display. Donald Bitzer, H. Gene Slottow, and Robert Willson worked on it at the University of Illinois. They built it for the PLATO computer system. They wanted a display that had its own memory to save money. In the 1970s, orange Digivue panels were very popular because they were rugged.

Many different companies helped make plasma displays famous. In 1992, Fujitsu introduced the first full-color display. Later, Panasonic bought a company called Plasmaco for $26 million in 1996. By 1997, Philips released the first large flat-panel TV for homes. It was called the Philips 42PW9962 and cost $14,999 in the United States. In the early 2000s, plasma displays were the top choice for HDTVs. Even in 2000, Plasmaco made the first 60-inch plasma display.

Even though they were great, plasma displays eventually went away. Other screens called LCDs began to compete with them. LCDs became lighter, cheaper, and used less power. By 2008, LCD sales were much higher than plasma sales. In 2014, companies like LG and Samsung stopped making them. Manufacturing for the US market ended in 2014, and China ended in 2016. Today, most people use OLED displays instead.

Plasma technology is now considered obsolete.

A plasma display is a type of flat-panel display technology. It uses millions of tiny individual compartments to form a visual image.

These compartments are often called cells or bulbs. They are sandwiched between two panels of glass. Inside each cell is a mixture of noble gases. There is also a very small amount of another gas, such as mercury vapor. This specific setup allows the screen to create light through electrical interaction.

The mechanism of a plasma display relies on ionization. When a high voltage is applied across a cell, the gas inside forms plasma. Plasma is an ionized gas that responds to electric fields.

As electricity flows, electrons move through the plasma. Some of these electrons strike mercury particles during their movement. This collision momentarily increases the energy level of the particles. This process is what allows the cells to emit light and create the images you see on the screen.

Plasma technology has a long and diverse history. A Hungarian engineer named Kálmán Tihanyi first described a proposed plasma system in 1936. The first practical plasma video display was co-invented in 1964 at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. This was achieved by Donald Bitzer, H. Gene Slottow, and graduate student Robert Willson. They developed it for the PLATO computer system to create a display with inherent memory. This memory helped reduce the overall cost of the computer terminals.

Early plasma displays were often monochromatic, meaning they showed only one color. In the early 1970s, the neon orange Digivue panels were very popular.

These panels were rugged and did not require extra circuitry to refresh images. Another version, the Panaplex display, was used in adding machines and aircraft avionics. By the 1980s, high-end portable computers like the Compaq Portable 386 used orange-on-black plasma displays. These screens offered better contrast and less motion blur than the LCDs of that era.

Full-color plasma technology arrived later in the 1990s. Fujitsu introduced the world's first full-color display in 1992. In 1995, Fujitsu also introduced the first plasma display panel with an 852×480 resolution.

Later, in 1997, Philips released the first large commercially available flat-panel TV. This model, the Philips 42PW9962, cost $14,999 in the United States including installation. By the year 2000, prices for plasma displays had dropped significantly to $10,000.

Plasma displays held many technical advantages for a long time. They provided deeper blacks, a greater color spectrum, and wider viewing angles than many competitors. They also had faster response times. Because of these traits, they were the most popular choice for HDTV flat-panels until the early 2000s.

However, liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) eventually became more competitive. LCDs became lighter, cheaper, and used less electrical power. By 2008, LCDs were outselling plasma displays by a ratio of 8 to 1 worldwide.

The decline of plasma technology was rapid. In the first quarter of 2008, worldwide TV sales showed 21.1 million LCD units compared to only 2.8 million plasma units. The announcement by Pioneer Electronics in 2009 that they would end plasma production was a major tipping point. Manufacturing for the United States retail market ended in 2014. Manufacturing for the Chinese market ended in 2016.

Today, plasma displays are considered obsolete. They have been superseded by newer technologies like OLED displays.