Plasma Television

Here we go, I am going to try and simply explain all you need to know about Plasma Televisions. This guide will hopefully arm you with enough information about Plasma TVs that you can confidently walk into a shop and know what you want…..

The Basics

A plasma television is a flat panel television which displays light (and therefore images) by using phosphors. The phosphors are trapped between two thin panels of glass and are triggered by a gas discharge made up fro non harmful Noble Gases. Plasma Televisions offer a variable sized screen area that provides excellent quality picture, with minimal distortion (An advantage over rear projection!) There are many plasma screen televisions on the market and currently it is vying with LCD to be the market no.1

Pro Points

Most Plasma screen televisions start at 42” (107cm) in diagonal size and go upwards to around 65” (Biggest I have seen!). This size makes them perfect for any home use or even that garage theatre you have dreamt about

Colour reproduction is excellent, and the “darkroom” contrast can ensure your display shows the “perfect” black

Plasma televisions can perform well under any lighting, whether it be electrical light or natural light. Any external brightness will not distort the display. (So you don’t have to turn the lights off for that scary movie!!)

Every pixel displayed on the Plasma screen is individually lit, this means the display is always full of colour and can be viewed at any angle

The Plasma television units are never more than 10cm thick, meaning you can position them just about anywhere in your house

Nearly all available plasma television units are HD ready and also digital TV ready

Con Points

Plasma displays have lower total resolution than LCD displays

These units are not as economical as an LCD one. Plasma televisions use approx same as old CRT units

Plasma units are still quite pricey, although in current economic climate, prices are dropping all the time

Plasma screens have a “shelf life”. This is generally 58,000 hours, by which time the colour begins to fade and does not appear as “brilliant” as before. In a general household a Plasma Screen Television will last approx 10 years (By which time something better will be around….)

Dead pixels may become an issue with Plasma. If a screen is left on pause for a long time, any logos or prominent images on that show may become “burnt” onto the display. This can cause that logo to appear everytime you watch the TV. So be careful not to leave it on pause for too long!!

Plasma displays are much more fragile than a normal television; handle with care

When mounting your plasma television on the wall, please take care to get reinforced supports as the weight is more than that of an LCD unit

Beginners Tips

When hanging a TV above fireplace, ensure the ambient temperature is not more than 80 degrees as you may damage the display

Don’t leave tv shows on pause for too long, we don’t want the “burning” effect explained above

With early plasma displays, it is advised, for best picture, to view the image from approx 10 foot away. With newer models it is less as resolution has improved

Glossary

Pixel resolution - The higher the number of pixels displayed on the screen, the higher the picture resolution will be. Currently the most common pixel resolution displayed by most TVs is 1024x768.

Native resolution - Is the standard resolution of the plasma display and not the resolution of the delivery signal.

Contrast ratio - The measurement of light intensity between the brightest white and the darkest black. Therefore you should look for the contrast ratio to be the highest possible, this will mean better picture quality.

Viewing angle - This describes the best viewing angle

HD Ready - Contains the required screen resolution and necessary connections to display high definition content. Programs should be broadcast in this format in the UK in 2006.

NTSC, PAL, and SECAM - standard video formats.

Aspect ratio - this is the ratio TV signals are transmitted in, such as 4:3 or 16:9 widescreen format (HDTV will be).

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