Plasma Displays essays

Plasma Displays essays Up until the past couple of years, most televisions have been built around the same technology. This technology is the cathode ray tube. In CRT televisions, a gun fires a beam of electrons into a large glass tube. The electrons send phosphor atoms to an excited state that causes them to light up. They have good images, but they also have one big problem. They take up a lot of space and are very heavy. Now scientists wanted to find a better way to fit a big television in a small room. They came up with the plasma flat panel display. They still come in large sizes, but are only about six inches thick. Plasma televisions illuminate tiny colored fluorescent lights to form an image. Each pixel is made up of three fluorescent lights. A red, green, and blue light. The plasma display varies the intensities of the different lights to produce a full range of colors like the CRT televisions. Plasma is the central element in a fluorescent light. Plasma is a gas made up of free flowing ions. When free electrons are put into the gas, there is an electrical voltage established. The free electrons collide with the atoms, and knock loose other electrons. When an atom loses an electron, it gets a positive charge and becomes an ion. This causes many negatively charged particles and many positively charge particles to rush around the area. While they are all rushing around, particles are constantly colliding with each other. When there is a collision, an atom goes to an exited state. When it drops back to its normal state, it gives off a small amount of energy. The types of atoms used in plasma televisions are xenon and neon. The reason these atoms are used is because they give off light energy. The gases in plasma televisions are contained by tiny cells between two plates of glass. Long electrodes are also positioned between the gases on each side of the cells. The two electrodes are address electrodes and d ...