How does plasma tv work ...
The basic idea of a standard television or monitor is based on the information in a video signal. The video transmits information signals to the television which light up 100s of thousands of tiny dots, called pixels, with a high-energy beam of electrons. With most TVs and monitors there are three pixel colors - red, green and blue - which are distributed, evenly, on the screen. When these colors are combined in different proportions a picture is produced that spans the entire color spectrum. Plasma displays utilize this same, basic, technology to illumine these pixels and therefore create a color image.
The term plasma, in plasma TV comes from the source of the light emitted. Plasma is a gas that is contained within thousands of tiny cells positioned between two special panes of glass. These two panes of glass make up what is called the panel. Long, tiny, electrodes are also positioned between these layers of glass. These electrodes combined with the plasma gas and precise electrical charges excite the gas and light up the tiny plasma gas cells (pixels) in such a way that a picture is viewable. Whew... that was a mouthful and it was a very condensed version of the science behind plasma technology.
Tuning: Technically speaking, plasma displays are not really televisions because they do not have a tuner that is required to receive and interpret a television signal. To view video pictures on your plasma or LCD display you will need a separate device that has itss own television tuner or transmitter that will interpret video images and transmit them to the display.
The term plasma, in plasma TV comes from the source of the light emitted. Plasma is a gas that is contained within thousands of tiny cells positioned between two special panes of glass. These two panes of glass make up what is called the panel. Long, tiny, electrodes are also positioned between these layers of glass. These electrodes combined with the plasma gas and precise electrical charges excite the gas and light up the tiny plasma gas cells (pixels) in such a way that a picture is viewable. Whew... that was a mouthful and it was a very condensed version of the science behind plasma technology.
Tuning: Technically speaking, plasma displays are not really televisions because they do not have a tuner that is required to receive and interpret a television signal. To view video pictures on your plasma or LCD display you will need a separate device that has itss own television tuner or transmitter that will interpret video images and transmit them to the display.

There is alot of interest in Plasma TVs and many wonder how it actually works. This page explains in a simple manner the basic, non-technical, workings of plasma TV technology. When you understand how does plasma tv work it becomes much easier to make a choice what kind of flat panel tv to select.