Plasma Display Panels

 

  • Promising for large format displays

  • Basically fluorescent tubes

  • High-voltage discharge excites gas mixture (He, Xe)

  • Upon relaxation UV light is emitted

  • UV light excites phosphors

  • Large viewing angle

  • Less efficient than CRTs

  • Not as bright

  • More power

  • Large pixels (~1mm compared to 0.2mm for CRT)

  • Ion bombardment depletes phosphors


Plasma display panels (PDPs) are essentially a matrix of very small fluorescent tubes with red, green, and blue phosphors. As in ordinary tubes, a discharge is initiated by a high voltage which excites a mixture of inert-gases such as He and Xe. Upon relaxation, ultra-violet (UV) radiation is generated which excites the phosphors.
PDPs provide a large viewing angle since the phosphors emit light uniformly. A 40-inch PDP typically consumes about 300 W whereas the peak brightness is only 1/3 of that of a CRT consuming about half the power. Sealing and vacuum pressure support problems apply to PDPs as well, requiring thicker glass as the screen is enlarged. In addition, the discharge chambers have pixel pitches of more than 1 mm which makes it difficult to construct high-definition television (HDTV) and work-station monitors. By contrast, TFTLCDs, CRTs and FEDs may have pixel pitches as small as 0.2 mm.