Who Invented Plasma Screens?
University of Illinois professors Donald Bitzer and H. Gene Slottow, and graduate student Robert Willson invented the plasma screen TV in July 1964. The plasma screen TV was invented as an alternative to cathode-ray TVs, which are not well-suited for displaying computer graphics because of the constant need for refreshing.
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History
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Larry Weber, another Illinois professor who graduated in 1975, continued the study of plasma screen TVs. During the next 15 years, he filed 15 patents for plasma screen technologies and developed the sustainer power-saving circuit and color plasma panels. He worked with both IBM and Fujitsu to develop more efficient plamsa screen technology.
Misconceptions
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Plasma screen TVs are not LCD screens. Plasma screen TVs light themselves, while LCD screens use a form of backlighting. Plasma screen TVs are consequently brighter because of their self-lighting technology. LCD screens usually come in much smaller sizes than plasma screens, ranging from 2 to 30 inches.
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Size
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Plasma screen TVs are usually fairly large, ranging from 40 inches to more than 100 inches wide. However, most plasma screen TVs for home and consumer use are made less than 50 inches wide. Even though plasma screen TVs have a large width, they are usually less than 5 inches thick.
Fun Fact
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Panasonic made the largest plasma screen TV at 150 inches wide for display in Las Vegas in 2008.
Types
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Plasma screen TVs are manufactured by any of the top name electronic suppliers today, including Sony, Samsung, Phillips, Panasonic, NEC, Fujitsu, Hitachi and LG/Zenith. Other plasma screen providers include RCA, JVC, Sharp, Runco, Marantz, Viewsonic, Studio Experience, Sampo, Maxent, Norcent and Gateway.
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