1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,240 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and How the 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,919 Speaker 1: Tech are Ya. So in the late nineteen nineties, televisions 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: were changing, specifically here in America, but all around the world. 6 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: So here in America we were used to big old 7 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: CRT televisions that's cathode ray tube TVs to you and me. 8 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,919 Speaker 1: And they were real chonkers, bulky, they were heavy. They 9 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: contained capacitors that remained dangerous even after you turned the 10 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: television off. By the way, that's one reason to not 11 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: smash an old TV. If they're still charge stored in 12 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: the capacitors, you could get a real jolt, like a 13 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: deadly one. Televisions at that time had a four to 14 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: three aspect ratio in those days. That means for every 15 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: three units of height, you had four units of width. 16 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: That's why if you watch any old television programming today 17 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: on a modern TV, and if that programming hasn't been 18 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: adjusted to fit a modern television, there is always space 19 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: on either side of the screen. Resolution was, you know, 20 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: not great. If you wanted a really nice home entertainment system. 21 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 1: You often leaned heavily on the other components to help 22 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: pick up some of the slack you might have, like 23 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: a projection television, maybe a rear projection television. But yeah, 24 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: these things were huge. But that would really change in 25 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven or so with the introduction of flat 26 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,919 Speaker 1: screen televisions, led by a technology that took a different 27 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: approach to creating images. So with a CRT, you're using 28 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: a zapper, an electron gun, and it fires a stream 29 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: of electrons at the backside of a screen, and that 30 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: backside of the screen is coded in phosphor dots. And 31 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: when the elect trunds hit the phosphors, it excites the 32 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: phosphors and they end up glowing as they let out 33 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: this excess energy. They luminess. But this new technology was 34 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: using a different method to generate that light. It was 35 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: using an excitable gas that could then be precision controlled 36 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: by tiny electrodes. So this was the introduction of the 37 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 1: plasma television. Now these days, plasma televisions are kind of 38 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: like antiques or collector's items. No one is making them anymore. 39 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: In fact, the last major companies to make plasma televisions 40 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: stopped doing it in twenty fourteen, so it's been a 41 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: decade since these were consumer items. I mean, you could 42 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: still find them occasionally, but no one's making them for 43 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: a while. However, plasma television was in the running for 44 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: like the best television technology on the market. So I 45 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: thought we could talk about where this idea came from 46 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: and then what happened to plasma TVs. So we gotta 47 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:05,399 Speaker 1: start a ways back, like sixty years ago, in nineteen 48 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: sixty four, and y'all, I'm going to just give highlights, 49 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: but if you want a real breakdown on the development 50 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: of the plasma display and the various technological challenges that 51 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,080 Speaker 1: needed to be solved to make it a possibility, I 52 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: highly recommend you search for a white paper, an article rather, 53 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: and it's titled History of the Plasma Display Panel. It's 54 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: by Larry F. Weber Weber of I Triple E, or 55 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: as I used to say AE, and this article was 56 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: published in a journal called Transactions on Plasma Science. This 57 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: was back in two thousand and six. So knowing that 58 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: it was back in two thousand and six when this 59 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: was written, you need to forgive opening passages that say 60 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: things like quote, plasma displays are enjoying an unprecedented degree 61 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: of success as large screen televisions. End quote. Because that 62 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: was true in two thousand and six. These days not 63 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: so much. But despite the fact that you know it 64 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: has that dated reference, I mean it was written in 65 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: two thousand and six, the article itself phenomenal. I'll be 66 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: referencing it a lot in this episode, and I highly 67 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: recommend if you're more interested in the technical details that 68 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: you check it out. It's great. So, as Weber points out, 69 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: the early development of plasma displays, that work wasn't being 70 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: done with home television as being an end goal. In fact, 71 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,799 Speaker 1: it wasn't even in the thought process at the time necessarily. Instead, 72 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: this was part of an effort to develop computer systems 73 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: that could be used for the purposes of education. So, 74 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 1: how do you make a high resolution display for educational 75 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: computer systems and do so in a way that makes 76 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: sense doesn't break the bank. So engineers and researchers at 77 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: the University of Illinois launched a project called the Programmed 78 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:54,159 Speaker 1: Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations, or PLATO. This was in 79 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty when they first formed this project, and plato's 80 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: main aim was to research the possibilit of using computer 81 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: systems for educational purposes. Now today, millions of students around 82 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: the world do their homework on computers. They get class 83 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: assignments on computers. Computers are like an integral part of 84 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: education for lots of schools around the world. However, back 85 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty computers were still these big, centralized machines 86 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: that very few people had ever seen, let alone used. 87 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: If you were a computer science student, or you know, 88 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: if you worked at a research lab or perhaps some 89 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: military installation, then maybe you had some contact with computers. 90 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: I mean computer science, certainly you would have some contact. 91 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 1: But other than that, these were things that you heard 92 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: about but you never really encountered. Even as computers began 93 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: to make their way into the business world, very few 94 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: people still actually had the chance to get their hands 95 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: on them because these were still largely centralized machines. That 96 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: would pretty much remain the case until micro computers came 97 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: on the scene in the seventies and eighties. But anyway, 98 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: the folks on the Plato project were forward thinkers, and 99 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty four, Donald L. Bitzer and Jene Slatto, 100 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: both of whom were professors at the University of Illinois, 101 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: and apologies for my terrible pronunciation, but they, along with 102 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: a graduate student named Robert Wilson, tackled this challenge of 103 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: building a new display system that would be suitable for 104 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:27,159 Speaker 1: the latest iteration of the project's computer, which at that 105 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: point was the Plato three. They were up to the 106 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: third generation of this computer system. So this next bit 107 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:36,920 Speaker 1: gets technical, but it's also an example of a fortuitous 108 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: discovery that only happened because of an accident. As doctor 109 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: Frankenfurter would say, So, okay, it's the nineteen sixties swing 110 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 1: in sixties and semiconductor based memory has yet to really 111 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: become a thing, so that's not really an accessible technology 112 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: if you're designing a computer system. Still, your graphics displays 113 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: need access to memory in order to you know, display 114 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: stuff like bitmaps, so it's not just like a blip 115 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: on the screen. It's actually a sustained image. So a 116 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: bitmap is literally just a map of bits that represent light, 117 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: and older displays relied upon an external scan converter memory 118 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: tube in order to achieve this memory. These things, I mean, 119 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: they're external, so they're not part of the system itself. 120 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 1: They were bulky, They were expensive, and they were kind 121 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: of limiting in order to actually have this computer memory. 122 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: It was a big deal. So the team was trying 123 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: to figure out how to achieve memory internally in the 124 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: display itself and they started to work with neon. Now, 125 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:47,119 Speaker 1: this neon depended upon a vacuum system for it to work, 126 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: but it turned out that the system they were using 127 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,559 Speaker 1: as they were developing this display actually had a little 128 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: bit of a leak in it. And that's the accident 129 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: I was talking about. There was a leak in the 130 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: vacuum system and that allowed some air to mix with 131 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: the neon. However, that turned out to actually be beneficial 132 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: to the project because when the neon gas with this 133 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: mix of air in it would be excited, it would 134 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: emit an orange glow. Now, normally, if it were just 135 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: pure neon, if there were no other gases mixing with 136 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: the neon, that glowing would stop once the excited electrons 137 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: returned to their normal state. Essentially, once the electric charge 138 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: was turned off, it would just stop glowing. However, that 139 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: mixed air caused something interesting, and that's hysteresis. And if 140 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: you're wondering what the heck that is, allow me to explain, 141 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: because I just learned about it myself, So I know 142 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: about this, but I didn't know the word for it. 143 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 1: So hysteresis refers to the tendency of some phenomena to 144 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: linger after the cause of that phenomena has already gone. So, 145 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: for example, let's say you make an electromagnet out of 146 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: an iron nail and some copper wire, and you coil 147 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: the copper wire around the nail. You connect the wire 148 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: to a battery. You got yourself an electromagnet, and you 149 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: use it for a while to pick up paper clips 150 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: or whatever. And then maybe once you're done, you've disconnected 151 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: the wire from the battery, you've taken the nail out 152 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: of the coil. Maybe you notice that, hey, this nail 153 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: still is displaying some magnetic qualities that can still pick 154 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,199 Speaker 1: up paper clips, even though it's no longer inside the 155 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: coil with electricity running through it. It's no longer an electromagnet. 156 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: It's acting more like a magnet. Well, that's hysteresis. The 157 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: electric current that generated the magnetic field is gone, but 158 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 1: the nail retains some magnetism, at least for a while. 159 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: It does fade over time and eventually just becomes a nail. 160 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: So with the neon display, the mixed and air caused 161 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: the neon to remain lit up after the charge had left, 162 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: so the display kind of had a memory, so to speak. 163 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: That was the solution to their problem, and again it 164 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: was all due to an accident. So this discovery prompted 165 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: the researchers to change their approach. They would purposefully introduce 166 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: a tiny bit of nitrogen into the neon gas in 167 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: order to accomplish on purpose what had first happened by accident, 168 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:22,680 Speaker 1: which is a pretty darn cool story. I love stories 169 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: like that where you know, surely we would have arrived 170 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: at this discovery at some point, but the fact that 171 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: it happened by sort of luck, and in what you 172 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: would first think was bad luck because it relies on 173 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: your equipment not working the way it was intended to that, 174 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: to me is pretty cool. Now. I think it also 175 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: helps if we consider for a moment how plasma displays work, 176 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: like that's going to help us understand a lot about 177 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: this topic. So let's get to some basics. Images on 178 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: televisions and other displays, those are made up of pixels, 179 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: and you can think of pixels as being kind of 180 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: like at it's a basic unit of light. On a screen, 181 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: it's a point of light. So the full screen is 182 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:11,600 Speaker 1: made up of thousands or millions of pixels, depending upon 183 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: the resolution of your screen. Typically, these pixels have one 184 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: of three colors associated with them, red, green, or blue. 185 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 1: Or they have subpixels like little cells filled with red phosphor, 186 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: green phosphor or blue phosphor. These RGB pixels are spread 187 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:33,199 Speaker 1: evenly across the screen, so by controlling the brightness the 188 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: luminosity of each of those three colors, you can show 189 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: potentially millions of different shades of color. If you light 190 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: all three of those subpixels equally, you get white, right. 191 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: If you like none of them, you get black. If 192 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,840 Speaker 1: you like combinations of them at different intensities, like you know, 193 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: like forty percent red, ten percent blue, etea that kind 194 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: of thing, then you can get lots of other different 195 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 1: colors represented on screen. In a plasma television, the pixels 196 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: are made up of individual cells that are sandwich between 197 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: other layers. I'll give you the typical outline of how 198 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:16,440 Speaker 1: this works, because it depends specifically on the manufacturer and 199 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: what method they used, but generally speaking, we can get 200 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,959 Speaker 1: an idea of how this works. But inside these individual 201 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: cells that are sandwiched between other layers, you have an 202 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: ionized gas. In other words, of plasma. Plasma is the 203 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: most plentiful state of matter in the universe. So when 204 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: I was a kid, I was taught about three states 205 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,840 Speaker 1: of matter, solid liquid, gas. Plasma is technically a fourth 206 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 1: state of matter. It's a special kind of gas. It's 207 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 1: a gas that has free floating electrons, which means that 208 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: can do stuff like conduct electricity. Stars are made out 209 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: of plasma. Anyway, if you have plasma in a contained environment, 210 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: like an enclosed air type tube, and you apply voltage 211 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: to this tube, then you have electrons that are rushing around, 212 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: and you have positively charged atoms rushing around, and the 213 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: electrons are heading to the positively charged atoms, and the 214 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: positively charged atoms are heading toward the negatively charged electrons. 215 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: Because you know, opposite charges attract and when they collide, 216 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: you get excited atoms, and those atoms eventually let out 217 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 1: some of that excess energy in the form of photons 218 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: aka light. Now, with a lot of gases, the light 219 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: that's being released is actually invisible to us. It's in 220 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: the ultraviolet range, so we cannot directly perceive this light. However, 221 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: in turn, this ultraviolet light can excite special atoms called phosphors, 222 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: and some phosphors can emit light that is within the 223 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: visible spectrum. So you excite the gas atoms and you 224 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: get ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light in turn excites the phosphors, 225 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 1: and then you get visible light. Okay, we're going to 226 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: take a quick break here. When we get back, we're 227 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: going to talk about that sandwich I mentioned earlier, and 228 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: I'm going to try not to have my stomach growl 229 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: because it's also lunchtime sandwiches. We'll be right back. Okay, 230 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: all right, we're back. I still haven't eaten lunch, so 231 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: we're gonna see how this goes. But if we do 232 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 1: think of a plasma display as a kind of sandwich, 233 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: the typical description of plasma displays goes something like this. 234 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: Your bottom piece of bread. The base of your sandwich 235 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: is a plate of glass, which I admit does not 236 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: sound that appetizing. On top of this plate of glass, 237 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: you have a series of vertically aligned electrodes, so they're 238 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: columns of electrodes. This is called the address electrodes. Then 239 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: you would have the layer of cells that contain the 240 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: gas that can be turned into a plasma once you 241 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: apply voltage to this gas, plus the cells that have 242 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: the subpixels coated in red, green, or blue phosphors, each 243 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: one assigned to one of the these cells of gas. 244 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: Then you have another layer that's a clear magnesium oxide layer. 245 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,760 Speaker 1: This is to protect the next layer, which is another 246 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: layer of electrodes. Now these are arranged at a ninety 247 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: degree angle compared to the first ones. The address electrodes 248 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 1: that are on the bottom right, So these are in rows. 249 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: These are the display electrodes, and they by necessity need 250 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: to be transparent because the light needs to be able 251 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: to go through them in order for you to see 252 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: what's on a display. So now you actually have a 253 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: grid of electrodes. Right, You've got some that are running 254 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: along the bottom and vertical columns and some that are 255 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: running on the top and horizontal rows. Next you have 256 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: a dielectric material that insulates those display electrodes. And finally 257 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: you have the front plate of glasses the top slice 258 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: of bread on your sandwich. These displays are able to 259 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: send a specific voltage to a pair of electrodes at 260 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: a specific point on the display. You can think of 261 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: the display as just being a series of xy coordinates, 262 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: so you can see and end a voltage signal to 263 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: that pair of electrodes specifically at one location on the 264 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: screen in order for them to excite the gas inside 265 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: the cell, which then of course gives off ultraviolet light, 266 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: which in turn excites the phosphors coding the subpixels for 267 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 1: that cell, and then you get a point of light 268 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: on the display. Of course, this is actually happening at 269 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,480 Speaker 1: different points all across the display at the same time, 270 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:26,600 Speaker 1: and it's rapidly changing, right. That's how you get your 271 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: moving plasma image. All of those points of light on 272 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: a plasma display are coming from specific voltages applied at 273 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: precise locations on that grid of electrodes, thus exciting the 274 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: gas in that spot that then excites the phosphors, which 275 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: to me is super cool. Like, that's such a neat 276 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: approach to creating an image on a screen. I just 277 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: think it's incredibly interesting. I don't know, maybe it's just 278 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: because I'm a geek. Now, one benefit to this approach 279 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: is that you don't need as much depth to your 280 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,040 Speaker 1: display as you would with a CRT, so remember I 281 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: said that CRT televisions are chonky. Well, a cathode ray 282 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: two displays width determines how deep it has to be 283 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:12,520 Speaker 1: because the wider the screen is, the longer the tube 284 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:14,879 Speaker 1: needs to be in order for the electron gun to 285 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: be able to reach across the entire width of the screen. Like, 286 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,479 Speaker 1: larger screens get really super bulky. It's kind of like 287 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 1: having a projector, right, Like if you have a projector 288 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: and you're too close to a screen, well, the image 289 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: that you're projecting isn't going to take up the whole screen. 290 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:32,639 Speaker 1: It's just going to take a part of it. You 291 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,920 Speaker 1: have to move the projector back in order for it 292 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,640 Speaker 1: to take up the whole screen. Same thing with these 293 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: cathode ray tube electron guns. They need to be a 294 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,640 Speaker 1: certain distance from the back of the screen in order 295 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: to illuminate the whole thing. So the bigger your screen is, 296 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: the further back the electron gun needs to be, so 297 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: the larger the television would get. And you just get 298 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 1: these enormous, heavy, bulky TVs and it wouldn't make sense 299 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: beyond a certain amount, which is why you would get 300 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: like projection televisions instead. If you want a really big screen, 301 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: you need to either have a projector and a screen, 302 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:07,040 Speaker 1: or you needed to have like rear projection, which was 303 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,440 Speaker 1: still bulky, but not as big as if it were CRT. 304 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: So plasma displays didn't need to have so much depth 305 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: to them because the electrode grid does the same job 306 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 1: that the electron gun did in a CRT essentially, and 307 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,640 Speaker 1: so plasma displays could be much thinner than CRTs were now. 308 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: By much thinner, I do mean, they still were thick 309 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: compared to the flat screen televisions you would buy today. 310 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:35,320 Speaker 1: Like we're talking like six inches thick. That's still pretty 311 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: hefty if you compare it to the sort of stuff 312 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: you can buy, you know, in a store today. I mean, 313 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 1: some of the latest televisions are incredibly thin, but back 314 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 1: in the nineteen nineties, a six inch deep TV that 315 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: was velt. Anyway, It obviously would take quite some time 316 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:55,200 Speaker 1: between pioneering this technology in nineteen sixty four and seeing 317 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 1: plasma televisions available in stores around nineteen ninety seven. I mean, 318 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: that's like three decades of time. So let's go back 319 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: to the history for a bit to look at some 320 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: of the milestones that led the way. Now as Weber 321 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: points out in that excellent article I mentioned at the 322 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: top of the show the plasma display researchers at the 323 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: University of Illinois. The thing they built it was great 324 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:20,640 Speaker 1: for establishing that this was a viable technology, but their 325 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: display was a far cry from being suitable for commercial 326 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,160 Speaker 1: or consumer applications. For one thing, the display itself measured 327 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: a total of one inch per side, so a one 328 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: inch by one inch screen. I think we can both 329 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 1: agree that's a bit on the small side, right. But 330 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: for another, it was made of some really fragile material, 331 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 1: so it wouldn't stand up to any sort of rigorous 332 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: shipping for example, much less like if you had kids 333 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,440 Speaker 1: or pets, or maybe you like to play the Wii 334 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: and you don't use the risks straps, you know, like 335 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 1: you're instructed to come on be more responsible gamers. Anyway, 336 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,119 Speaker 1: it was also kind of cluged together, this prototype display. 337 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 1: It had like really visible epoxy holding it together, and 338 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,199 Speaker 1: they had problems with leaks and stuff like that. So 339 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: in short, the display panel showed that plasma displays could work, 340 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 1: but there were a lot of challenges that would need 341 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: to be addressed before it could approach being a reliable 342 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 1: display option, let alone a consumer television. So development continued 343 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:29,359 Speaker 1: and within just a couple of years there were some 344 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: breakthroughs that saw massive improvements in design and that led 345 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 1: to the ability to do a little bit more streamline 346 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: manufacturing and the displays were able to develop. As a result, 347 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: they were still small, and they still had fairly low resolution, 348 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: but the improvements showed that plasma based displays could in 349 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 1: fact be a reality. Each success drove more innovation in 350 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 1: the space and allowed for larger displays with greater resolution. 351 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: So by nineteen seventy one, a glass company called Owen's 352 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:03,880 Speaker 1: Illinois was able to produce the first commercial plasma display. 353 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: Now by today's standards, this was a pretty low resolution display. 354 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: It measured only five hundred twelve by five hundred twelve pixels, 355 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,919 Speaker 1: so that meant the display had a little more than 356 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty thousand pixels in total if you 357 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: were to add them all up. Future high definition plasma 358 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: televisions could have as many as more than two million pixels. 359 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:28,040 Speaker 1: But still, this twelve inch display made by Owens Illinois 360 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: was a big deal, and the Plato Project at the 361 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,840 Speaker 1: University of Illinois became the first customer to order these 362 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: displays as part of their Plato Educational Computer System project, 363 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: and as Weber points out, it was a remarkably quick 364 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: turnaround to go from the first implementation of the technology 365 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty four to a finished product in nineteen 366 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:54,120 Speaker 1: seventy one. I mean that's like, well seven years, that's 367 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,439 Speaker 1: really fast for a brand new technology to go from 368 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,120 Speaker 1: we just proved that this works to here's a product 369 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,119 Speaker 1: based on that tech. Many other technical issues had to 370 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,280 Speaker 1: be solved for plasma TVs to become a practical possibility, Like, 371 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:11,320 Speaker 1: even with the advancements that had been done by nineteen 372 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:14,199 Speaker 1: seventy one, we were a far cry from something that 373 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,160 Speaker 1: would be acceptable in a home. For one thing, the 374 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:23,440 Speaker 1: early displays were monochromatic, right, like, they did not have 375 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: full color capability for the earliest versions. It would take 376 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: some time to develop that. And even with chromatic displays, 377 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: there were still challenges. One of those was solving for 378 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: gray scale right, different levels of brightness so that you 379 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: could have something between the brightest bright and the darkest dark. 380 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,439 Speaker 1: So in the early days of plasma displays, a pixel 381 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,200 Speaker 1: could either be on or it could be off. It 382 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: was either as bright as it could be or it 383 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: was dark. You had nothing in between, so there was 384 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:56,000 Speaker 1: no way of showing any kind of resolution within an image. 385 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: In the early nineteen seventies, companies like Hitachi and Mitsubishi 386 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:01,879 Speaker 1: came up with a method to deal with this, and 387 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,440 Speaker 1: essentially it involved cutting down the length of time each 388 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,880 Speaker 1: pixel would fire, so you would create like pulses that 389 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,360 Speaker 1: would light up a pixel, and to make a pixel 390 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,120 Speaker 1: less bright, you would just pulse it less frequently, and 391 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,159 Speaker 1: that would make it appear to be dimmer than the 392 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 1: neighboring pixels and thus would allow for grayscale. It was 393 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:28,919 Speaker 1: known as the address while display method the AWD method, 394 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: and it would remain in use for several years before 395 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: engineers found alternative methods to achieve similar results. Now to 396 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:40,200 Speaker 1: get color displays rather than monochromatic ones, engineers figured out 397 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: that placing little glass ribs in between the subpixels was key, 398 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 1: otherwise you would get these weird kind of saturated images. 399 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: Everything would come across kind of pastel. You didn't get 400 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 1: very vibrant color representation in early color plasma displays because 401 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: there was all this bleeding that was going on between 402 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: different pixels. So by adding these thin panels of glass. 403 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: It meant that each color of phosphors, the red, the green, 404 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,399 Speaker 1: and the blue phosphors would kind of have their own 405 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,120 Speaker 1: mini cell that was bordered by these thin glass panels. 406 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:21,680 Speaker 1: So why was this important, Well, it's because ultraviolet light 407 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:26,440 Speaker 1: doesn't travel through glass, so it became possible to more 408 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:31,120 Speaker 1: precisely control which phosphors would be excited by ultraviolet light 409 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 1: and thus phosphores and so you could be much more 410 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 1: precise with which colors are being activated. And with that control, 411 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 1: you got more accurate color representation on the screen and 412 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: you didn't have to worry about pixels bleeding over into 413 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: each other because you were able to prevent that due 414 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,280 Speaker 1: to these glass panels blocking the ultraviolet light that otherwise 415 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 1: would excite phosphors and cause them to discharge. So again, 416 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: very clever solution to a problem, creating these these glass ribs, 417 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,920 Speaker 1: that's what they called them. So in nineteen seventy eight, 418 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:08,199 Speaker 1: the Japanese Broadcast Corporation, which has the initialism NHK, built 419 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: a prototype full color plasma television. Way back in nineteen 420 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:16,280 Speaker 1: seventy eight. It measured sixteen inches on the diagonal, and 421 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: this was a concept. It wasn't meant for manufacturing as 422 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: an end product. It was not ready for mass manufacturing. 423 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 1: It was just kind of a proof of concept television, 424 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 1: and it showed the possibilities of a flatter TV, which 425 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,960 Speaker 1: really excited manufacturers. I mean, these would be electronics that 426 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: could take up less space and perhaps be thin enough 427 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: where you could even mount it to your wall, kind 428 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: of like a picture frame. That was, you know, sort 429 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: of a dream back in the nineteen seventies. Otherwise, what 430 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:46,360 Speaker 1: you're going to have to do is cut a hole 431 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: in your wall, mount a CRT so that the screen 432 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: points through the hole, and hope that your wall is 433 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 1: thick enough to hold the rest of the CRT. Otherwise 434 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,120 Speaker 1: you have the back end of a television sticking into 435 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,120 Speaker 1: the kitchen or something. So it would take nearly two 436 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:01,640 Speaker 1: decades before we would actually get to the first consumer 437 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: plasma televisions after NHK introduced this prototype, but again, the 438 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 1: prototype showed the possibility of what could be further in 439 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 1: the future. Other challenges involved figuring out how to protect 440 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 1: phosphors from degradation, so early plasma displays had issues with luminescence. 441 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 1: In fact, all plasma displays due to some degree, and 442 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 1: part of the problem was that the displays would grow 443 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,360 Speaker 1: more dim as they were used more, particularly for plasma 444 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:35,120 Speaker 1: displays that used alternating current. And let me explain why 445 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: that was. So. With direct current, you have two electrodes, right, 446 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,159 Speaker 1: You've got one that's always the cathode, and then you 447 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,199 Speaker 1: have another electrode and it's always the anode. Well, the 448 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: cathode generates ions, and those ions could damage phosphors. So 449 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:52,720 Speaker 1: when you were designing a DC based plasma display, it 450 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: only made sense to put the phosphors closer to the 451 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 1: anode side than the cathode side, because you were distancing 452 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:01,919 Speaker 1: them from these ions, and it meant that they were 453 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: less likely to get damage and thus lose some of 454 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:10,760 Speaker 1: their luminescence in the process. However, AC alternating current based 455 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,920 Speaker 1: plasma displays had a problem because with alternating current, the 456 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 1: role of cathode and anode switches places between the electrodes 457 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,240 Speaker 1: many times a second, and this is the alternating bit 458 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: of alternating current. Right, The cathode and anode swap multiple 459 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: times a second, So the electrode that serves as the 460 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: cathode one moment becomes the anode the next moment. But 461 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: this meant that you couldn't just put the phosphors closer 462 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: to one electrode rather than the other, because both of 463 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:43,119 Speaker 1: the electrodes are the cathode at some point many times 464 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: per second. Fujitsu came up with a solution by placing 465 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: the two sets of electrodes closer to one another, separated 466 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 1: by a dielectric layer to prevent electrical shorts, and the 467 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: phosphors would, rather than being in between the two layers, 468 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: would kind of be above them, and the electric fields 469 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: generated by those elects would be enough to excite the 470 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: gas within the cells that were positioned above this very 471 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 1: tight sandwich of electrodes, the phosphors could have the distance 472 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,680 Speaker 1: needed to protect them from those pesky ions. Okay, I've 473 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: got a couple more things to say about the limitations 474 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: of plasma displays as well as their ultimate fate, but 475 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 1: before we get to all that, let's take another quick break. Okay. 476 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: I mentioned before the break that there were other issues 477 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:38,920 Speaker 1: with plasma displays, and I kind of mentioned one. Degradation 478 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: is related to this, but it's in general, it's just brightness. 479 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: So plasma displays they just had a limit to how 480 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,480 Speaker 1: bright they could be. Luminosity would be an issue for 481 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: plasma displays throughout their history. If you were to compare 482 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:58,160 Speaker 1: a plasma display to an alternative like an LCD flat 483 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: panel television, then the LCD would look brighter than the 484 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: plasma display. You've got both showing the exact same video 485 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,719 Speaker 1: feed at the same time. Unless you've gone in and 486 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: messed with settings to purposefully dim the LCD screen, it's 487 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: going to be brighter than the plasma one. The plasma 488 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: screens had incredible contrast ratios, but they didn't stand up 489 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: to the brightness of LCDs, and so in store showrooms 490 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,680 Speaker 1: they weren't as bright and didn't attract as much attention. 491 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: But let's talk about contrast ratios for a moment, because 492 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: that is important. So this refers to the difference between 493 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: the brightest colors that can be displayed on a screen 494 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: and the darkest colors that can be displayed on that screen. 495 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:46,880 Speaker 1: So with an LCD display, you wouldn't get as wide 496 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: a contrast ratio, meaning you didn't have as many degrees 497 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,560 Speaker 1: of differentiation between the darkest darks and the brightest brights, 498 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:59,320 Speaker 1: and that's because of a backlight. Plasma displays could either 499 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: have pixels were on or off, and an off pixel 500 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: would be almost pure black, not quite but close. So 501 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: those pixels just wouldn't be active, so they'd be dark, 502 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,400 Speaker 1: but the pixel next door might be as bright as 503 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: it possibly could be. So the contrast ratio on a 504 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: plasma display is pretty remarkable typically, So in practice, this 505 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: meant you could watch stuff like a movie in which 506 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: a dark object is moving across a dark background and 507 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: you'd still be able to make out what was going on. 508 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:31,040 Speaker 1: I can't tell you how many times I've watched horror 509 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: movies on a television that uses a backlight, and I'm 510 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,520 Speaker 1: spending the whole time going what's happening. I don't even 511 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: know if I should be scared right now because I 512 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 1: can't see what's happening. So with a plasma display, if 513 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: you're watching a movie like that or something like, you know, 514 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 1: like one of the darker Batman films, it'd be great 515 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: because you could actually see what was happening on screen. Meanwhile, 516 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: with LCD displays, you have that backlight that's shining through 517 00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: the entire display all the time. The back lights just active. 518 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: With the early LCD televisions. That is so LCDs are 519 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,360 Speaker 1: made up of You can think of them as a 520 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,520 Speaker 1: series of tiny little screens that have these liquid crystals 521 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: in them, and those liquid crystals can either allow light 522 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 1: to pass through or they can try to block that light. 523 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,680 Speaker 1: But even when the crystals are blocking light, there's still 524 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: a little light that's bleeding through. It's kind of like 525 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:27,880 Speaker 1: if you have a window shade, like a thin window shade, 526 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: and you pull it down and you're blocking light on 527 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 1: a bright sunny day, but you can still see that 528 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: there's light behind the shade because it's not thick enough 529 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: to block all that light. It's the same sort of thing, 530 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: and that means if you're watching something that's set in 531 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: a really dark location, then some of the light from 532 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,080 Speaker 1: the back light is still making its way through the 533 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: crystals that are supposed to shield you from that light, 534 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: and you end up with kind of more of a 535 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: charcoal gray than a truly like pure black screen. So 536 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,160 Speaker 1: if you have a dark figure moving around across a 537 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,120 Speaker 1: dark background, you might not be able to tell the 538 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: difference between the figure and the background at all. So 539 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:07,959 Speaker 1: movies like you know, Batman and those horror films and stuff, 540 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 1: they might be really hard to follow. The plasma screen 541 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 1: was perfect for representing the mini subtle shades, specifically of 542 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 1: darker colors. It just couldn't reach the levels of brightness 543 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,720 Speaker 1: that you would get with alternative technologies. Now, there are 544 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: tons of other advancements that we could talk about here, 545 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 1: but they all get even more technical, and as I 546 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, Weber does a phenomenal job outlining them all. 547 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: So again I recommend you search for the article. It's 548 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: titled History of the Plasma Display Panel by Weber web 549 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:40,840 Speaker 1: Er if you want to learn more about the technical 550 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,120 Speaker 1: hurdles that engineers had to clear in order to make 551 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: plasma televisions a reality. Some of the issues get very 552 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:51,040 Speaker 1: persnickety and the solutions were really creative. But yeah, this 553 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 1: episode would be like two hours long if I went 554 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 1: into every single one of them, and they do get 555 00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: pretty pretty specific, So check out that are to learn more. 556 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,320 Speaker 1: Let's just get back to the high points of the 557 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:08,440 Speaker 1: history as a consumer technology. So by the mid nineteen nineties, 558 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,080 Speaker 1: things were getting to a point where a consumer plasma 559 00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: television was a possibility and Fujitsu would lead the way 560 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 1: and people were impressed. When Fujitsu introduced this plasma TV, 561 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,200 Speaker 1: it was forty two inches on the diagonal, and it 562 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: was much much much thinner than a CRT, even a 563 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:28,160 Speaker 1: CRT of a relatively small screen size like a twelve 564 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: inch television. It had more depth than one of these 565 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: plasma televisions did, so it took up way less space 566 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: at least on a depth perspective, and forty two inches 567 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:44,480 Speaker 1: was really impressive. So remember CRTs had to be bulkier 568 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 1: if you wanted a larger screen. And it also meant 569 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: that the screen aspect ratio was different. It was now 570 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:53,959 Speaker 1: sixteen to nine instead of four to three. Again, that's 571 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 1: for every nine units tall, it's sixteen units wide versus 572 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:02,160 Speaker 1: for every three units it's four units wide. That does 573 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 1: make a difference. Like that's why again, if you watch 574 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: old TV programming you get those bars on either side 575 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,840 Speaker 1: of the screen because the old televisions worked on a 576 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,239 Speaker 1: different aspect ratio than modern ones do. One thing that 577 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,279 Speaker 1: remained a problem for early plasma televisions was burn in, 578 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:22,200 Speaker 1: So this happened if a plasma TV screen was left 579 00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:25,480 Speaker 1: displaying the same image for a really long time. This 580 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:28,719 Speaker 1: often would happen with folks who were video gamers. Right 581 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 1: if you paused a game and walked off and you 582 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,160 Speaker 1: left the TV on and it stayed on that screen 583 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,799 Speaker 1: for a long time, you could get burn in. So 584 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,439 Speaker 1: what would happen is that the phosphors would heat up 585 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,800 Speaker 1: because they're being excited by this ultraviolet light. They're continuing 586 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:49,480 Speaker 1: to display images through luminescing, and as they would heat up, 587 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:53,239 Speaker 1: they would get damaged, and that would mean that you 588 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:55,920 Speaker 1: would get some degradation there. They'd lose their own so 589 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: that the next time they're illuminated, they aren't as bright 590 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,720 Speaker 1: as they were before. And that meant if you started 591 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:06,719 Speaker 1: watching anything else the affected phosphors, the ones that were 592 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,360 Speaker 1: burnt out, they would appear to be a little dimmer 593 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 1: than they were supposed to be, and it would be 594 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,120 Speaker 1: like you were looking at a shadow of that image 595 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: that had been held on the screen for far too long. 596 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,680 Speaker 1: This was burn in, and it would end up being 597 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,360 Speaker 1: one of the drawbacks to early plasma televisions, and it 598 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:28,600 Speaker 1: also was a selling point for salespeople who are pushing 599 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:35,480 Speaker 1: LCD televisions over plasma televisions. Even later, plasma televisions still 600 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,719 Speaker 1: had to contend with burn in like that was an 601 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:41,400 Speaker 1: issue that remained a problem, although different manufacturers found ways 602 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 1: to mitigate it to some extent so that it wasn't 603 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,839 Speaker 1: as likely, but it could still happen. It was never 604 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:53,720 Speaker 1: eliminated fully. Now, one advantage plasma televisions had over backlit 605 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 1: TVs was that manufacturers could make them really big, like 606 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 1: more than one hundred in on the diagonal big, if 607 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,000 Speaker 1: you really wanted to. However, it was hard to go 608 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:09,440 Speaker 1: the other way. It was hard to make smaller plasma televisions. 609 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 1: Now you might say, well, that doesn't make sense. The 610 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,200 Speaker 1: very first plasma display was one inch by one inch. 611 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:16,360 Speaker 1: How much smaller are you going to get? When I 612 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,319 Speaker 1: say it was hard, I don't mean that it was 613 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,480 Speaker 1: technically hard. It was hard to make them so that 614 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,400 Speaker 1: you could sell them for a reasonable amount of money. 615 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,160 Speaker 1: Smaller televisions, those that were like thirty two inches or smaller. 616 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,880 Speaker 1: It was hard to produce plasma displays of that size 617 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,000 Speaker 1: and still have them make economic sense. You started to 618 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:39,120 Speaker 1: run up against an issue where customers wouldn't be willing 619 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 1: to spend the money it would take in order to 620 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:45,520 Speaker 1: make a profit off of making these things, because it 621 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:47,840 Speaker 1: would feel like you're spending more money to get less 622 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,480 Speaker 1: real estate. However, if you did want to go bigger. 623 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:52,720 Speaker 1: Plasma was a really good choice in the early days, 624 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:58,240 Speaker 1: like plasma was cheaper on the larger end than LCD 625 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:03,320 Speaker 1: based televisions. But the battle was on between plasma and lcdtvs, 626 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:06,799 Speaker 1: and this got way more complicated in the mid two 627 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:11,000 Speaker 1: thousands upon the introduction of LED backlt televisions. So these 628 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 1: were LCDs that used LEDs for that backlight. They were 629 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:17,840 Speaker 1: brighter than plasma screens, so you could use them in 630 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:20,560 Speaker 1: brightly lit rooms and that would not really be an issue. 631 00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:23,799 Speaker 1: They didn't have as good an angle of view like 632 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,879 Speaker 1: with plasma TVs. You could be way off to one 633 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:28,600 Speaker 1: side or the other and still have a good view 634 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:31,279 Speaker 1: of what's happening on the screen, whereas with LEDs there 635 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:33,359 Speaker 1: was more of a limitation there. And they also had 636 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:37,360 Speaker 1: a lower contrast ratio than plasma screens. We mentioned that already. However, 637 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:43,040 Speaker 1: LED screens consumed way less power than plasma televisions did, 638 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:45,839 Speaker 1: so your electric bill would be lower if you're using 639 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:50,200 Speaker 1: an LED backlit LCD television rather than a plasma television. 640 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,480 Speaker 1: That brightness issue, though, I think that was the real killer, 641 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:56,440 Speaker 1: because if you were a consumer and you were shopping 642 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: for televisions and you went to a retail store, you 643 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:00,920 Speaker 1: would see the difference right in front of you. Right. 644 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:04,280 Speaker 1: The plasma screens just weren't as bright as the LCD 645 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:09,600 Speaker 1: TVs with led backlight. Color representation with plasma was amazing, 646 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:12,239 Speaker 1: but that brightness issue caused a lot of people to balk. 647 00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:14,719 Speaker 1: I mean, a lot of these stores just are under 648 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,759 Speaker 1: these bright fluorescent lights, and plasma TVs just didn't look 649 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,480 Speaker 1: as vibrant. There were some that would use like a 650 00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:23,560 Speaker 1: darkened area to show off the televisions, and plasma televisions 651 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:26,719 Speaker 1: probably did a little better there, but generally, unless you 652 00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:29,760 Speaker 1: were someone who was big into the in home theater setup, 653 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:33,200 Speaker 1: you probably weren't thinking in terms of I'm going to 654 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:36,239 Speaker 1: watch this in a darkened cave. You know, you might 655 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:37,920 Speaker 1: be watching it in a living room with lots of 656 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,640 Speaker 1: natural light and stuff, and you want to have a 657 00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:44,040 Speaker 1: screen you can actually see. So the LCD television started 658 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:47,760 Speaker 1: to perform better in sales. Again. For gamers, the plasma 659 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:50,920 Speaker 1: televisions represented a dangerous investment. If you did put your 660 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 1: game on pause so you could wolf down some pizza 661 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:55,880 Speaker 1: or whatever, you did so knowing that you might accidentally 662 00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:58,440 Speaker 1: burn in an image of solid snake hiding in a 663 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: cardboard box or something on your screen, and then you know, 664 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:03,120 Speaker 1: when it came time to watch Mean Girls or whatever, 665 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,320 Speaker 1: you'd have this shadow image of solid snake on Wednesdays 666 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:10,040 Speaker 1: when we're supposed to wear pink. It's a total bummer, dude. 667 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:16,440 Speaker 1: The LED backlighting alternative presented a real challenge because earlier 668 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:20,040 Speaker 1: LCD televisions were about the same thickness as plasma displays. 669 00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:22,959 Speaker 1: They weren't that different, but the introduction of an LED 670 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:27,120 Speaker 1: backlight meant that manufacturers could make televisions even more slim 671 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,879 Speaker 1: than they already had been. So here you had even 672 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:33,319 Speaker 1: thinner screens that were more energy efficient and sometimes could 673 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:38,040 Speaker 1: provide even better resolution than plasma screens. The color representation 674 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:41,360 Speaker 1: on a plasma screen might be superior, but the actual 675 00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:44,480 Speaker 1: picture quality and the brightness could be better on an 676 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:49,000 Speaker 1: LCD television with LED backlight. So plasma began to give 677 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:52,200 Speaker 1: way to these alternative technologies, much to the chagrin of 678 00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:56,200 Speaker 1: devoted plasma TV fans. Now, for the manufacturers, this meant 679 00:39:56,200 --> 00:40:00,680 Speaker 1: that plasma televisions were less marketable than LED TV, that 680 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,840 Speaker 1: you would make less money if you stuck with plasma 681 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,279 Speaker 1: than you would if you went with LED. So one 682 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:09,400 Speaker 1: by one, manufacturers began to pull the plug on plasma 683 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:12,919 Speaker 1: television production. Plus, once we got past twenty ten, we 684 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:18,040 Speaker 1: started seeing innovative work in O LEAD screens, organic LED displays, 685 00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:22,400 Speaker 1: as well as the introduction of ultra high definition television. 686 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,680 Speaker 1: We're talking like four K TV at this point, and 687 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:29,080 Speaker 1: that was a real blow to plasma television because a 688 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:31,279 Speaker 1: lot more work was going to be needed to make 689 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:36,040 Speaker 1: plasma TVs capable of displaying UHD resolutions like they could 690 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:40,000 Speaker 1: do high resolution, but it would take even more innovation 691 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:43,319 Speaker 1: in the space to create a technology that would allow 692 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:48,320 Speaker 1: plasma to display four K resolution. With LED backlet displays, 693 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,040 Speaker 1: four K was a more achievable goal. There was less 694 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:54,360 Speaker 1: of an on ramp needed to achieve four K resolution 695 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,880 Speaker 1: with that technology, So that was another big blow against 696 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:01,360 Speaker 1: plasma and with that decline in interest in the market 697 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:04,560 Speaker 1: and this these hefty technical challenges that were in the way, 698 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:08,120 Speaker 1: companies opted to phase out plasma television in favor of 699 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:12,719 Speaker 1: LED and then OLED displays. The last major manufacturers making 700 00:41:12,719 --> 00:41:14,960 Speaker 1: plasma screens got out of the game in twenty fourteen, 701 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:18,239 Speaker 1: as I mentioned earlier, so the last decade for the 702 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:21,279 Speaker 1: last decade, rather, plasma televisions have been kind of an 703 00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:26,560 Speaker 1: abandoned technology now. Personally, I think plasma TV technology was incredible. 704 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,720 Speaker 1: I never owned a plasma television, that I always wanted 705 00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:33,759 Speaker 1: one because the colors were so beautiful on those screens. 706 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,239 Speaker 1: And you know, I am of the opinion that once 707 00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:40,799 Speaker 1: you reach a certain level of resolution, depending on how 708 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:44,520 Speaker 1: far away you are from viewing your television and how 709 00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:47,920 Speaker 1: big the screen is, you get diminishing returns. Right Like 710 00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:50,759 Speaker 1: the way I have my setup at home, I just 711 00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:54,080 Speaker 1: have a regular HDTV. I don't even have a four 712 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:57,800 Speaker 1: K TV setup in my living room, and partly because 713 00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:59,759 Speaker 1: of the size of the screen and how far away 714 00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:02,600 Speaker 1: I am from it, I don't really notice. Like if 715 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:04,680 Speaker 1: I had swapped it out for a four K screen, 716 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:06,799 Speaker 1: I probably would be able to tell a little bit, 717 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:10,200 Speaker 1: but it wouldn't be dramatic. Right, So, for me, resolution 718 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:15,520 Speaker 1: was not necessarily the most important factor for a television. Now. Granted, 719 00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:18,520 Speaker 1: if I had one hundred and twenty inch screen and 720 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:20,960 Speaker 1: I was sitting like four feet away from it, I 721 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:24,319 Speaker 1: probably would need a very high resolution screen or out 722 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:27,160 Speaker 1: so I would start seeing the limitations. That's just not 723 00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:30,319 Speaker 1: how I view TV, so it's not a big deal 724 00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:33,280 Speaker 1: for me. For me, color representation is a more important 725 00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:36,400 Speaker 1: part of it. So yeah, plasma TV really would appeal 726 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:39,360 Speaker 1: to me in that regard, But it's a moot point. 727 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:41,239 Speaker 1: It is a thing of the past. I think it 728 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:44,759 Speaker 1: still served to be an enormous leap over cathode ray 729 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:49,000 Speaker 1: tube technology, but ultimately alternatives to plasma were more practical 730 00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:53,600 Speaker 1: and arguably more capable in the long run. Plasma TVs 731 00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:55,880 Speaker 1: or plasma displays, I should say, are still used in 732 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:58,600 Speaker 1: various industries for different reasons, but when it comes to 733 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,960 Speaker 1: home televisions, it's officially a thing of the past. So 734 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:06,000 Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed this look back on plasma technology 735 00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:09,480 Speaker 1: and how it worked in plasma televisions. Curious if any 736 00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:11,600 Speaker 1: of y'all out there have a plasma TV that you 737 00:43:11,640 --> 00:43:13,960 Speaker 1: still use. I know a lot of people like they 738 00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:18,000 Speaker 1: upgrade their televisions fairly regularly. I'm one of those old 739 00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:21,399 Speaker 1: dudes who just buys a TV and uses it till 740 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:24,360 Speaker 1: it don't work no more. So. My television is not 741 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:28,080 Speaker 1: a smart TV. It is not an Ultrahi definition television. 742 00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:31,520 Speaker 1: It is hooked up to a smart TV device. So 743 00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:35,080 Speaker 1: I do get those capabilities, and technically the device is 744 00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:38,240 Speaker 1: capable of showing four K resolution. It's just my television 745 00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:41,560 Speaker 1: can't do that, so it's kind of a lost feature 746 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:44,880 Speaker 1: for me. But yeah, maybe in a different past I 747 00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:48,800 Speaker 1: would have been like one of those diehard plasma TV fans. 748 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:53,440 Speaker 1: I certainly saw the appeal of plasma television. I just 749 00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:58,040 Speaker 1: never bought one. Anyway. That's it for this episode. I 750 00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:00,680 Speaker 1: hope all of you out there are doing well, and 751 00:44:00,719 --> 00:44:10,239 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is 752 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:14,840 Speaker 1: an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 753 00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:18,520 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 754 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:19,280 Speaker 1: favorite shows.