Whenever new, amazing, and mysterious technology appears in the world, a new body of knowledge also appears to explain how it works. This information comes from well-meaning experts, early adopters of the new technology, marketers who are trying to sell the new technology, and many other sources. Without fail, some bogus information appears alongside the correct information and forms the foundation of some dubious “consumer tips”.

The conventional wisdom behind HDTV tech, magic as it is, includes several of these logical but misguided tips. One goes like this: plasma HDTV sets contain a strange substance inside the screen, called “plasma”, which is so slippery and sneaky that it could leak out of the set if you lay it flat on the floor or in the back of your car. This reasoning supposedly explains why many retailers have a strict policy against shipping a plasma TV any way except vertically. Some customers have even elected to choose an LCD over a plasma because the back of their car wasn’t tall enough to take it away from the store standing up vertically.

The real reason behind that policy is that a plasma TV has a relatively fragile construction, with two panes of glass mounted very close to each other. If one was resting horizontally in the back of a truck, and that truck bounced over a speed bump a little too fast, the panes could bounce a little themselves and squeeze what’s in between.

What’s in between is not a pool of mysterious liquid, but an array of tiny cells that contain a special kind of gas. When the computer inside the TV tells them to, these cells light up like tiny neon lights, because the gas inside them is excited into what’s called a “plasma state”. If some of these cells get damaged by transport, there’s really no way to fix them. Laying a plasma TV carefully down on your living room floor, however, won’t do any harm at all. Just don’t step on it.

Plasma HDTV sets do require a little more careful treatment than LCD sets, but many people think the exceptional picture and the affordability of a high-end plasma is worth the trouble. To learn more about the differences between the popular HDTV formats, refer to this simple guide: Plasma, LCD, DLP.

About the Author

Tom Webster is a researcher and copywriter who writes for FlatHDTV.net, a guide to the HDTV revolution.

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Tags: Education, Plasma