plasma TV

Years (and years) ago, I was a graduate student at the University of Illinois. Although Heidi was a nurse and generated most of our income (so she got a PhT: Putting Hubby Through), I got a research assistantship. It meant working, part time, at the Coordinated Science Labs (CSL). While there, I met Don Bitzer and Gene Slottow. Gene told me about a hair-brained scheme for displaying images on a screen. It involved making ionized gases glow, using electrical impulses. Yeah ... sure. Gene was a nice guy, but that scheme would never fly. Last night, Heidi & I decided to buy a 50" 1080p, 600 Hz TV. I had to look up the significance of "600 Hz". ** While browsing, I also checked on how plasma TVs worked. I had already studied HDTVs a while back. (That's when we decided to buy our current 42" 1080i TV.) Wait! Plasma TVs? Was that Gene's hair-brained scheme? So I looked up Who Invented Plasma TV?. Sure enough: Slottow & Bitzer!! Mamma mia! ------------------------------------------- ** The moving images on a TV screen are made up of a sequence of still images, displayed 60 times each second. (That's 60 Hz, eh?) However, the glowing pixels fade a mite before the next still image is displayed. To overcome this, each pixel is "flashed" 10 times for each still image. That makes a 60 x 10 = 600 Hz refresh rate for each pixel. ------------------------------------------- P.S. While looking at stuff on good ol' Gene Slottow, I discovered a paper he wrote in 1964 in which he says: Special thanks go to Dr. Peter Ponzo for programming assistance and for a series of valuable discussions on the mathematics of electron dynamics. Though Heidi & I weren't sure whether we should go with another plasma or switch to LCD, now I realize that we gotta go plasma! Why, I practically invented plasma TV myself!! ------------------------------------------- I understand that some U.S. companies became interested in the Bitzer-Slottow plasma display, but soon gave it up. However, some Japanese engineers became regular visitors to their lab. Guess who makes plasma TVs today?