The History of Plasma Display Reflected by Patents: An Advanced Study

This paper is a historical presentation of the development of television and chronologically presents the evolution of the use of plasma in television. The idea of a plasma television, as presented here, seems closer to a research hypothesis than a technical solution realizable according to the manuscript concept. The first inventors who proposed the use of plasma together with imagined solutions and patents related to a plasma display panel - PDP are presented. The first attempt to accomplish an extra flat display by using a modified cathode tube is also presented. Yet, the technological difficulties stopped its utilization at a large scale in television. The solutions that determined the realization of certain TV displays with applications in other fields of electronics are also introduced. A pioneer invention from the 1960s’, which set the bases of future TV displays, is also specified. The utilization in the 1970s’ was the most adequate technological solution for the realization of the first thin displays, a solution which survived even after the appearance of the LCD and LED systems. The objectives of the study are: - presentation of the evolution in time of the researches made by the inventors regarding a flat screen, - correlating these inventions with the realization of a flat screen TV that uses plasma, - highlighting the researches that through their vision had innovative priority and made pioneering inventions.