Plasma Screens use thousands of sealed, low pressure glass chambers filled with a mixture of neon and xenon.

Behind these chambers are colored phosphors, one red, one blue, and one green for each chamber. When energized, these chambers of "plasma" emit invisible UV light. The UV light strikes the red, green and blue phosphors on the back glass of the display making them produce visible light.

A plasma screen works by controlling each individual subpixel (the basic red, green and blue components of individual pixels) directly rather than a beam of electrons. Each phosphor is driven by an electrode, which activates tiny pockets of gas between the front sheet of glass and the phosphor-coated rear panel. The gas is superheated and changes state from inert gas into electrically charged plasma. This reacts with the phosphorescent material to create coloured light.

The principle advantage (aside from the slimline size) of plasma technology is how well it reacts to a truly digital picture.