Plasma TV Problems at High Altitude

A Plasma TV is an ideal bet when it comes to brightly lit rooms as you don't need to adjust lights or pull the blinds now and then when you are watching it. Similarly, wider viewing angle means you can watch it from any corner of the room without any distortion in image. Add to it is the fact that these television sets are lighter in weight than most of the alternatives, and the list of reasons why you should opt for a Plasma TV gets even better. That being said, a Plasma TV does have its own share of problems that you need to be taken into consideration when you opt to buy it - and one such problem is that of 'altitude pressure'.

Plasma TV Problems at High Altitude

As funny as it may sound, even Plasma TVs tend to suffer from 'altitude sickness' - the effects of which are at its peak at an altitude of 7000 ft. As you won't get to see any obvious difference in the picture quality at this altitude, you may not even realize that you television is being affected - unless you have sharp ears as the most obvious symptom of Plasma TV's high altitude problem is the noise that comes from the unit. This loud noise is attributed to the cooling system which is used to regulate the temperature of display element. At times, the problem may vary from one region to another. For instance, a Plasma TV may work fine at an altitude of 7200 ft without making any noise, but the same model may make a lot of noise at an altitude of 6500 ft itself. This can be attributed to the fact that altitude pressure tends to differ from one location to another.

How Altitude Affects Plasma TVs?

Basically, Plasma TV display is made from rare natural gases - such as xenon, neon or argon, which are compressed inside several tiny glass envelopes. The pressure at which these gases are compressed has to match the pressure of gases outside the glass envelope. Most of the manufacturers tweak the pressure to make sure that it matches the atmospheric pressure at the sea level, and that's the reason you see that these television units work perfectly fine at sea level and a few ft above it. The rule of the thumb is that atmospheric pressure decreases with elevation, owing to which the air at high altitudes is thinner than air at the sea level.

This difference in the atmospheric pressure results in imbalance in the inner and outer pressure which in turn increases the stress on the gases inside the glass envelopes. In such circumstances, the plasma display has to put in more efforts for cooling the display element. If the Plasma unit has cooling fans they will create a lot more noise than they would in normal circumstances as a result of this added pressure. On the other hand, if the unit uses a convection cooling system, there will be a distinct buzzing noise coming from it. Other than this annoying noise, the extra efforts that the cooling system has to put, will also reduce the lifespan of the unit by a certain extent as it will be subjected to excessive wear and tear.

The answer to such high altitude problems is altitude friendly technology which has been already implemented by various Plasma TV and Plasma display manufacturers across the world. In fact, NEC Corporation, a Japan based firm dealing in consumer electronics, has already introduced a Plasma television which works fine up to an altitude of 9180 ft. Other prominent names such as Panasonic and Pioneer also have models which boast of a decent altitude limit in their lineup. So the bottom line is that, you need to crosscheck what the manufacturer has to offer in terms of altitude limit when buying a Plasma television, that is if you happen to reside at an altitude of 6000 ft (or above).