Plasma technology is pretty amazing. Embedded between two large sheets of glass is an array of electrodes, phosphors (some green, some red, some blue), and millions of tiny gas cells. When the set is turned on, electrodes zap the gas cells, creating a burst of ultraviolet light that's flooded by the phosphors to create the proper mix of colors. This intense ultraviolet light gives plasma displays their incredible brightness. Just because they're really bright doesn't mean that colors always look great. Early plasmas had only eight-bit displays, meaning that for each of the three primary colors there were only 2⁸, or 256, shades between light and dark—not very many. As a result, those televisions were dismal at showing dimly lit scenes: Dark browns, purples, and greens were indistinguishable. Newer plasmas look better because many of them feature 10-bit displays (1,024 shades); 12-bit models (4,096 shades) are on the way. As a result, colors look more varied and natural than before. Incidentally, liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) tend to look worse than plasmas because they typically have just eight-bit resolution.