History of a plasma television set: 

In July of 1964 a group of professors along with a graduate student, at the University of Illinois, invented the first plasma screen prototype. But, due to the complex nature of a plasma monitor, it wasn't until the successful creation of digital and other technologies that the first working plasma became possible. The Wikepedia dictionary defines "a plasma display as an emissive flat panel display where light is created by phosphors excited by a plasma discharge between two flat panels of glass"

During the 60's the professors preformed research to find alternatives to the cathode-ray tubing found in most television sets. The problem with these older TV systems, were they had to constantly refresh, which was fine for broadcasting, but not for computer based images. The professors (Donald Bitzer and Gene Slottow) although with Robert Wilson, a grad student, worked hard and were able to create the first working single cell plasma display.  

Companies started to consider replacing televisions that used cathode ray tubes with plasma displays, after 1964. Unfortunately, at the same time the liquid crystal display technologies was invented and introduced, and over powered the appeal of the plasma. The LCD technology allowed for the creation of a flat panel television set. It took years, but finally a man by the name of Larry Weber, got the world interested again, with his development of a sixty inch plasma display prototype for Panasonic. This unit had a unique size and resolution size, as well came HDTV and sleekness.