Laser TV

New pics have surface via Mitsubishi Japan’s website, and rumor has it that “super wide angular optical engines” have been developed to slim down the housing for the optical components. The prototype Laser TV displayed at the 2008 CES was approximately 10 inches thick, but reports are indicating the commercial model may be significantly thinner.

Within the past year, three major companies have announced plans to stop manufacturing rear-projection TVs (RPTVs). The most notable of the group is Sony, which has already halted production and is in the process of clearing its inventory. Still, for the month of January, Sony reported a 31.50% shelf-share, slightly ahead of Samsung at 30.07%. Phillips and Toshiba have also announced plans to drop RPTV, and Toshiba’s 3.30% shelf-share for January fell 2.50% from the previous month. Rounding out the list is Mitsubishi in third place at 15.29% and RCA with 13.80% share.

Source: The NPD Group.

With the departure of Sony from the RPTV market, Samsung and Mitsubishi are the clear front runners to fill the Sony void, and not coincidentally, both companies are invested in laser technology. Mitsubishi plans to release its Laser TV this fall, while Samsung has admitted “we are studying laser technology but still it is far from commercialization.”

Very little escapes the public eye these days, as our friends over at Trademork recently broke the news that Mitsubishi has filed for trademark protection with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for LAZR, LAZRTV and LAZRTELEVISION. In keeping with trendy vowel-light sites like Flickr and Sqeez, these terms are the expected brand names to be used by Mitsubishi in its line of laser powered televisions to be introduced later this year. Will LAZRTV be PWNED by OLED or SED? Come back and visit our site for the latest news.

November 27, 2007 Trademark Filing for LAZR

January 24, 2008 Trademark Filing for LAZRTV

January 24, 2008 Trademark Filing for LAZRTELEVISION

$1,000?

$1,800?

$5,000?

What will Laser TV actually cost? Nobody knows, but everyone seems to have an opinion. Mitsubishi has been vague about the details on its forthcoming launch of its Laser TV brand, which debuted at January’s 2008 Consumer Electronic Show. The exact release date is even a mystery. Here’s what we do know:

Mitsubishi’s Laser TV will be released in 2008.

“It’ll be competitive with flat panel prices.” Quote from Frank DeMartin, General Manager of Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America.

“Large screen laser television is expected to be competitively priced with plasma television in sizes of 52 inches and larger.” Quote in The New York Times from Marty Zanfino, former Director for Product Development of Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America.

Mitsubishi has been surprisingly tight-lipped on the particulars of its Laser TV. The speculation about Mitsubishi’s silence has ranged from a corporate attempt to gauge the market reaction to a “premium” alternative to LCD and PDP, or simply that a fixed MSRP has not been set. Mitsubishi is not a rookie in emerging technology markets, so perhaps it has learned not to offer too much, too soon. Your average consumer might not recognize Mitsubishi as a leading innovator in TV technology, despite having invented the first rear-projection television and the first complete HDTV in the U.S. market.

On the other extreme, Arasor, the blustery Australian optoelectronic chipmaker, has made some bold and premature predictions relating to the price and availability of Laser TV, much to the dismay of disappointed investors and consumers. Arasor does not manufacture televisions, but it promised too much, too soon, in a feverish quest to attract shareholders and funding for its Laser TV technology. This article details the strained relationship between Arasor and Mitsubishi, which wasn’t invited to Arasor’s 2006 public demonstration of a Laser TV, even though a modified Mitsubishi TV was used. We still don’t know if Mitsubishi’s Laser TV will be using Arasor chips or laser technology from Novalux, a laser manufacturer recently purchased by Arasor.

Mitsubishi is keenly aware that the LCD and plasma markets have matured, and that pricing for these units have fallen to very affordable levels. Laser light may be technically superior in all aspects of brightness, color gamut, etc., but Laser TV will have to be at least competitively priced to succeed, something Mitsubishi appears to be focused on. Much of Mitsubishi’s hush-hush campaign may be linked to laser component manufacturing delays and Arasor’s overeagerness. No emerging technology has the luxury of being competitively priced right out of the gate, so Mitsubishi may be stimulating just enough interest its Laser TV (nee tidbits of information) to keep us interested, while ironing out its pricing strategy and laser component licensing deals.

It takes more than just innovation to succeed in today’s market, and the glitzy debut of Laser TV at the Moon Nightclub at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas may be Mitsubishi’s way of telling us it is ready to be step into the limelight. Laser TV is the new standard in HDTV, however, Mitsubishi may be forced to, at least initially, target only to the high-end market with a $5,000 (my guess) 65-inch unit debuting this fall. This may be followed up in early 2009 by a smaller model costing half as much. As laser engines become incorporated as the preferred light sources in cell phones, movie theaters, navigation screens, projectors, and televisions, classic economies of scale will cut costs, and fuel demand, beckoning the age of laser based monitors.