Laser TV

Mitsubishi Electric debuts plans to release a Laser Backlight LCD TV in Japan later this year. Its backlight unit includes red laser diodes and cyan LEDs. Compared with Mitsubishi Electric’s existing LCD TVs, which use white LEDs for backlight, the color gamut of the new TV is about 1.3 times wider. It is a 126% color gamut on NTSC standards. The color red is realized by the laser light source and the colors green and blue are realized by the cyan LEDs.

The backlight of the prototyped 46-inch LCD TV is the edge-lit type. It uses a few dozen of the red laser diodes and several hundred of the cyan LED. Because of the divergent angles between a laser and an LED, Mitsubishi Electric developed an optical system for evenly mixing lights from them. As a result, the unevenness of color was mitigated, the company said.

Read more at Techon.

The Mitsubishi L75-A91 Laser TV is the ultimate HD TV experience. Powered by the crystal clear purity of laser light, this TV is currently selling for $5,147.00 on Amazon and comes 3D ready. To enjoy the dozens of 3D movies flooding the market, Mitsubishi is also selling a Mitsubishi 3D Adapter and glasses for owners to partake in the 3D experience. The Mitsubishi 3D Starter Pack includes a 3D Adapter, two pair of 3D glasses and matching emitter. The Mitsubishi 3DC-1000 3D HDTV Starter kit on Amazon for $320.

Mitsubishi introduced the LaserVue as the world’s first Laser TV. Precise and focused, the purity of laser provides twice the color of current HD TVs, consumes less power and provides the best 3D viewing experience.

HD Free For Life and other great specials.

Sharp and Mitsubishi recently announced plans to release 3D televisions this summer in Asia, competing with debut models from Panasonic and Sony. Sharp’s 3D LCD TVs will arrive in late July and will reportedly come in four sizes ranging from 40-60 inches. The sets will feature Quattron technology, which adds the color yellow to the primary colors of red, blue and green.

Sharp and Warner Bros. Inc. have entered into a promotional partnership that will include a sales campaign using the major Hollywood studio’s Clash of the Titans 3D movie. The Japanese firm hopes to have 3D TVs account for 5-10% of its domestic TV sales target of 7.8 million units this fiscal year, with an aim of boosting the figure to 50% next fiscal year.

Mitsubishi Electric plans an Asian release of its U.S. 75-inch 3D laser TV this summer at a price to be decided. Employing lasers as its light source, this rear-projection TV is said to have fast response times and vivid color representation. Mitsubishi Electric plans to launch 3D LCD TVs later this fall.

Panasonic was the first to 3D TV market, introducing plasma models this April. It added large-screen 65- and 58-inch models to its lineup last week with an eye toward grabbing a majority share of the domestic market. The TVs alternately display images for each eye, and the company promotes plasma sets’ high refresh rates.

Sony will sell 3D LCD TVs starting June 10. It will offer content produced by the group, including titles for the PlayStation 3 game console and movies.

Information from Nikkei.com

The small California start-up we wrote about last year is in the news again as more details about HDI’s laser-powered 3D TV are released.  HDI-US Inc. already has orders for its prototype 103-inch 3D HDTV and is now actively marketing itself as a television manufacturer and not just a 3D solutions licensor.  HDI’s platform is a laser-based projection system blended with proprietary optics and LCoS.  Glasses are needed for viewing in 3D, but reportedly the glasses are passively designed to provide less eye strain than the active-shutter models already in the market.

HDI is marketing heavily on the unique immersive qualities of large HDTV displays and 3D technology.  Steve Wozniak has praised the company and HDI’s future home models may incorporate such unique features as a 2D-to-3D processor, integrated soundbar and a personal 3D camcorder, all for less than $15,000.  Models can be purchased now for around $100,000 if you simply cannot wait until production begins in 2011 (tell them laser-tv.org sent you).

“We’ve witnessed 3D from a variety of sources, be it in a RealD theater, NVIDIA’s active-shutter 3D Vision gaming or Sony’s own active solution. Without a doubt, HDI’s 3D HDTV was the best in-home 3D product that we’ve had the pleasure of viewing.” Engadget

Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc. will showcase the flexibility and versatility of its 3D-ready TV products by displaying 3D content delivered by various video sources, including Blu-Ray players at CES 2010 in the “Experience 3D Tech Zone”. Mitsubishi has also announced a new 3D adapter which will provide Mitsubishi 3D-ready Home Theater TV owners with an easy and affordable solution to display 3D from a 3D Blu-Ray player. The Mitsubishi 3DC-1000 3D adapter will be available in late spring of 2010. MDEA will be located in CES booth #14548, Central Hall.

“As a pioneer in the 3D television market, Mitsubishi is bridging the gap for consumers to experience this break-through technology,” said Frank DeMartin, vice president of marketing, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America. “3D is definitely a large screen experience, and Mitsubishi offers the most models and largest screen sizes of 3D-ready TVs available today, including one of the world’s largest, mass-produced 3D-ready TV’s at 82 inches.”

At CES, Mitsubishi will be rolling in its massive and impressive 53-foot Mobile Marketing Showroom (MMS) into the “Experience 3D Tech Zone”. The MMS will provide a 1000-square-foot showroom showcasing a wide variety of new 3D content displayed on both LaserVue(TM) and Home Theater TVs. 3D entertainment will be demonstrated on a laser-powered television, using a 65″ LaserVue TV and MDEA’s Home Theater TV product line will be displaying cross-platform content on its 60″, 73″ and 82″ televisions.

The market for three dimensional television has been slowly heating up the past few years.  3D movies have proven to be extremely popular and even in a weak economy, the research and interest in personal 3D TVs has remained quite strong.  Laser TV could prove to be an important piece of the puzzle as televisions grow larger, along with the refresh rates and power demand.  As seen below, the use of low-powered lasers could help spawn a new 3D industry in the home.

One thousand frames per second.  100 inch screen.  3D TV.  Laser-powered light source.  In the following video, HDI of Los Gatos, CA introduces a giant prototype which may someday give Mitsubishi its first real competition in the laser powered television market.

Watch the video here.

Read more about HDI’s accomplishment here.

Each of our 3D Ready large-screen DLP HDTV’s feature a slim design, lightweight construction, and energy efficient operation,” said Frank DeMartin, Vice President of Marketing for Mitsubishi. “The first 3D content will be PC video games, followed by movies, then later sporting events and television sitcoms or other broadcasts.”

DeMartin says 3D content is already gaining in popularity and points to the recent theatrical success of movies such as Beowulf, The Hannah Montana 3D Concert, and this summer’s 3D Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Another exciting introduction is Mitsubishi’s LaserVue TV.

“LaserVue will raise the bar for large screen television by delivering twice the color at half the power of today’s HDTVs while at the same time providing an unparalleled 3D viewing experience. Mitsubishi has effectively engineered laser beams to function as the ultimate light engine for this premium large screen television product. Making laser TV a reality represents another history-making milestone in a long legacy of industry firsts for Mitsubishi.”

Look for the 65″ Laser TV – Model L65-A90 to begin shipping to retailers in North America by the end of September (3Q).  Details on when it actually goes on sale are not yet known, but speculation is that it might be not be available to buy until after Thanksgiving.

Note:  Mitsubishi’s answer to my question for clarification on shipping and availability was “I wish I had more information to provide at this point but please stay tuned.  Mitsubishi will be releasing more information within the next 60 days.”

Read more from RTO Online

We want our televisions big, but slimmer. We want amazing brightness and color saturation, but with more energy efficiency. Naturally, we want this technology now, and we want it cheap.

Like most consumers, I have been waiting expectantly for something remarkable, something revolutionary, something which will make watching TV a truly immersive experience. HDTVs have been around awhile, but I’ve only been mildly impressed with the current market of flat panel displays. Then I heard about Laser TV.

Laser TV employs lasers, which Mitsubishi claims is “the purest light source available today.” Mitsubishi showcased its Laser TV, scheduled to be released later this year, at the 2008 CES with very positive reviews. In fact, I think most of the audience was left a little befuddled, because the images were unlike anything they had ever seen from a TV before.

Mitsubishi plans to take this technology a step further with 3D TV. The LaserTV model on display at the CES 2008 was 3D compatible, sending synchronized signals to viewers wearing RealD shutter glasses.  Viewers were able to watch 3D versions of Beowulf and other special programming.  It’s worth noting that Mitsubishi is also developing a scalable system whereby 3D images can be viewed without the need of special glasses or goggles. 3D Laser TV is on the horizon, folks. It’s worth repeating again, three dimensional laser television is on the horizon.  Mitsubishi is really going after the full immersive television experience.  What’s next, 3D laser smell-o-vision?

Mitsubishi’s proposed 3D TV will be stereoscopic, meaning the images won’t really be 3D, but your brain will think so, just like seeing the sailboat in those “Magic Eye” pictures we all saw in the mall a few years ago. The technology has been around for years, but the superior imaging of Laser TV promises to harness its full potential. Look for Laser TV (with 3D signal compatibility) this fall and stereoscopic 3D TV later in 2009.