Laser TV

The 2008 CES (January 7-10) is upon us and the buzz surrounding Mitsubishi’s long-anticipated Laser TV is starting to crank into high gear. Mitsubishi will showcase its 1080p HDTV which features a miniature triad of color lasers capable of reproducing nearly 90% of the visible color spectrum. To put this into perspective, plasma and LCD models can only reproduce about one-third of the colors the human eye can see.

Laser TV is being heralded as the next generation television as lasers are brighter, more vivid and more energy efficient (nee green) than any existing television on the market. Laser light is inherently monochromatic and directional, meaning nothing can touch its brightness, longevity and efficiency; not even LED.

More than one company is banking on the promise of laser technology. Along with Mitsubishi, Arasor, Coherent, QPC Lasers, Inc. and China’s ZTE Corporation are all anticipating that laser lit cell phone screens, televisions and microdisplays will explode upon the market in the near future. Manufacturing costs are expected to dramatically drop too as laser technology is widely embraced by the market. Because of licensing and proprietary battles, the once promising OLED and SED TV will likely fail, clearing the way for Laser TV to dominate.

“Mitsubishi is thought to have the best chance of dominating the headlines with its laser TV…”

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Monday, January 7, 2008 9:00PM - 12:00AM: Laser TV Party - Palms (Invite only)

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At the CES next month in Las Vegas, Mitsubishi will be unveiling its long-awaited and long-promised laser-powered projection TV. If all goes according to plan, we could be seeing the first commercial versions of Laser TVs hitting the market within the next few months.

The incorporation of laser technology in televisions is particularly exciting on many fronts. Laser TV promises to bring the brightest, sharpest and most colorful picture the HDTV market has ever seen. The secret lies in the use of a compact trio of colored lasers, replacing the traditional light lamp. Lasers are inherently stable, very bright and energy efficient, also making these models “green” and environmentally friendly, requiring less energy to operate than a plasma or traditional lamp-based television. As an added bonus, Laser TVs also weigh less than plasma sets, will cost less to manufacture and have a very long-life package.

Until recently, solid state lasers have been too expensive to develop for mass production in televisions. Novalux has developed an inexpensive and tiny laser dubbed NECSEL (Novalux Extended Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) for use in microdisplay-based devices, including home theater front projectors and rear-projection TVs. As more manufacturers and consumers realize the potential of laser light sources, 2008 could be the dawn of a new age in HDTV and display technology centered on laser applications.

There is an intriguing article over at CNNMoney.com which validates that the television market is gearing up towards big changes. Here’s just a little sample:

“It’s been nearly a year since TV makers first showed off early laser TVs, but tech-savvy couch potatoes will have to wait a little longer to watch one in their living rooms.

The long-awaited display technology won’t be ready until early 2008 at the earliest, industry experts say. When Mitsubishi and Canon CAJ demonstrated laser TVs at January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, both hinted that they’d have models ready for this holiday shopping season.”

Click here to read the full story.

News of television manufacturers striking long-term deals with laser component firms and chip makers, for use in laser lit televisions, is starting to occur with more frequency. QPC Lasers, Inc. just announced an initial $12 million deal with an “international manufacturer of consumer electronics.” According to QPC co-founder and CEO Dr. Jeffrey Ungar, “Utilizing our highpowered, compact, and cost effective semiconductor laser technology,these rear projection laser televisions will offer a dramatically improved viewing experience compared to other older and/or more expensive technologies available today such as those based on lamps, plasma, LCDs, and conventional cathode ray tubes.”

Read more here.

Shares in the optoelectronic chip manufacturer, Arasor, surged after the announcement of a $300 million partnership with China’s ZTE Corporation. The announcement heralds a joint venture which promises to market laser display technology for use in televisions and mobile displays.

“Laser technology will be at the heart of the next generation display light sources that will provide consumers with a full range of benefits including access to enhanced spectrum of colors, significantly lower power consumption, larger screen sizes and overall product cost savings,” Arasor said in a statement released to the press.

Arasor is the leading manufacturer of optoelectronic chips, the brains behind laser display technology. By using red, green and blue laser diodes powered with Arasor’s chips, laser displays can reproduce up to 90% of the visible color spectrum. The resulting picture clarity, color and brightness is vastly superior to all other commercially available light sources.

“Don’t sit too close to the TV, it will ruin your eyes.” Mothers have been expressing this concern for over 50 years, and little children’s corneas have been going undamaged for just as long. As video technology has evolved, televisions have gotten bigger, televisions have gotten smaller, but the light source has only improved slightly from the old days.

Laser TV is often misunderstood as a futuristic and far-fetched alternative to the way we now view television. In reality, Laser TV is the broad name associated with the emerging market of televisions and other monitors powered by lasers as the backlight source. The incorporation of laser technology represents the source of light only, not the way the images are displayed on the screen.

Plasma and LCD model televisions have very good pictures, much better than a cathode ray tube TV, and the prices on these models are continually falling. LED technology even promises a better and brighter picture. Guess what? Lasers are better than LED backlights and lasers are magnitudes brighter, more energy efficient, and longer lasting. Lasers can even be integrated into plasma and LCD models, thereby further improving the image quality, efficiency, etc.

Laser-powered televisions will project a more constant and stable light source, capable of reproducing a brighter, sharper and more vibrant image. In addition, the gray and black levels, and the overall contrast will be vastly superior to any television commercially available in the market today. As the manufacturing and licensing of laser TV technology multiplies in the coming months and years, nothing will stop this train. Perhaps a new technology will emerge to be superior, note SED TV, but given the broad market of options, consumers will fall in love with the high-quality and low-priced brand of Laser TVs.

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Mitsubishi is still the front runner to have laser-powered televisions available in the U.S. by Christmas, according to this article. Australians may have to wait an additional 12-18 months.

Click here to see video of a prototype Laser TV in action

© 2007 Laser-TV.org

Reminiscent of the old VHS versus Betmax and the recent Blu-ray versus HD DVD skirmish for market dominance, the stage may be set for the battle over the future of big screen television displays. Plasma and LCD displays reign supreme now, but newcomers like SED and Laser TV are beginning to make waves.

SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display) is a flat-panel, high-resolution display jointly developed by Canon and Toshiba. SED displays contain millions of individual electron emitters upon a layer of phosphors, separated by a nanometer-measured space within a vacuum. Each pixel in the display has its own individual electron emitter which activates the phosphor layer, creating a red, green or blue pixel. This technology improves upon the traditional CRT (cathode ray tube) based TV, which contain only three emitters (one for each color).

The advantages of SED TV includes low power consumption, superior imaging, and better color and brightness qualities over the current HDTV market. Exhibition displays have featured a very impressive contrast and sharpness — especially on fast-moving images. SED displays also weigh considerably less than standard CRT displays, making it feasible for displays in the range of 100 inches or more, according to Canon.

Before you get too excited, there are a number of disadvantages to this technology. The number one disadvantage may be the price. Canon has been developing this technology since 1987 and recently purchased Toshiba’s stake in their joint project. Toshiba will continue to have license to the technology, but the release date of SED TV has been delayed several times over the years. The delays have been mainly due to legal problems and Canon’s repeated efforts to reduce the mass market cost. As of the date of this article, a limited fall release is possible, but initial models are expected to cost around $10,000 for a 50-inch model –hardly consumer friendly.

Laser TV uses three small lasers (red, green and blue) as the light source. By replacing the traditional light source, a UHP (ultra high performance) lamp, with lasers, manufacturers claim this technology will ultimately cost less, be thinner and lighter, and use less energy than a traditional lamp-based TV. As evidenced by Mitsubishi’s recent demonstration of its 65-inch Laser TV at the 2008 CES, lasers are an extremely stable light source. Mitsubishi’s model, available later this year, impressed the audience with extremely bright and vivid colors, boasting twice the color gamut of regular HDTV. In addition, the contrast was described as stunning. This is not surprising, as one of the benefits of laser technology is that the light source can be completely turned off or powered very low, creating very intense black and gray levels.

The technology behind Laser TV was pioneered by the Australian chip maker Arasor and its U.S. based partner Novalux. Arasor recently bought out Novalux, allowing Arasor to provide end-to-end service for laser light engines in a broad array of products. Arasor already has a pact with China’s ZTE Corporation to produce millions of laser powered microdisplays for use in cell phones and navigation equipment. Sony and Samsung are also purportedly developing their own line of laser televisions.

There will be critics of Laser TV, and safety and pricing will be the dominant issues. Coincidently, both of these concerns are broadly misunderstood. Lasers are extremely bright and can obviously be harmful to your eyes, but there will be several layers of safety. Among the options are filters and interlocks, making it virtually impossible for one to be exposed to the harmful laser components. Because laser light is so perfectly focused, there is the illusion of speckling when a laser is viewed on a surface. However, this will easily be remedied by a de-speckling modulator or passing the light through some other filter, breaking up the light before its viewed on the screen.

As with any new technology, the first production models will probably cost more than comparably sized LCD or plasma models. Mitsubishi has not announced a price for its Laser TV, but it will initially target the high-end market. I firmly anticipate the sticker price will be well below the expected $10,000 price tag for a large screen SED TV. Over time, as laser engines become mass produced (and based on its performance, it will be), the cost of a large screen Laser TV will be very competitive within the market. Manufacturer’s claim the cost of laser components will be less expensive to produce in mass quantities than the traditional UHP components (bulb, color wheel, iris and filters).

Rear Projection TVs (RPTVs) are not known for being slim, but if one is worried about depth and weight, Laser TV has the advantage. Mitsubishi’s debut model was surprisingly sleek and a mere 10 inches thick. SED displays use a heavy glass-plated substrate, which comes with practical size and weight restrictions. The bigger the screen, the heavier the glass will weigh, making wall mounts harder. Laser TV will not have any practical size limitations, and will incorporate lightweight plastics, less parts, and feature a lower center of gravity.

The list of positives goes on and on for Laser TV, including low power consumption (nee green), durability (the lasers will last the lifetime of the TV), superior motion blur control (unlike the rumor of nasty flicker problems encountered on larger SED TVs). Laser TV will be multi-sync, unlike SED, which has a fixed resolution, meaning anything less than 1080p or the native resolution will have to be scaled — resulting in a distorted image. There is no denying SED is amazing technology, but it has taken too long to reach the market, and it will be outdated by the time it can be mass produced.

This year’s CES was proof that technology is rapidly evolving and there are many manufacturers reaching for a piece of the multi-billion dollar television market. Consumers have more than one impressive option (LCD, OLED, plasma, etc.). LCD and plasma have dominated the market in recent years, but their market shares are slipping. With moderate improvements and price cuts, these models will attract bargain buyers in the short term, but better technology is on the horizon. Laser TV could prove to hold the winning hand — possessing the best technology and the best value — a rare combination in this market.

Source: mobilewhack.com All rights reserved.

Portable devices. A laser-powered backlight is very bright, features a high color gamut and consumes very little energy. This type of backlight translates into a bright and colorful image, all contained in a very efficient and long-life package. To put this in perspective, laser diodes developed by Novalux are reportedly six times brighter than LEDs. Battery technology has really not caught up to the burgeoning portable device market, so it makes sense for more energy efficient lighting sources to pick up the slack. Most cell phone displays are hard to see at best, even in the most optimum light. Cell phones are not the only portable device which will benefit from the superior brightness and energy efficiency of laser-lit displays. Portable video devices, GPS, laptop monitors, PDAs, and even portable projectors will shed pounds, lose the heat and noise and never need a $500 replacement bulb.

Source: www.tv4u.co.kr

Sony displays a 55-inch Novalux-developed Laser TV at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show. Televisions powered by lasers could challenge the market dominance of LCD and plasma televisions in the very near future. Laser TVs will reportedly cost and weigh less than their rival competitors and feature the most realistic and colorful picture available to date. According to rumors, we could see at least two manufacturers release laser-powered televisions by the end of the year.

Source: www.tv4u.co.kr

Read the Sony CES Press Release Here