As Laser TV inches closer to market, let’s take a moment to consider what we know. Mitsubishi, announcing at a press conference on April 4, 2008, will be selling a laser based TV under the brand name LaserVue.  Initial models will be arriving at select dealers this summer and will go on sale by Fall of 2008 (3Q 2008).

Screen sizes and prices will be determined and announced at a later date. Mitsubishi’s LaserVue site has not been updated in several months, so hopefully new information will be posted in the coming months.

First Hand Review:

“The Mitsubishi LaserVue looked quite impressive to this reviewer. The colors were deep and rich with amazing reds and blacks as compared to competitive plasma and LCD 1080p panels. Contrast and clarity were among the best that this reviewer has seen in a long, long time. Surprisingly, it appeared that the depth of the LaserVue HDTVs appeared to be about 10-inches deep, and could easily be placed on the wall.” - Dennis Barker, Digital TV Designline

Laser TV is the next generation television display. Laser TVs employ a laser light engine as the light source - a compact trio of red, green, and blue lasers. Laser light is capable of reproducing up to 90% of the visible color spectrum, twice what the current HDTV market can offer. Laser TVs capitalize on the unparalleled qualities of laser light; which is capable of producing a brighter, sharper and more colorful image than current LCD and PDP models. Manufacturers are also claiming Laser TVs will cost less and use less energy than current technologies.

Read Press Release

Read an early review from New York Times Blog - “One immediate impact: with a laser light engine, colors don’t look so much as if they’re painted on the screen as if they’re shooting out from it. Colors are alive and vibrant in a way that mimics the brightness of neon light…”

Since its debut at the 2008 CES Show, Mitsubishi has closely guarded the details surrounding the release of its laser television. Hopefully, release date, price, and availability details will be shared soon.

Laservue Trademark Application

At the core of Laser TV is a trio of red, green, and blue lasers. Historically, the color red has been one of the harder colors to reproduce on television. Black light can be difficult too, often resulting in shades of gray. In the still above from the apocalyptic planet, Mustafar, as seen in the Star Wars movie, Mitisubishi Electric shows off its impressive red laser capabilities at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Mitsubishi is the world leader in manufacturing red laser diodes, capturing a large portion of the overall market share. Laser TV also boasts very high contrast ratios and black levels, simply because the lasers can be completely turned off, creating amazing blacks.

Mitsubishi’s Laser TV is expected to debut this Fall under the LAZRTV brand name.

Lasers are hot. Defense contractors, research companies, medical device manufacturers, industrial companies, and electronics makers, all have a growing need for laser diodes and semiconductor lasers. QPC Lasers, based in Sylmar, California, is poised to capitalize on just such a demand for lasers.

As a recent article suggests, Laser TV and laser based displays, will provide new markets for laser manufacturers. QPC Lasers secured a potentially huge contract last year to develop and deliver lasers to be used in television displays. An unknown international manufacturer of consumer electronics, secured the rights to QPCI’s proprietary BrightLase® semiconductor lasers. The contract carries a top value of up to $230 million over the 10 year life of the pact. An initial $11 million purchase order is expected to be filled by 2011.

QPC trades on the OTCBB and has been in a steady decline since reaching a share price of $3 in 2006. It currently trades near $0.57 which represents a market cap of a little over $22 million. While shareholders may be disappointed, they may take some solace in the new patent awarded to the company for combating weak beams operating at high power. Also, the secret may be getting out as QPC recently announced revenues grew 158% in 2007.

March 16, 2008 Update:  “Pursuant to the contract, we recognized $1 million of initial milestone revenues in the fourth quarter of 2007, and continue to expect deliveries under the $11 million purchase order over the next three years,” said QPC co-founder and CFO George Lintz.”

Press Release

*Any information contained in this article should not be construed as investment advice, but strictly as the thoughts and opinions of the author.*

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, Microvision Inc. is a leading developer of miniature display and imaging engines based on integrated photonics modules. Microvision is marketing a standalone microprojector called a Pico Projector, and this technology will be affordably embedded into cell phones and PDAs in the very near future. While this company does not produce parts for Laser TV, the use of laser engines in portable electronics could have a significant impact on the television and display market.

Microvision’s portable projector is laser based and uses a single mirror system, which is purportedly more affordable than the competition’s (TI) multiple micromirror system. Microvision has contracts in place with Motorola and two unnamed parties, an automotive supplier and Asian electronics manufacturer, for use of Microvision’s proprietary technology in cell phones, digital cameras and personal media players.

Microvision’s stock is coming off of highs near $6 a share last summer, and currently trades near $2.50 a share. According to one recent report “Companion and integrated pico projectors are now forecast to reach nearly 30 million units in 2012.” If this report is true, now may be the time to start looking at some of the key and novel players in laser engine technology.

Arasor International Ltd.

Arasor International Ltd. recently acquired Novalux, Inc., which focuses on laser technology, for $7 million in Arasor stock and the assumption of $13 million in debt. Sydney, Australia-based Arasor is an optoelectronics firm, specializing in chips for use in laser based displays. By acquiring Novalux, Arasor said the acquisition will let it provide an end-to-end solution in the manufacture of light sources in the laser display industry.

In November of 2007, Arasor entered into a $300 million joint venture with ZTE Corp. (Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Co. Ltd.) of China to develop and manufacture up to six million laser engines for use in Asian displays in televisions, projectors and mobile devices including cellular phones, PDAs and notebooks. Arasor will own 51 percent of the joint venture.

Arasor’s stock has been pummeled recently, it trades publicly on the Australian Exchange, but is trading under $1 on the Pink Sheets in the U.S., off of highs over $3 only one year ago. Arasor may have made some early PR blunders, but it does appear revenues are growing handsomely, and this company is certainly well positioned if Laser TV and laser based monitors become the new market standard.

*Any information contained in this article should not be construed as investment advice, but strictly as the thoughts and opinions of the author.*

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.”

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.