Mitsubishi Electric is going after the bigscreen HDTV market. “Bigger and thinner” televisions may be in vogue, but Mitsubishi has decided to go in an entirely different direction. Under the mantra of “Believing is Seeing,” Mitsubishi plans to unleash an entirely new line of HDTV in 2008 – Laser TV.

Benefits of Laser TV:

- Wider color gamut, capable of reproducing twice the colors of LCD and plasma displays.

- Increased longevity, as the laser engines will last the life of the television.

- Lower power consumption than bigscreen LCD and plasma displays.

- True black levels, high contrast ratios, and very large screen capabilities.

- Less bulk and cost than a traditional lamp based rear projection televisions.

Laser TV has been a concept for several decades. The same properties which enable lasers to cut through steel, make it aptly suited for display lighting. Laser light is monochromatic, extremely focused, and is the purest source of light available. Laser based display units have been used in flight simulators for years. However, the commercial application of laser displays have been too cost prohibitive, until now.

Mitsubishi Electric is among the world leaders in laser manufacturing and television innovation, thus allowing them to market the first commercial Laser TV. Although not official, the price is expected to be in the $5,000 range. Several firms are perfecting low-cost laser diodes, so we expect the price of Laser TV to quickly be competitive in the open market. There is no question the picture quality, longevity, and energy efficiency is superior to that of LCD and Plasma, so we anticipate more TV manufacturers will be announcing their own line of Laser TV.

Sony showcased its own laser powered SXRD model at the 2007 CES, but plans for commercializing it have not been announced. Novalux, vying to be the world leader in laser optics, has announced several pending deals with TV makers, including a venture with JVC for a laser based front projector. In Asia, China’s ZTE Corporation has teamed up with Novalux (now owned by Arasor) to ambitiously produce millions of laser handsets for cell phones. A North American fall release for Mitsubishi’s LaserTV is expected, however, the exact dates have not been announced.

The Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Laser TV

10. Immediately close any Laser TV article that references Austin Powers, frickin’ laser beams, or sharks, the author does not know what they are writing about.

9. You cannot buy a Laser TV yet, and nobody knows the exact release date.

8. Laser TV can harm you (if you crack open the cabinet and stare directly into the laser engine).

7. Laser light is the purest and brightest light source.

6. There are no specs available for Laser TV videophiles. Wake up Mitsubishi.

5. Mitsubishi’s LaserTV will probably cost around $5,000.

4. Porn displayed on a Laser TV will be disturbingly realistic.

3. Laser TV will pave the way for stereoscopic 3-D TV programming.

2. Laser TV can produce “90% of what the human eye can see.” This means it has a damn nice picture.

1. Laser TV is not an Australian invention. The last innovative thing to come out of Australia was Men at Work.

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.

Image Copyright 2008 Engadget.com

The personal reviews from those lucky enough to attend the unveiling of Mitsubishi’s Laser TV at the Palms in Las Vegas have been overwhelmingly positive. Laser TV promises to usher in a new era of high-definition television displays, offering the brightest and most vivid picture available, coupled with unheralded longevity and energy efficiency. Look for Mitsubishi’s LaserTV and its “Believing is Seeing” campaign coming Fall of 2008.

“Amazing looking blues, extravagant reds, brilliant yellows, and harmonic purples overwhelmed my sense. I stared, mesmerized at these TVs and the colors that it produced.” -PC World

“At first glance the colors were sensational and the contrast was extremely intense…” -Engadget

“The laser displays at the Palms looked impressive to me…” -Smarthouse

“I must admit, this rear-projection TV tech looks very good with deep color and great sharpness.” -DVICE

“The result is some of the most vivid colour we’ve ever seen on any TV, especially the primary colours of red, green and blue. The blacks were midnight-dark…” -Gizmodo

Image Copyright 2008 Engadget.com

January 7, 2008 – Las Vegas, Nevada

Mitsubishi heralded in the New Year in style Monday night at the first full day of the 2008 CES by unveiling its commercially ready Laser TV. The reviews are in and it’s a winner! While there’s no immediate word on the price and availability, we’ll post this information just as soon as its released. The photos and a few more of this 65-inch beauty can be found over at Engadget.

Image Copyright 2008 Engadget.com

Dimensions:

While Laser TV is not wafer-thin like OLED, it is proving to be the perfect standard for those in the market for large screen, high definition televisions. The use of miniature lasers is more compact than traditional lamp-based TVs, because space for optical filters, lenses and other parts are not needed. The result: thinner cabinets. The manufacturing costs are also reduced.

Competing Technologies:

LED – LEDs produce a dispersed light over a wide angle. Lasers produce a tightly focused beam of light with nearly no etendue, a nerd word for how “spread out” light is. A tighter beam of light produces better picture quality. Lasers are magnitudes brighter than LED too.

SED – Developed jointly by Toshiba and Canon, we’ll be lucky if this technology ever becomes commercially available due to prolonged litigation and negotiations. SED uses phosphors, so burn-in will be a concern and purists will argue the black levels are weak, but the biggest obstacle will be competitive pricing.

OLED – OLED is better suited for smaller televisions in the range of 27-inch and below. Anything larger is too cost prohibitive and the longevity really must really be called into question. Some reports place the lifespan of an OLED TV at 5000 hours or less, with unsettling news that oxygenation will deteriorate those glowing organic critters.

LCD – Currently the best value in the market, but displays images on in their native resolution, resulting in poorly scaled images and have weak black levels compared to other displays. While the viewing angles for LCDs have improved, Laser TV has incredible viewing angles, with no lag, ghosting or distorted colors.

January 08, 2008 12:30 AM Eastern Time

LAS VEGAS–Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc. today announced the world premiere of the laser television category during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, unveiling a new large-format LaserTV that delivers as much as twice the color of current high-definition televisions.

Mitsubishi has harnessed its worldwide leadership in precision laser technology to produce the first-ever laser-powered television, delivering a range of color never before seen in home entertainment. Precise and focused, the purity of laser light surpasses current high-definition technologies. Today’s HDTVs display less than 40 percent of the color spectrum that the eye can see. Now, for the first time ever, laser produces twice the color. Laser beams provide the widest range of rich, complex colors, along with the most clarity and depth of field.

This LaserTV category introduction represents a significant milestone in Mitsubishi’s strategy to lead the large-format, high-definition television space and meet the growing consumer demand for a richer, entertainment experience. Mitsubishi has long led in large-format and high-definition television innovation with introduction of the big screen category in 1978 and, subsequently, the world’s first 50-inch rear projection TV, first 35-inch color TV, and first 1080p DLP® HDTV.

“Mitsubishi has delivered significant technology innovations in the large-format television arena, and the debut of LaserTV further strengthens our position and track record for HDTV leadership,” said Frank DeMartin, vice president, marketing, at Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America. “LaserTV technology creates a portal to an intensely real and vivid world – beyond ordinary flat TV. It’s a true dimension experience.”

A New Dimension in Home Theater: LaserTV and 3D

Mitsubishi LaserTVs not only provide the ultimate picture quality, they are also capable of delivering a true 3D viewing experience, demonstrating the company’s continued commitment to set the standard for entertainment viewing by partnering with Hollywood on next-generation entertainment solutions. At the LaserTV launch event at the Palms Hotel on Monday, Mitsubishi teamed with leading 3D digital technology provider REAL D to demonstrate the most advanced 3D content available today.

Environmentally Friendly

The Mitsubishi large-format LaserTVs provide the highest performance in HDTV, and they do so with low power consumption. While today’s flat panel HDTVs consume significantly more energy than the analog TVs that they replace, LaserTVs are energy efficient, consuming less power than comparably sized flat-panel sets.

The unique styling of Mitsubishi’s LaserTV allows for easy wall-mounting in a variety of home entertainment settings.

Mitsubishi will ship LaserTVs to authorized retailers in the United States later this year.

About Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc.

Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc., an Official Sponsor of The PGA TOUR, manufactures and markets a comprehensive line of premium quality 1080p DLP^® HDTVs and 1080p LCD Flat Panel HDTVs. Recognized as the world leader and innovator of large display high-definition televisions, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America builds products that lead the industry in quality, performance and ease-of-use. For additional information about MDEA and LaserTV, visit www.mitsubishi-tv.com

DLP^® is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments.

SOURCE: Mitsubishi Electric

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…”

Do you have an invite?

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

CES Party List

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.