Laser TV: Fact or Fiction?
The idea behind using laser illumination technology for consumer products, especially for televisions, has been around since 1966. Development has been sluggish due to high production cost, poor performance, and the large size of the power supply – all of which could mean certain death in the marketplace.
In February 2006, Mitsubishi announced it had developed the world’s first rear-projection television using a laser as its source of light. Considering it was nothing more than a technology demonstrator and similar technology had been on display at CES 2006 the month prior, Mitsubishi’s claim was clearly open to interpretation and further discussion.
Tamotsu Nomakuchi, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric, looked into his laser crystal ball and gave his R&D crew another 730 days to put the finishing touches on the world’s first laser television. In the meantime, the industry was inundated with more prototypes, but still no laser TV a consumer could actually buy.
At CES 2008, the sand in Nomakuchi’s 730-day hourglass had released its last grain. Mitsubishi would not disappoint. At the invite-only media event held at the Moon Nightclub in the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, a trio of 50-inch LaserVue televisions boasted, ‘Seeing is Believing.’ Although these were still demonstration models, the veteran digital nitpickers gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up.
It would be another 10 months before Misutbishi delivered laser TV to retailers. Sunday, November 16, 2008, marked the world’s first (there’s that phrase again) laser television available to see AND buy.
World’s First Laser TV
Mitsubishi’s LaserVue – High Contrast – 4 HDMI Inputs – 3D-ready
65-inch Screen – 135W Operating Power – 1080p – 120Hz – 16:9
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The UHP (ultra high performance) lamps used in traditional DLP rear-projection televisions are replaced with three highly-focused lasers (one red, one green, and one blue) as the light source.
Critics of using lasers in television claim they can permanently damage your eyes. This is true, but misunderstood when it comes to their use in laser television. Safety measures such as filters and interlocks are in place due to the extremely bright lasers. This makes it virtually impossible for a viewer to be exposed or injured by any of the laser’s harmful components.
ADVANTAGES
Some of the CES 2008 attendees felt the colors of the laser television were very brilliant – almost too brilliant. That could be because laser televisions are capable of displaying 80 percent of the color gamut discernable by the human eye. Even a top-quality HDTV can only accurately display 40 percent of the same color gamut.
A definite pro for laser TV is its ultra-low power consumption compared to similarly sized models of LCD and plasma televisions. The 65-inch consumer-ready laser model uses just one-fourth the power of a plasma TV and one-third the power of an LCD television.
Lasers are able to maintain full power output for the entire lifespan of each individual laser. This means the picture on your screen won’t progressively degrade as time goes on – a problem inherent with plasma and LCD technology.
DISADVANTAGES
The differences are many from what the world has seen so far in the prototype models to the laser television now available in the store. The laser TV available today has a whopping 65-inch screen, a very thick 10-inch depth (when compared to plasma and LCD), and is a diet-demanding 137-pound billboard, er … television. The price tag is high, looking more like the cost of a used car, and will set you back $6,999.99 before you can claim it as yours.
Now that flat-panel HDTVs have been on the market for a few years, most of their bugs have been worked out. And with the recent leaps in OLED technology, there might not be enough elbowroom left in the market and laser television’s days could be numbered and they just got started. If released sooner, maybe even before plasma and LCD, they probably could have dominated the entire market from day one.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Consumers are armed with the most conclusive and decisive marketing device of all-time – their wallets. Extracting over $7K (including shipping, taxes, delivery, and setup) from your Average Joe for a television will mostly likely prove to be too much. And instead of downsizing from their 65-inch monstrosity next time around for a more bite-sized model, Mitsubishi is going even larger with a 73-inch model.
The viewing distance for a 65-inch screen is 8-feet, 1.5-inches (minimum) to 16-feet, 3-inches (maximum). Depending on the room reserved for enjoying television in your home, you might have to push your furniture to the opposite end of the room just to watch TV. Basically, this means a 65-inch TV is way too large for most shoppers.
Considering Mitsubishi owns 75 percent of the LED laser market, they may have too much invested to turn back now. Considering consumers have been waited for years with bated breath for a laser television, Mitsubishi’s efforts are probably too little, too late.
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