Mitsubishi Laser TV at CES 2008 - set to stun us all?

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Friday, 11 January 2008

Page 1 of 2 ! Due in high-end AV store shelves from September 2008, in the US at least, the Laser TV has finally been officially unveiled at CES, and by all accounts it has delivered the stunning improvements in rich colour that use of the laser promises over existing plasma and LCD technology. What does this mean for the plasma and LCD TV display industry? Although the idea of using lasers to display images on TVs has been around for years, getting it from the idea stage to manufacturing and production stage has taken years too, Mitsubishi’s launch sees Laser TV closer to being a real technology that (cashed up) consumers can finally buy - with the new model now also able to display in 3D. The last time the world had a lot of Laser TV activity was in late 2006, when chipset and laser manufacturers Novalux and Arasor demonstrated, in Australia, the power of the Laser TV at work compared with existing plasma TV technology. Novalux and Arasor have now merged and have entered into a new joint venture with Chinese technology manufacturer ZTE to create the lasers and chipsets to be used by TV manufactuers in future Laser TV models.) Side by side with the Mitsubishi prototype Laser TV on display in October 2006 was a plasma TV, and when viewed side by side in this manner, the difference between the two was amazing – the Laser TV truly did output much richer colours than the plasma TV, which looked dull in comparison. To see the photos for yourself, where the colour difference is very obvious, take a look at my original article, “Forget Plasma and LCD TV - the Laser TV is coming!”, and you’ll see for yourself. The colour difference is thanks to the laser's ability to reproduce a colour gamut that's twice what today's plasma and LCD TVs produce, and when the brain sees the two screens side-by-side, the Laser TV looks richer. Turn off the Laser TV, and the image on the plasma or LCD screen starts looking rich again after a a few minutes as the brain re-adjusts to the lower number of colours and compensates, making the colours look rich once more. You can see what some of the doubting questions were at the time, especially from plasma and LCD TV competitors that were worried Laser TV was just a scam and that the plasma TV wasn’t being properly represented in a follow up article called "Doubts about the Laser TV?". Those questions were answered by a Novalux/Arasor representative, and I posted those answers in yet another follow-up article called "Answers to Laser TV questions”. Although a number of articles online talk about the launch of Mitsubishi’s 2008 model Laser TV, it remains unclear whether it contains a laser and chipset manufactured by Novalux/Arasor, with the unit reported to be using a Texas Instruments DLP chip and a REALD (3D) chip, allowing the Laser TV to play the latest REALD (and presumably IMAX) 3D movies in homes, rather than just in theatres. A number of upcoming movies will also be available in 3D versions, with the most recent example being Beowulf. Seeing 3D movies on massive screens will still be the province of IMAX and REALD cinemas for now, so unless plasma and LCD screens get 3D capabilities between now and the end of the year, Laser TV will be the first to bring 3D TV to the masses. TMCNet quotes Frank DeMartin, vice president, marketing, at Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America as saying that: “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 “LaserTV technology creates a portal to an intensely real and vivid world — beyond ordinary flat TV. It’s a true dimension experience.” So, what did the journalists at the CES 2008 launch of the Laser TV think, what technology is inside, why didn't the Laser TV launch in 2007 and can Laser TV succeed? Please read onto page 2 for the answers... << First page <   1 2 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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