Mitsubishi has unveiled its Laser HD TV, a 65" Full HD model, with the claim that it will revolutionize the way we look and think about High Definition. (Click to enlarge images)
Mitsubishi is a leader in laser technology and has 75% of the LED laser market. According to Mitsubishi, the TV delivers 2X as much color as the other high end televisions that will be released this year, because lasers provide the most extensive range colors, the most clarity, and the best depth of field.
Lasers are the purest light form that we can see. So, Laser TV's can produce colors so incredibly vivid, it's above and beyond all current HDTV standards. Lasers can be tuned to the exact wavelength of light you like - down to the nanometer. So TV makers can produce the ideal shades of red, green, and blue to produce the best colors possibly. Mitsubishi claims this allows them to reproduce about 90 percent of all the colors humans can see - versus about 40 percent for other TVs.
The Laser TV comes embedded with a Real-D 3D processor so that, with the specific glasses (like those you get at some IMAXes) you will be able to see some top of the line 3D programming at home.
The Laser TV will be released late this year, and is expected to retail over the price of current LCDs.
Tech Fundas:
Laser TV is a proposed new video display technology using laser optoelectronics. Although proposed as long ago as 1966, laser illumination remained too costly and too poor in performance to viably replace lamps except in some rare ultra-high-end projectors.
Technology
Lasers may become an ideal replacement for the UHP lamps which are currently in use in projection display devices such as rear projection TV and front projectors. Current televisions are capable of displaying only half of the color gamut that humans can potentially perceive. In contrast, proponents of Laser TV technology claim that the standard will be able to reproduce more than 90% of the colors visible to the human eye.
A Laser TV requires lasers in three distinct wavelengths: Red, Green and Blue. While red laser diodes are commercially available, there are no commercially available green and blue laser diodes which can provide the required power at room temperature with an adequate life time. Instead frequency doubling can be used to provide the blue and green wavelengths. Several types of lasers can be used as the frequency doubled sources: fibre lasers, inter cavity doubled lasers, external cavity doubled lasers, eVCSEL’s and OPSL’s (Optically Pumped Semiconductor Lasers). Among the inter cavity doubled lasers VCSEL’s have shown much promise and potential to be the basis for a mass produced frequency doubled laser.
A VECSEL is a vertical cavity, and is composed of two mirrors. On top of one of them is a diode as the active medium. These lasers combine high overall efficiency with good beam quality. The light from the high power IR-laser diodes is converted into visible light by means of extra-cavity waveguided second harmonic generation. Laser-pulses with about 10 kHz repetition rate and various lengths are sent to a Digital Micromirror Device where each mirror directs the pulse either onto screen or into the dump. Because of the well known wavelengths all coatings can be optimized to reduce reflections and therefore speckle.
Advantages
One major claim of laser advocates is the ability to produce undiluted, perfect colors allowing precise hue mixing. Advocates claim that 90% of the perceptible color gamut can potentially be reproduced. Other improvements that laser advocates claim are bulbs that will never blow out, and increased efficiency by using two-thirds less power than traditional rear projection televisions. Historically, however, lasers have been too bulky and expensive for widespread adoption.
The laser technology advocates claim that the technology will allow displays with a richer, more vibrant color palette than the conventional plasma, LCD or CRT displays.
They also claim the displays will:
be half the weight and cost of Plasma or LCD displays
require around 25% of the power required by Plasma or LCD displays
be very thin like Plasma and LCD displays are today
have a very wide colour gamut
have a 50,000 hour life
maintain full power output for the lifespan of the laser, resulting in a picture that doesn't progressively degrade over time, such as with plasma and LCD technology
Drawbacks
Together with the advantages of laser sources, there are reports that also describe some of the current shortcomings of laser displays, such as the following:
Safety: The high power emitted by the coherent laser sources is inherently dangerous to human vision. Proponents claim that integrating the devices with the needed diffusion filters removes this risk.
Speckle: Due to the narrowband coherent light source, speckle will be an issue at the display. This has also been a problem in laser lighting displays and has been solved through modulation of the light source thus widening the bandwidth and reducing the possibility for coherent interference. Proponents claim that this issue can be minimized by the use of diffusing elements and multiple sources. These, however, may impact display resolution and system cost.
Lasers are the purest light form that we can see. So, Laser TV's can produce colors so incredibly vivid, it's above and beyond all current HDTV standards. Lasers can be tuned to the exact wavelength of light you like - down to the nanometer. So TV makers can produce the ideal shades of red, green, and blue to produce the best colors possibly. Mitsubishi claims this allows them to reproduce about 90 percent of all the colors humans can see - versus about 40 percent for other TVs.
The Laser TV comes embedded with a Real-D 3D processor so that, with the specific glasses (like those you get at some IMAXes) you will be able to see some top of the line 3D programming at home.
The Laser TV will be released late this year, and is expected to retail over the price of current LCDs.
Tech Fundas:
Laser TV is a proposed new video display technology using laser optoelectronics. Although proposed as long ago as 1966, laser illumination remained too costly and too poor in performance to viably replace lamps except in some rare ultra-high-end projectors.
Technology
Lasers may become an ideal replacement for the UHP lamps which are currently in use in projection display devices such as rear projection TV and front projectors. Current televisions are capable of displaying only half of the color gamut that humans can potentially perceive. In contrast, proponents of Laser TV technology claim that the standard will be able to reproduce more than 90% of the colors visible to the human eye.
A Laser TV requires lasers in three distinct wavelengths: Red, Green and Blue. While red laser diodes are commercially available, there are no commercially available green and blue laser diodes which can provide the required power at room temperature with an adequate life time. Instead frequency doubling can be used to provide the blue and green wavelengths. Several types of lasers can be used as the frequency doubled sources: fibre lasers, inter cavity doubled lasers, external cavity doubled lasers, eVCSEL’s and OPSL’s (Optically Pumped Semiconductor Lasers). Among the inter cavity doubled lasers VCSEL’s have shown much promise and potential to be the basis for a mass produced frequency doubled laser.
A VECSEL is a vertical cavity, and is composed of two mirrors. On top of one of them is a diode as the active medium. These lasers combine high overall efficiency with good beam quality. The light from the high power IR-laser diodes is converted into visible light by means of extra-cavity waveguided second harmonic generation. Laser-pulses with about 10 kHz repetition rate and various lengths are sent to a Digital Micromirror Device where each mirror directs the pulse either onto screen or into the dump. Because of the well known wavelengths all coatings can be optimized to reduce reflections and therefore speckle.
Advantages
One major claim of laser advocates is the ability to produce undiluted, perfect colors allowing precise hue mixing. Advocates claim that 90% of the perceptible color gamut can potentially be reproduced. Other improvements that laser advocates claim are bulbs that will never blow out, and increased efficiency by using two-thirds less power than traditional rear projection televisions. Historically, however, lasers have been too bulky and expensive for widespread adoption.
The laser technology advocates claim that the technology will allow displays with a richer, more vibrant color palette than the conventional plasma, LCD or CRT displays.
They also claim the displays will:
be half the weight and cost of Plasma or LCD displays
require around 25% of the power required by Plasma or LCD displays
be very thin like Plasma and LCD displays are today
have a very wide colour gamut
have a 50,000 hour life
maintain full power output for the lifespan of the laser, resulting in a picture that doesn't progressively degrade over time, such as with plasma and LCD technology
Drawbacks
Together with the advantages of laser sources, there are reports that also describe some of the current shortcomings of laser displays, such as the following:
Safety: The high power emitted by the coherent laser sources is inherently dangerous to human vision. Proponents claim that integrating the devices with the needed diffusion filters removes this risk.
Speckle: Due to the narrowband coherent light source, speckle will be an issue at the display. This has also been a problem in laser lighting displays and has been solved through modulation of the light source thus widening the bandwidth and reducing the possibility for coherent interference. Proponents claim that this issue can be minimized by the use of diffusing elements and multiple sources. These, however, may impact display resolution and system cost.
