Coming Laser TV Sets Promise Better Color, but Face Hurdles

NEW YORK — Just when you thought you had the world of big-screen LCD and plasma TVs all figured out, here comes something new: laser TV.

While the name has a science-fiction flavor, the first sets from Mitsubishi's electronics division are expected to go on sale this year.

Laser TV is a form of rear-projection television that uses a mixture of red, blue and green lasers instead of traditional mercury lamps as a light source. The purity of laser light allows for images with far more color.

That is the top selling point for proponents of the long-awaited technology, who note that current high-definition LCD and plasma televisions only display about 40 percent of the color that the human eye can see. Laser TVs promise to show twice as much, resulting in richer images.

"Laser TV technology creates a portal to an intensely real and vivid world, beyond ordinary flat TV," said Frank DeMartin, Mitsubishi's marketing vice president. He spoke in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where the company unveiled a 65-inch laser set.

Mitsubishi has been secretive about its laser sets, revealing few details other than they will use less power than other TV technologies and should go on sale in 2008. The technology was once expected last year.

The sets will likely hit stores before the holiday shopping season, said Matthew Brennesholtz, an Insight Media analyst and projection technology expert.

Rear-projection sets typically have screens of 50 inches or bigger and are cheaper than comparable LCDs and plasmas. Laser TV pricing, sizes and availability remain unknown.

Many hurdles await new rear-projection technologies in a market dominated by increasingly bigger and cheaper LCD and plasma sets.

Against that onslaught, the rear-projection market has been fading fast, said Paul Gagnon, director of North American TV research for DisplaySearch, which is based in Austin, Texas.

In 2006, rear-projection TVs accounted for more than 56 percent of shipments for 50-inch to 54-inch sets, according to DisplaySearch. That plummeted to about 19 percent last year and is expected to reach 4 percent in 2008.

However, rear-projection sets still rule among the biggest sizes. They are expected to account for 77 percent of sets 55 inches and larger shipped this year, Gagnon said.

This is where Mitsubishi hopes to win with laser TV, he said. Rear-projection is likely to hold on in that market for a few more years as the makers of really big LCD and plasma screens work to overcome manufacturing constraints, Gagnon said.

A strength for rear-projection, and potentially for laser TV, is a price advantage that increases with size.

In the last three months of 2007, rear-projection sets with digital light processing technology cost on average about $1,300 for 50-inch to 54-inch screen sizes, according to DisplaySearch. In that period, 50-inch plasma screens cost about $2,500 and 52-inch LCD screens cost about $2,700.

Many sets sold for even less, and prices for all the technologies are expected to drop.

"A lot of people in industry wonder why rear-projection isn't doing better given these extremely attractive prices," Gagnon said. He said sometimes "consumers just want what's new or sexy or the 'in' thing."

And right now slim is in, while rear-projection sets remain a bulkier alternative.

"The consumer is mad for thin systems," Brennesholtz said. He said LCD TV makers are racing to make their 2-inch-thick sets even thinner.

Color poses another challenge since video content, formulated for the current generation of sets, typically does not contain the enhanced color that laser TV promises to deliver.

"The consumer might not actually notice" the additional colors, which are typically man-made and rarely seen in nature, Brennesholtz said.

However, he said, digital projectors in some movie theaters use the enhanced color, and those colors may eventually be delivered to televisions if there is a market.

Traditional rear-projection systems struggle to slim down to 10 inches thick, and while laser TVs might be slimmer than 6 inches, their bulk could turn off consumers, Brennesholtz said.

Mitsubishi, which ranked third last year in the rear-projection market behind Sony and Samsung, hasn't offered specifics about laser TV thickness, but says the sets will allow for "easy wall mounting."

Laser TV will also be competing with LED-based rear-projection sets, such as those already sold by Samsung. The light-emitting diodes are not as bright as lasers, but are cheaper for now and offer much of the extra color, Brennesholtz said.

A long-term advantage for laser TV and LED sets may be the ability to more easily and effectively deliver 3-D television, Brennesholtz said. He said LCD sets can deliver 3-D, but face problems such as limited viewing angles.

Such 3-D TV will still require special glasses, but the technology has come a long way, delivering high-definition quality, Brennesholtz said. He said 3-D is trivial in today's market, but will become more important in coming years.

A handful of other display makers have reportedly researched laser TV, but none have announced plans as concrete as Mitsubishi's.

On the Web:

Mitsubishi laser TV: www.believingisseeing.tv