FORGET PLASMA AND LCD TV - THE LASER TV IS COMING!

Laser TV --------------------vs------------------ Plasma TV


Launched worldwide from Sydney, Australia yesterday by laser and wireless company Arasor, they aren't actually launching a new television, but a new technology that uses a laser to display images on your TV screen.

Instead of using a DLP (digital light processing) chip, or an electron gun as used in 'regular' CRT (cathode ray tube), or the display technologies used in LCD (liquid crystal display) or plasma TV technology, Arasor have developed a laser display engine to beam images onto your screen, with astounding benefits, including an incredibly rich colour range far exceeding conventional plasma and LCD TVs.

You can't buy a Laser TV in stores yet, but 8 consumer electronics firms have partnered with Arasor and will be demonstrating Laser TVs at January's CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, with units set to be available in stores by late 2007 or early 2008.

According to Arasor, Laser TVs:
- Are half the weight and half the cost of plasma and LCD TVs
- Have 75% less power output than many plasmas and LCDs
- Are very thin, like most plasmas and LCDs
- Have a very wide colour gamut showing more than twice the range of colours that existing plasma and LCD TVs can display. This is important because even though the latest plasma and LCD TVs can display quite stunning colour, especially when compared with earlier models, they only display about half the colour range the human eye can see. Laser TVs change this forever.
- With small devices such as phones, PDAs and video cameras, a laser projector can beam an image from the device onto a wall, with the same amazing colour reproduction.
- Have a 50,000 hour life (similar to plasma and LCD TVs which are rated at approximately 60,000 hours, and much greater than most projectors which have a lamp life of 3,000 to 4,000 hours)
- Offer almost constant 100% power output from the laser over the 50,000 hour lifespan, meaning a clear, bright and sharp image for the life of the Laser TV without needing recalibration for slowly degrading light and colour output (as would happen with plasma, LCDs and projectors)

While we only saw one prototype model at the launch, Arasor says that a number of prototypes have been made and are with their consumer electronics partners.

The screen we saw offered 1080i HDTV output, with 1080p models to arrive. They'll be fully compatible with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players, the XBox 360, the PS3, HDTV set-top boxes, your PC and virtually any other device that can currently plug into a TV.