An interesting article over at ExtremeTech focusing on the future of laser-driven rear-projection TVs.
They've been appearing at various trade shows and whilst nothing is in real-world production yet, apparently Mitsubishi may be one of the manufacturers interested in the technology.
Key advantages are:
* increased brightness
* increased colour range (up to 90% of that perceivable by the human eye, compared to a maximum of 40-45% from existing LCD or Plasma TVs)
* use about one-third of the power consumption of equivalent plasma set
In the past, lasers haven't been powerful or small enough to be viably used in TVs, but now an Australian company, Arasor International, have developed a more cost effective, energy efficient and lightweight alternative.
They say that commercial TVs using the new technology could be in production within the year - so that's another TV technology to add to the building list: LCD, Plasma, SED, carbon nanotube...
