Laser Television is here, and it's in 3D!

[buffo]

Hey guys... Remember when I couldn't stop talking about the cool little 3 watt DPSS blue laser that I saw on the ILDA cruise back in 2008? (The one that would fit in the palm of your hand...) The guy that demoed the laser (Chris Stuart) was working on incorporating the thing into a Laser Television that used DLP technology. At the time, they didn't have a working TV yet, and some people wondered if it would ever work. (They were having trouble scaling the red laser up to the multi-watt power range...)

Well, it's not vaporware anymore folks. It's real. Take a look at this article, which was just posted to the ILDA list server... (Scroll down to see the video; Chris is the guy in the light shirt on the right.)

It seems that Chris and his group had a hard time selling the Laser TV idea to Sony, Mitsubishi, and the other manufacturers of large TV's, so instead they decided to form their own company (HDI) to manufacture and sell large laser televisions. And the best part is that they also managed to incorporate 3D technology into them. Their flagship product is a whopping 103 inch flat-screen model, which supports full 1080P resolution, and full 3D viewing via passive (that is, polarized film) glasses - just like the ones you wear in a movie theater for a 3D film. They only have 3 prototypes right now, but they're in the process of building a bunch of demo units.

Those demo units will be released later this year, and full production is scheduled to begin by the second quarter of 2011. Price for the 103 inch model is estimated to be between 10 and 15 grand, which is certainly too rich for me, but in 3-5 years that could drop to a reasonable level. (And considering the current price for a 103 inch TV is already $15,000 to $40,000 - it's not such a bad deal at all.) Oh, and they *ALSO* have a 42 inch LCD model that supports the same 3D technology, for those of us who can't afford the laser TV but still want the 3D effect.

Man, I sure hope Chris is on the ILDA cruse again this year... Can't wait to talk to him about this! (He's a really cool guy, and he has the ability to explain very complex technologies in simple terms so ordinary people can understand what's going on.)

Adam

[badger1666]

looking at the size of that diode bar, does this mean there are direct injection green diodes now ??

[buffo]

I'm pretty sure the green and blue lasers are both based on DPSS technology. The blue that was shown to us on the ILDA cruise back in 2008 was definitely DPSS. It was very small (less than 1 inch in any dimension), although it had the divergence of a floodlight!

Adam

[dzodzo]

i hope this technology will become quickly available to "average Joes and Janes" with smaller screen sizes

[Eidetic]

I have articles about 3D TV with lasers from 1966, using the new technology of holography to do it. Holographic TV hasn't made it here yet, but the 3D TVs coming out now might be closer than one would think!

It's very possible that the screen in a new 3D TV is actually a holographic directional diffuser, or there might be HOEs inside to guide the beams around or despeckle them. In the former case, people will see a 3D image on the TV, point in that direction saying "I'm looking at a hologram", and for once be correct!