Laser TVs to replace plasma?
updated 03:20 pm EDT, Tue October 10, 2006
Arasor Laser TV
With Canon's SED technology still looming as a replacement for current flat-panel displays, a young Australian company named Arasor is preparing a standard that could both replace plasma and challenge SED on its own merits. Arasor's laser TV, made in partnership with the American firm Novalux, eliminates many of the flaws that plague flat panels, according to Australia's News.com.au. Even the best plasma displays can only present 35% of the color gamut visible to the human eye, says Novalux executive Jean-Michel Pelaprat. Using three optoelectronics chips dedicated to each primary color, however, laser TV can represent up to 90% of that same spectrum and create a much more natural picture.
Arasor also observes that its optics reduce the power and size requirements that often limit the relative usefulness of plasma. The company estimates that laser TVs consume only a quarter of the energy and can shed half the depth of the earlier screens, cutting the weight of the resulting TV by a similar amount. As with SED, the technology shown by Arasor is still in its prototype stage; laser TV is expected to arrive sooner, though, with shipping models arriving in late 2007 through larger electronics companies such as Mitsubishi and Samsung.
