Comments on: From eWeek: Are Laser HDTVs on the Horizon? http://fukumimi.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/from-eweek-are-laser-hdtvs-on-the-horizon/ Shin Fukushige, a returnee venture capitalist living and working in Tokyo Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:07:43 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Roc Joco http://fukumimi.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/from-eweek-are-laser-hdtvs-on-the-horizon/#comment-56099 Roc Joco Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:02:35 +0000 http://fukumimi.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/from-eweek-are-laser-hdtvs-on-the-horizon/#comment-56099 Mitsubishi's Laser TV introduced at the 2008 CES was approximately 10 inches thick and surprisingly sleek for a 65-inch RPTV. It looks pretty stable as the center of gravity is well positioned with the bulk of the components in the bottom half of the cabinet. The image is outstanding, nothing better in the market, and as long as the consumer models do not cost a small fortune, Laser TV will make an immediate impact on the HDTV market. Mitsubishi is keenly aware of the TV price wars, and they have announced their initial models will be competitively priced with the LCD/PDP market. More and more firms are making use of laser light engines, which produce the brightest and highest color gamet of any light source, so I expect the inevitable mass production of laser engines for use in cell phone screens and microdisplays will drive laser component costs down significantly in the short term. http://laser-tv.org Mitsubishi’s Laser TV introduced at the 2008 CES was approximately 10 inches thick and surprisingly sleek for a 65-inch RPTV. It looks pretty stable as the center of gravity is well positioned with the bulk of the components in the bottom half of the cabinet. The image is outstanding, nothing better in the market, and as long as the consumer models do not cost a small fortune, Laser TV will make an immediate impact on the HDTV market. Mitsubishi is keenly aware of the TV price wars, and they have announced their initial models will be competitively priced with the LCD/PDP market. More and more firms are making use of laser light engines, which produce the brightest and highest color gamet of any light source, so I expect the inevitable mass production of laser engines for use in cell phone screens and microdisplays will drive laser component costs down significantly in the short term.
http://laser-tv.org

]]> By: Kim http://fukumimi.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/from-eweek-are-laser-hdtvs-on-the-horizon/#comment-17535 Kim Tue, 05 Jun 2007 04:55:14 +0000 http://fukumimi.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/from-eweek-are-laser-hdtvs-on-the-horizon/#comment-17535 I'm in the optics industry supplying parts to the RPTV guys. I must say that your comments are sharp, coming from a VC perspective. The big fear is that RPTV has to reinvent the thin and light model, in order to address consumers' big craze about hanging the big screen display on the wall (though I suspect few people actually do this). Give it two years at most, RPTV will dispear in light of the relentless pursuit of cost cutting by the LCD/PDP set makers in the 40", 50" etc screen sizes. Sony SXRD probably has the best image quality of all TV technologies at the marketplace right now, but they sell far more units of Bravia LCDs (even excluding the really small sizes I’m in the optics industry supplying parts to the RPTV guys. I must say that your comments are sharp, coming from a VC perspective. The big fear is that RPTV has to reinvent the thin and light model, in order to address consumers’ big craze about hanging the big screen display on the wall (though I suspect few people actually do this). Give it two years at most, RPTV will dispear in light of the relentless pursuit of cost cutting by the LCD/PDP set makers in the 40″, 50″ etc screen sizes.

Sony SXRD probably has the best image quality of all TV technologies at the marketplace right now, but they sell far more units of Bravia LCDs (even excluding the really small sizes

]]> By: fukumimi http://fukumimi.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/from-eweek-are-laser-hdtvs-on-the-horizon/#comment-12700 fukumimi Mon, 07 May 2007 10:04:09 +0000 http://fukumimi.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/from-eweek-are-laser-hdtvs-on-the-horizon/#comment-12700 I would say that 6"~8" depth is probably achieveable with a laser light engine in the 50-70V screen form factor. The big strength of laser sources is the ability to control dispersion in a much tighter manner than for traditional light sources which should allow much more agressive optics. Does 2"~4" of depth really make much difference for the placement flexibility of a 65V screen, which would ideally be viewed from a distance of 2.2m~3.1m (viewing angle 36 to 26 degrees), per THX recommendations, which would require a decent sized room to start off with? [Looking at the ~4" depth touted by a 65V LCD/PDP TV. If you read the specs closely, this is usually the minimum depth of the thinnest portion of the screen, and there are substantial portions of the screen (often at the base, to keep CoG low) which add another 1" or so in depth] For a wall mounted TV, that would be the end of the story. But most people use their TVs in free standing mode. Because of the weight of the big glass panels, LCD/PDP TVs require substantial bases with a significant footprint to ensure stability. Typically the stand depth is around 40cm, or 16". This places the front of the screen at a distance of around 10" from the back of the stand. Using this comparison, an RPTV would be able to get way with a depth of 10" for the screen to be positioned as far into the room as with a free standing LCD/PDP with stand. JVC showed RPTVs at the CES in Las Vegas this year with depths of 10.8" (for a 58V) or 11.6" (for a 65V) using their LCOS D-ILA and revised optics (but with a traditional UHP light source), and this translates to 1"~2" further into the room than an equivalent sized LCD/PDP, at most. Further, an RPTV does not require any support structures protruding in front of the display, as a LCD/PDP panel footer does. (Regardless of the technology, going to a footprint significantly less than 10" is probably not wise when dealing with structures nearly 1m tall, but if anything RPTVs will have an edge with regards to stability because they can put virtually all active components at the bottom of the unit.) I would say that 6″~8″ depth is probably achieveable with a laser light engine in the 50-70V screen form factor. The big strength of laser sources is the ability to control dispersion in a much tighter manner than for traditional light sources which should allow much more agressive optics.

Does 2″~4″ of depth really make much difference for the placement flexibility of a 65V screen, which would ideally be viewed from a distance of 2.2m~3.1m (viewing angle 36 to 26 degrees), per THX recommendations, which would require a decent sized room to start off with?

[Looking at the ~4" depth touted by a 65V LCD/PDP TV. If you read the specs closely, this is usually the minimum depth of the thinnest portion of the screen, and there are substantial portions of the screen (often at the base, to keep CoG low) which add another 1" or so in depth]

For a wall mounted TV, that would be the end of the story.

But most people use their TVs in free standing mode. Because of the weight of the big glass panels, LCD/PDP TVs require substantial bases with a significant footprint to ensure stability. Typically the stand depth is around 40cm, or 16″. This places the front of the screen at a distance of around 10″ from the back of the stand.

Using this comparison, an RPTV would be able to get way with a depth of 10″ for the screen to be positioned as far into the room as with a free standing LCD/PDP with stand.

JVC showed RPTVs at the CES in Las Vegas this year with depths of 10.8″ (for a 58V) or 11.6″ (for a 65V) using their LCOS D-ILA and revised optics (but with a traditional UHP light source), and this translates to 1″~2″ further into the room than an equivalent sized LCD/PDP, at most.

Further, an RPTV does not require any support structures protruding in front of the display, as a LCD/PDP panel footer does.

(Regardless of the technology, going to a footprint significantly less than 10″ is probably not wise when dealing with structures nearly 1m tall, but if anything RPTVs will have an edge with regards to stability because they can put virtually all active components at the bottom of the unit.)

]]> By: Kim http://fukumimi.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/from-eweek-are-laser-hdtvs-on-the-horizon/#comment-12025 Kim Sun, 29 Apr 2007 23:25:53 +0000 http://fukumimi.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/from-eweek-are-laser-hdtvs-on-the-horizon/#comment-12025 "Laser light engines will allow for even slimmer form factors" Just how slim do you think the entire project box (RPTV) will become? Will it ever be as slim as the 3" or 4" LCTV/PDP panel, considering the need to blow up the modulated image on a 50" screen size? Are you able to refer to some links for information of ultra-slim RPTVs based on laser/LED light sources? “Laser light engines will allow for even slimmer form factors”

Just how slim do you think the entire project box (RPTV) will become? Will it ever be as slim as the 3″ or 4″ LCTV/PDP panel, considering the need to blow up the modulated image on a 50″ screen size?

Are you able to refer to some links for information of ultra-slim RPTVs based on laser/LED light sources?

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