Lasers, Photonics and Liquid Crystals, Oh My!: Next-gen LCD panels may use lasers

If you thought Mitsubishi’s LaserVue high-priced but beautiful-screened behemoths were the be-all and end-all in laser usage in HDTV, hold your horses.

Mitsubishi is going on with their line, but the brightness and color depth offered by that HDTV are just the very tip of the iceberg, researchers at the Centre of Molecular Materials and Photonics at the University of Cambridge say. The technology can go even further than Mitsu took them with their LaserVue marvel – and at a cheaper price.

They say that liquid crystals in concert with a single, laser source would give the same gorgeous picture the LaserVue can do, but even more cheaply and more reliably. We think it’ll be awhile before this happens, but it looks like lasers and LCD together will play a big part in your flat panel experience in the future.

Are you ready for laser-HDTV? Mitsubishi hopes so

You thought plasma, LCD, OLED, DLP and CRT were all the choices you had in HDTV? Not quite. Mitsubishi is adding a new color to the palette, in the form of a high-def TV that uses all laser technology. Expect to pay a large premium, though, as always, for the increase in picture quality and planet-friendliness.

LaserVue HDTV from Mitsubishi is expected to release in the next few weeks, very much in time for the holiday rush on gadgets. The difference over other high-def sets is that it uses an engine powered by laser lights, instead of standard TV lighting technology. It sounds cool, as many new fangled ideas do, but expect to feel much lighter in the wallet to get in on the newest thing.

The LaserVue set will retail for $6,999, according to published inside info. Mitsubishi promises that it offers a sharper picture, more defined colors and greater power efficiency. It will use approximately one third of the power that a similar plasma HDTV would expend, and the new fangled device should be available in many chain and big-box stores very soon.