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by Mike Zazaian October 11, 2006 - 11:53am, 13 Comments

Australian company Arasor International announced the world’s first laser television in Sydney today, boasting an image with as many as three times more colors than conventional plasma, but at half the cost.

The Laser TV technology hinges around a unique optoelectronic chip developed by Arasor’s Silocon-Valley-based US partner, Novalux. The chip allows a laser projection device within the TV to produce as much as three times the color spectrum that current Plasma and LCD TVs are capable of. Said Novalux Chief Executive Jean-Michel Pelaprat:

If you look at any screen today, the color content is roughly about 30-35 per cent of what the eye can see. But for the very first time with a laser TV we’ll be able to see 90 per cent of what the eye can see. All of a sudden what you see is a lifelike image on display.

In addition to a broader range of colors, the TV will carry approximately half the cost of conventional Plasma televisions, while consuming only a quarter of the energy. Plasma TV production has always been plagued by low yield rates, meaning that of the TVs produced only 70 to 90 percent actually function. To offset the costs of dead Plasma TVs manufacturers hike the bottom line and pass the literal buck along to consumers.

The technology of the laser-producing optoelectronic chip won’t be limited to TVs, however. With the ability to produce hi-fidelity images on virtually any surface, the chips will be implemented in up coming cell phones, home theater projectors, as well as projectors in cinemas where digital projection is employed.

TVs using the chip are set to appear on shelves around Christmas of 2007. Companies such as Mitsubishi and Samsung are already lined up to stuff the new optoelectronic chip into bigger, brighter TV models. Said Pelaprat, Plasma is now something of the past.

[via The Age]