Mitsubishi LaserVue Quick Specs

Here's the current specs and details we "know" about for the new Mitsubishi LaserVue Laser TV:

• Ultra Thin Frame - less than an inch
• 1080p LCD HDTV
• Sizes from 40” to 52.”
• Fairly expensive from $2,499 to $4,499. Expect that to be around £1,699 to £2,999 in the UK.

The sad thing is that I need a couple of new flat panel TV's for the living room and games room but I'm holding off until they arrive as who wants an inferior TV when they can have the Mitsubishi LaserVue?

Mitsubishi Laser TV Released In 3Q 2008

Mitsubishi said yesterday that they expect the much anticipated Laser TV to be avaliable to buy in the 3rd quarter of this year!

It looks like the official name of the TV will be 'LaserVue and it most certainly set to revolutionise television viewing.

The press release stated:

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2008, Mitsubishi launched a new category of large-format televisions with ground-breaking laser technology, and today the company announced the brand name for its new Laser TV -- LaserVue. As the first-ever laser-powered television, LaserVue will deliver a range of color never before seen in home entertainment. Precise and focused, the purity of laser light surpasses current high-definition technologies. Today's HDTVs display less than 40 percent of the color spectrum that the eye can see. Now, for the first time ever, laser produces twice the color. Laser beams provide the widest range of rich, complex colors, along with the most clarity and depth of field.

Mitsubishi LaserVue TVs not only provide the ultimate picture quality, they are also capable of delivering a true 3D viewing experience. In addition, they are environmentally friendly, consuming approximately one-half the power of today's LCD TVs, and approximately one-third the power consumption of plasma TVs.

"Mitsubishi has created a new category in television with laser technology and now we are creating an exciting new brand, LaserVue, which we believe consumers will come to equate with the industry's best performing televisions," continued DeMartin.

And the NY Times has a nice piece on it here.

65" Laser TV To Hit America First

So Mitsubishi will release a huge 65" Laser TV this Autumn and the gits in America (said in a loving tone) will get their grubby mits on it first! The thing is that we're all expecting it to be as thin as a pancake but i4u is reporting that it'll have a "possible a depth of 10 inches." Isn't this a load of rubbish? Haven't we seen all over the net that it'll be much thinner than that?

Mitsubishi Heading For Trademark Dispute With LaserVue?

Checking the United State Patent And Trademark Office website you find that on 24th January 2008 Mtisubishi applied for the trademark "Laservue" for a new TV:

Word Mark LASERVUE
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Televisions
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 77379685
Filing Date January 24, 2008
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 9351 Jeronimo Road Irvine CALIFORNIA 92618
Attorney of Record Ronald L. Taylor
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

The thing is they don't own laservue.com, Jay Bansal MD, a laser eye surgeon does. I can just see a long protracted legal dispute commencing soon!

But wait, it gets worse. The next record on the USPTO site is for "LASERVUE HD CUSTOM LASIK":

Word Mark LASERVUE HD CUSTOM LASIK
Goods and Services IC 044. US 100 101. G & S: Laser vision surgery services, lasik eye surgery, refractive eye surgery, refractive cataract surgery
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 77040286
Filing Date November 9, 2006
Current Filing Basis 1B;44D
Original Filing Basis 1B;44D
Owner (APPLICANT) Société de gestion Fovea 20/20 inc. CORPORATION CANADA Suite 201 1100 Beaumont avenue Mont-Royal CANADA H3P3H5
Attorney of Record Richard S. Gareau
Priority Date November 9, 2006
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE "LASIK" APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

They don't claim to have sole rights for the use of "Lasik" but would there be some confusion over the Laservue names?

When Mitsubishi mention the product in the press will they use a url based on the Mitsubishi TV.com domain or their Believing is Seeing site? Or will they try and get the Laservue.com domain?

Mitsubishi Lazr TV For The Green In Us?

So apparently the Mitsubishi LazrTV will use 25% less power than traditional plasma / LCD TVs. With the rising cost of electricity and the the burgeoning number of households with these flat panel tv's, couldn't we help save the planet with a Laser TV from Mitsubishi?

Looking at a report by the Telegraph, a plasma TV will use 450 watts of electricity, whilst a tradtional TV will use 75 watts. They stated that "if half of all British households buy a plasma screen TV, the Government is going to need to build two extra power stations to cope with the electricity demand."

So if you did want to help reduce your "carbon footprint" and your energy bills you don't have to get a wind turbine in the garden but turn to a Lazr TV.

But if you can't wait until the end of the year to get your environmentally-friendly TV then you should try the Sony's 40-inch KDL-40D3000 LCD TV which was recently voted EISA's ( European Imaging and Sound Association) European Green Television 2007-2008.

Samsung's OLED 31" Prototype TV

I'm sure the Mitsubishi Laser TVs will out sell the Samsung OLED TVs based on this prototype image from CEBIT 2008 basically because of the extremely high cost. You could expect to pay £1500 for a 31 inch model which is about 3 times the price of traditional LCD TVs.



Just look at that pic though! It does look amazing!!!!

New Mitsubishi Laser TV Pics

The Mitsubishi Laser TV looks even more amazing in these newly released pictures:




Sexy or what?

Can I Replace The Laser?

Nope, its designed to last as long as you'll want the TV. You won't need to replace anything - well that's the plan!

When Will The Laser TV Be Released?

Well it looks like it'll be out in late 2008 in the States and hopefully it'll still make its debut in the UK in the same year.

There's no cast-iron guarantee it'll make it however.

But they do assert the USA date on their site:

How Much Will Laser TVs Cost?

I suppose its like pissing in the wind? Well there are some indications out there.

Just look at their official site for the Laser Tv, in their FAQ they don't even give any indication of cost.

Well their General Manager of Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, a Mr DeMartin has stated that It'll be competitive with flat panel prices". Well that doesn't mean anything really. When you're looking at the extra features of the flat panel screens they can afford to charge a premium - but how much?

Ah, but when you read the former Director of Product Development of Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, Marty Zanfino, when he said “Large screen laser television is expected to be competitively priced with plasma television in sizes of 52 inches and larger.” I think we can agree they'll be around £3,500 / $5,000 to start.