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Mitsubishi LaserVue 65" HDTV World Premiere
Introduction
Yesterday afternoon, Kurtis and I got the chance to check out the World Premiere of Mitsubishi's new "LaserVue" HDTV at San Antonio's high-end audio/video emporium, Bjorn's. The folks from Mitsubishi were kind enough to take the time to give us a grand tour and explain the details about what makes this new tech so special. I read up on the technology a few months back, but since I wasn't at CES 2008, I'd never seen the prototypes in action. Well, now I've done one better, since Mitsubishi brought their only two production models in existence to Bjorn's for this World Premiere event. And you're in luck, because I'm gonna tell you all about it. The first thing we noticed when we pulled into Bjorn's was that some joker parked their gigantic pimped out big-rig right in the best parking     For this event, Mitsubishi had set up two televisions - one in the trailer, streaming 3D 1080p content from an HTPC, and a second unit inside the store that was flanked by comparable LCD and Plasma sets for direct comparison purposes. I'm sure that they wanted to have more on hand, but as I previously mentioned, these are the only two production LaserVue TVs in existence as of writing. They were hot off the assembly line, apparently built and shipped just this week. Before I get to the juicy details, let's take a quick look at the specs behind this new display technology. What's New The LaserVue L65-A90 is a high-end HDTV, and it's got the specs to match. The 65" display sports 1080p resolution with "Plush1080p" up-conversion for lower resolution signals. You also get 120Hz image interpolation tech, dubbed "Smooth120Hz." It uses Mitsubishi's 6-color processor with the new LaserVue Light Engine to produce two times the color of any other consumer HDTV. That's close to 200% of the color gamut for BT.709, the standard for High Definition television content. As far as inputs go, there are four HDMI 1.3a ports and two component inputs located on the rear of the display, with an additional component input on the front. There's also a PC/DVI port (with dedicated audio-ins as well) on the rear next to the "3D glasses emitter" port. To round things out, there are two RF antenna inputs and an S-Video input, should you need them. Footprint-wise, the LaserVue set is somewhere between a Plasma/LCD and a traditional DLP (I specify traditional because, technically, the LaserVue is a DLP too). It's 12.5" deep with the stabilizing foot attached, and 10.6" deep without, for when you mount it on the wall. Yes, it's wall mountable. It stands almost 40" tall and weighs about 137 pounds. It's a large television, but the depth is really an improvement over traditional DLP sets. [Kurtis: I asked the Mitsubishi rep if the LaserVue set was wall-mountable, because it is a good bit thinner than traditional DLPs. He said yes, but I guess I wasn't clear enough with my question. I mean, you can mount ANYTHING to a wall if you're willing to spend enough money. The fact is, I'd generally say that traditional DLPs aren't wall-mountable, practically speaking, because of their weight, and a comparably sized one is around half the weight of this LaserVue set. So, if you're sane, you probably won't be putting this one on the wall either.] One of the long-term benefits of the LaserVue technology is a significantly lower level of power consumption compared to other HDTV technologies. A Pioneer Elite 60" plasma requires 524W for operation; a Sharp Aquos 65" LCD requires 525W; Mitsubishi's 65" LaserVue TV only needs 135W. On average, the LaserVue required one-third the power of a comparably sized LCD and one-fourth of a similar plasma set. If you're dropping the suggested retail price of $6,999.99, you may not be as worried about your utility bill, but it's still good to see gains with regards to efficiency. [Kurtis: Just think... you can tell your friends you're buying the TV in an effort to "go green" - nevermind the Hummer in the driveway or the decked-out 24x7x365 fully-redundant file servers in the basement.]
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Add Comment
8 User Comments 1 - Posted by
Breaker
on October 9, 2008 - 2:56 am Very nice stuff, coming finally from Mitsubishi. I just can't wait to see some console / PC game test in full HD quality! It must be awesome!!!
2 - Posted by
Hawk
on October 9, 2008 - 2:12 pm Are there any estimates on release date and/or cost of the 73-inch model??
3 - Posted by
Kurtis
on October 9, 2008 - 3:04 pm They said pretty much for the rest of the year the 65" will be the only LaserVue. They need to ramp up production and get these ones on sale first, and then some time next year we'll probably see bigger models. They didn't give any concrete dates.
4 - Posted by
rrios28
on October 21, 2008 - 9:12 pm Do you think it will take some time to work out the bugs in the first year, is it better to wait till the price comes down if at all. thx
5 - Posted by
Kurtis
on October 22, 2008 - 10:48 am Well, it's always a good idea to let the bugs get worked out, with any new product. Whether you're patient enough to wait is another matter all together. I don't know if prices will come down any time soon, though.
6 - Posted by
Art
on November 3, 2008 - 2:20 am Cameron and Kurtis, thanks for the nice review. That was good advice telling the party to wait until the bugs are worked out. I bought the Mitsubishi first batch of 73 inch CRT HD receiver, serial number 0001023, i.e. the 1023 model off the production line in 1999. I had many problems and Mitsubishi replaced it in 2000, and the receiver has worked without any failures for 8 years with about 20,000 or so hours on the tubes and the tubes still produce a good picture as compared to Vizio 60 inch Plasma which is very good. I hope that you can give the 73 inch laservue an excellent rating, then I will surely buy it after it has been on the market for 6 to 9 month. Again thanks for all the good work, Art
7 - Posted by
Brad
on February 1, 2009 - 11:29 am I know this is a new technology, and that with the "new" you get the "$$$", but from what I've read about this subject this tech represents a tremendous cost savings to the manufacturer because of the decreased material costs and simplicity of manufacture. I mean after all, you have three lasers pointing at one scanning mirror (vs the DLP's thousands), no focusing lenses because laser light is already collimated, and smaller power supplies (only 135W!) I like this technology, and I think it has the potential to revolutionize the display industry, but not if they price themselves out of the game. Mitsubishi, look around at the other companies developing this tech (though maybe not in a TV yet) and ask yourselves if $7,000 is a good price-point for a new tech in a slumping economy. That is, if you want it to succeed. 8 - Posted by
nikki
on June 25, 2009 - 3:42 pm We bought the newest Mitsubishi laservue t.v. earlier this year, and although bright, cool, and awesome, we have had many problems. In fact Mitsubishi had to replace our laservue in May. We went without our main t.v. for a week, then they sent us a loaner t.v. and another week went by before we received another laservue. A month later our "new" laservue is not working and my husband and I are furious. Although tech support is friendly, they are sometimes slow to respond. For laservue customers being a "priority" 2 weeks was a long time to wait without a t.v. We are still waiting to get this one fixed. Buyer beware!
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