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Mitsubishi LaserVue 65" HDTV World Premiere
First Impressions
Our first demo experience with the LaserVue TV was a 3D demo set up in the trailer. We watched a short loop of 3D-enhanced footage, including two Star Wars scenes (which were amazing) and a trailer for an animated movie about flies that become astronauts and save the day, or something. We were provided some special glasses that synced up with the television through the aforementioned 3D glasses emitter. The 3D effect was pretty astounding, but the folks from Mitsubishi confirmed that there's still not much content available. [Kurtis: One of our fellow gawkers was telling the Mitsu-rep how he'd nearly bought such-and-such television last year for its 3D capabilities, but was disappointed to learn that there wasn't much source material yet. He sounded pretty heartbroken when we coaxed the rep into admitting that the source material still really isn't there, and that if/when such source content does make it into the mainstream, it may be under a new standard not backward compatible with current TVs.] Still, it's a nice feature with a lot of potential, and a great way to show off a television.       [Kurtis: Yeah, that's Cameron trying to strike a pose with the 3D glasses...] After we finished in the trailer, we headed into the store proper and checked out the comparison setup. One of the first things I noticed was the difference in color between the three sets. The reds on the LaserVue popped out vibrantly. The reds on the Pioneer and Sharp displays were more orange than I would have noticed without the LaserVue present. Earlier reports from CES stated that the colors on Mitsubishi's prototype almost seemed surreal, and I'd agree. We made sure the settings were as balanced as possible between the three displays, and the color performance on the LaserVue was still noticeably more impressive.    The blacks on the Pioneer Kuro panel were about as black as I have seen before, but I did see some crushing with especially dark scenes. The Sharp panel had the least observed black level performance of the three, with the LaserVue falling in between the two for most scenes. On the dark scenes where the Kuro was crushin', the LaserVue was better able to hold on to the details. When we asked about life expectancy, the Mitsu-rep didn't quote any numbers, but he did tell us that the life expectancy for a TV with this technology was very high. They have yet to see a failure even in their accelerated stress testing, so they simply don't have any numbers to quote yet. What he did say was that over the life of a laser, there will be significantly less degradation of brightness or color accuracy (approaching none) as compared with other TV technologies, simply due to the nature of lasers.
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Add Comment
9 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!
9 - Posted by
sonna
on December 22, 2009 - 12:32 pm DirectBuy has this tv on special for $2,818!!! Sonna
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