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New Laser Cinema Projectors Offer Superior Picture Quality, Increased Pew Pew Factor
Posted by Adrian Covert at 1:05 PM on November 6, 2008
The Economist has a great piece about researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a digital cinema projector that uses lasers as the main display technology. In doing so, these projectors are able to display a staggering 80 percent of the colour range visible to the human eye. Previously, the 60 percent range that 35mm film offered was considered the benchmark for other projectors and displays to measure themselves up against.
In the past, laser projectors were never considered because lasers would produce speckle in the picture, thus reducing picture sharpness. But what researchers have done is combine separate red, blue and green lasers together with DLP technology to produce a clear picture. By melding the separate lasers together to produce a white laser, then having the DLP break it back part into RGB pixels, each laser cancels out the speckle created by the others.
Not only that, but in theory, by increasing the intensity of the lasers, these new projectors could theoretically display 90% of the visible colour range while still using 35 percent less power than a xenon lamp projector. The only issue now for the budding technology is the initial cost. Considering lasers last much longer than Xenon lamps and movie houses can ditch film without sacrificing picture quality, these laser projectors should be an enticing option. [The Economist]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
jayhawk11
Posted 3:30 PM 6/11/08
@takashimiike yes really: It's unclear at this point, though I'm sure we could find a way to tie the Jesus-phone into this.
jayhawk11
General Halfshaftery
Posted 3:29 PM 6/11/08
Hey the angles in that photo appear to be less than truthful.
Crossing the laser streams does not appear to cause all life to stop instantaneously and every molecule in our bodies to explode at the speed of light, but a white laser instead!
General Halfshaftery
takashimiike yes really
Posted 3:24 PM 6/11/08
Pew? What does this have to do with Church?
takashimiike yes really
Powered by cookies and beer
Posted 3:10 PM 6/11/08
They say nothing about HD.
Powered by cookies and beer
Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler
Posted 4:00 PM 6/11/08
@takashimiike yes really: Confucious say, "Man who farts in church, must sit in own pew."
Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler
latterman
Posted 3:52 PM 6/11/08
What if someone looks into the beam? That can't be good.
latterman
LittleJon
Posted 5:45 PM 6/11/08
This is basically the same as Mitsubishi's LaserVue technology apart from being front instead of back projection.
LittleJon
DarkNight_DS
Posted 6:05 PM 6/11/08
Doh! I was hoping to get this for home use.
DarkNight_DS
winmac
Posted 6:29 PM 6/11/08
@latterman: "You'll Poke Your Eye Out, Kid"!
winmac
citizen024
Posted 8:25 PM 6/11/08
@Powered by cookies and beer: im assuming the resolution will be either 2k (full HD) or 4k (4096×2160), since these two are basically standard for digital cinemas.
[en.wikipedia.org]
citizen024
dinsey
Posted 8:52 PM 6/11/08
So it's really just a laser-based light source for a DLP projector. Collimators broaden the beam so that they cover the entire area of the DLP mirror array, so stare away - your retinas will be quite safe
dinsey
PastorDoodah
Posted 11:13 PM 6/11/08
So it won't actually etch pictures onto walls and passers-by? Um. I really was hoping for something more dangerous.
PastorDoodah
Knirfie
Posted 1:28 AM 7/11/08
@Powered by cookies and beer: It's a DLP projector with lasers as a light source, so resolution is dependent on the DLP chip/tech used. It will most likely be 4K like citizen024 said.
Knirfie
Shai
Posted 2:28 AM 7/11/08
Set phasers to "Cinematic Adventure".
Shai
Chiper
Posted 3:57 AM 7/11/08
So what you're saying is... they've cross the streams..
Chiper
DJTripleRRR
Posted 5:40 AM 7/11/08
MMM movies are gonne be more pretty now yay
DJTripleRRR
magikal04
Posted 6:02 PM 6/11/08
wait, if they're using lasers, wouldn't it increase the chances of laser burn-in on the screen?
on another note, can't wait till the us army gets a hold of it. making zapping people with lasers look like a movie. i foresee operation:movie death!
magikal04
OrlanthaKoleszar
Posted 3:45 PM 6/11/08
Old technology - this has been around for ages, the problem is that blue and green laser diodes are prohibitively expensive to put this into mass production, not to mention the fact that there are no class 2 b/g lasers - which means you could potentially blind people with this thing. I saw this demo'ed 2 years ago and it blew my mind, but the practical limitations make this a sadly impossible dream. In our lifetime anyway. :)
OrlanthaKoleszar