Building the Laser TVs of the future
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Hisense is launching the world’s first 8K Laser TV, side-stepping traditional projection issues with ground-breaking technology.
New display technologies are changing the world of home entertainment, and one of the most exciting is Laser TV. The mechanism consists of an ultra short throw lens that lights up a wall-mounted screen inches away. In essence, it prevents disruption of viewing that may occur with conventional projection, by taking away the need for distance. Using this tech, Hisense is now developing the world’s first 8K Laser TV, to be launched by the end of 2022. The state-of-the-art product has the potential to be a game changer for home entertainment. So how was it developed over the last 15 years?
One of the holy grails of the TV industry has been achieving a larger image that doesn’t lack in quality, brightness or colour, and is convenient for the average household. “Everyone needs a larger TV,” says Dr Liu Xianrong, chief scientist and general manager of Hisense Laser Display Co. Ltd, who is currently working on the 8K Laser TV project. “We had a vision that one day, TVs might be bigger than 100” in size, so we had to get ready for that. “We started our research and concentrated on laser displays. At that time, it was laser projection technology with a laser source, but it was only a technology, not a product.”
“We started our research and concentrated on laser displays. At that time, it was
laser projection technology with a laser source, but it was only a technology,
not a product.”
Thinking outside the projector box
In 2007, Hisense was one of the first companies in the world to rethink the idea of projectors for the home and popularise the idea of Laser TV as a direct competitor to conventional flat panel TVs, rather than being in a separate category with other projectors. “It started out with Hisense promoting this idea of a console TV with a wall-mounted screen, whose greatest benefit was a more impactful image size,” says Rob Sabin, editor-in-chief of US projection industry trade magazine ProjectionCentral.
Between 2007 to 2011, Hisense researched the best laser source for the console box, starting with a single laser. The firm then added picture calibration, a sound bar, smart TV capability and a Texas Instruments digital light processing chip. Hisense also created a multi-layered ambient light rejection screen containing “a very complicated artificial structure” of dyes, microstructures and spectral colour calibrations, says Dr Liu.
Solving the image conundrum
The key to success was in solving challenges with conventional projection. To combat problems with existing technology, Hisense developed an ultra short throw lens to get closer to the screen. In 2014 and 2015, the firm released a 2K Laser TV with 1080p resolution that was 55cm away from the wall, while in 2016, the 4K Laser TV was only 50cm (20”) away from the screen, which was a world first at the time.
By the end of 2022, Hisense’s 8K Laser TVs will be just 45cm (18”) away from the wall. “Ultra short throw projection has been around for a really long time,” says Mr Sabin. “What hadn’t been done was using ultra short throw for a consumer display.” Hisense, he says “had a great idea”. The innovation did not stop there. Hisense has produced the world's first 100” ultra short throw Laser TV, the world’s first 100” 4K ultra short throw Laser TV, the world’s first ultra short throw dual-colour Laser TV, and the world's first 300” laser cinema.
“As the world adjusts to the ’new normal’ of living amidst a global pandemic, over the last two years, consumers have been spending—and continue to spend—more time transforming their homes into suitable immersive spaces for both work and play,” says Yu Zhitao, vice-president of Hisense Group. “This has ushered in a new era of in-home entertainment and in-home offices where displays are more important than they have ever been before.
No longer blinded by the light
High-definition projection is not just a matter of getting an image on the wall, the quality of that image is also key. “Projectors, up until recently, have required a dark room in order for the projection to look as good as a regular TV,” explains Mr Sabin. “What Hisense managed to do is figure out how to put a large image into a traditionally lit family room—a room with moderate or bright lighting in it—and have it look as good as a regular TV image.”
“The breakthrough,” says Mr Sabin, “was the brightness of the lasers.” Hisense’s laser technology was able to overcome the issue of ambient light in a normally lit household. For example, Hisense’s latest TriChroma Laser TV range is 20% brighter at the pixel level with a 430-nit picture brightness, exceeding that of a regular TV.
For Laser TVs to compete with flat panels, they must be able to filter the amount of light seen on screen. This is known as the colour contrast ratio, or “luminance” – applied so that whites look brighter and blacks look darker. “With the high 3,000 lumen brightness in our Laser TVs, we can have picture quality close to that of LCD displays, so it satisfies the consumer’s requirements for watching TV in their living rooms in the daytime,” says Dr Liu.
All Hisense screens are also certified by TÜV Rheinland, meaning that displays are proven to have low blue light and are flicker-free, ensuring eye comfort and reduces eye strain.
“With the high 3,000 lumen brightness in our Laser TVs, we can have picture
quality close to that of LCD displays, so it satisfies the consumer’s
requirements for watching TV in their living rooms in the daytime.”
Dr Liu says Hisense believes it will be able to get the Laser TV screen to be as dark as LCD in the next two to three years, and bring technology to the future standard both Hisense and consumers expect. “People are continuing to demand ever bigger TV sizes and better picture quality. However, the larger the screen, the more it exposes the flaws and defects of the picture. This is why we must keep evolving the development of display technologies,” says Mr Yu.
A positive result will be a game changer not only for the industry, but ultimately for consumers as well.
Produced by EI Studios, the custom division of Economist Impact
