Startup unveils 100 inch 3D laser TV

  By Richard Hart

LOS GATOS, CA (KGO) -- In a few years, you could be watching 3D laser TV. This week, a Los Gatos startup unveiled the world's first 100-inch 3D home theater powered by lasers.

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There is a tree that looks so real you could touch it. It's being displayed on the first 3D home theater powered by lasers -- from HDI of Los Gatos.

The new 3D is all the rage in entertainment around the world. Most videogames come in 3D versions. A new 3D movie will be released every month in the coming year. It's all being driven by new technology that has replaced the old red-blue glasses with stylish models designed for digital.

Now comes the next step, in this 100-inch screen. The colors are richer than anything else, because they come from lasers. The lasers are cheap. They're low power, consuming just 1W each. Try that with your plasma. And it's true HD. Not just 1080p, but 1080 Hertz.

"This device is unique in the fact that it's extremely fast," says Chief Technical Officer Edmund Sandberg. "It will do over a thousand frames a second. That allows you to integrate all the color and everything into one device."

It also means the picture no longer needs to flash from one eye to other. You know that we can't show you how good the 3D is, because you watch a 2D television set. But, take it from me. We've seen RealD, Dolby, film, all kinds of 3D. And this is the smoothest yet. And smoothness means no headaches."

Ed Sandberg has been designing 3D displays for 20 years. He and his partners at HDI developed their new system practically from scratch. They have their own lasers, their own glasses, ginormous screen, and high-speed liquid crystal on silicon.

"1920 by 1080 lines all the time to your eye, and in parallel," Sandberg assures us.

The company faces many challenges. Others are experimenting with lasers, and 3D capable televisions already exist. But no one has quite managed to combine everything in a package with 3D flash without all the flashing.

------- Links -------

Consumer Electronics Association 3D Television Predictions

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cea/vision0109/

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