DailyTech - Mitsubishi Axes DLP Rear Projection TVs

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Gadgets Mitsubishi Axes DLP Rear Projection TVs
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - December 3, 2012 9:31 AM

48 comment(s) - last by CarbonJoe.. on Dec 5 at 11:39 AM

Rear screen projection TVs are dead

Mitsubishi has announced the end of its rear projection screen TVs. For many years if you had big-screen TV, it was typically a rear projection style unit. As pricing on LCD and plasma TV sets came down and screen sizes increased, consumer interest in rear projection TVs waned.

Mitsubishi was the last manufacturer producing these relics from the past, but the company has informed its authorized service centers 73-inch, 82-inch, and 92-inch DLP projection TVs will be discontinued.

Mitsubishi Electrical Visual Solutions America (MEVSA) president and CEO Junichi Nose stated that the change was part of an "important change in business direction, which will necessitate a corresponding restructuring of the MEVSA organization."

MESVA's Max Wasinger added, "We are in the midst of an orderly exit from the DLP TV business. MEVSA will now focus on B-to-B (projectors, display wall, printers, digital signage, monitors, etc.) and the home theater projector business."

Mitsubishi's line of projection screen TVs were far from inexpensive. The 75-inch LaserVue TV sold for about $4,000 at retail locations around the country.

Source: CE Pro

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RE: Poor example....

By Solandri on 12/3/2012 2:41:29 PM , Rating: 2

All rear projection sets have a viewing angle problem. There's a tiny array of fresnel lenses just behind the screen which directs most of the light forward, causing image brightness to drop off if viewed from a different direction. In other words, the brightness falls off towards the sides because that light is being redirected straight forward to increase brightness when viewed straight on.

The problem with rear projection (and also front projection) is that all the light has to come from a single source - a bulb which is focused by a lens, shines onto a DLP, then goes to the screen. This means it gets really hot where the light is most concentrated. That limits the maximum amount of lighting you can use before overheating and melting start to become an issue. By the time that light is spread over a large screen, it's pretty dim. And so you need to concentrate it within a narrow angle to maintain brightness.

LEDs and older LCDs on the other hand can spread the light source out along the edges of the screen, allowing for higher overall light output without as much heat issues at any single point. LEDs in particular run very cool (are very efficient). Ideally you'd be able to use them in a projection TV, but they don't yet produce enough light to replace a halogen or arc bulb. I was really hoping laser LED projectors would make up for this deficiency, but that technology seems to have fallen by the wayside.

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