Australia got the chance to be presented with the next generation in high-definition home television – the Laser TV.

The company behind the new technology, Arasor, announced that the new high-definition Laser TVs will use laser beams to display images on the screen, instead of using a DLP (digital light processing) chip or an electron gun.

The new technology will offer a far richer color range compared to actual technologies. Current TV technologies are able to provide a color range of up to 30-35% of what the eye can see, but the laser technology is able to double that amount and deliver an astonishing color range of up 90%, thus offering a more “lifelike image”.

According to Arasor, Laser TV will be half the weight and half the cost of plasma and LCD TVs, will have 75% less power output, will be thinner and will show more then twice the range of colors that their rival technologies. Also, Arasor says that Laser TVs will come in various shapes, from some small enough to fit a mobile phone or a PDA and some being large enough to be installed in cinemas.

Laser TVs will have an approximate 50,000 hour life and will offer almost constant 100% power output from the laser throughout their entire life span.

For the time being, Laser TVs are not available in stores, the one that Arasor presented in Sydney being just a prototype. However, 8 consumer electronics firms have partnered with Arasor and commercial units are expected to be shipped by late 2007 or early 2008. The current prototype was built by Mitsubishi with Arasor’s optoelectronic chip and Novalux’s laser projection device inside.