Two large manufacturers, Mitsubishi and Samsung, are moving to create a new generation of rear projection televisions which use a solid state light source. The new technologies promise; elimination (or greatly reduced) rainbow effects, deeper blacks, greater efficiency, increased lamp life and quicker start up times.

Samsung announced at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, 2006 a new light engine based on three LEDs. It will replace the conventional color wheel and lamp system. The light engine utilized is the PhlatLight TM chipset supplied by Luminus Devices, Inc. One DLP Rear Projection TV incorporating the new light engine is the HL-S5679W which won the CNET Best of 2006 Award in the TV category. Apart from eliminating the sometimes disturbing rainbow effects associated with DLP projection, Samsung claim other benefits including a wider color range, longer LED life of 20,000 hours compared to 3-6,000 for a typical DLP bulb, and a shorter turn on time of 7 seconds.

Mitsubishi is traveling a similar path to Samsung with its announcement that three semiconductor lasers, red, green and blue, will replace their existing mercury lamp-based microdisplay light engine. As well as eliminating or greatly reducing rainbow effects (brief trails of color), deeper blacks are also a promising benefit. Unlike a conventional lamp the lasers can be turned off delivering a deeper black. Mitsubishi claim that the lasers can produce a range of colors 1.8 times greater than LCD TVs, are more efficient and have an essentially permanent life span. Mitsubishi are planning to release this new technology in two years. Some development work such as reducing the power supply size remains.

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