Mitsubishi Now Shipping Laser TV

Mitsubishi said the first shipments using laser TV technology have reached some select retailers in parts of the United States this week. The initial LaserVue-brand model (all 65 inches of it) will also carry a hefty price tag, especially compared to noticeably decreasing price points on other HD products, with an MSRP of just under $7,000.

Mitsubishi, which has been showing off prototypes of its laser technology at trade shows for the past couple of years, hopes to revolutionize how consumers view HD (literally and figuratively) with laser TV's typically stunning video of crisp pictures and colors that it believes are more vivid than today's plasma and LCD HD sets. The maker claims that laser TV has at least twice the color output of other technologies, while using 33 percent less power.

The technology uses a laser light engine to display images.

Mitsubishi has not yet named the specific retailers it shipped its product to, but they're believed to be mostly high-end outlets that specialize in offering cutting-edge CE products. Whether any of the laser TV units will reach the big-box and member discount stores for this holiday sales season is not yet known.