New company promises breakthrough laser-based display technology to crush all HDTVs

Given the hyperbole of its PR communication, you'd think that new display company Prysm would have made its grand debut at CES, but it chose to announce its breakthrough technology a couple of days after the show closed down. (Maybe it didn't want to compete with the 30,000 e-reader introductions.) I was promised that Prysm is offering "a revolutionary large format display technology that has the potential to replace all display screens on the market today."

The company's no-longer-secret sauce is laser phosphor-based illumination, which Prysm claims uses 75-percent less power than competing display technologies and nontoxic materials, produces zero motion blur, and can be used for displays of any size and shape. Many of its claims are similar to those Mitsubishi offered when it introduced its laser-based TV, the LaserVue L65A90, but the technology used is different. (The L65A90 uses a Digital Light Processor, for example.)

Prysm's coming-out party is short on a few important specifics, most notably when a set using the technology will be available to buy, and at what price. According to TechCrunch, the company is planning to target commercial displays first, and then move into the home space. And the answer to the now-inevitable question: Yes, it's 3D compatible.

No one would be against having a super-sized screen that doesn't hijack your electricity bill, but can Prysm make good on its claims before OLED displays get bigger and cheaper? It'll be interesting to see if the new venture can muster some premium partners to crash the HDTV party and zap the competition.