LASCOT: a large screen color television system

Abstract

The Large Screen Color Television System as proposed by Dr. W. J. Poppelbaum is a laser projection display which produces a color television picture on a large screen placed some distance away. Constructing an economical display system was the chief objective. Toward this end relatively inexpensive electromechanical mirrors are used for beam deflection. These mirrors are synchronized with the composite video. LASCOT uses a mixed-gas (argon--krypton) laser as its light source. The blue, green and red colored beams are intensity modulated by electro-optic light modulators (EOLMs). These EOLMs are driven by the blue, green and red picture signals derived from a standard commercial television receiver. These modulated beams are combined by means of dichroic mirrors. This composite beam has a color and hue which depends on the signals at the EOLMs. The composite beam is then deflected horizontally and vertically by means of the horizontal and vertical deflection mirrors. These deflection mirrors are synchronized to their respective synchronization signals which are derived from the television receiver. The picture is projected on a 3-foot by 4-foot high-gain screen. The overall resolution of the picture is in excess of 120 spots horizontally and 100 spots vertically. (auth)