Holographic television is sure to change the way we live and do business. Holographic TV or hologram TV is not a very commonly used product today but with advancement of technologies and electronic media, there is no doubt that the audio visual medium is racing ahead and soon 3D hologram TV is sure to be an essential commodity in everyone's home. Holographic television has not reached a stage of commercial exploitation but the demonstration of its principle was made quite early. The commercial production of hologram television is not in a very big scale today but 10 years from now, this type of TV will make the television medium even more powerful.

An Evolution of Hologram TV

1947: Hungarian physicist Dennis Gabor invents the hologram, while working for the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in Rugby, England. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1971.

1966: The transmission of holograms via TV.

1987: Larry Hornbeck, a TI engineer, invents the digital micro mirror device. This device is an optical semiconductor typically used in video projectors and TVs starting in 1996.

2003: Harold Garner, researcher of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, shows the first holographic video-projection system. The system was screening hazy red images of a helicopter circling a jet.

2008: The U.S. Air Force is planning to install holographic head-up displays in fighter jets, thereby bringing aviators 3-D images of battle space positions.

2015: Holographic television or hologram TV goes live with a pay-per-view satellite broadcast of the heavyweight boxing championship.

What exactly is a holographic TV ?

Transmission of holograms via television is a common urge for most holographers because it has a deep impact in the field of entertainment. However, the main problem for this is that there are enormous information content of the holograms which cannot be handled by TV channels. It was way back in 1966, the transmission of holograms via TV was executed. The actual hologram TV however could not be realized without a suitable recording material. Progress on hologram display technology has been slow. The various techniques need to be employed to reduce the information content of the hologram. There are requirements for extremely high-speed processing and more advanced techniques for data compression plus super efficient algorithms to render high quality hologram television.

Future

Television has come a long way during the last century. Initially TV was considered as an educational medium. But today, TV is increasingly influencing the way we live and work. In the years to come, the TV is sure to influence our day-to-day lives. Combined with holographic features, it may appear that television will create the perfect illusion. Holograms have always been recognized as the ultimate three-dimensional display. A hologram looks absolutely true to life. Reminding people of the Star Wars series and also like the Hindu concept of Maya (illusion), future onlookers of Hologram television may find it impossible to separate fact from fiction. With holography and other peripheral technology, this will make the illusion all the more over-powering.

"I predict that by the year 2020, that being the year of 'perfect vision,' we will have Holo TV in our homes," said Dr. Michael Huebschman, a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Garner's lab and one of the developers of the technology. [source: http://www.primidi.com/2005/06/16.html] The first application of Garner's hogram TV may be in the holographic imaging of MRIs or in head-up displays for the US military Air force but very soon this TV makes it to Circuit City.

Physicist Harold Garner and a team of engineers of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas are building a technology that may finally bring moving 3-D images or holographic TV into the living room. In this TV, you'll be forced to watch each play unfold from whatever perspective you choose, staring into the depths of your TV. Dr. Garner said, in the long term, entertainment uses could include 3-D multiplayer games, advertising displays, 3D park and hologram television.