Laser displays have been investigated by engineers and scientists since shortly after the invention of the laser. The majority of these systems have been based on gas lasers or lamp-pumped solid-state lasers which are expensive, large in size, and require significant cooling systems. Due to these negative attributes, laser disp1ays have been limited to applications which are not sensitive to size or cost. Recent advances in compact, air-cooled, diode-pumped, solid-state, visible microlasers have enabled the development of portable laser displays. Lasers are under development for both "backlit" displays, where the lasers replace arc-lamps in an LCD/DMD projector, and "direct-write" displays, where the image is formed by directly modulating and scanning the laser beam. Compact, multi-watt RGB laser modules have been demonstrated for use as "light engines" in projection displays generating greater than 500 ANSI lumens. Advantages of microlaser-based displays include large color gamut, color accuracy, image uniformity, high resolution, large depth of focus, and low maintenance due to the long lifetime (> 10,000 hours) of the lasers. These advantages make them attractive for near term applications such as simulators, command and control centers, high end CAD workstation monitors, and longer term applications such as electronic cinema.

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