In the early 1950s, xenon arc lamps were introduced to the cinema industry as a high-tech replacement for the carbon-arc illumination systems that had been in constant use for 50 years. These xenon lamps provided dramatic advantage over carbon arcs, in ease of operation, safety, power consumption, and elimination of contaminants from burning carbon rods near the film and shutter mechanism. Still, it took nearly a decade until lamps replaced the majority of carbon arc housings. The transition away from xenon lamps to semiconductor laser illumination will likely take a similar path. Although we are now three years into commercial availability of laser light sources, the adoption will take time. There are unmistakable advantages to the new illumination technology, but many users will wait for costs to drop further, and for products to mature further. However, it is safe to say that we will look back on 2016 as a year of significant advancement in the inevitable road toward cinema projector lamps becoming obsolete.
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