It is something of an end for a dying TV format-- Mitsubishi stops production of rear projection TVs, the last major TV maker to do exactly that.

First reported by CEPro in a (later confirmed) leaked Mitsubishi Electrical Visual Solutions America (MEVSA) memo, the news does not affect us Europeans too much. After all, Mitsubishi does sell the enormous TVs over here, despite favourable opinions from reviewers elsewhere.

The format is not too popular in EMEA-- according to DisplaySearch, Q3 2012 RPTV shipments total exactly nine units. Yes, nine.

Interestingly enough a 2007 IDC forecast predicted global RPTV shipments would have "all but eroded away" by 2011. According to the analyst the format reached its peak in 2004, with shipments reaching 3.5 million units before sliding down to minimal numbers.

One has to admire Mitsubishi for sticking with the format for so long, even after it stopped making both LCD TVs and TVs smaller than 65-inches in 2011. It had a virtual monopoly on the segment, long after Samsung (2008), Sony and Hitachi (2007) dropped it for slimmer varieties of TV.

The last RPTV from Mitsubishi is the well reviewed LaserVue L75-A96, a 75-inch model with a $4000 street price. The company will now focus on projectors, display walls, digital signage and monitors while the Americans get busy looking for the fire sales.

Go Mitsubishi Drops DLP Displays: Goodbye RPTVs Forever (CE Pro)