TI Predicts Increase in Pico Projector Phones

Projector chipmaker Texas Instruments predicts a surge in the number of mobile phones with built-in pico projectors coming onto the market, as technology and wireless data networks become more efficient.

Buy the LG eXpo GW820 Windows Phone (AT&T)

Although phones with pico projectors are not a new concept, TI expects their popularity to grow with trends such as the arrival of faster, 4G networks and the move towards tiered pricing for wireless data.

Via Projector Point

DLP Pico nHD chip announced

The leading developers of the technology used in every major brand of projector have unveiled a pioneering new chip that will allow projectors to be shrunk to even smaller sizes.

Texas Instruments – the company that makes the crucial digital light processing, or DLP, chips – launched a new DLP Pico chip at last week's IFA Berlin consumer electronics show.

The tiny chip, which has been called the nHD chip, is only around the size of a raisin but has proven extremely effective in projecting images with resolutions of up 640x360 pixels. The size of the chip is likely to make pico projectors a much more commonplace feature in gadgets such as cameras, mobile phones and portable games consoles.

Texas Instruments says the new model gives a much-improved contrast ratio of 1000:1 for much darker black tones and a richer colour spectrum. It will also significantly lower the power consumption of devices using it, compared to older projection technology.

Via ProjectorPoint

Texas Instruments Blaze tablet: 1GHz processor & pico projector

Texas Instruments has unveiled the Blaze tablet design built for developers. The design puts its newer 1GHz OMAP4 chip behind a 10-inch, multi-touch screen and a modular design that can add any number of features. It has the option of an external DLP pico projector alongside camera modules, 3G, FM radio, GPS and Wi-Fi.

Buy an Apple iPad Tablet (64GB, Wifi)

The reference slate has 1GB of RAM and 32GB of flash as well as a raft of expansion, ranging from HDMI video output to an SD card slot and USB. An accelerometer and gyroscope make it ready for games and other motion-sensitive apps.

Buy a 7" inch Google Android Touchpad Tablet PC notebook Netbook Internet MID UMPC E-Book Reader

Via electronista

Brightboxe multimedia/gaming DLP projector

Featurign the same DLP pico projector module as the LG eXpo, the Brightboxe multimedia/gaming DLP projector was recently announced.

Designed to connect easily to any Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, or Sony PS2 or PS3, the Brightboxe promises a 480p resolution and a 500:1 contrast ratio. It also uses pure RGB LEDs as a light source, so it never needs lamp replacement. Under normal lighting conditions, the Brightboxe can crank out a 60-inch image. If you have something a bit more controlled, you can expect images greater than 100 inches.

Via bigpicturebigsound.com

Projector-phones due by Christmas?

Pico projecters were all the rage last month at Taiwan's giant Computex show, with Life Technologies showing its DigiLife DDV-JF1 pico-projector-equipped digicam and other pico projectors on the way from Aiptek, Optoma, and others.

Microvision of Redmond, Washington has been demoing its laser-based ShowWX pico projector for quite some time, with a release both as a Microvision-branded product and as a OEM subsystem planned for later this year - a deadline aided by Corning's recent announcement that it can now provide Microvision with green lasers in mass-manufacturing quantities.

Microvision's ShowWX has the distinct advantage over other pico-projector designs of not needing a focusing lens, as do competing technologies such as Texas Instruments' DLP, 3M's LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon), and Displaytech's FLCOS (ferroelectric LCOS).

Via The Register

Optoma Pico PK101

Optoma picked an appropriate moniker for its Lilliputian-size video projector. The Pico PK101 isn't just small, it's almost inconceivably tiny. It measures just 1.97 inches wide by 4.06 inches long by 0.59 inches thick, and it weighs only four ounces.

Texas Instruments’ DLP (Digital Light Processor) technology deserves much of the credit for making such a product possible. DLP projectors create an image by bouncing light off microscopic mirrors arranged in a matrix on a semiconductor. Each mirror represents a pixel in the image and swivels to either reflect light through the lens or to an internal heatsink. Toggling these two states on and off creates a grayscale. Color pixels are created by using either a color wheel or a colored light source. Optoma uses a non-replaceable LED for its light source, which it claims should last for 20,000 hours. There’s a tiny speaker and a 0.5-watt amp onboard, too.

In addition to its Li-Ion battery, the Pico PK101 can operate on AC or USB power (we used the USB port on a Metadot Das Keyboard). Optoma claims a fully charged battery should last 90 minutes, but ours delivered only 67 minutes while playing a silent, looping slide show at the brighter of the projector’s two settings. Good thing it comes with a spare.



This projector is designed to be paired with a handheld media player and is outfitted with only an analog A/V input. You connect the projector to a source using either a special cable or an iPod docking-port adapter (both are included). If you want to connect the projector to a PC, the PC must be equipped with either a composite video output or a VGA output (connected to a VGA-to-composite adapter). That limitation pretty much rules out the device as a PowerPoint tool for the traveling businessperson, because a VGA signal converted to composite does a very poor job of displaying text.

Buy the Optoma Pico PK101 EP-PK-101 PICO DLP Pocket Projector - 4 oz.

Via maximumpc.com

Micron acquires DisplayTech, moves into Micro-Projector Business

Memory chip maker Micron Technology has acquired DisplayTech, a manufacturer of small display screens for camera viewfinders and display chips for Pico-style projectors, for an undisclosed amount, and is using some of its new assets to introduce today a new microdisplay panel small enough for placement in handheld devices like iPods or BlackBerrys.

The new panel was said to be a wide-screen quarter VGA (WQVGA) microdisplay solution designed to enable portable video and image projection for applications including head-mounted display products and embedded cellphone projectors.

It is based on ferroelectric liquid crystal on silicon (FLCOS) technology, which Micron said produces superior image quality and color fidelity to other competitive micro-projector display solutions.

The device is offered as a single chip and is said to require “minimal power” to operate.

“The FLCOS microdisplay technology that Micron has acquired from DisplayTech has demonstrated success in the market, clearly evident by the fact that more than 21 million panels have shipped in portable consumer electronic products,” stated Abid Ahmad, Micron’s silicon and systems group director. “With Micron now delivering this technology, we are well-positioned to provide our customer base with global support and an even stronger R&D platform to further extend FLCOS microdisplay technology.”

The chip consumes only 85 milliwatts, and is said to be suited for applications where portability and battery life is most critical. The product adds to Micron’s DisplayTech FLCOS microdisplay projection panel line, which includes QVGA, VGA, SVGA and WVGA panels.

Micron said the chief attribute of its FLCOS microdisplay approach is fast switching speed, which is said to be up to 100 times faster than traditional LCOS technology. This is important for using field sequential color, which, unlike color filtering, produces full color on each individual pixel, blending color by very rapidly integrating red, green and blue frames in sequence, Micron said.

When compared to Texas Instruments’ micromirror technology, FLCOS allows for “a fully integrated microdisplay solution, combining the display panel, memory, image processing and light driver control into one chip.” This reduces size and power requirements.

DisplayTech, which is based in Longmont, Calif., has shipped 21 million small display devices to such companies as 3M and Kodak.

Via twice.com