Projection Panels
Here is a fast and easy look at how
the reigning champions of display technology work. We have included the hottest
new contenders that are trying to make their way to the big time.
All projectors in the Projectisle
database have their projection system specifications listed. By Projection
System were referring to the internal panels that display your image and either
reflect or filter light to project that image.
The Listing is normally tells you
the size of the internal panel, the technology employed and the number of
panels. An example of this is below:
|
0.7" |
i |
LCD |
(3) |
|
diagonal
panel size |
Inorganic Panel |
type
of panel |
number of panels |
Although DLP has been gaining a
larger market share, LCD is still the most prevalent machine. Mainly due to its
cost advantage over DLP, LCD manufacturers have had time to close the
performance gap. The war does not seem over yet, newer technologies may hold
some surprises for both?
Current projection systems are on
to the menu to the left
What the future holds:
ExPlay Nano-Projectors
Explay has developed the
world's smallest projector, a revolutionary nano-projector engine small
enough to fit inside your pocket or be embedded in your mobile device,
allowing you to truly enjoy the big picture wherever you are.
With an experienced
multi-disciplinary team of experts in electro-optics, polymer optics,
beam shaping, opto-mechanics and analog and digital ASIC design Explay
is changing this industry picture by providing projection solutions that
can harvest the full potential of mobile devices.
ExPlay’s revolutionary
laser based projection technology enables high-resolution images 20
times larger than the mobile device itself. Its unique battery-operated,
nano-projector ensures an eye-safe, always focused superior quality,
powerful projected image, elements essential for frequent usage by
mobile product consumers.
Using the combined power
of an innovative light source, an enhanced image modulator and a
proprietary ASIC, Explay provides a complete optic and electronic
projector engine solution for simple and glueless integration into third
party products.
OnDeGo Nano-Projector
Engine
Explay's first generation
nano-projector engine module aims at both consumer and business markets.
It is a projection engine that can either be integrated into a
standalone pocket projector connected (through a cable or wireless
connection) to different handheld electronic devices or it can be
integrated into the mobile device. Explay’s OnDeGo products will support
applications with projected screen sizes from 7" up to 30".
Explay Features and
Benefits
-
Comprehensive matchbox size solution
- Easy glue-less integration into third-party products
- Large
projected screen from small devices -
Easy viewing of high resolution content Information sharing
-
Compact and light weight - Goes with
you everywhere Integrates or embedded into mobile devices
- Low
Power consumption - Long un-tethered
operation
- Safe -
Restriction-free operation Child safe
- High
reliability - Easy to install No
replaceable parts
C2Fine Technology
The
3LCD consortium C2Fine technology, which means high temperature polysilicon LCD
microdisplays with an inorganic Vertical Alignment Nematic (VAN) liquid crystal
mode. The technology was lauded for its ability to further enhance the contrast
ratio and reliability of 3LCD products, especially 1080p MD-TVs based on the
technology. In fact, in the central position at the 3LCD booth at InfoComm was a
57-inch 1080p 3LCD television prototype, the contrast ratio of which was said to
be "more than 10,000:1."
This contrast ratio improvement over traditional 3LCD products comes from VAN's
ability to "project" black when no voltage is applied to the pixel space. In
effect, black is VAN's natural state. 3LCD announced that it expects products
with C2Fine technology to be available in 2006.
Light Blue Optics
Ltd (LBO) has developed a revolutionary
technology for miniature laser projectors dubbed PVPro™. Today they
announced their latest demonstrator unit, which is only 3.78 cubic inches in
volume, and is similar in size and shape to a typical matchbox.
Projectors based on PVPro technology can be used to display images
from a range of
mobile devices, including laptop computers, personal media players like the
video iPod, digital cameras and even mobile phones.
LBO has developed unique laser-based projection technology,
which uses computational algorithms and novel optical techniques to allow
miniature lasers to display video images in real-time using the diffractive
nature of laser light. This overcomes the size limitation of conventional
projection techniques, allowing projectors to be smaller than ever before.
Understand that there is no glass, no prisms, NO MOVING PARTS, and no need
for fans to provide heat dissipation. In addition, it runs on less than 1.5W at
full power and less than 350mW while displaying typical video images (50%
average pixel amplitude. There is also an infinite focus, meaning that no matter
how close or far away, there are no optics to adjust for a clear picture.
The latest monochrome ‘micro-mini’ version represents the third
generation of the PVPro algorithms and optomechanical design. It is a crucial
step in allowing the company’s customers to manufacture compact projectors for
use in a range of applications.
Nic Lawrence, CEO, commented, “Our vision is to make it simple for
people to share photos with their friends and to comfortably view mobile TV and
music videos from their mobile devices. We believe that access to a large
display, such as is provided by our PVPro projection technology, is key to
increasing ease of use.”
Plus it's just plain cool.
The advantage of the Light Blue Optics approach is to address the four
key requirements for a small batterypowered device. These are compact size, low
power consumption, which allows the projector to be powered by typical portable
battery technology, ease of use due to the focus-free operation of the system,
and robustness both physically and in terms of error-tolerance.
PVPro technology is available today to manufacturers as an evaluation
kit which includes a demonstration projector unit, appropriate PC software,
technical documentation and a bundled package of technical support. Light Blue
Optics is working with a select group of strategic partners to bring to market
the first products based on PVPro technology.
Quick Specs:
Color Depth: Monochrome Green at 532nm (full
color available late 2006)
Depth of Focus: Infinite (image remains in focus at any
distance from the projector)
Resolutions Supported: QCIF, CIF, VGA, NTSC, 1024x512
(resolutions up to 2048x1280 including SXGA and S-HDTV available upon
request)
Typical Diagonal Image & Brightness: 15" @ 50cd/m^2 (all
pixels full brightness); 15" @ 200cd/m^2 (50% max average pixel amplitude)
Aspect Ratio Image: 7" @ 220cd/m^2 (all pixels full
brightness); 7" @ 880cd/m^2 (50% max average pixel amplitude)
Electrical Power Consumption: 1.4W (max pixel power, all
pixels); <350mW (50% max average pixel amplitude)
How about 3D without glasses?
LAS VEGAS -- Perhaps the most
exciting technology at Comdex this year was a 3D display that projected
volumetric images into thin air, prompting show goers to gasp, burst out
laughing and run around the booth in excitement.
At the back of one of the exhibit halls, Dimensional Media set up a booth full
of 3D displays that projected images -- of objects such as cell phones or soda
cans -- into space in front of the viewer.
The effect was not unlike the
famous special effect in Star Wars where R2D2 projects a holographic display.
But unlike R2D2's grainy video, the images at Comdex were often as vivid and
concrete as real objects.
Unlike most other 3D displays, Dimensional Media's does
not require special glasses or any kind of headgear.
"It's magic," said Anna Zharkova, an event manager from Russia, who was
running around the booth like a headless chicken. "I cannot believe it.
It's just magic."
Her colleague, Natasya Savina, said: "I think it is incredible. I never
thought at this exhibition to see something so wondrous. Everything is
quite common. But this is so new, so amazing. Next year, I would like to
use it for myself so that my image can be at the booth, and I can be
somewhere else."
Dimensional Media, which is based in New York, originally developed the
technology for the military with funding from Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA). The military wanted a true, volumetric 3D
display that didn't require special glasses or complex electronics.
The simplest version of the technology is based on a system of mirrors
and lenses. The object whose image is being projected sits inside a
pedestal, which projects the object's light into space above the
pedestal, where the image is reformed. The effect is as if the object
itself is hovering above the pedestal's surface.
The company also demonstrated video versions of the technology, which
projected video images in 3D.
The Russians played with a 3D teller-machine whose buttons floated in
space in front off the viewer. To activate the system's virtual
"buttons," the viewer simply pointed a finger at the image of the
button. The system uses a grid of infrared lights -- similar to systems
in stores that beep when a shopper enters -- to calculate the position
of the viewer's finger.
Dimensional Media said its images are already starting to turn up in
advertising displays at shopping malls and airports around the world,
and they should become quite common this year as more and more are
installed.
"We are really starting to sell these systems," said CEO Daniel Pfeffer.
Dimensional Media said the company will start testing the first
volumetric 3D computer monitor early next year, which it hopes to sell
to medical providers, the military and CAD/CAM companies.
Pfeffer said for the first time, the display will give viewers full
"look around" of a projected image.
"I could project the image of your face and have full look-around, like
you were really in front of me," he said.
As an example of its use, Pfeffer said the monitor could project X-Ray
or NMR data in 3D, creating a precise image of the inside of a patient's
skull and the location of, say, a tumor. The display could then overlay
another image onto the patient's actual skull, showing the surgeon the
exact place to cut.
Amazing stuff but unfortunately
there would be limited movies to watch but business presentations would be Mad!!
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