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xx19xx
DLP integrated to mobile (Samsung Beam) about to be in market and videos and ...
Dave.Dykstra
Very nice. There are a lot of potential uses for this whether on the road, at ...
Texas Instruments shows off Pico HD projector
Sylvie Barak
1/20/2012 11:39 PM EST
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--At CES, Texas Instruments Inc. was keeping its eye on the big picture, through its littlest chipsets. The firm was literally beaming as it showed off its latest generation of DLP projector chipset, the Pico HD, capable of HD WXGA resolution projections from up to 100 inches away.
TI, which provides cinema chips to some 85 percent of the world’s digital cinemas has managed to shrink those powerful chips down to a size able to fit snugly inside a cell phone, desktop robot or pocket projector, for those who like to project their media on the go.
The 1280 x 800 mirrors on the device create each individual pixel and each one is microscopic. Indeed, TI explained the size as being “about one tenth of a human hair.” Each DLP chip can feature an array of those microscopic mirrors, up to 2.2 million, which switch at ultra-high speeds to generate a visible image.
As well as managing to make the multitude of mirrors smaller and smaller, TI said the chips now also operated in a much lower heat environment, despite producing the brightest projections yet.
This Pico HD chipsets power products that are purportedly some three to five hundred lumens of brightness, an “amazing accomplishment,” according to the firm’s spokesman, seeing as the previous generation was only capable of powering devices in the 50-100 lumen range.
The spokesman added that the projectors would provide “a magical experience out of the palm of your hand,” and indeed a plethora of partners including Acer, Viewsonic, LG, Dell and Optoma were showing off Pico powered wares on the CES show floor.
Check out the video below for more:
TI, which provides cinema chips to some 85 percent of the world’s digital cinemas has managed to shrink those powerful chips down to a size able to fit snugly inside a cell phone, desktop robot or pocket projector, for those who like to project their media on the go.
The 1280 x 800 mirrors on the device create each individual pixel and each one is microscopic. Indeed, TI explained the size as being “about one tenth of a human hair.” Each DLP chip can feature an array of those microscopic mirrors, up to 2.2 million, which switch at ultra-high speeds to generate a visible image.
As well as managing to make the multitude of mirrors smaller and smaller, TI said the chips now also operated in a much lower heat environment, despite producing the brightest projections yet.
This Pico HD chipsets power products that are purportedly some three to five hundred lumens of brightness, an “amazing accomplishment,” according to the firm’s spokesman, seeing as the previous generation was only capable of powering devices in the 50-100 lumen range.
The spokesman added that the projectors would provide “a magical experience out of the palm of your hand,” and indeed a plethora of partners including Acer, Viewsonic, LG, Dell and Optoma were showing off Pico powered wares on the CES show floor.
Check out the video below for more:
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Sanjib.Acharya
1/21/2012 2:32 AM EST
Is this chip-set from TI the same as something that goes into the "LightPad" pico projector for the iPhones, Android based smart phones?
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goafrit
1/21/2012 6:03 PM EST
Yes. Someone confirmed that.
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KB3001
1/21/2012 12:43 PM EST
Cool product! Can't wait to get my hands on one of these!
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pixies
1/21/2012 3:43 PM EST
That is pretty amazing for a device this small to generate 500 lumen of brightness. It is, however, still too dim for home entertainment or business presentation. Is it targeting the mobile devices? What about privacy? Also, handheld projector will be shaky, does this thing has an image stabilizer? Anyway, PI has really pushed their DLP technology to the extreme!
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StevePxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1/23/2012 3:31 PM EST
Small and battery powered is where these kind of parts are used. Because the mirror array is small the rest of the optics is also small.
Inexpensive LEDs can be used as the light source.
There are a number of cell phones using the previous generation parts.
Likely lower price so toys and other low cost applications.
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Dr DSP
1/21/2012 11:03 PM EST
How many Lumens do we need for business and home applications? I see 2,000 for several home products currently.
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agk
1/22/2012 2:55 AM EST
For a dark room , 300 to 500 lumens is a good brighteness for a 50 inches diagonal size projection of a HD source. Pretty good design improvemnet by Texas in a smaller real estate.
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BLinder
1/23/2012 9:02 AM EST
Way to go TI, keep up the great work to push the barriers of technology and spend R&D cash in development. Without these efforts we will never get to the point of R2D2 projecting Princess Leia in our far flung future!
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DrQuine
1/23/2012 5:37 PM EST
With a solid tripod to hold the phone, this could provide a wonderful tool for a business traveler on the road to access full digital content from the office - and not just the highlights that fit on a cell phone screen. Even halving the projection distance to produce a 25 inch diagonal screen (a respectable computer screen) would have 4 times the brightness of the cited 50 inch display.
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Dave.Dykstra
1/26/2012 1:02 AM EST
Very nice. There are a lot of potential uses for this whether on the road, at home, or in the office. Certainly the business traveler will probably benefit most first, but in the longer term we should see the benefits for all of us.
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xx19xx
5/9/2012 4:21 AM EDT
DLP integrated to mobile (Samsung Beam) about to be in market and videos and specs are pretty impressive. 3 hours of video playback on projector is feels awesome. http://asia.cnet.com/product/samsung-galaxy-beam-45877534.htm
wishlist: mobile with this full HD projector integrated.
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