February 14, 2008

Cell Phone Projector Latest Use For DLP

TV design trends in the past year or so have dictated that thinner sets are better. DLP TV's use a rear-projection lamp that makes it virtually impossible for them to be as thin as plasma, LCD, or OLED displays, and that's probably why DLP revenue fell 21% between the third quarter of 2006 and the third quarter of 2007. Nobody wants a thick TV anymore. But the maker of DLP chipsets, Texas Instruments, won't give up on the high-definition technology.

Not only is Texas Instruments working to improve the quality of DLP technology, they're also promoted the benefits of DLP projectors to entirely new markets like churches and schools. The most interesting thing the company is doing with DLP though, is developing a handheld video projector.

The company announced plans at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to release the DLP Pico, an ultrasmall projector, later in 2008. Targeted for the mobile phone market, the DLP Pico has been shown in the past as a prototype but Texas Instruments has never announced plans to actually release the technology to the consumer market.

The DLP Pico is composed on an ultrasmall DLP device and both DDP1500 and DDP1505 control processors. It also employs proprietary "DarkChip technology" for an improved contrast ratio. Whether or not the idea of a mobile handheld projector will be accepted by the buying public remains to be seen, we'll definitely know more in the latter half of 2008.

Via Tech-On