Projector camera

Young Optics say that they are very optimistic about pico projectors: shipments of embedded pico projectors are expected to enjoy strong growth. They are working with three handset makers and two digital camera makes to embed their modules into the gadgets. They are also working with 'a number of other multimedia device vendors" that have adopted their modules.

Via digitimes

Digitimes reports that Sony plans to design and develop laser-beam-steering based pico-projector modules to be used in their digital cameras. Sony are in talks with Opus Microsystems, and might use their scanning mirror chips.

Here's a couple of short videos about DLP pico projectors. The first show the first camcorder with a pico projector add-on:

The second video is showing Samsung's W9600 projector phone, a quick demonstration:

Both DLP projectors use the new WVGA chip (854x480 DLP Gen 2).

TI and Asia Optical are showing a prototype digital camera with a DLP pico-projector, both developed by Asia-Optical, which will offer the module for customers in the second half of 2010.

This camera uses TI's new DLP chip that supports WVGA (854x480) resolution.

Nikon has reduced the price of the Coolpix S1000pj projector camera from 429$ to 371$.

The Coolpix S1000pj is the world's first projector camera, with a 12.1Mp sensor, 5X wide-angle zoom and vibration reduction. The pico projector is a LED based LCoS with VGA resolution and 10 lumens brightness. It's available now, for 371$.

I had an interesting discussion with Karl Guttag from Syndiant, about the difference types pico-projectors, I thought it was a good idea to turn it into a post (thanks Karl!).

There are three main types of pico-projectors:

• Stand-alone: These are devices that are essentially just a projector. They receive the input via a cable (A/V, USB, etc) and cannot display anything unless you use another device to stream the video signal. Sometimes these include speakers, too. Examples include the 3M MPro-120, Optoma's PK-100 and PK-101 and Microvision's upcoming laser-based Show WX.
• Media-player: These projectors also include on-board memory (or a memory-card slot) and can play files directly from the memory. Obviously the projector needs to support the file type you want to view, whether it is photos, videos or audio files. Examples include the AAXA P2 and the Optoma PK-102. Some of these projectors actually include a mini PC. The Allcam CP1 actually runs Win-CE, and thus can show Office documents, includes a touchpad controller and can be hooked to external mouse and keyboard. It's a bit bigger and heavier than the average pico-projector, though.
• Embedded projector: in this case the light-engine is added to an existing product (projector-phone, camera, laptop, PDA, etc.) as an accessory. Examples include the Samsung Show phone and Nikon's Coolpix s1000pj camera.

Himax technologies posts 3Q 2009 results. Jordan Wu, president and CEO of Himax, sayid : "our LCoS pico projector solutions experienced significant sequential revenue growth. Our LCoS product line for pocket projector applications, in particular, is experiencing strong momentum, in terms of both product shipments and new customer design-wins. One of our LCOS customers, a Japan-based world-class camera brand, has launched the world's first projector-embedded digital camera with Himax's LCOS pico-projector solution inside."

The camera has to be Nikon's Coolpix S1000pj. The S1000pj is available now, for 429$.

Via Digitimes

The guys over at Fixit has opened the Nikon Coolpix S1000pj projector camera... Here's a photo of the projection module:

And here's a video of the disassembly:

The S1000pj is available now, for 429$. The projector is a LED based LCoS with VGA resolution, 10 lumens and a 5" to 40" image size.

There's an interesting article over at Tech-On discussing the Nikon S1000pj: Why they chose that technology (LED with a reflective LCD), how they handled heat control, module size requirements, battery life, etc.

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj

The Nikon Coolpix S1000pj is available now, for 429$.

Nikon's Coolpix S1000pj, the world's first projector camera is now available - for 429$. The camera has a 12.1Mp sensor, 5X optical zoom, vibration control, and of course the pico projector which is LED based LCoS with VGA resolution, 10 lumens, 5" to 40" image size.

The S1000pj is available from Amazon.com, for 429$.