Technical / Research

Check out this beautiful demo of Light Blue Optics' 10" Light-Touch projector:

Here's how their Holographic Laser Projection (HLP) technology works.

Microsoft Research is showing their new 'Mobile Surface', which is a projected touch display. This is very similar to LBO's light-touch product announced at CES:

Photodigm is a US based company, developing and producing precision lasers since 2000. They are now starting to address the pico-projector laser market. But Photodigm has a different approach then other laser companies.

They say that commercial green lasers today are made using frequency doubling of readily available near infrared lasers. However, the most efficient approach is complex and expensive. The cheapest approach is inefficient, resulting in short battery life. On the horizon are native green lasers, but the materials system for them is devilishly complex, and low yields and high costs threaten to keep these out of consumer products for years.

Convinced that the industry was on the wrong track, Photodigm explored the problem from the ground up. They concluded that the green laser is not the problem. The RGB module is.  Working from their core technology of precision near infrared lasers, Photodigm has developed a technology that promises to deliver a module that is cheap, efficient, scalable, and compact.

Photodigm are currently in talks with several strategic partners from the consumer side, in order to commercialize the technology. They believe that their pico-projector laser modules might be available at around 2011. We'll keep watching ;-)

Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft are working together on touchscreens for your body, called Skinput. The idea is to combine pico-projectors that project on your skin with special armband containing piezoelectric cantilevers - sensors that can measure pressure, acceleration and force - which know which part of your body was pressed based on the sound it made (on the skin, muscle or skeleton).

This is all rather weird and cool - it can be used for gaming, or text inputting for your mobile phone. Check out this interesting video:

Via Gizmodo

Mitsumi Electric has developed a new PZT-driven MEMS mirror for laser (LBS) projectors, which has a 10mW power consumption with drive voltage 'as small as several volts'. They have shown a prototype of this mirror with a green laser, providing 512x512 images at 60fps.

Via TechOn

Luminus Devices raised $19 million from several Venture funds. They will use the funds to increase profitability, maintain minimal debt, support growth and the expansion of Luminus’ products and applications.

Luminus are making LED light sources (PhlatLight) that are used in all projector categories, including pico-projectors. 

TI announced a new DLP chipset for pico-projectors, which is the thinnest and smallest to date. It has nHD resolution (640x360), 1000:1 contrast ratio, true RGB LED wide color gamut. TI say it also has an improved power efficiency and electronic footprint compared to their previous DLP chipsets. 

The nHD chipset is 20% thinner than the WVGA chipset and 50% smaller in volume. TI say the new nHD chipset will enter production in 2H 2010, but 'leading manufacturers' already include it in their next-generation designs. Via Engadget.

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.

TI has announce version 2 of their DLP Pico Projector Development Kit. The new kit adds HDMI direct PC connection (there's also a DVI to HDMI adapter). It also includes a sync signal output and selectable high-speed DMD patterns with a variety of frame rates.

The v2 kit will sell for $349 and is available now from TI. Via Slashgear.

Lite-On Technology has decided to enter the pico-projector market on an ODM basis. Lite-On will develop both stand-alone and embedded modules (for PCs, mobile phones, cameras, etc.). 

They will start shipping modules in 2Q or 3Q 2010. They will initially focus on LCoS pico projectors.

Via Digitimes