Microprojector technology could let handheld gadgets like mobile phones and iPods display big pictures.
Mobile devices can store pictures and videos, but viewing them on such a small screen isn't ideal. Microvision, based in Redmond, WA, hopes to solve this problem with a microprojector the company plans to reveal at next year's Consumer Electronics Show. The system, composed of semiconductor lasers and a tiny mirror, will be small enough to integrate into a phone or an iPod, says Randy Sprague, chief engineer at Microvision.
Illustration of a mobile-phone projector envisioned by Microvision. The company expects to have a prototype by early next year, and products by 2008.
Microvision
Right now there is great interest in putting projectors in phones. Indeed, major phone manufacturer Nokia is "looking at" different technologies to integrate projectors into mobile devices (see "The Future of Cell Phones"). As the fabrication technology used to make the components of these projectors matures, it is becoming more economically feasible to create a projector small enough to fit into a handheld device, says Microvision's Sprague.
The projector developed at Microvision is composed of two main parts: a set of red, blue, and green lasers made of semiconductor material, such as gallium indium arsenide, and a mirror--one millimeter across--that tilts on two axes. The lasers shine on the mirror, and the mirror reflects the pixel of light onto a wall or other surface. The intensities of the lasers change to produce different colors: when all three are pumping out light full blast, the pixel is white; when all three are off, the pixel is black. Other colors are produced from various combinations in between.
As the lasers flash on the mirror, the mirror gimbals on its two axes, flickering to produce 30 million pixels a second, each illuminating a surface for 20 nanoseconds. Using this laser and single-mirror setup, the projector paints a scene onto a surface one pixel at a time, says Sprague. It does this so quickly that our eyes perceive a static image or a continuous movie.
One of the challenges is to design a rapidly gyrating mirror that can coordinate with the lasers that turn on and off 100 million times a second. "This mirror is thrashing all around, and the lasers are buzzing like crazy," says Sprague, "so you have to synchronize."
Integrated into the Microvision mirror, he says, are silicon mechanical structures that measure strain on the mirror, detecting what position it's in. This information is fed back into the laser modulator--the device that determines when a laser is emitting light or not--and the feedback loop allows the system to constantly adjust, depending on the demands of the projected image.
These pocket-sized projectors get a big picture out of a small device--and future technology will shrink them further.
This is cool. Pretty dang neat.
The best will be retinal displays integrated into your sunglasses or even contacts later down the line.
Not necessarily best for displaying something to a crowd, though. The difference between earpieces and a speaker phone.
If we thought those red laser lights in movie theaters were annoying...
I too think this will be a cool idea. I'm not sure why they immediately jump to the idea of integrating with cell phones. Why not just work on providing a projector and adapter cord that'll fit down inside a side pocket on a standard laptop bag? I can't help but wonder what's going to happen when everybody is able to do this. If we think people are annoying with their cell phone habits now -- just wait until anybody can project whatever they want wherever they want whenever they want.
I have spent the last few months trying to find a technology that would allow me to project straight from a laptop to a screen. This might close to what I am looking for. A clip on projector that feeds into your laptop would quickly reduce the need for projection systems. However, this might be similar to the collusion between the gas and car industry. SONY et al would lose valuable revenues if this was the case. In my school, we have 40 ceiling projection systems @ $3500.00 a piece - that's alot of ching ching. Any idea if there will be such a system entering the marketplace.
Thanks!
If this technology works for projecting from a device as small as a cell phone, why not use it for a monitor for nextgen ultra-portable PC's? Imagine a PC that has a soft, flexible keypad that can be rolled around (or rolled up in) a ruler-shaped motherboard, in which high capacity chips replace a hard drive and the projector replaces a monitor. You could have a heck of a PC in your pocket. A small, collapsable projector screen could be provided for those situations in which you have nothing else on which to project the image.
OK, after just a LITTLE thought, I think I see a few tech hurdles... oh, well.
Isnt this all going in 1 direction - EVERY capability in 1 small portable gadget ?
- instant, weightless capability to converse, project, receive & exchange ideas with averyone else when and where we choose - without buttons or keyboard - so must be voice commands ie whispers also or just THOUGHT commands - aha - ESP and we're done - dont need the gadget after all - I think we should concentrate on the ESP side of things - in study for control of artificial limbs already -
We may have all the capabilities we need right in our own heads - it's a whole universe in every single brain after all and we only use 10% of it -
what fun (:>)
Guest (hosro59@comcast.net)
People will determine how they will use any new form of technology. I would like to see if use in home theaters would be
a better idea to further shrink the intrusive hardware.
As a last thought: some of us have more to show than others, just like having something to say, but that will stop no one from using what they have.
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baroque1980
4 Comments
my alternative idea
I think microprojector indirectly make a large screen for handheld gadgets like mobile phone. and I have an alternative way can do same thing, theoretically maybe better.
you can find via this address: http://titanoasis.com/blog/2006/10/17/how-to-make-large-display-screen-for-mobile-phone/
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redfer0857
1 Comment
Re: my alternative idea
I like your idea of mobile phones configured to communicate with other appliances for projection purposes. The only limitation of this concept is that it is not always case that TV sets and standalone projectors are around whenever you have the urge to watch something bigger on screen. Both concepts can be realized as competing products. But, I will still put my bet on the built-in projector provided that better batteries replace existing ones and the overall cost is brought down to what is regarded as fair.
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