Shining the light on DLP

By Ken Turetzky

 

The first large-screen, digital multimedia displays driven by TI's Digital Light Processing (DLP) subsystem are on their way to market, and the DLP will play a role in the next U.S. television standard now under consideration by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, D.C.

 

TI has established its presence in the potentially vast new industry with a list of strategic alliances for creation of digital projection subsystems. During December, TI and Nokia Communications Products appeared before the FCC to demonstrate Nokia's 50-inch, rear-projected, wide-screen television based on the DLP subsystem. The demonstration employed video produced with an MPEG-2 decoder TI developed with Nippon Television (NTV) to support the progressive scan format that will begin trials this April in Japan.

 

Last month, TI and partners Nokia, Projectavision Inc., Runco International and Vidikron Industries demonstrated prototype DLP-branded products at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Earlier presentations in Berlin and Brussels have presented the technology to thousands of trade show visitors.

 

The DLP is based upon TI's Digital Micromirror Device (DMD), an array of more than 500,000 microscopic mirrors, or pixels, built over a CMOS memory circuit. Computer-controlled signals turn the pixels "on" and "off" at a frequency greater than 1,000 times per second, reflecting light to create high-quality video images for front- and rear-projection display systems.

 

For Nokia's prototype, the DLP subsystem combined DMD with memory, digital signal processing, optics, software, a light source and a color filter system. Another TI partner, nView Corp., says its DiaMonD D-400 multimedia projector, which displays enlarged images from computers and video sources for group viewing, will reach the market during the first quarter of 1996.

 

Projectavision, Runco and Vidikron Industries also plan home theater systems using TI's DLP engine for projection display.

 

DLP will play an important role as well in the future of the family TV. TI and Nokia joined major players in electronics and media, such as CBS, NBC, Microsoft, Hitachi, Sony and Hubbard Broadcasting, who pitched their digital TV wares before the FCC, showing the advantages of High Definition Television (HDTV). Since the new standard will require consumers to buy all-new televisions, the FCC must also decide how to allocate bandwidth to the broadcasters who must serve the old market while simultaneously providing digital TV to households with the new sets.

 

"Our message to the FCC is there's display technology coming that is totally compatible with the shift to digital," says Jerry Setliff, manager of consumer display products for .the Digital Imaging Venture Project (DIVP) in Dallas. He participated in the demonstration along with TIers Adam Kunzman, Wolfram Gauglitz, Madhu Nerlikar, Gary Sextro, Dave Leonnig, Mike Hutchinson and Quinn Montagu.

 

Setliff says the FCC will likely accept the large-screen HDTV standard proposed by the Grand Alliance, a committee formed by the FCC's Advisory Committee for Advanced Television Service (ACATS). The FCC is also considering digital transmission of standard-resolution television as a transitional format between analog and HDTV.

 

The higher quality the television format, the better the DLP's capabilities show up on screen. "The DLP is ideally suited for large displays, with 50-inch or greater diagonals," Setliff says. Although Runco estimates its first home theater system will sell for $10,000, "we anticipate since the fundamental display element is a semiconductor device, these systems can come down in price and we can have competitive, less-expensive large display systems."

 

Regardless of the new standard, "The DLP can use the existing analog standard-resolution systems, standard-resolution digital systems or HDTV systems," Setliff says. "We would like to see conversion to more broadcasting using digital sources, but that in itself does not limit use of DLP in entertainment and computing display systems."

 

Computer displays will benefit from DLP systems as well, thus creating the opportunity for hybrid television-computer products. "Digital broadcast has the bandwidth required to not only show good video, but also to accept computer-generated sources," Setliff says. A TV broadcast of a football game, for example, might also include an up-to-date statistical summary running in a window in one corner of the screen. Or, a home shopping broadcast might provide an on-line ordering window.

 

"We'll be able to merge computing in with our entertainment delivery,: Setliff says. "One of the value propositions of the .DMD is the fact that besides enabling large displays, it shows you outstanding video and computer graphics in one display."