100.000:1 DLP Chip

keyser
Interesting but I think the static contrast of dmds will remain pretty much the same only with the help of LED arrays is pseudo static contrast increased.
Coldmachine has hinted that SIM2 will come out with technology like this and that many implemenatations are possible.
However I doubt it will be cheap since focusing the LED arrays locally on the dmd will take same clever engineering.

If LED arrays can illuminate a dmd it should also be possible to illuninate lcd panels.
Still this contrast boost could be of greater benefit to the dlp side.

keyser
The led dlp demo you are talking about was using the light source as a dynamic iris, no local dimming. That way fade to blacks can look great but lots of content will be severly limited by the static contrast.
With local dimming it becomes a different ball game.

Ohlson,

Do you think DLP technology has reached its limit? It looks more and more like LED/Laser are a must for DLP to keep up with LCOS.

Would 100,000 to one contrast be anything other than a gimmick. At that high contrast, even a little light under the door or the neon light used to show the location of a wall switch in the dark could drastically reduce the contrast ratio.

I don't think it's a gimmick. I am presently using 9" CRT projector that's gamma corrected and its on/off I suspect is much greater than 100,000:1. In a light controlled room black scenes are black - you can see absolutely nothing. Add a little light from the display on a receiver etc. and huge on/off still has a major impact - when you can't see the screen at all you know something is working the way it should. This is what digital needs and I suspect will have within 2 or 3 years. IMO full on/off is much more important to an image than inter scene contrast if you have a light controlled environment.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Almost two years out and no smug fanboy reports tells all.

I agree. TI has a track record for getting into a market that is hot and riding it until margins and market share begin to drop at which point they spin it off and focus on something else. It's been reported recently that they are doing exactly this with their cellular chipset business which was responsible for more revenue and profit than any other group. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them spin off the DLP group for the same reasons (in this case because DLP RPTV sales are in decline). A tell-tale is the lack of new investment in DLP which has also been the case with their cellular chipset business.

Only TI knows for sure, but the consumer has shown a strong preference for flat panel. So LCD, PDP and especially OLED (in the future) will be where the volume is. Home theater projection displays are a niche market and are being dominated by LCD and LCOS. Inexpensive business projectors are also increasingly being dominated by LCD although there are still a lot of inexpensive business projectors being sold with the old 0.55" DLP XGA chips. Large screen, bright projectors are the one area where DLP dominates but it's very low volume and 4k LCOS might start to made a dent in this market. I'd like to be wrong though, the more competition we have the better it is for consumers.

Absolutely true and why we have bat caves with the equipment sequestered away in a projection room.

We should have a sign at the entrance "No white T shirts aloud"

Even better: "No smiling allowed!"

I'm English, so that doesn't apply

(yes I did just go to all the trouble of creating an english grin icon! Sad I know.)

Too funny!

Good thing my friends all wear black, and should they bring guests, I've shrouds and makeup at the door.

ted

Please don't say FP will be dominated by transmissive LCD. I'm assuming (don't know why though - economies of scale?) that LCD is cheaper to produce than LCOS variants. I *like* light projected on walls, how else am I going to be able to make hand puppets and shadow silhouettes?

ted

"Please don't say FP will be dominated by transmissive LCD."

It already is

This brings up an interesting question, what is the limiting factor (CR wise) for DLP? What's a DC4 DLP chip capable of under perfect conditions? Scatter off the mirror edges and reflections off the substrate are the only inherent limitations correct, how much do they limit CR?

Good questions. I assume that only TI knows for sure. The reflections off the substrate were reduced significantly by darkening or masking the underlying structure. The tilt angle was increased which also improved contrast. It would be interesting to know if further improvements in both of those areas are possible. The third improvement would be to eliminate more ambient light from the light trap used when the mirror is in the off position. It sure makes a person wonder if there are more improvements ahead for DLP or if this is as good as it gets. Knowing first hand how TI funds development, I'm more than a little skeptical that they are doing much to improve it but I'd like to be wrong.

I have the same questions. I (perhaps illogically) presumed that LaserVue type tech would be next step for DLP FP's. I'd love nothing more than to rid myself of bulb replacement.

So far, only 1 or 2 ppl on avsforum are known to have bought a laservue, so the reception has been less than spectacular.

but yeah, I can't wait for the day when we look back on the days of 600 lumens, $400, 1500 hr bulbs and **shudder**.

in the laservue thread, there's some speculation on how the laser beam is diffused (no one knows). could safety be a big concern for FP?