New Light Engine for Rear Projection TVs to be Demonstrated
LCoS Engine for Rear-Projection TV (RPTV) Market Offers Sharp, Vivid Images
Brillian Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Three-Five Systems, Inc. today announced that it will demonstrate a super high contrast 720p HDTV1 LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) -based light engine for the rear-projection television (RPTV) market at the Society for Information Display's (SID) International Symposium, Seminar, and Exhibition in Baltimore, MD.
Demonstrations will be conducted at the Baltimore Convention Center during a special breakfast event for attending media on May 21. Private demonstrations for OEMs/ODMs are available by appointment May 20-22.
The 720p HDTV1 light engine is based on the Vikuiti Optical Core from 3M and TFS' new Brillian BR768HC Microdisplay. The BR768HC utilizes TFS' proprietary LCoS cell construction with greatly improved contrast performance and is targeted at the high-quality, value segment of the product category. With contrast of 2000:1, the engine utilizing the BR768HC Microdisplay enables OEMs/ODMs to provide their customers with one of the highest contrast LCoS RPTV products in the consumer electronics marketplace. In addition, this 1280 x 768 microdisplay offers almost one million pixels on a 0.70" diagonal, making it compatible with a variety of optical designs.
A light engine consists of a lamp, power supply, microdisplays and associated drive electronics, a color management system, and a projection lens. These devices, when assembled into an engine, replace all of the image-related components in traditional CRT television products. The light engine is unique in that it is comprised of three tiny, high resolution LCoS Microdisplays and precision optics that separate light into its three primary colors, create the image and then recombine them to produce brilliantly sharp and vivid images beyond the capability of traditional display technologies.
This second-generation light engine is the result of more than two years of collaboration between TFS and 3M to develop technology to capitalize on the performance capability of the BR768HC microdisplays and is an evolution of the first-generation engine demonstrated at the International Consumer Electronics Show 2003 in January. 3M will offer the optical core to OEMs/ODMs as a reference design, enabling them customize it to their specific applications.
"Our patented new polarizing beam splitter (PBS) technology is helping manufacturers to realize the potential of LCoS by enabling a lower cost, higher efficiency engine based on the Vikuiti optical core," said Raj Patel, business manager, 3M Optical Systems Division. "We look forward to expanding applications of this technology into other emerging opportunities for rear projection displays in a variety of display designs and products."
The TFS/3M technology demonstration will feature a high performance 65" RPTV development platform, which is scalable to support a variety of screen sizes.