[Pocatello]

Here is a link to a story over at Tom's Hardware about the new chips and hardware to make a new family of DLP's. Of most interest to the AVS Forum, the chips are designed for Home Theater and 16:9 HDTV.

http://www7.tomshardware.com/technews/index.html#1142


The whole package should retail for less than $3,000, according to the news release.


Any comments? I'm interested to know what the members of this forum think about the article.


(Honestly, most of the article seemed to be written in a foreign language. If anyone can translate the tech-speak in to English, I would appreciate it!)

 

[jackmay]

It says that a lot of part are going to be reduced to a few chips that are specifically designed to implement a DMD projector.

Since chips are expensive to design, it indicates that TI thinks HDTV DMD is starting to grow into a higher volume market that can pay for the chip development.


The simpler design and production should also make it much easier for new companies to enter the DMD projector market (maybe some of the computer companies) to increase capabilities while reducing price.


I think its a good sign for consumers that TI thinks the market is entering the next stage and moving out of the early adopter stage.


Its probably a bad sign for companies that have a business plan of selling DMD products at a high price. The higher volume will make it easy for people to understand when they are or are not getting value for their dollars.

 

[jamin]

I'll bite. Sounds like higher contrast, faster quiter color wheels, faster refresh rates, pip, and DVI in less space for less $.


Maybe NEC or PLUS can make something out of it.

 

[MrWigggles]

It sounds like TI is refining its "formater board" that all DLPs projectors use. Projectors have to digitize and manipulate the input signal and then send it to the "formater board" and TI takes it from there on to drive the DLP


What is interesting to me is that this technology is designed to make rear projection cheaper but it doesn't say anything about front projection which should be very similar.


The cynical side in me is still wondering why they are treating the two product lines differently. They are keeping RPTV one year ahead of FPTV development eventhough they are very similar products. I guess they'll wait a year before making a similar announcement for FPTV. I would think that a similar announcement could have been made for FPTV's, but it would have been a slap in the face for Sharp, Seleco and Marantz.


Pete Broas from TI came to this forum about six months ago to talk about the status of HT DLPs and at the time he didn't understand why the FPTV manufacturers were charging $10K+ for their product. Sounds like TI is trying to take a more active role in pricing the next generation of DLP displays.


Personally, I think a $3000 Sharp 9000 type product is very possible and in fact that will be my next projector.


-Mr. Wigggles

 

[Craig Todd]

It would be great if someone would make a 3-chip DLP projector. No rainbows, and either higher brightness or cheaper lower power lamps (and quieter cooling).

 

[Pultzar]

What does the "12 degree tilt mirror" mean and how does it relate to brightness and contrast?

 

[noah katz]

12 deg vs. the current 10 reflects the light further away from the image optical path, making unwanted light capture and absorption more effective, thus improving contrast (by lowering black levels).


I don't know how it can increase brightness.

 

[MichaelH]

Quote:

The cynical side in me is still wondering why they are treating the two product lines differently. They are keeping RPTV one year ahead of FPTV development eventhough they are very similar products

The cynical side in me says it's because the RPTV market is way bigger right now. Technology similarities aside, there are still lots of costs involved in the overall product development. The bottom line is that Best Buy, etc. isn't selling FPs.

 

[MrWigggles]

Noah,


TI has for awhile now stated that the 12 degrees help increase contrast by increasing brightness not reducing black level.


But I'm with you, I am not sure how that can be possible.


-Mr. Wigggles

 

[Pultzar]

Quote:

Originally posted by MrWigggles Noah, TI has for awhile now stated that the 12 degrees help increase contrast by increasing brightness not reducing black level. But I'm with you, I am not sure how that can be possible. -Mr. Wigggles

This must mean that when the mirror is in the "on" position, that more light actually makes it out of the projector instead of bouncing around inside. This would make it brighter without necessarily making the black level better... but the contrast would be higher.


The more I think about it, I think that black level is not extremely relevant. What does matter is contrast ratio. Once that is high enough and we have enough lumans, you can just darken the screen until the black level is good enough.

 

[noah katz]

Oops, now I remember that is what they say; I was repeating my first thoughts, before hearing their (counterintuitive) explanation.


But I agree with Pultzar, it's contrast ratio that matters, and the preferred way is by increasing brightness while not raising black levels.

 

[RichardB]

MrWigggles,


The reason that 12 degree mirrors improve brightness is a little difficult to explain but I will take a shot at it. The following is a bit oversimplified:


A cone of light is focused onto each mirror of the DMD chip. The reflection is also a cone of light. The incident and relected cones cannot overlap and this limits the angle of the cones to 20 degrees on todays DLP projectors.


A typical halide bulb and reflector assembly creates a cone of light which is about 53 degrees (f/1). This light passes thru a glass rod and is then imaged by optics (mirrors and lenses) onto the DMD chip. In order to reduce the angle of the cone of light, the optics has a 1:3 magnification ratio. This forces the dimensions of the glass rod to be 1/3 the dimensions of the DMD chip. The rod is now too small to capture all the light from the halide bulb.


To capture more light you need to make the rod larger. This can only be done if you increase the allowable angle of the cone of light to the mirror chip which in turn means increasing the angle of the mirrors on the chip.

 

[noah katz]

Richard,


Thanks for the explanation. Any idea what the increase in brightness is?


Thanks

 

[Pultzar]

Do you know what makes the 12 degree mirror more difficult to do than the 10 degree mirror? I'm assuming it is more difficult otherwise they could have done it all along.

 

[RichardB]

Noah,


The increase in brightness is going to depend on the intensity profile of the focused illuminator spot. However, since the area of the glass rod can be increased by 45%, we can expect the increase in brightness to be less than 45%.


Pultzar,


I do not know what limits the DMD mirror deflection angle to 10 or 12 degrees. This is a question which, probably, only TI could answer.

 

[noah katz]

Richard,


Thanks for the additional insight.