Just want to post this here so it won't 'go away':
Tuesday November 16, 6:36 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Key Enabling Technology for Microportable Projectors and Desktop Monitors Unveiled
Solid State Color Filter Eliminates Mechanical Color Wheels to Enable Quieter, Lighter and Smaller Video and Data Projectors
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 1999-- In a private suite at the Luxor Hotel, DigiLens Inc., has demonstrated a remarkable breakthrough in the quest to miniaturize and silence portable video projectors for consumer and business applications.
For many years projection designers have struggled with the noisy, mechanical color wheels required to separate red, green and blue light from the white light projection lamps in ultraportable video projectors. Despite many innovations in liquid crystal technology, until now solid state, silent solutions have proven inefficient and expensive.
The ``proof of concept' demonstrator incorporating an Application Specific Integrated Lens (ASIL), from DigiLens finally offers a solution. The DigiLens solid state alternative to the color wheel offers an elegant diffractive optical solution, which provides the ability for front projection and rear projection designers to customize the specific wavelength, angle, intensity and duration of the colored light separations for their color sequential microdisplay-based systems.
``Replacing a mechanical color wheel in higher brightness projection systems with a solid state solution has several potential benefits, including lighter weight, reduced noise and potentially, higher reliability. DigiLens' new technology demonstration will open a number of designer's eyes,' commented senior editor Chris Chinnock, Microdisplay Report (www.mdreport.com).
The device is made possible by DigiLens' electrically switchable optical technology that merges innovations in material science, software and computer-generated holography into a new category of optical device -- the ASIL. It comprises separate switchable layers -- each layer being tuned to extract a separate red, green or blue wavelength from the white light lamp. The layers are then electrically switched on and off in synchronization with the microdisplay at speeds fast enough to convince the human eye that it perceives a full color image.
``Since we announced our technology in October, we have had a great deal of interest from manufacturers of projection systems eager to eliminate their noisy, mechanical color wheels -- and in doing so, opening up a much larger market for rear projection desktop computer monitors, where silent and reliable operation is absolutely critical,' commented DigiLens founder and CEO, Dr. Jonathan Waldern.
``The demonstration units we are showing here at Comdex are a direct answer to these needs. It is yet another opportunity for us to show the versatility and applicability of our switchable diffractive technology in solving key optical problems.'
DigiLens also unveiled a high-brightness, full-color miniature heads-up display optic, ideal for consumer DVD and mobile internet devices. The full daylight capability demonstrated in the display utilized high-brightness blue and green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) from Cree Research (Rayleigh, N.C.).
For several years, DigiLens has been quietly collaborating with leading consumer and computing companies to refine its ASIL technology for various display applications. The concept of incorporating multiple, specialized optical functions into a single package is much like the ASIL's electronic counterpart, the Application Specific Integrated Circuit, which miniaturizes a complex circuit board into a custom microchip.
About DigiLens
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Calif., with subsidiary operations in Europe and Japan, DigiLens, Inc. is an optical technology company that was founded in February 1997 to develop and bring to market its revolutionary new electrically switchable optical technology designed for a variety of display and data applications. Several leading venture and corporate funds are backing the company with financial, technical and manpower resources. DigiLens provides detailed information about its breakthrough technology on the company website, located at www.digilens.com
DAK |
