LCOS TVs Poised to Enter the Market
Sets on the way, components available, defects solved—but price reductions needed
David E. Mentley - Senior Vice President, iSuppli/Stanford Resources
After many false starts, a half-dozen failed startups and more than 10 years of development, consumer video products based on Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) light engines are ready to enter the market in a big way.
To this analyst, demonstration products shown at the Society for Information Display (SID) 2004 event in Seattle last week appeared to be better than ever and might just be ready for prime time.
Previous tries at LCOS were plagued by problems that were not apparent in the lab, but gave fits to manufacturers months after the products left the factory. However, annoying defects like color shifting and image sticking now appear to have been resolved.
Prototype systems on the SID show floor built by Brillian Corp., Philips and Spatialight Inc. all appeared to be ready for shipment and displayed pictures with more-than-adequate quality to compete head to head with projection TVs based on CRTs and on Texas Instruments Inc.’s Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology.
With the resurrection of LCOS, and with the increasing number of competing technologies in the television market, videophiles will have a difficult choice deciding between plasma, 50-inch-range LCDs and the wide variety of excellent projection displays.
The LCOS sets demonstrated at SID represent just the tip of the iceberg for this emerging market.
Although they were not shown at SID—at least not publicly—many other companies have LCOS TVs in development. These sets are based on LCOS components from Intel Corp., MicroDisplay Corp. and a few other developers like JVC, Aurora Systems Inc., CRL Opto, eLCOS Microdisplay Technology and a rumored startup named Steridian. Beyond these suppliers, JDS Uniphase Corp. is now ramping up its engine-building capacity with a new generation of optical components that guarantee accurate color and efficient design.
The large number of component suppliers that are offering stable and mature technology is instilling confidence among television makers that a full-scale retail rollout for LCOS can proceed.
LCOS displays have long held the promise of delivering very high-definition images at low cost. At SID, it was evident that the first part of the promise has now come true.
Brillian showed a 1,080, progressive scan (1080p) rear-projection TV built around three of its 1,920 by 1,200 chips.
A quick demonstration showed that the color, contrast and black level of the Brillian set are excellent. Very close pixel spacing of 8.1 microns on the 0.72-inch chip produces no discernable gap on a 65-inch screen. Even the 1,280 by 720 pixel systems shown by Philips and Spatialight looked great, with sufficient quality to satisfy most digital TV buyers.
LCOS technology now is capable of carving out a share of the 6-million-unit projection TV market. However, more work will need to be done before that can happen.
The key issue that must be addressed is pricing. Prices must be driven downward over the next few years to align with competitive products, specifically the DLP and eventually the CRT-based rear-projection TVs. ?
David E. Mentley is senior vice president at iSuppli/Stanford Resources.
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