HDTV Almanac

Market tracking firm In-Stat has predicted that by 2014, there will be 20 million devices with pico projectors embedded in them. These are tiny front projector devices that use either bright LEDs or tiny lasers as a light source. They can create an image the size of a sheet of paper that can be viewed in most normal room lighting conditions, and with the lights dimmed way down, can make big images 50″ or larger.

In-Stat predicts that mobile phones will account for the bulk of the embedded projectors. This makes sense because mobile phone makers are caught in an endless arms race to add features and apparent value to their products in order to come up with some differentiation. And the current replacement cycle of less than two years requires accelerated development of these new features.

One possible beneficiary of this move may be the various mobile TV services. A cell phone screen is a bit small for most people to use to watch video programming for any length of time. A pico projector could not only make an image big enough for the user to see, it also can create an image that can be shared with other viewers easily.

The key to success will be getting the price down for these devices, but as production volumes increase, they should become more affordable. 20 million projectors in a mobile phone market that currently sells more than a billion units every year is just a fraction of a percent share over the forecast period, so it would seem to be a pretty safe prediction.

Pacific Media Associates is a company that tracks the front projector display market, and they have recently released their latest projections. They expect that 5.4 million 3D-capable front projectors will ship in 2014, which is roughly five times as many as are expected to ship this year. While some analysts see the education market as the focal point for these displays, Dr. William Coggshall of Pacific Media Associates sees it differently. With education budgets under severe constraints these days, he sees the consumer market as the source for much of the growth. From gaming to home theater, 3D-capable projectors may be able to compete dollar-for-dollar with large flat panel solutions. He also expects that many of these projectors will not be used for 3D content initially, but as the available content and distribution sources increase, more and more consumers will take advantage of the feature.

With all the emphasis given to flat panel displays, it’s easy to forget about front projection systems. They are not as convenient, as you need to manage light more effectively, but the traditional “home theater” is not found in just the luxury homes that has been their traditional market. As consumers look to get larger and larger images, the front projectors may be able to offer affordable solutions.

At SID 2010 in Seattle, I saw a clever demonstration. Syndiant wanted to demonstrate how their pocket projector could be used to create a stereoscopic 3D image. So one of their engineers duct taped two of them together, put different polarizers across each lens, aligned the images, and voila! It was a very effective 3D projector that worked with passive glasses.

So that was a cool way to get 3D from a pocket projector. And then along came this:

This is a table top display that creates a 3D image that you can view without glasses. In theory, it can create an image that you can walk around. In this demonstration from NICT’s Keihanna Research Labs, it only can be viewed across a 120-degree range. In order to create the image, the display uses 96 individual pocket projector engines, each aimed at a specially-designed funnel-shaped device that creates an image that appears to float above the table.

Now consider this; a standard 3DTV simply has two images. One is for the left eye, and the other for the right. This table requires 96 separate images. Start showing a full motion image at 30 frames per second, and you’re talking about 2,880 images per second. If you expand this to the full 360-degree viewing range, it balloons to 8,640 images per second. At full HD resolution, that’s 18 billion pixels per second. Figure 24 bits of color per pixel, and you’re up to more than 140 gigabytes of data per second. So while this is a clever creation, we’ve got a ways to go before we can have a system that could support a full motion HD version of this concept.

The researchers envision a way to use this to simulate a sports field projected into a stadium so you could watch your home team play in 3D even when they are playing out of town. I’m not betting against the concept, but I don’t expect to see it any time soon. (You can read more about this in an article at DigInfo.tv.)

Who wouldn’t want a high-definition wall in their home? But have you ever considered a high-definition floor?

Researchers at McGill University have come up with floor tiles that can have a surface image displayed using projectors mounted overhead. So far, pretty cool. But the plastic tiles can sense pressure and be made to vibrate. As a result, it can feel like different surfaces as you walk across it. This simulated motion is called “haptic feedback”. How about drifting snow, or a pebble beach? Maybe you could merge it with Smell-O-Vision and walk across a freshly-mowed grass lawn.

The floor could be used for simulation applications, or could be used as part of a user interface to control a computerized system such as games.

Earlier this week, Sanyo announced a new front projector, the PLV-Z4000. The LCD projector has 1080p resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate, interpolating the intermediate frames from a 60 Hz signal to produce smooth motion on moving images. It can also handle the film-based 1080p24 signal (24 frames per second) that can be produced by some Blu-ray players.

The projector is rated at 1,200 lumens, which should be sufficient for home theater installations, but may not hold up well in a brightly-lit room. The projector is scheduled to ship in May with a list price of $2,495.

Front projectors are still the best value if you want a really large HD image (such as if you’re seated 10 feet or more from the screen) and can exert some control over the ambient lighting conditions.

ViewSonic has announced their PGD-150 active shutter glasses that will allow viewers to watch 3D content on any of the company’s 3D-capable DLP projectors. The glasses are priced at just $99 apiece, which is a reasonable list price this early in the game.

This announcement also keeps front projection systems in the mix for those who want a giant HD image for under $1,200, and who also want to be able to enjoy 3D content as it becomes available. The downside is that you need to have a room where you can adequately control the lighting (which generally means no windows), but this can get a huge viewing experience at a reasonable price.

The glasses also work with many ViewSonic projector models that do not have high enough native resolution for HD images, but they could appeal to the education market where the cost savings is likely to be a significant factor.

Runco continues to be the high-end home entertainment display company that defies gravity and demonstrates that there is still room for an exclusive home theater company. The company has announced a new program called “ColourPallette”, which lets customers order the full line of Runco home theater projectors and flat panel displays in any of 13 different colors.

According to Runco VP of Marketing Jennifer Davis, “It is easy to see why designers may view display technology as a necessary evil that detracts from their vision for the space, instead of enhancing it. Runco is affording designers new ways to embrace and integrate technology into their designs, and even use it to complement a room’s aesthetic.”

The 13 colors are not immediately discernable by their names, which include “Runco Magic”, “Runco Artisan”, and “Runco Expert”. You can check them out for yourself, however, at the Runco Web site where you’ll discover that “Runco Extreme” is a purple shade.

Two weeks ago, the Academy Board of Governors gave the 2009 Scientific and Engineering Award (Academy Plaque) to four of the people who helped develop the color accuracy for DLP Cinema projectors. The Texas Instruments technology has become an important part of digital cinema, with installations at more than 17,000 screens worldwide. IMAX digital projection systems using DLP technology is now installed at 155 locations worldwide.

DLP uses micro-mirrors on semiconductor chips to create an image, and has a number of advantages over competing microdisplays. For example, it does not require polarized light, which helps increase light output and makes it well suited for 3D cinema displays using passive glasses.

The low demand for rear projection HDTVs has meant that DLP has not been as popular in home entertainment as might have been hoped. However, in addition to digital cinemas, the technology holds a strong position in front projectors for both business and home theater applications. And the newest, tiny imagers are a driving force behind the pico projector movement, which is making it possible to fit a full color projector in a cell phone, digital camera, or portable media player. As a result, you can expect to be watching images created by DLP devices for a long time to come.

Another one bites the dust. Last week, the Washington DC area electronics retailer, MyerEmco Audio Video, announced that it was going out of business. Lack of available credit was cited as a major factor in the company’s demise. The president announced that the store would sell remaining inventory at half-price, with larger discounts available as they near the end of their stock.

One of the keys to the company’s failure was the downturn in new housing. This may seem strange at first glance, but high-end audio/visual stores like this rely heavily on new construction of expensive homes, which often include extensive wiring and complex home entertainment system. With housing starts stalled, the company lost its new installation business. Many buyers economized by buying directly from big box stores, and handling their own installation. And with increase information available on the Internet, consumers need less help from the experienced staff of the dedicated stores like MyerEmco.

As I’ve said before, there will always be a niche for high-end system integrators and installers, but not only is that market not growing along with the increased demand for HDTV and other home entertainment products, it’s actually shrinking. MyerEmco is just the latest casualty, but it’s certainly not going to be the last.

Acer has announced the S5200 DLP projector that is certified for 3D image projection. It supports a 120 Hz refresh rate, making it suitable for stereoscopic 3D content using active glasses. The projector is not capable of HD images, as it is only has XGA (1024 by 768 pixel) resolution, but it is reportedly priced around $1,000.

It’s still too soon for all but the early adopters to be buying 3D hardware, since the available content is still very limited. But this announcement shows that many display companies are already rolling out products that support 3D. And by the time the content catalog grows to sufficient size, competition will likely have wrung out most of the price differential. We’ll be buying 3D-capable displays at just about the full range of price points.