demand, with production ramping up to
more than 100,000 next year.
Lasers vs. LEDs
Laser diode makers say using lasers
means that the projected images will be
focus-free, will deliver a wide range of
bright, vibrant colors, and will consume
less power, while downplaying their major
disadvantages, speckle noise – black dots
that make the image appear grainy – and
cost.
LED manufacturers have been making
inroads into increasing the power, brightness (HB-LEDs) and efficiency of their
products, which are long-lived and less
expensive than lasers. They have been
criticized for a lack of brightness under
normal lighting conditions and for having
limited focus.
Moizio said the first pico prototype
DLP shown in 2007 used a pico DLP chip
and three lasers. “Feedback from customers and the market were that lasers
were too expensive and had associated
speckle and safety issues. It was the
choice of brands and manufacturers to use
LEDs instead of lasers, due to their maturity, safety and cost.”
If lasers can exceed LEDs in terms of
cost, performance and safety, he added,
“DLP customers and manufacturers would
likely take advantage of this and use
lasers.”
Alexander Mönchmeier, senior product
marketing engineer of opto components
for Mitsubishi Electric, said that, over the
next three to five years, laser diode makers will work to overcome problems such
as thermal expansion and price to integrate
RGB onto one submount. Red lasers are
very inexpensive, about $10 to $15 apiece,
because they are made in high quantities –
about 15 million a month – for the DVD
market. But blue lasers are expensive, as
high as $1000 for one.
He said that having an RGB engine-driven pico projector could add about 15
percent to the cost of an already expensive
multimedia phone.
“Demand from the consumer may be
there, but what price are they willing to
pay?” Mönchmeier asked.
Nikon’s Coolpix S1000PJ, hitting the market this month, is the first camera equipped with a pico projector.
Courtesy of Nikon Corp.
The next big thing for little things
Nikon Corp. of Tokyo is expected to
ship its first camera equipped with a pico
projector, the Coolpix S1000PJ, this
month. Featuring an organic LED screen,
it is being touted as one of the first combination digital cameras and LCoS pico pro-
