Pico Projectors - The next 'big' thing.

[Luke122]

If you havent heard of this yet, dont worry.. I was referred to this today by a contact @ Omnivision in Florida.

Pico projectors are ultra small projectors, to be embedded in cell phones, pda's, laptops, etc.

http://www.microvision.com/pico_projector_displays/application_gallery.html

Can we all imagine the remarkable range of possibilities here?

Discuss. :D

[Luke122]

I'm suprised that there isnt more interest in this!

Imagine going to a lan party, and not needing to take a monitor... the projector is build into your case, and just shines against a wall... or if it's external, it just shines onto the side of your case!

[Ap1thy]

nuts... especially cool are the ipod ones, a nice way for portable video and the lanboxes are a good idea too

[Quakken]

Would be cool, I have sort of thought about the possibility of this being the next big thing in display technology, since smaller devices are getting better and better resolutions.

The only thing is, Don't you need a large amount of power to power the lazorz for such a device? For such light to come out of such a small space, that would need some serious juice.

But I can't wait to have a projector going onto a white sheet that i carry about to lan parties.

[killergamer]

It will be cool to see some one just have a flip up one modded in to a case were you can just place it on a table and it will project on a wall.


Annoying gamer- WOW what is that?
Awesome gamer- Ohh thats nothing thats just my flip up screen
Annoying gamer- WOW thats cool! Have a Nice day

[Scotty]

They're good at Photoshopping.

I've seen some small ones, but not that small,it will take some serious work to get a LED projector that size. LEds are small yes, but getting them to produce a good clear image and minimal heat?

[Greco101]

I'm scared to see the price. I'm saying 400

[OvRiDe]

I have been following them for a while, they are pretty neat in concept, but they still have a ways to go. The biggest issues with them now is getting them brighter. If you are in a really dark room, they will work fair well, but you add any light into the mix and it looses visibility rather quickly. I am not totally dissing them here, because, I am extremely excited about the possibilities, and just the fact that they have actually started development, means that before long they will have perfected them! :)

[billygoat333]

that is freakin sweet! the mobile phone thing is awesome, as well as the webcam-sized big screen projector! you could mount that ANYWHERE. thats awesome.

as for lasers using a lot of power, i think that they have cut that down significantly, they make those stupid laser pointers that run off of one AA battery. shouldnt be too hard for a Li Ion cell battery to power some.

[Luke122]

scotty: not LED, Laser. They use a red, blue, and green laser (one of each duh), and a DLP type mirror chip to draw the image one pixel at a time. Yes, one pixel at a time. pretty insane!

Because the lasers are class 2, they arent harmful to your eyes (about as much as looking into a regular projector) and dont generate much heat. They are also super efficient.

$400 seems like an awfully low price to me.. I'd buy one at that price, without hesitation.

[Dilphat]

and you could probably use that with the Wiimote projector whiteboard on that too. wow, i could so see myself getting one.

[OvRiDe]

I didn't realize that these were the laser/dlp versions. That would definitely help out in the brightness category. This should also increase the resolution quite a bit. The early models of a "pico" style projector were led and a small lcd, which I saw 2 major issues with. Building a high resolution small LCD is expensive, AND then couple that with a 3-5 Watt LED that still isnt that bright in office or room lighting. This can really change that, and at 400 bucks, I would definitely be considering one at that price.

[Spawn-Inc]

ya i'm thinking around 2k for those, a good one anyway.

looks like a wicked idea though.

[Scotty]

scotty: not LED, Laser. They use a red, blue, and green laser (one of each duh), and a DLP type mirror chip to draw the image one pixel at a time. Yes, one pixel at a time. pretty insane!

Because the lasers are class 2, they arent harmful to your eyes (about as much as looking into a regular projector) and dont generate much heat. They are also super efficient.

$400 seems like an awfully low price to me.. I'd buy one at that price, without hesitation.

Lasers, LEDs, Filament, Sunlight. It's all the same.

[chaksq]

I definitely could use one but I can't afford a normal sized projector.

[Luke122]

Well, I'm not sure who came up with the $400 number, but I'm 100% positive the <drew carey> actual retail price is </drew carey> much higher.

[Quakken]

Well, seeing as how you can't get terrific full sized projectors for $400, a tiny lazor'd one with a mirror that moves insanely fast sounds like it has to be more expensive. If they cost somewhere remotely around $400, I will be amazed.