• Blogs
• Forums
• Tradeshows
• Partners
• White Papers
• Events

Pondering Projection

Sep 1, 2004 12:00 PM, By Jeff Sauer

Can projectors get any smaller?

Sidebars
The Pixel prize

Four years ago in this space I mused about a hypothetical camcorder e-quipped with a built-in projector. With more than a viewfinder or LCD view-screen, it would have been a cam-corder that would truly offer direct in-the-field playback. For consumers, there would be no worrying about its tapes playing in any particular VCR. For professionals, it could eliminate that extra review monitor in the field and facilitate immediate client signoff.

That musing wasn't all that serious, nor the main point of the article, but was rather at a time when flip-out LCDs were migrating upward in product lines from consumer models to prosumer and professional camcorders. It was also when the projector industry was thinking small with the release of the first sub-5lb. projector, and it was easy to wonder how small “small” could be.

Today, some four years later, a 4lb. projector, a 3lb. projector, and most recently a model weighing about a kilogram have superceded that revolutionary 5lb. unit as the smallest. Yet that 2.2lb. unit came long before this year's Infocomm, and for the first time since those 5lb. days, small size wasn't really a story at the industry's main annual event. Has “small” hit its limit at a kilo?

In a lot of ways, it probably has. Projector miniaturization has likely reached something of a barrier using conventional techniques. The electronics have shrunk to the point that they are now a relatively minor part of the size equation compared to the lamp and light path, at least in travel projectors. For projectors to continue that turn-of-the-millennium trend toward small, manufacturers likely need to take more radical design steps.

To help inspire that sort of thinking, Pixelworks' chairman, Allen Alley, announced in his keynote address at the pre-Infocomm Projector Summit that Pixelworks would offer a $50,000 prize to the designer of the first operational prototype of a palm-sized projector (see sidebar). Pixelworks acknowledges, and anyone in the business knows, that $50,000 won't go very far toward the R&D budget necessary for such a project. Still, it's a nice gesture and a noble challenge, a gentlemanly gauntlet to keep moving forward in an industry that's in minor malaise.

Indeed, it's easy to bemoan, and many have, the commendable yet increasingly uninspiring drive toward continually brighter and higher contrast projectors now that the technology has reached levels that suffice much of the time. Ambitious manufacturers seeking differentiation now tend to focus on someone's particular approach to ease of use and offering easier access to features most users never find. While those efforts have produced some nice results, they are rarely giant leaps forward. Some makers, too, have added functionality like built-in operating systems and increasingly smart projectors offering intriguing solutions, but evolution and wide acceptance has been slow.

So, what is so exciting about palm-sized projectors, especially one that might be a serious step backward in terms of features? Perhaps there's not very much on the surface beyond the possibility of more traveling salesmen giving more slide presentations. Although tiny projectors might make it easier to mount projectors in awkward spaces like classrooms, public places, and point-of-sale locations, they might also increase the likelihood of security and theft issues.

On the other hand, bringing projection technology down to the size of an adult's palm would require manufacturers to think outside the proverbial box. For example, it will likely require exploring alternate light sources. LEDs, for example, can direct light in a very specific direction, thus reducing the volume of the conventional light path, and they can demand a lot less energy, thus reducing power consumption.

Yet once the “thinking outside the box” starts, Pixelworks hopes that the industry might envision new paradigms for projection as a whole, ideally (and certainly self-interestedly for Pixel-works) creating entire new markets for projection displays. And that's where the fun — and a potentially rich future in projection technology — starts.

For example, notebook computer users are inevitably faced with an awkward choice. They want small and portable, but most users also tend to drool at notebooks with 15in. or even 17in. LCD screens. Reducing projection technology to palm-sized components could beget building projection into other devices, like notebook computers. Even with a foldout projection screen, a tiny built-in projector would dramatically reduce a notebook's size and weight compared to an LCD screen. Imagine a Palm Pilot attached to one of those fold-out keyboards; then add a mini projection system, and you're not too far away from being able to do real work. Take it a step further with portable storage and two to three years of Moore's Law processing power advancements, and portable editing systems take on a whole new look.

There have already been a few portable video mixers with built-in displays, many in the prosumer space, although Sony's new Anycast Station is an exciting professional product. The displays, particularly for sources, however, have always been quite small and compromising. On the proposed Anycast Station you'll see several video feeds, plus program and record windows, but they are quite small and monopolize the user interface. Adding an optional projection output, whether built-in or a pocket-sized plug-in, could allow for much greater visualization. Even a rack of DV cassette-sized projectors would be a lot easier to tote around than a rack of 5in. LCDs, and it would offer a much bigger diagonal image. Of course, all of these solutions include a new challenge for screen markets, if not a tantalizingly large potential market opportunity.

And what about that camcorder? I'm still not ready to say that it's going to happen anytime soon. The added costs of a built-in, large-screen display system would clearly remain prohibitive for a long time. Still, while those little 2.5in. LCD screen can be extremely helpful, I've spent plenty of time staring at them, trying to see details like shadows and highlights to judge composition and just can't help musing about some on-call solution that's a little higher resolution.

---

Sidebar

The Pixel prize

PIXELWORKS WAS STILL WORKING out the legal details for this prize at press time, and you can visit www.pixelworks.com for complete details and disclaimers, but generally the parameters of the contest look like this:

1. An operable projector of 100cm³ or less that could fit in the palm of a hand
2. 200 lumens or brighter
3. SVGA resolution or higher
4. 8-bit color or higher
5. Two hours of operation without an external power source (most likely battery-powered)
6. Powered by Pixelworks technology

---

feedback

To comment on this article, email the Video Systems editorial staff at vsfeedback@primediabusiness.com.

© 2009 Penton Media, Inc.