Sony Projector Gets Bright Images From Black Screen
da_foz writes "Sony has developed a new projector that can give a bright, unfaded picture without the need to eliminate ambient light. The secret is that they project onto a black screen instead of a white one. Their screen uses species filters so that white ambient light is absorbed, but the red, green, and blue light from the projector is reflected. Sony sees a possible use in home entertainment systems because of the ability to have a much bigger picture than conventional TVs as well as businesses adopting the projectors for presentations."
If it reflects _anything_, it isn't black.
It seems this is a surface that reflects only very selective frequencies, those used by their emitters. An interesting idea, but calling it black is deceptive.
...they could come up with a lamp that would actually last. I've gone through at least 6 InFocus projectors in the last 1.5 years due mainly to bulb failure.
...hey, what's that bright thing in the sky outside?
This technique sounds really cool though, perhaps I won't need to have all my windows boarded up anymore.
I assume the three frequencies that are reflected are fairly well tuned. I wonder if this means I will be stuck purchasing a Sony projector to match these? I also wonder if Sony may be able to stop others from making matching projectors since they probably own some Patents around this technology?
the majority of companies that have projectors tend to use them for giving demonstrations outside of their own facilities.
this is going to mean that the place you are going to be using the projector is going to have a white screen instead of a black screen. not to mention, if someone else comes to your facility to do a demonstration, how well are other people's projectors going to work on your black screens?
These crystals can be ground up and painted onto a screen or even the side of a building. Then all you need is an infrared laser to scan the the sreen and you have an extremely bright and cheap full color display.
I haven't heard much lately about their progress so I assume they are having some technical or financial delays.
Even with the best surround sound, there is still the issue of fan noise. If you enclose your projector in a cabinet, you shorten the bulb life due to heat. I've used various projectors over the years, and always end up back at my HD flat-tube system, because it has good contrast and is quiet. If they fix the contrast problem, I may give projectors another look, but the fan noise should become top priority.
-Patrick
"They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
Huge picture
You can roll the screen up when it's not in use
This is pretty much perfect for someone like me who lives in a small London flat, but would like to see a decent sized image when watching their DVD collection.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Never mind about the projectors. I want to be able to use my laptop outdoors. There must be a reason I have wireless lan and a balcony. Since the root of all problems is that screens have luminosity instead of reflecting existing light selective reflection seems very interesting.
Unfortunately, this is only true if you are running your bulbs extra-bright so you can watch in an undimmed room. In a dark room the screen is no brighter than a white screen, and so requires the same brightness of bulb.
This is all about the difference between the additive and subtractive colour models:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_space#Commonly_ used_color_models
Some of the cheaper DLP projectors use a clear segment in their color wheels in addition to red, green, and blue. This is done to get an overall brighter image at the expense of saturation. I suspect these projectors wouldn't look so good with a screen like this.
I suspect the screen will be expensive, so people spending that kind of money on the screen will have a "pure" RGB projector.
Does anybody know if LCDs and DLPs use exactly the same RGB primaries?