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Micro-Projectors May Bring YouTube On-The-Go
An anonymous reader writes "A tiny portable projector, about the size of a pack of cards, may soon replace a ring tone as the most annoying thing on the train or bus. These technical innovations can project an image up to 50 inches in size in dark lighting, making them ideal for on-the-road business presentations. They can also be hooked up to cell phones or media devices, though, possibly introducing a whole new level of social intrusion into US culture. 'Digital projectors were once bulky. These new models, though, are small enough to fit into the pocket of consumers who want a big-screen experience from a small-screen device. Some of the models are expected to be on the market by year-end, or sooner. Prices have yet to be announced. Matthew S. Brennesholtz, an analyst at Insight Media, a marketing research firm in Norwalk, Conn., says he thinks the projectors will initially cost about $350, then quickly drop to less than $300.'"
At $300, it's probably VGA or SVGA res, good enough for DVD, but blow it up too large and you'll be seeing the gaps between the pixels. HD projectors run over $1000. A good 1080p projector can be had for about $2000 now, and they're generally quite beautiful.
I went to TFA to check the resolution of the projectors in question, only to find that TFA had no data whatsoever on that topic.
Without data on resolution, it's kinda pointless to discuss these things. Talk about vaporware...
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Until now, projectors needed ungodly amounts of light to project an image bright enough to be usable in a non-darkened room. Either these miniprojectors use some kind of superefficient light source, or that 60" image can only be seen in total darkness.
This has been out there since 2007 http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/08/hands-on-with-microvisions-itty-bitty-projector/
And even in 2006. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/06/70942
At $300, it's probably VGA or SVGA res For youtube its probably QVGA (320x240) same as VHS, and good enough for a mobile phone.
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Offtopic my hairy arse. How is answering a question, regardless of the answer or question, offtopic?
42 is afterall, THE answer.
Sheesh, turn in your mod points, you're no nerd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Answer_to_Life,_the_Universe,_and_Everything 42
Disclaimer:IANAL/MD/PhD-Just the local yokel PC "doc" ~If you're not having fun, then you are probably doing it wrong.
Not an April fool's joke.. I saw one of these being demonstrated with an iPod at MWC this year (actually, at a restaurant on a napkin).
Bitchslapped. Neat.
The article says that this nonexistent product uses a LED or laser. Those both last a lot longer that an incandescent light bulb.
They use lasers and lcds. The lifetime should be quite long. No bulbs to replace. They're even talking about fitting these things into smart phones eventually. With a market that size the cost should truly be under $300.
There is one more company that is making these and apparently they did a demo in CES this year.
See here http://www.lightblueoptics.com/ They have a nice set of 'artists impression' of their applications !
Here's the company site. No mention of battery life issues.
This thing is a one-pixel display being scanned in 2D by a MEMS mirror. One pixel scanned displays have been tried before, and they're usually annoying. One of the neat things about LCD displays, plasma panels, and TI DLP mirror systems is that there's no flicker at all, because the display has full persistence. This brings back flicker, big time; all the persistence is in the eye. This idea has been tried before, in bigger displays, and abandoned. So this isn't going to look great, but it will have niche uses.
Brightness is 10 lumens, incidentally.