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A Widescreen Laser Projector In Your Pocket
Edis Krad writes "Redmond based company Microvision is in the last stages of developing and releasing a portable, laser-based projector, code-named 'Show WX.' The projector has a resolution of 848 by 400 pixels (WVGA) and, since it uses laser-scanning rather than LCD to form the images, it does not require a lens to focus, allowing it to display images virtually in any surface. The device comes with its own user-replaceable battery, which means you could take it with you anywhere you want. Although there is no pricing information on their website, according to this local news video, it could cost at least $200."
$400 to $500 USD according to the manufacturer site; not $200. Dang, $200 would have been awesome.
Did you ever wake up in the morning, with a Zombie Woof behind your eyes? -- FZ
Rotating or oscillating mirrors to cause the beam to scan, similar to what laser barcode scanners use.
Yes it can: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFmWAwttqZ8
Send lawyers, guns, and money. Dad, get me out of this.
Think: CRTs use an electron beam ... maybe you can figure the rest out all by yourself.
No sig today...
It's called the SHOW WX, not SHOW WV. FTFA: "WX stands for "wide experience", referring to the wide image format, wide color range and wide always in-focus operation."
As a VJ, I could really use one of these instead of hauling around my huge HD projector, since I only project at 320x240 anyway (to keep real-time video mixing fast). Hopefully the battery really lasts as long as a movie though!
Except it's the other way around.
This has been done before, IIRC Samsung released one of the first TV quality raster scanning system for laser shows.
Basically a standard laser show setup uses multiple lasers (to get your RGB) combined into a single beam then passed through a device, such as a PCAOM, which acts as rather like a programmable colour filter. (this isn't the only way it can be done with solid state lasers).
Two sets of mirrors can be steered in the X and Y axis to draw your shapes, beam effects, etc.
In the case of a TV or other raster displays the beam is steered much like you would an electron beam on a regular TV. It scans a horizontal line, moves down scans across, repeat. You can switch the direction of the scan (left to right, then right to left) on alternating lines to speed up the scan rate.
Wikipedia has some info on Laser TV's in general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_TV and LaserFX has some info on PCAOM's if you're interested in the older tech: http://www.laserfx.com/Backstage.LaserFX.com/Archives/Archives6.html
Early systems actually used multiple projectors overlapping or drawing the first 3rd, 2nd third, etc of the image to make up for slower scan rates.
"They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
Here's a video from dl.tv: http://dl.tv/2008/01/ces_2008_microvision_show_proj.php
There's no mention of battery life, and it looks like the framerate might be terrible, but it's a real product!
Hands in my pocket
Check the Buzz section of the site: So much for your vaporware...
When you shoot a mime, do you use a silencer?
Well, remember that the pixel is created by turning on the laser while the mirror is passing by the point where the reflected beam would hit the target. If you leave the laser on just a little while longer, your pixels will be larger, in one dimension. In other words, instead of a grid of points: .
. . . .
. . . .
. . .
you have a grid of lines:
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _
The vertical gaps would be an issue at long distances, but there's no reason the horizontal gaps should be particularly large.
Of course the effective range would be limited by the brightness of the lasers. If your screen is far enough away that you can't see the reflection of the laser beams coming back to you, then it doesn't matter how big the pixels are.
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I do work at a cinema. Your "friend" is talking fantasy. The standard for years past and years to come is and will continue to be Film. Who would have access to a full color movie-capable scanning laser projection system? I can find no evidence to support the claim that any audience in cinematic history has had their faces BURNED from laser projection, not even to say that this has ever existed in a cinema.
For those curious about what the !@#$ top poster is going on about and how the Microvision scanning laser projection technology relates to cinema...
Maintaining a cinema projector lamp house light source is MUCH LESS expensive for equal hours in operation than the light source for a consumer LCD or DLP projector. It's also much more incredibly bright than anything on the consumer market. Theaters will not be interested in the Microvision technology for showing their movies, because it will not be bright enough and you would inherit all the annoying problems of having a digital print anyways.
Film is preferred over Digital because you can pick up a film in a multiplex and move it between booths and platter systems quite readily. Being able to readily move a print around is how you maximize profits... are there really any kids awake at a 9pm showing to go see the latest Disney movie about talking cats and superhero hamsters? Adding lasers into the picture doesn't offer anything lucrative even at a Theater set up for digital projection.
Theaters using film projectors often use a consumer projector for on-screen advertising, and so the Microvision technology looks pretty good for this if it is bright enough to fill the screen (from a pretty long throw distance). It doesn't have to be high definition or anything, just watchable and cost less than the existing gear to maintain. Digital equipped theaters would still use their cinema projectors to display advertising because it is cheaper to do so.
The Microvision technology will primarily appeal to the home theater market segment, where enthusiasts are paying much higher costs than real cinemas to maintain their projection system light source. After the SHOW WX gains momentum as a first generation product, expect to see this technology compete with consumer projection systems, and to become invasive just as the camera has on cell phones and media devices.
SIGERR: laziness exceeds quota