DLP, LCoS Look For Market Foothold
Staff -- TWICE, 1/8/2002
LAS VEGAS — In addition to LCD, manufacturers are turning toward greater adoption of other fixed-pixel display engines to drive HDTV sets with greater brightness and clarity performances.
The following is a look at how three companies will represent some of the formats:
Samsung will unveil its first Digital Light Processing (DLP) based HD-level rear projection TV monitors. Samsung will use Texas Instruments' next-generation widescreen DLP chip in the 50W-inch HLM-507W ($4,999) and 43W-inch HLM-437W ($4,499), both of which have 16:9 aspect ratio screens and 720p HDTV native display capability.
SIM2 Seleco will demonstrate a trio of video projectors, including the just-launched Grand Cinema HT 300, which is based on the 16:9 Texas Instruments DLP chip set.
The projector, which has a $14,995 suggested retail, produces a full 1280 x 720 progressive resolution for true native 720p HDTV display. Contrast is listed at 1000:1. Included is a built-in Sage/Faroudja DCDi deinterlacer with 3:2 pull down.
Also to be shown is the Grand Cinema HT200DM (Dual Mode) DLP projector based on Texas Instruments 480p DLP chip. The unit comes with two different selectable resolution modes: 16:9 widescreen standard with a resolution of 848 x 480 pixels and the 4:3 format with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels for traditional 4:3 video sources. It carries a $9,995 suggested retail price.
Another version of the 480p DLP system is the HT 200 SWA (Super Wide Angle) projector featuring a short throw distance for rear-projection applications. It carries a $7,895 suggested retail price.
ViewSonic will unveil its VX3600 36W-inch LCoS rear-screen video projector and multimedia PC system. The display offers full 1280 x 720 HDTV resolution and 1024 x 768 XGA computer resolution, with an internal scaler to upconvert non-HDTV source material. The picture is said to produce a high contrast ratio and brightness levels, using the Liquid Crystal on Silicon display engine and a 200-watt customer replaceable lamp.
The display will present five separate signal sources at a time using multiple windows on the screen. Connections include HD component video and DVI. The product will be marketed as a home theater system with an integrated PC extension to enable a variety of TV-based interactive applications, including an internal hard drive recorder for video and music programming. The system is based on the Windows XP operating system, and includes a DVD drive and Smart Card drive.
A 100-watt fully digital audio system is included, featuring two 25-watt front-firing tweeters and a 50-watt subwoofer. Pricing and availability will be announced.
