soulxtc
September 12th, 2006, 05:37 PM
No larger than a sugar cube, the video projector is ready to hand at all times. Instead of the conventional microarrays, it contains just a single mirror which can be rotated around two axes. This makes it smaller, lighter and handier than traditional.
Cameras, MP3 players and memory chips are growing smaller by the day. The next challenge is to shrink the projector, a device used day in day out in lecture halls and for video presentations.
However, all attempts at miniaturization have so far come up against certain physical boundaries: the core piece of the classic projector is a micromirror array comprising a million mirrors. These can be tilted in one plane and are evenly illuminated. By turning towards or away from the light source, they produce light or dark pixels that together form the projected image. But not only do the arrays preclude miniaturization, their unaffordable prices also make it difficult for projectors to enter the consumer goods market.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS in Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena have now come up with an alternative to the previous micromirror arrays. The result is a projector the size of a sugar cube. “We use just one single mirror,” reveals Andreas Bräuer, director of the Microoptic Systems division at IOF. “This mirror can be tilted around two axes.”
The next obstacle in the miniaturization process is the light source. The customary high-pressure lamp will have to give way to small diode lasers if the projector is to shrink to the size of a sugar cube. While red and blue diode lasers are already small enough, green lasers are still too bulky.
http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/md09-t3_tcm6-68966.jpg
http://www.physorg.com/news77299952.html
Cameras, MP3 players and memory chips are growing smaller by the day. The next challenge is to shrink the projector, a device used day in day out in lecture halls and for video presentations.
However, all attempts at miniaturization have so far come up against certain physical boundaries: the core piece of the classic projector is a micromirror array comprising a million mirrors. These can be tilted in one plane and are evenly illuminated. By turning towards or away from the light source, they produce light or dark pixels that together form the projected image. But not only do the arrays preclude miniaturization, their unaffordable prices also make it difficult for projectors to enter the consumer goods market.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS in Dresden and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena have now come up with an alternative to the previous micromirror arrays. The result is a projector the size of a sugar cube. “We use just one single mirror,” reveals Andreas Bräuer, director of the Microoptic Systems division at IOF. “This mirror can be tilted around two axes.”
The next obstacle in the miniaturization process is the light source. The customary high-pressure lamp will have to give way to small diode lasers if the projector is to shrink to the size of a sugar cube. While red and blue diode lasers are already small enough, green lasers are still too bulky.
http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/md09-t3_tcm6-68966.jpg
http://www.physorg.com/news77299952.html