Texas Instruments unveils its new Tilt and Roll pico projector architecture

Texas Instruments has announced that it will be expanding its family of DLP pico projectors, with the introduction of a new architecture called Tilt and Roll.

At CES 2013, the company stated that it wants to bring pico projector technology to a wider range of devices in the future, including tablets, camcorders, notebooks, and even eye-wear.

The new Tilt and Roll architecture will add various improvements to the previous chip, starting with as much as a 30% brightness improvement of projected images. There’s also increased power efficiency, with up to 50% less power consumption compared with the previous generation. The new chips will be capable of twice the display resolution, which is definitely one of the most important developments.

The size of the WVGA resolution chips will also be shrinking slightly: the current generation of chips are 0.3 inches in size, where as Tilt and Roll will be shrunk down to 0.2 inches.

Mini projector technology has previously been used in the Samsung Galaxy Beam, allowing users to display content from their phone onto any surface via a built in mini projector, but has yet to see mass smartphone integration. However, Texas Instruments points out in its press statement that Pacific Media Associates has predicted a worldwide pico projector market forecast of 12 million units by 2016.

Would you be interested in seeing this technology integrated into future devices, or is it just a gimmick?

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Texas Instruments Announces All-New DLP® Pico™ Chip Architecture

LAS VEGAS – January 7, 2013: Today at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Texas Instruments (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) DLP® Products (suite N115) has announced a new groundbreaking, smaller pixel architecture, called Tilt & Roll Pixel (TRP), for its market-leading DLP Pico™ technology. This advancement gives developers the ability to bring unique, robust big picture display capabilities to more devices and product categories than ever before.

Some of the key advantages for products built on the new TRP architecture will include:
• As much as 30% higher brightness, with increased efficiency
• Up to 50% less power consumption
• 2x the resolution in the same sized chip

As a result of these advancements, products integrating this capability – such as smartphones, tablets, cameras/camcorders, notebooks, eyewear, and standalone devices – will see significant performance benefits.

“The power of digital content is that it’s available anytime, anywhere” said Frank Moizio, Business Unit Manager DLP Pico. “DLP Pico technology creates the largest images from the smallest devices, thus enabling users to unleash the power of their digital content, and share it in collaborative, real-world settings. Our new pixel architecture enables manufacturers to extend the reach of pico technology to new, smaller devices and new applications, with brighter images and higher efficiency.”

Pacific Media Associates (PMA) has predicted a worldwide pico projector market forecast of 12 million units by 2016, pointing to the category’s growing popularity. TI DLP is working with manufacturers now on integrating the new TRP architecture into products.

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