TI pushing to get DLP in your cellphone, local cinema

It's not terribly uncommon to see a manufacturer try to push a product (or platform) into every crevice of your life, and it seems that Texas Instruments is diverting quite sharply from its calculatorish ways of old and making an aggressive push to get that DLP logo slapped on everything you own. While we've seen (literally) the diminutive Microvision display do its thang here at CES, TI is hoping to steal that thunder away by talking up its forthcoming palm-sized DLP projectors. The "fully featured" Pocket Projectors, which are co-developed by OMAP, would weigh "less than one pound," use the .55 DLP chip, and could purportedly connect to handsets or PDAs to beam up that big(ger) screen imagery for a crowd to see. Unfortunately for TI, these devices are not (at least initially) supposed to be integrated units, which could easily get overlooked if those built-in alternatives can muster acceptable quality. Additionally, TI is hoping to get that DLP logo stamped on your brain even when you visit the cinema, as the company now has its technology in 3,000 theaters worldwide and is frequently throwing logo-clad splash screens onto the canvas during pre-show advertisements. So if you wonder why you're strangely drawn to the DLP sets during your next HDTV shopping trip, trust us, it's not the mirrors, it's the marketing.

[Via AboutProjectors]

[Joshua @ Jan 10th 2007 5:52PM]

Yuck. Rainbows.

[Steven @ Jan 11th 2007 10:14AM]

Actually, you only see rainbows on single chip DLP projectors that utilize color wheels. Since their cell phone projector uses three seperate lasers acting in unison, you won't see any rainbows. Also, in DLP cinemas, the projectors utilize three DLP chips which essentially control each of the Red, Green, and Blue colors individually. Since there is no color wheel in a three chip system, there aren't any rainbows, either.

[joe_bruin @ Jan 10th 2007 6:12PM]

"are co-developed by OMAP"? OMAP is a series of chips produced by TI.

[neil @ Jan 10th 2007 6:12PM]

I bought a $5000 DLP rear projection 73 inch set for Christmas and had to exchange it. It looked fantastic in the store, until I got it home and it was "rainbow city." How can TI still sell their inherently flawed DLP system and get away with it? Funny thing is even if I don't see the rainbows, what about my friends/family? If one person sees it, then they can't watch the set ever again.

The theater DLP projectors are 2k-3 Chip, whereas mostly all home projectors are one chip/color wheel. Talk about bait and switch lol. :)

[Alcaron @ Jan 10th 2007 7:04PM]

In other news...oxygen...good for breathing.

And "yuck, rainbows" have you seed the new DLP's with more segments to the color wheels and LED backlighting????

LCD: yuck, ghosting and black levels.
Plasma: yuck heat
blah blah blah.

[Rick @ Jan 10th 2007 10:33PM]

Inherently flawed? I've had a 56" DLP for about 18 months now, no problems whatsoever.

I imagine that flawed TV's are the exception and not the rule, and that LCDs and Plasmas have their share of defects as well.

[Lisa @ Jan 11th 2007 8:10PM]

I'll wait for the Microvision PicoP enabled devices which should be small enough to embed in a mobile device or a tiny add on projector. Don't know if you have seen www.getPicoP.com but many cool applications. I want one of these now!

[Guy @ Jan 24th 2007 2:30AM]

"diverting quite sharply from its calculatorish ways of old"

Texas Instruments is the third biggest manufacturer of semiconductors in the world. Calculators make up less than 5% of their total revenue last I heard. Your assumptions are understandable, considering they are called 'Texas' instruments after all.