Microvision's SHOW WX pico projector 'out soon'
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Sep 16th 2009 3:43AM
posted Sep 16th 2009 3:43AM
Well, look at that -- Microvision's SHOW WX, the diminutive PicoP-based projector we first laid eyes on at Macworld some nine-plus odd months ago, is finally going to get a release. The device's laser display system (which works by combining light from red, blue, and green lasers) boasts 10 ANSI lumens, a 5000:1 contrast ratio, WVGA (848 x 480) resolution, and never needs focusing. Out "in a matter of weeks" for an unspecific price point, though according to About Projectors past reports have listed this "somewhere around $500" retail.
[Via About Projectors]
[Via About Projectors]
Microvision Announces Commercial Launch of SHOW WX Laser Pico Projector
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 15, 2009-- Microvision, Inc. (Nasdaq:MVIS), a global leader in innovative ultra-miniature projection display and image capture products for mobility applications announced the commercial introduction of the world's first laser-based pico projector, called SHOW WX™, based on its proprietary PicoP® display engine technology.
The Company plans to distribute its accessory pico projector product through three sales channels: OEM branded products, Microvision branded products sold through international distributors and Microvision direct sales through its on-line store. Microvision has signed several marketing and distribution agreements with international distributors in Asia and Europe to launch Microvision branded and private labeled versions of the laser pico projector. Microvision expects to begin product shipments in the next several weeks.
The Microvision pico projector uses the revolutionary laser-based PicoP display engine that delivers large, colorful, bright, and vivid images that are always in focus, regardless of projection distance. The accessory product is a simple plug-n-play pico projector for people on-the-go who want to spontaneously view and share mobile TV, movies, photos, presentations and more. Users can take the pocket-sized projector anywhere, plug it into their portable media players, mobile phones, notebooks and other portable mobile media devices with TV-Out or VGA functionality and share a big screen experience with friends, family or business associates. Depending on the ambient light, the projected images range in size from 12" to 150"
About Microvision, Inc.
Microvision provides the PicoP display technology platform designed to enable next-generation display and imaging products for pico projectors, vehicle displays, and wearable displays that interface with mobile devices. The company's projection display engine uses highly efficient laser light sources which can create vivid images with high contrast and brightness. For more information, visit the company's website (www.microvision.com) and corporate blog
I have seen this projector in action. My friend Tony works for Microvision. Pretty cool stuff!
You all want one. so you can watch the great Ron to my left here perform his almost magical signature move while in the privacy of your own closet porn theatre.
Not enough uhhhh contrast ratiooooo
10 Lumens? You must be kidding!
higher then dvd resolution, sounds good...
wonder how it preforms outside, or with some curtains open....
When these babies start touting out at least 50 lumens and 921,6 kilopixels (720p) while having a micro-HDMI slot I'll instantly get one.
compare this to the other laser projectors
Seen it and even took a shot on my N95.
This Pico projector has one thing that is not possible on all the rest (that are using LED's), It has amazing color gamut => colors are much more than you use to see in CRT/LCD/LED displays.
I am eagerly waiting for it to come out, and I will not use it to project videos...
it'll scramble the screen if it detects that you are recorder what's on the screen with a camcorder.
10 lumens & wierd rez for 5 bens?!
PROJECTOR FAIL
I just got a15 lumen pocket projector for $150 new.
what was it you bought and was it laser or led?
thanks,
matt
This smacks of desperation. Microvision was supposed to license its product to manufacturers. Now that they have failed to do this, they are trying to sell their prototype.
IMHO, they are chasing the wrong market. Make a home theater projector with 1080P and higher lumens. Laser is a great tech, but so far it's only being used for rear projection by Mitsubishi.
There is some misunderstanding about lumens from a "full image at once" projector and a "pixel at once" projector.
Using rounded numbers and not too much math…
The SHOW WX produces 10 lumens at the source(single mirror), for each scanned pixel. Once the pixel expands and hits the “display surface”, it is less than 10 lumens. BUT the image is made of roughly 407K pixels that each have a lumen intensity of around 10 when they leave the mirror.
Displaying the image on a 1 square foot area, in a normally lit living room, you have to produce over 20 lumens per square foot. The SHIOW WX only needs to produce more lumens per pixel than 20/407K. Which it does very well until approximately 40″ diagonally. Of course, the darker the room, the darker the blacks will be as they are not diplayed.
Your retina does not “forget” the pixel image until it is refreshed by a next scan. It appears that the image is fully displayed but it is one pixel at once. Just fast enough that your "eye/brain team" get fooled into “thinking” it sees a full projected image.
The projected image is not leaving the projector at 10 lumens, each pixel of the image is.
Thjee above comment is so sad. Texas instruments DLP and 3M's LCOS all reflect light similarly. While there are differences in the design, saying that the laser source is really 10 lumens doesn't mean crap. Heck the Optoma puts out 25 lumens at each LED and the 3M over 200 lumens at the LED. If the laser produces 10 lumens, then you have 10 lumens divided by the pixel count, multiplied by the efficiency rate, added together. So in reality based on the refresh rate of the material, you might even be getting LESS than 10 lumens because of the efficiency rate? Not to mention how crappy your image is going to look since you are drawing each pixel at a time? Remember the 2400 modem days? This sounds like the recipe for headaches just like how old color wheel projectors used to produce eye-strain...
As the other commenter said - desperation indeed!
I would suspect the main reason for the low level of lumens is because they have to maintain the power low enough not to cause eye damage. Irradiance=Power/Area^2; the human eye can magnifiy the beam 100,000 times, which at even low powers can cause eye damage. You know someone will take the thing and stare at the output end. We are dealing with coherent light where all the photons are going in one direction and are of a (three individual lasers RGB) single color. Where an LED light is non coherent. Its like comparing a shotgun(LED) to a rifle(laser) that is why LEDs must have optics to focus; the photons are dispersing into to many directions to fast. If you read up on the ANSI testing standard for projectors it is an average of nine locations of the output at a distance of, I would guess probably at 40-42 inches. You can't measure the output right where the beam comes out. The advantage of the Laser over the LED is that the color guamut is much wider and its apparent brightness is much brighter due to the coherence of the light beams. The scanning frequency is probably 60Hz which I think is the minimum to provide a stable image that our brain perceives as continuous. While it is not a projector for big crowds it does seem to fit the niche of personal small group use. I would love to see them come up with a 5-15milliwatt system that could be used as a home theater but this would endup being a class 3 laser which is to dangerous for general use. I know they are currently working on a1270x900 pixel system for DARPA. I would dump my 24" monitors if they get these things to 1900x1200 pixels.
JM085 the shotgun / rifle is a terrible analogy... The proper analogy would be like comparing a fire hose that was always on to a super high pressure injector nozzle that hits each pixel individually. The fire hose remains on and sprays the whole area with a certain amount of force. The high pressure injector hits each pixel with X amount of force overy as you claim over 60 seconds. If the fire hose is pushing 30 lbs of water on every pixel all the time, and the injector hits each pixel individually with 10 lbs of water over 60 seconds, the person holding the panel being hit is feeling more pressure from the fire nozzle right??
10 lumens is 10 lumens... the color and focus might be better but that doesn't mean anything if you can't see the image!
You do know that the AAXA pico projector is 33 lumens, 800x600 and costs $350 right? Now why would I pay $500 for this thing again???
http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/14/aaxa-p2-pico-projector-ships-out-sparks-little-halo-parties-eve/