Microvision's laser-based SHOW WX pico projector shines at CEATEC (video)
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 6th 2009 8:18AM
posted Oct 6th 2009 8:18AM
The company also confessed that it's toiling away in an effort to miniaturize its PicoP engine even further, and while it wouldn't come right out and say it, we got the feeling that it was jonesing to get that very device into all sorts of other gizmos in the near future. In the meanwhile, you can expect the SHOW WX to ship with support for pretty much any input via a composite adapter, while an iPod / iPhone connector is apt to be bundled in as well. There's also a 3.5 millimeter audio passthrough, 10 lumens of brightness, a 60Hz refresh rate (trust us, the lines you see in the video aren't seen by the naked eye) and a built-in battery good for two hours on a charge. Oh, and this thing doesn't even have to refocus as you move it closer and farther from the wall -- pretty swank!
I wish I could get a regular projector that was done with fricken lasers
a couple of corrections
Microvision has already begun shipping ShowWXs so it will be available in selected markets this year
and your comment
"Oh, and this thing's ability to refocus instantly as you move it closer and farther from the wall is pretty swank -- just sayin'."
it doesn't need to refocus - it is always in focus with no focusing needed - unlike all other pico projectors out there that need to fucus using a focus wheel or slider
It doesn't "refocus instantly", it's ~always~ in focus because it uses LASERS! But only 10 lumens? They must be tiny lasers...
Just wait til they get some frickin lasers in their. They are a lot more powerful than whats in the projector now.
The light projected out of most laser based stuff out there comes from a source that's about a grain of sand.
PicoP sounds like the sound a Pikachu makes! Pika Piiiii!
Those cotton ads are so damn cringe-worthy and obnoxious.
The toooooooooouch, the feeeeeeeeeeel, the faaabrick of our liiiiives!
Tony B and Micro V love the Pico P......
i don't care if it's 5 times larger. give me at least 400 lumens and 1080p
I'm guessing Lasers need less lumens to do the business because that screen looked ok in a lit room with only 10 lumens, does anyone know the deal there, what is the laser equivalent of 1K lumens?
1K lumens
@lapa: Actually, that isn't necessarily correct, at least not according to human psychovisual perception. The Helmoltz-Kohlrausch effect causes a perceived increase in brightness due to the laser sources' highly saturated primaries.
I asked a Mits. rep. why they didn't use the laser engine from the rear projection tv in a front projector. He said Japan was worried that kids and some adults would end up blinding themselves by looking at the laser. I think they are right.
That's kind of silly. The projector has a scanning mechanism that spreads out the beam, making it safe. The system includes multiple fail-safes to shut off the laser if the scanner breaks.
I think as others have said, 10 lumens is 10 lumens no matter what the source. You'd have as much success blinding yourself with this as you would with any other 10 lumen projector.
That said, I want it... I'd put it right next to my EeeKeyboard and they'd be bestest friends.
Lame gallery. 10 pics of the device which looks the same from all sides. How about some good pics of the image on the wall? That's where the rubber hits the road.
10 lumens is 10 lumens whether it comes from lasers or not. In a dark room ( I said dark no pitch black) it will work fine, but under ordinary lighting, youd barely be able to see anything. An lcd screen is 300 lumens and that is meant to illuminate in a room of ordinary lighting. So a good product would give at least (100 lumens w screen and 300 w/o) in lit conditions. Don't forget that lumens are lost when hitting the wall particularly in a lit room; in a dark room it doesn't make that much of a difference. However some screens actually provide gain in lumens.
I am guessing the lumens are measured over the whole screen. As such they a picking up 1 tiny but bright dot of laser light that is moving rapidly over the whole screen. It is our eyes persistance of vision that builds up the image.
So if you could take a snap shot and measue the light of the laser dot and compare the same size dot of light from a convetional projector i'am sure the figures would be much closer the laser light may even be brighter !
This does show how cheap laser projectors can be I look forward to 1080p 3D 200" plus version
Eyefinity anyone? =D
Want one!
I can think of so many digital art projects with this!
Well, yes and no to the lumens debate. These'll be much brighter than a 10 lumen non-laser picopj because the laser can turn completely off for a black pixel so the contrast is crazy high and much easier to see in a lit room. A lcd based projector needs to illuminate all of the pixels in it's display, so black really will still be illuminated so the image will always be a little washed out. That and the always-in-focus laser advantage really are the selling points of this type of tech. Can't wait to see these replace home theater projectors... smaller, better image quality, no $$$ bulbs to replace - ever.
Well, the lumen count on a projector is assuming a fully white screen, so I don't think the contrast really factors into it. As for the bulb, there are plenty of things in this that may have a limited lifetime, depending on exactly how it's designed, and when a laser diode dies, I think it'll be time to replace the whole thing, for more than $$$.
The always-focussed feature is great for a handheld projector, but I think traditional tech will win out for a long time on brightness and price in the full-sized market.
Great review, thank you. I maintain a Microvision blog dedicated to archiving news and information. You and your readers might be interested...
http://www.mvisbuzz.com/
I wanna know when will this PJTR come to my local best-buy to purchase this baby...i wanna goto my country and project a 100" porn on a wall to get them goin..jajajjajaja (do you imagine them when they see that) well not really ill just buy one to project movies on my visits to a country. or record them and project it...they will think they on the DISCOVERY CHANNEL jajajjajajjajaja...Hey i would appreciate it if those who are talking BS about this product to dont bother commenting about the product and go get a life...if this is not the PJTR you like there dictionary sized projector with 1000 LUMENS that will make your day. but this is portable what more do you possably want. u wanted them to add a keyboard with a duo processor intel inside.?? COME ONNNN!!!. get a life. ADIOSS!!!