May 2000

NEWS & ANALYSIS

Three-Five and Nikon in LCOS Engine Development
The race to develop projection engines using liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) microdisplays got hotter this month as the Nikon Corporation of Japan (Yokohama, Japan) announced they would produce a product. SXGA panels will be supplied by Three-Five Systems (Tempe, AZ) with Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (Kyoto, Japan) marketing and selling the engine to OEM developers of rear-projection computer monitors and high definition televisions.

Panasonic Unveils HDTV with DLP Technology
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) used the recent NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) convention in Las Vegas last month to introduce a new rear-projection HDTV. The new set, due for introduction in Q3'00, uses DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology from Texas Instruments (Dallas, TX). Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company (Secaucus, NJ), the principal North American subsidiary of Matsushita, will distribute the Panasonic-branded sets.

Displaytech & ColorLink Shows Single-Panel System
Liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) developer Displaytech (Longmont, CO) is about to see two HDTV products introduced by Samsung Electronics (Park Ridge, NJ). These rear-projection HDTVs are based upon a three-panel architecture. But the next act is already taking shape in the lab. This will be a single-panel solution most likely targeted for desktop PCTV products.

SpatiaLight Ships SXGA Microdisplays
Liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) microdisplay developer SpatiaLight (Novato, CA) reports that they have now begun to ship their SXGA device called the ImagEngine 1280BC. This device is 0.985 inches in diagonal and will be priced at around $250/display for orders of more than 25,000 units.

Microvision Focuses Lasers, MEMS Scanners and New Markets
Microvision, Inc. (Bothell, WA) clearly sees the development of LED and laser sources as critical to the success of their scanning image generation technology. Equally important is next-generation scanning technology. As a result, the company has made several moves in these areas to help advance development and insure access to new technology.

COLOR Delivers 11K Lumen RGB Laser Source
The Corporation For Laser Optics Research (COLOR, Portsmouth, NH) reports that they have now delivered the first prototype of a laser-based light source suitable for large-venue projection systems. The customer is Sony Display Systems (Tokyo, Japan), who is also an investor in the company. Sony will be evaluating the red, green and blue laser sources as a possible replacement for high-light-output xenon arc lamps. Laser sources promise to produce higher contrast, richer color saturation and a wider color gamut than can be achieved with conventional xenon arc lamps.

USDC Funds Rear-Projection Screen Development, Adds Members
The U.S. Display Consortium (USDC, San Jose, CA), a public/private partnership chartered with developing the U.S. domestic flat panel display (FPD) infrastructure, has announced a contract award to Fresnel Optics (Rochester, N.Y.) to develop imaging screen systems for rear-projection monitors. Fresnel Optics, a subsidiary of Reflexite Corporation, currently produces microstructured plastic optics for overhead and LCD projectors, backlit displays and rear-projection systems, as well as lighting applications.

Displaytech Lands $28M
In a major vote of confidence, a group of investors have put $28M into liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) developer, Displaytech (Longmont, CO). The company sold equity to limited partnerships managed by Fleming US Discovery Partners, L.P. (New York, NY) and DB Capital Partners (New York, NY), as well as some other investors. The net proceeds of the sale will be used to fund development opportunities and for general working capital purposes.

ELDIM Unveils Microdisplay Measurement Tools
ELDIM (Herouville-Saint-Clair, France) has expanded their line of electro-optic display test gear to serve the microdisplay segment. The EZLite micro measures the luminance, contrast and color coordinates of the microdisplay as a function of angle. The MURATest measures the area uniformity of the display's contrast and color coordinates. ELDIM says these instruments are suitable for a production environment since tests can be completed in less than one minute and testing can be automated.

Hunet Shows FSC Direct-View Display
Stealing a page from the microdisplay industry, a field sequential color (FSC) display for direct-view applications is now in development for cell phone applications. The approach will allow full color displays at higher pixel densities and lower power consumption than conventional spatial color filter displays. Hunet, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan) is developing the technology for cell phones, digital cameras and Internet terminals.

Seiko Epson Poly-Si Plant
Seiko Epson Corporation (Nagano, Japan) says they plan to spend 21 billion yen in fiscal 2000 to increase production of high temperature poly-silicon LCD panels for projection applications. The company's new facilities in Nagano Prefecture, to operate from late November, will be able to produce 0.7-, 0.9 and 1.3-inch LCDs.

Applied Films Working to Lower Cost of LCOS Glass
In a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) microdisplay, a liquid crystal material is sandwiched between a silicon substrate and a piece of glass. But this glass substrate is actually quite special and a fairly expensive component in the cost of the LCOS display, typically $100 to $200 for an 8-inch round part. Working to lower this cost is Applied Films (Longmont, CO).

Microdisplay 2000
The United Engineering Foundation (New York, NY) is hosting the first annual Microdisplay conference in conjunction with Displaytech Inc. (Longmont, CO) and the Southwest Chapter of the Society for Information Display (SID). International experts will be attending Microdisplay 2000, August 7-9,2000, http://www.engfnd.org/engfnd/0bd.html.

APPLICATIONS
Front Projection
Product and business news wrap up from Texas Instruments, InFocus Systems, ComView Visual Solutions, Eastman Kodak, Epson America, ASK, Barco NV, Gearhouse Group, Acer Peripherals, NEC Technologies, Canon U.S.A., Digital Projection, ADI Corporation, Boxlight, Christie Digital Systems, Hitachi America, Ltd., Liesegang, and 3M Visual Systems.

Headsets
Product news from Microvision and Ascension Technology Corporation.

Camcorders
Product news from Canon, Sony Electronics and JVC.

MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Color LCD Mobile Phones Gain Popularity
Samsung Captures Market Share in DTV Market
Growth and Confusion Challenge DTV Market
Wall-Hanging TV Grabs Attention

BOTTOM LINE
Three-Five Still On a Roll to Start the Year
Xybernaut Closes Acquisition of Selfware
SpatiaLight Moves to Manufacturing and Sales
Photon Dynamics Sees 86% Revenue Growth
Wisconsin Invests in Vista Medical
Planar Reports Record Sales
HDCP Technology and DVDO Acquisition Spell Growth for Silicon Image

MOVERS & SHAKERS
Personnel changes at Photon Dynamics and DisplaySearch