MAY 2001

NEWS & ANALYSIS

Taiwan LCOS Projector Activity Heats Up
Interest in using LCOS display technology in projection products is gaining ground worldwide, but perhaps more so in 
Taiwan.  We know of nearly a dozen development efforts, and there are undoubtedly more.  Some of these companies 
exhibited at the recent CeBIT trade fair.  We have profiles of some of these efforts. 

Polarizing Technology Gets Attention
Every LCD display system operates with polarized light, and getting polarizers that are highly efficient in transmitting and
blocking light is always desirable.  As the light intensity in projection systems increases, conventional polymer-based film
polarizers can experience thermal problems.  Seeking to overcome such limitations, a company called Moxtek developed
a rugged polarizer technology that uses a series of aluminum microwires on a glass substrate.  A second company, called
Optiva developed a new material system that could likewise offer benefits in projection systems.

Kopin Secures VGA and Color QVGA Wins
Last month saw Kopin begin production shipments of its CyberDisplay panels to two more customers.  New to the fold are
SaabTech Electronics and Oriscape Electronics Co. Ltd.  SaabTech will use Kopin’s monochrome VGA panel (640M) in an
infrared imaging camera for the Swedish Army, while Oriscape will use two of Kopin’s color QVGA displays in the CyberMan
headset.
   
Three-Five Ready with 0.5-inch XGA LCOS Kit
Liquid-Crystal-On-Silicon (LCOS) developer Three-Five Systems  (NYSE: TFS) is offering its 0.5-inch LCOS panel in a developer’s
kit.  The kit consists of three XGA resolution microdisplays and associated electronics required for OEMs to build and test 
mock-ups of planned front- or rear-projection products.  By building and testing pre-production versions of products, 
customers can complete a thorough evaluation of new products prior to committing to production.

UMC Emerging as Serious LCOS Player
Taiwan-based United Manufacturing Corporation (UMC) is already a dominant force in the fabrication of the silicon
backplane for LCOS and other microdisplay technologies.  But a more comprehensive strategy may be taking shape 
within the company that could include fabrication of LCOS panels and even projection engines.

eMagin Readies SVGA+ OLED-on-Silicon Display 
eMagin Corporation (Amex: EMA) used the recent DisplaySearch FPD conference to provide the first public showing of its
upcoming SVGA+ (852 x 600) color OLED-on-Silicon microdisplay.  Now it is accepting orders for developer kits, which 
include the display and associated drive electronics.  This is the first commercial OLED display capable of displaying 16M 
colors.

Analog Devices Has New Driver ASIC
Analog Devices says they have developed an improved version of their column driver IC which is used in both polysilicon
and analog-drive LCOS-based projection systems.  Already, NEC has implemented this chip set in the polysilicon-based,
LT155 projector, and an LCOS design win will be announced shortly.

Iridigm Shows Direct-View MEMS Display
Iridigm Display Corporation, Inc. has moved from the Boston area to San Francisco and has recently received $8-10M in a
first round of investment in the company.  Along with new manufacturing partner, PicView Electronics, it is developing a
MEMS-based direct-view display.

APPLICATIONS

3-D Display Systems - StereoGraphics and Christie Digital Systems will co-develop a controller module that will plug
into Christie’s new Mirage 3-D projectors.  We'll also tell you about VisuaLabs, Sun Microsystems, Metabyte Wicked 3D and
Alpha Virtual.

Front Projection - This month, we have news from Infocomm Asia in Singapore, CeBIT in Germany, NAB in Las Vegas,
the USDC Investor’s Conference in New York, as well as some additional news we dug up from interviews with projection
companies including; InFocus Systems, Flextronics, Three-Five Systems, NEC Technologies, Hitachi, Acer Communications & Multimedia,
Liesegang, JVC, Barco, Christie Digital Systems, Digital Projection, Inc, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp Electronics,
Mitsubishi’s, Fujitsu’s, Sony’s, Panasonic’s, Toshiba, Compaq, Mitsubishi Electric, Seiko Epson, Microsoft, Sanyo Electric, 
Primax Electronics, Signia Technologies and ARC Wireless Solutions.       

Headsets - We'll get you the scoop from these newsmakers: CRL Opto, Davin Optronics, CAE, Micropix, Daeyang, MicroDisplay Corporation,
n-Vision, Kaiser Electro-Optics, Computer Graphics Systems Development Corp., InterSense, BAE Systems, Liteye, Planar Systems,
Interactive Imaging Systems, inViso, Kopin Corporation, Microvision, Wallace-Kettering Neuroscience Institute, the Mayo Clinic
and Gallium.

Wearables - More and more wearables are coming out of the computer science lab and into the mainstream, including
everything from Palm Pilots, to digital watches, to head-mounted displays with arm-mounted keyboards, to wireless jackets.
We report on Xybernaut, ViA, Transmeta, Levi Strauss, Philips Electronics, Hitachi, CMD, Shimadzu Charmed Technology,
AT&T Labs, MIT’s Media Lab, Firestone and Teltronics.

MARKET INTELLIGENCE
Micros on the Move
LCD Prices Still Falling
Now a Look Ahead
LCD Monitor Market Update

BOTTOM LINE
Kopin Remains Optimistic
Three Five Still Strong in Micros
SpatiaLight Transitions from R&D to Manufacturing and Sales
Planar Reports Eighth Consecutive Quarter of Growth
InFocus Revenues Down, Earnings Exceed Expectations
Imax Suffers After Building Boom
Zenith Favors Digital
VisuaLabs Reports Loss
Pixelworks Sees Strong Demand for ImageProcessor ICs
Genesis Microchip Experiences Highs and Lows to Finish Fiscal 2001
Also in the news: OriScape Electronics & Saab Tech Electronics  

MOVERS & SHAKERS
Westaim’s iFire Technology hired Dr. Koichi Wani to head up Advanced Engineering and Olav Sandnes is the new Sales
Manager at 3D Perception. .