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December 2001 Issue Summary

October activity was marked by both positive and negative industry news. On the negative side, near-to-eye module maker, inViso, has closed its doors and is seeking to license it IP. DigiLens is tightening its belt, Displaytech has had another layoff (more on that soon) and LCOS product introductions seem to be stretching out.

But there is also progress on a number of fronts. For example, Taiwan and China remain very interested in LCOS technology for rear projection applications. Three-Five Systems has joined a Taiwanese LCOS consortium and there is considerable investment and development on-going in mainland China - especially in Digital TV. Companies continue to show new LCOS prototypes, like MicroVue's 25-inch monitor, and other companies continue to evaluate making LCOS panels, like HiMax.

Other aspects of the projection infrastructure are advancing too. Moxtek for instance, says it has developed an optically flat polarizing beam splitter for use with 1-panel LCOS systems, while Mamiya-OP will now get into the market as a supplier of prism assemblies. Prodisc is said to be investing in new production equipment for projection screens.

In addition, LG Electronics has debuted a prototype 52-inch HDTV set that will use the next generation of Texas Instrument's home entertainment chip set. The Mustang chip set will have 1280 x 720 pixels, new electronics and a faster interface. When coupled with other system cost reduction efforts, this set could sell for $4,500 to $5,000 in about a year.

We had a chance to visit with TI recently and were quite impressed with its efforts to work with suppliers and customers to size and cost-reduce all of the components in these next-generation digital TVs.

Speaking of the projection infrastructure, Insight Media will host its first conference next March 18 & 19 in San Diego. Called "Projection Industry Summit 2002", we will bring together the entire projection industry supply chain in a small-venue environment in a bid to help expand the manufacturing base for all projection components and end-products. The conference will also gather top industry leaders and analysts to offer multiple viewpoints on key issues facing the industry.

The November issue of MDR also has coverage of developments in bring-to-eye products, headsets, 3-D display systems and wearable computers. One of the more interesting developments was Sanyo's prototype advanced cell phone. It incorporates a color QVGA resolution display from Kopin into the handset and is geared for G2.5 and G3 wireless communication networks. Kopin's Jon CC Fan observed that while text messaging is big now, the next wave will be icon-based and video-based messaging - and that embedded microdisplays will be an attractive way to see these images because of the small size and power usage of this solution. We agree and will keep you posted on other developments in this exciting area.

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