Laser Illuminated Projectors: A Progress Report
Xenon arc lamps have held a virtual monopoly as the light source in movie projectors for the past 60 years. Today, new semiconductor laser technology makes an alternative to the xenon lamp possible. Many manufacturers and component suppliers are exploring laser illumination for cinema and other projectors, with the demonstration of significant advancements over the past year. As with current digital cinema projectors, the typical laser illuminated projector uses a reflective microdisplay device as a light modulator for each of the three primary colors—either a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) panel as used in the Sony SXRD projectors, or Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) as used in the Texas Instrument DLP projectors. This is very different from the scanning laser projectors demonstrated a decade ago, in which the image was created on the projection screen by raw laser beams scanned rapidly on either a horizontal or vertical axis, while being modulated in intensity to “paint” the moving image.
- Print ISSN
- 1545-0279
- Electronic ISSN
- 2160-2492
- Published
- 2013-09
- Content type
- Original Research
- DOI
- 10.5594/j18315