TELEVISION

DIGITAL LIGHT PROCESSING

Brings A Revolution!
After LCD and plasma, a new technology has arrived on the scene that is set to revolutionise big-screen TV projection. Termed digital light processing, it allows projectors to be lighter, more reliable and far better in picture quality
D. PRABAKARAN oday, big-screen TVs are more popular than ever. The days of those high-priced projection sets which took up half of your living room with their bulky cabinets and had screens viewable only in total darkness, with everyone crowded around the centre of the screen, are gone. Up until recently, big-screen projection sets basically came in two types: one using cathode ray tube (CRT) and the other based on liquid-crystal display (LCD). The more economical sets are rear-projection types in which the CRT- or LCD-generated images are placed inside a box, reflected off a mirror and projected onto a screen. Another type of projection TV consists of a CRT- or LCD-based projector that is mounted on a ceiling or placed on a table and projected onto a wall-mounted screen. These systems allow for larger images, but can suffer from dimness in lower-end systems. Generally speaking, the box system is less expensive for the consumers, while the separate projectorscreen systems are meant for high-end home theatre systems in which an entire room is devoted for viewing films or TV Fig. 1: DLP programmes.
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Although CRT and LCD technologies have improved over the years and the sets have become more viewable and affordable, the picture contrast is still not up to the level of traditional direct-view tube televisions. In the last few years, however, plasma screens have entered the market as an alternative to both projection and tube TV, and although very expensive, these are making their way into more and more homes. The main attraction of plasma screen sets is the fact they are flat enough to be wall mounted, thus eliminating the need for that box or separate projector. A yet another technology has arrived on the scene that may change the whole big-screen TV concept for-

system

ever. Termed digital light processing (DLP), it is a revolutionary way to project and display information. Based on the digital micromirror device (DMD) developed by Texas Instruments, it creates the final link to display digital visual information. In the same way as compact disk revolutionised the audio industry, DLP is set to revolutionise video projection. DLP creates deeper blacks, conveys fast moving images very well and uses a single, replaceable, white-light bulb. It is available in both front- and rearprojection models. DLP is an excellent choice for people who watch a lot of sports or fast-action movies because of the speed at which it creates an image. DLP has three key advantages over existing projection technologies. The inherent digital nature of DLP enables noisefree, precise image quality with digital gray-scale and colour reproduction. Its digital nature also positions DLP to be the final link in the digital video infrastructure. DLP is more efficient than competing transmissive LCD technology because it is based on the reflective DMD and does not require polarised light. Finally, close spacing of the micromirrors causes video images to be projected as seamless pictures with higher perceived resolution.
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will be active. The other mirrors outside this area will simply be turned to off position. By electrically addressing the memory cell below each mirror with the binary bit plane signal, each mirror on the DMD array is electrostatically tilted to the on or off positions. The technique that determines how long each mirror tilts in either direction is called pulsewidth modulation (PWM). The mirrors are capable of switching on and off more than 1000 times a second. This rapid speed allows digital gray-scale and colour reproduction. At this point, DLP becomes a simple optical system. After passing through condensing optics and a colour filter system, the light from the projection lamp is directed at the DMD. When the mirrors are in on position, they reflect light through the projection lens and onto the screen to form a digital, square-pixel projected image. Three mirrors efficiently reflect light to project a digital image. Incoming light hits the three mirror pixels. The two outer mirrors that are turned on reflect the light through the projection lens and onto the screen. These two on mirrors produce square, white pixel images. The central mirror is tilted to the off position. This mirror reflects light away from the projection lens to a light absorber so no light reaches the screen at that particular pixel, producing a square, dark pixel image. In the same way, the remaining 508,797 mirror pixels reflect light to the screen or away from it. By using a colour filter system and by varying the duration of time for which each of the 508,800 DMD mirror pixels is on, a full-colour, digital picture is projected onto the screen.

Fig. 2: DLP projector elements

The origin of DLP

The first DMD chip was invented by Larry Hornbeck in 1987. Larry, a scientist at Texas Instruments, had been exploring the manipulation of reflected light since 1977. Texas Instruments started a project to explore the commercial viability of DMD. TI named the new technology DLP and a separate group (now known as the DLP Products Division) was formed to develop the commercial display applications. Texas Instruments demonstrated prototype DLP projectors for the first time in 1994. The new technology was quickly recognised and in 1997, DLP projectors were used to project films at the Oscars, where the first 3-chip DLP technology was revealed to the Hollywood community. DLP cinema was first revealed to the public with the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 1999. And by the end of 2002, Texas Instruments had shipped over two millions DLP subsystems. Texas Instruments remains the sole manufacturer of DLP technology.

How it works?
In the same way as a central processing unit (CPU) is at the heart of a computer, a DMD is the cornerstone of DLP. A DLP-based projector system includes memory and signal processing to support a fully digital approach.
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Other elements of a DLP projector include a light source, a colour filter system, a cooling system, and illumination and projection optics. A DMD can be described simply as a semiconductor light switch. Thousands of tiny, square mirrors, fabricated on hinges atop a static randomaccess memory (SRAM), make up a DMD. Each mirror is capable of switching a pixel of light. The hinges allow the mirrors to tilt between two states, +10 degrees for on or 10 degrees for off. When the mirrors are not operating, they sit in a parked state at 0 degree. Depending on the application, a DLP system will accept either a digital or an analogue signal. Analogue signals are converted into digital in the DLPs front-end processing. Any interlaced video signal is converted into an entire picture frame video signal through interpolative processing. From here, the signal goes through DLP video processing and becomes progressive red, green and blue (RGB) data. The progressive RGB data is then formatted into entire binary bit planes of data. Once the video or graphic signal is in a digital format, it is sent to the DMD. Each pixel of information is mapped directly to its own mirror in a 1:1 ratio, giving exact, digital control. If the signal is 640x480 pixels, the central 640x480 mirrors on the device

The advantages of DLP

Brighter. DLP projectors are among the brightest available because DLP technology brings more light from lamp to screen, resulting in more effective presentationseven when ambient light is difficult to control. Sharper. DLP projections unique reflective technology comes closest to
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producing the exact mirror image of an incoming video or graphic signal, resulting in projection thats seamless at any resolution. Versatile. DLP technology allows projectors to be small and light, often weighing as little as 1 kgmaking them versatile enough for use in conference rooms, living rooms and classrooms. More reliable. Display systems using DLP technology are able to recreate their incoming source material with each projection, ensuring a full-impact projection experience that will not fade over time. Consistent picture quality. A data projector based on DLP technology delivers knockout picture quality again and again because, being all-digital, it recreates its image source every time of use. Unlike competing analogue technologies such as LCD, the semiconductor that makes DLP projection possible is virtually immune to heat, humidity, vibration and other factors. more brilliant with the introduction of sequential colour recapture or SCRan innovation that will enable DLP projection systems (video projectors) to bring up to 40 per cent more lumens to the screen than was possible earlier. Reliability. DLP technology makes video projectors, home theatre systems and televisions more robust and more reliable. The digital nature of DLP technology means that, unlike other display solutions, its not susceptible to heat, humidity or vibrationenvironmental factors that can cause an image to degrade over time. DLP projection systems display an original-quality picture time and again with no hassle and minimal maintenance. More than one million systems have been shipped since 1996. Life-span. A DLP-based HDTV set should last indefinitely because the digital micromirror device behind it is very reliable. There is no maintenance or alignment required for DLP-based sets as they age. The only consumer replaceable component is the DLP light source (lamp), which will last for 8000 hours and costs around $250 to replace.

Fig. 3: Optical functions of DMD

Fig. 4: DLP chip from Texas Instruments

DLP features
Clarity. DLP technology comes closer than any other display solution to reproducing the exact mirror image of its source material. Thats why images projected by DLP technology are always crystal clear. The thousands of mirrors making up the DMD at the heart of DLP technology are spaced less than one micron apart, resulting in a very high fill factor. By minimising the gaps between pixels in a projected image, DLP projection systems create a seamless digital picture thats sharp at any sizewithout the pixellation or screen door effect apparent in other technologies. Brightness. DLP projection systems outshine the alternatives because, being mirror-based, they use light more efficiently. While other technologies
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lose a certain amount of light in transit, the microscopic mirrors in a DLP projection system bring more light from lamp to screen. With DLP technology, home entertainment becomes the visually stunning experience it should be. Business presentations have maximum impact, whether the lights are on or off. And large venue displays captivate their audiences with outputs of up to a whopping 15,000 lumens. Colour. DLP technology reproduces a range of colours up to eight times greater than of analogue projection systems. In televisions and home theatre systems, DLP projection creates rich blacks and darker shades than is possible with other technologies. At the movies, DLP Cinema technology projects no fewer than 35 trillion colours. DLP colours are becoming even

One chip or three?

The vast majority of DLP projectors use a single monochrome DLP chip and a spinning colour filter wheel to generate colours. One-chip configurations are normally used in consumer grade products such as conference room projectors and televisions. The single-chip projector is cheaper, offers high brightness levels and results in smaller, more portable designs There is another group of DLP projectors, 3-chip models. DLP technology-enabled projectors for applications requiring very high image quality or very high brightness, such as cinema and large venue displays, rely on a
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inconvenient updation of previews and advertisements; difficulties with simultaneous release of a product in international markets; the expense of film duplication and distribution; travel ghosting, focus flutter, jump, and weave; and the inexorable deterioration of the film with repeated screenings (colour fading, dirt and scratches). Also, film is recorded at 24 Hz, which is sufficient to achieve the effect of motion but is well within the flicker sensitivity of the human-visual system (HVS) and thus would result in severe flicker. To avoid this, film projectors project at twice this rate, using a 48Hz screen refresh rate. While this greatly mitigates flicker, projected film images still exhibit considerable flicker in bright scenes. DLP Cinema projection technology allows us to display images at any frame rate, and in practice we have been able to match the 48Hz refresh rate of film projectors. This is done using the control versatility of the DMD, which allows independent control of every bit. The result is an overall image signal that is beyond the HVS temporal sensitivity curve, resulting in the complete removal of any visible flicker. This technique gives DLP Cinema projection its characteristic solid and stable appearance that standard film projection does not provide. DLP Cinema projectors have been deployed in theatres for more than six years, bringing the visual benefits of digital to movie-goers in more than 30 countries.

Fig. 5: DLP vs LCDpicture reliability test results

Fig. 5: DLP vs LCDtime-to-failure test results

3-chip configuration to produce stunning images, whether moving or still. In 3-chip system, the white light generated by the lamp passes through a prism that divides it into red, green and blue. Each DLP chip is dedicated to one of these three colours; the coloured light that the micromirrors reflect is then combined and passed through the projection lens to form an image. Three-chip systems are currently at the top, in terms of performance, whether for business or home theatre, but as these currently start with selling prices in excess of $10,000, they are not widely used, except in highend home theatres, screening rooms and commercial applications demanding the best performance. Three-chip DLP projectors function more like LCD projectors. The light source is split into three beams. Light
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is still reflected off the DLP chips instead of passing though, as is done with LCD panels, however, like with LCD projectors the three beams are recombined into a single beam and passed through the lens. Note that 3chip DLP projectors often use exactly the same DLP chips as are used singly in one-chip models.

Future uses of DLP

DLP has a number of potential uses beyond home theatre, television and film projection. DLP image projectors are becoming more common in business environments. Other applications that could incorporate its high-definition image creation are photo finishing, three-dimensional visual displays, holographic storage, microscopes, spectroscopes and medical imaging. A number of these technologies are already in development. Scientists and developers are likely to discover even more uses for DMDs and DLP
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DLP cinema
An exciting application of DLP is digital cinema. Texas Instruments solution to digital cinema is called DLP Cinema. In an era when virtually all other forms of entertainment are based on digital distribution, the motion picture is still being distributed just as it has been for more than 100 years, as a film. Film-based projection technology has its limitations, including the inability to provide live content to the audience;

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technology in the future.

The rainbow effecta major problem

The use of a spinning colour wheel to modulate the image has the potential to produce a unique visible artifact on the screen that is referred to as the rainbow effect, which is simply colours separating out in distinct red, green and blue. Basically, at any given instant in time, the image on the screen is either red, or green or blue, and the technology relies upon eyes not being able to detect the rapid changes from one to the other. Not only can someone see the colours break out, but the rapid sequencing of colour is thought to be the culprit in reported cases of eye strain and headaches. It is important to note that only one-chip DLP televisions are susceptible to Rainbow Effect. Since LCD projectors always de-

and so reduced or eliminated the visibility of rainbows for many people. Today, many DLP projectors being built for the home theatre market incorporate a six-segment colour wheel which has two sequences of red, green and blue. This wheel still spins at 120 Hz or 7200 rpm, but because the red, green and blue are refreshed twice in every rotation rather than once, the industry refers to this as a 4x rotation speed. This further doubling of the refresh rate has again reduced the number of people who can detect them. Nevertheless, it remains a problem for a number of viewers even today.

DLP Vs LCD
DLP and LCD televisions are two emerging technologies competing for a place in every consumers home theatre. DLP technology offers several potential advantages over LCD. In particular, DLP projectors have a

Because of its higher fill factor (pixels closer together, so less space in between pixels), DLPbased projectors generally produce a much smoother image.
liver a constant red, green and blue image simultaneously, viewers of LCD projectors do not report these problems. Texas Instruments and the vendors who build projectors using DLP technology have made strides in addressing this problem. The first-generation DLP projectors incorporated a colour wheel that rotated sixty times per second, which can be designated as 60 Hz, or 3600 rpm. So with one red, green and blue panel in the wheel, updates on each colour happened 60 times per second. This baseline 60Hz rotation speed in the first-generation products is also known as a 1x rotation speed. Upon release of the first-generation machines, it became apparent that quite a few people were seeing rainbow artifacts. So in the second-generation DLP products the colour-wheel rotation speed was doubled to 120 Hz, or 7200 rpm. The doubling of the refresh rate reduced the margin of error,
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much higher pixel fill factor than transmissive LCD, that is more of the area of an individual pixel is used for the picture as opposed to the grid surrounding the pixel. With all digital or fixedpanel projectors (non-CRT), the grid between the individual pixels is static, wasted space, and this can be visible to viewers. It is most commonly referred to as the Screen Door Effect, or SDE, and many viewers find SDE to be objectionable when it is noticeable. Because of its higher fill factor (pixels closer together, so less space in between pixels), DLP-based projectors generally produce a much smoother image with less SDE compared to LCD-based projectors of similar resolution. The second advantage often identified with DLP is a high contrast ratio and efficient use of light. Contrast ratio is figure of merit that compares the ratio between the brightest white and the darkest black that a projector can

produce. The light output of the projector in lumens and the contrast ratio are generally considered two of the most important performance indicators for home theatre usage. Generally, a better contrast ratio leads to better black levels and, therefore, a more realistic presentation of darker scenes in movies and TV programmes. Because the DMD is a reflective device, it has a light efficiency of greater than 60 per cent, making DLP systems more efficient than LCD projection displays. This efficiency is the product of reflectivity, fill factor, diffraction efficiency and actual mirror on time. LCDs are polarisation-dependent, so one of the polarised light components is not used. This means that 50 per cent of the lamp light never even gets to the LCD because it is filtered out by a polariser. Other light is blocked by the transistors, gate and source lines in the LCD cell. In addition to these light losses, the liquid crystal material itself absorbs a portion of the light. The result is that only a small amount of the incident light is transmitted through the LCD panel and onto the screen. Recently, LCDs have experienced advances in apertures and light transmission, but their performance is still limited because of their dependence on polarised light. While DLP technology has significant advantages over LCD, it also has several potential drawbacks, especially in a single-chip design like most of them are right now, based on the way colour and shades of gray are produced. As mentioned above, when the DLP mirrors flip, they can turn light on or off (1 or 0). Video images consist of many different shades of gray or luminosity and, more often than not, also have colour. To make the many shades of gray, or regions of varying light intensity, the mirrors have to flip on and off rapidly so that the eye (or the brain) averages or integrates the image and perceives the desired light level. This is called dithering. Other forms of averaging or dithering may also be applied to regions of the screen to further extend the number of levels of gray that can
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be perceived by the viewer. The another drawback of singlechip DLP technology is that at any given instant, the picture on the screen is not the total image, but is instead rapidly alternating between images consisting of the individual red, green and blue colours. Thus the eye and the brain play the last critical role in making single-chip DLP projectors work, by combining, averaging or integrating the picture, so that the viewer perceives the desired image and not the rapidly flashing momentary components of the image. In contrast, three-chip projectors use a separate chip for the red, green and blue colours, and thus, simultaneously present the RGB images so that no temporal averaging or integration by the user is necessary. Today, virtually all LCD-based projectors intended for home theatre usage are three-chip projectors. There are some three-chip DLP projectors out there, but these are very expensive and are typically for commercial use only. Thus in todays home theatre projector market, you can select DLP-based projectors with their better contrast ratios, better black levels and smoother image, but with the risk that some individuals may see artifacts that are not present with LCD projectors. have been demonstrated at up to 3000lumen brightness for SVGA resolution. With anticipated improvements in short-arc xenon lamp technology, it is expected that brightness levels in excess of 10,000 lumens should be achievable in DLP products of the future, as resolution and format approach HDTV standards. DLP is rapidly becoming a major player in the rear-projection TV market, with sales of two million systems. Over 70 manufacturers offered models during the year 2006, up from 45 the previous year. DLP was the topselling 1080p HDTV technology through November 2006 as well as the leading micro display projection technology with 43 per cent of the market share. DLP HDTVs are available from leading manufacturers, including Mitsubishi, NuVision, Panasonic, Philips, RCA, Samsung, Toshiba and more.
The author is a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering, N.L. Polytechnic College, Mettupalayam, Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu

The road ahead

Already, Texas Instruments has teamed up with numerous projection display manufacturers spanning the business, consumer and professional markets. Shipments of the first DLPbrand business projectors began in March 1996. Currently, Digital Projection, Electrohome, Toshiba and Sony are developing high-brightness DLP products with SVGA resolution and brightness levels ranging from 1100 lumens to 3000 lumens. Currently, DLP projectors for business applications (conference rooms) are available in the market. DLP projection system prototypes for professional (high-brightness) applications

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