Samsung and TI demo first WVGA beam projector mobile phone

Samsung mobile with high-res capability powered by TI's DLP Pico chipset

Samsung Electronics has demonstrated a mobile phone with embedded projector at CES this year. The Samsung W9600 Projector Phone uses Texas Instruments' DLP Pico WVGA chipset to project native DVD images. The pico projection feature removes the limitations of the mobile phone screen by providing "big picture" viewing experiences for sharing pictures, watching videos, playing games, viewing e-mail attachments, and even giving presentations. Any content can instantly be projected whether it is stored on or streamed to the phone. Featuring a lightweight and compact design, the Samsung Projector Phone can display images in excess of 60 inches depending on ambient light conditions.

"Building upon the excitement and success of our W7900 projection phone in Korea last year, this new phone transforms the mobile phone experience, giving users the capability to share large, stunning native DVD images from the palm of their hands," said David Noh, vice president at Samsung Electronics. "We continue to transform the limitations of mobile viewing to provide complete mobile office and entertainment solutions that enhance people's lives."

"We are amazed that this kind of image in terms of size, brightness, and resolution is possible from a mobile phone -- and for Samsung to achieve this without any compromise in the form factor of a contemporary cell phone is truly impressive," said Frank Moizio, DLP Emerging Markets business manager. "This phone's 'big picture' capability not only enhances the individual use experience, but also gives the user the capability to share experiences in a compelling way -- opening the opportunity for numerous entertainment and business applications."


DLP Pico projection features:
-- Web surfing
-- Viewing digital photos (.jpg format)
-- Viewing video content in various formats including DivX
-- Giving PowerPoint slide presentations
-- Flashlight capabilities
-- Resolution: DLP Pico WVGA resolution with over 400,000 pixels
-- Contrast ratio: >2000:1
-- Image size: Greater than 50 inches depending on light conditions


Mobile phone features:
-- 5.0-megapixel camera
-- High-resolution color AMOLED touch screen
-- Intuitive flick navigation to view presentations and photo slide shows
-- Sleek and lightweight design

Other devices at CES using the DLP Pico chipset:

MOBILE PHONES
-- LG eXpo(TM)/AT&T Pico projector snap-on accessory: (HVGA); $179;
Available on AT&T's Web site
-- NTT DOCOMO Pico projector phone dock F-04B: (WVGA); Availability to be
announced
-- Samsung Embedded Pico Projector: (WVGA); Availability to be announced


CAMERAS
-- Asia Optical Prototype: Demonstration of embedded camera prototype at
CES


PICO PROJECTORS
-- Optoma PK100: (HVGA); $199; Available at Amazon.com
-- Optoma PK101: (HVGA); $229; Available at Amazon.com and Apple Stores
-- WowWee Cinemin Swivel: (HVGA); $299; Available at Amazon.com,
Brookstone


PICO PROJECTION MEDIA PLAYERS
-- Foryou Media: (WVGA); Availability in China to be announced
-- JCO-Hite: (HVGA); Availability in China to be announced
-- Optoma PK102: (HVGA); $249; Available at Amazon.com and Apple Stores
-- Optoma PK201: (WVGA); Availability to be announced
-- Optoma PK301: (WVGA); Availability to be announced
-- Samsung SP-H03: (WVGA); Availability to be announced


GAMING/MUTLIMEDIA
-- Brightboxe: (WVGA); $199; Available at select Target stores


NOTEBOOK COMPANION
-- HP Notebook Projection Companion: (SVGA/480p); Availability to be
announced


MULTIMEDIA POCKET PROJECTORS
-- LG HS200G: (SVGA); $499; Available at online retailers
-- LG HX300G: (XGA); Availability to be announced
-- Samsung SP-P410M: (SVGA); Available at online retailers

Pico projector market booms

Shipments of embedded pico projectors will rise to more than 3 million units in 2013, up from less than 50,000 units this year says market researcher iSuppli, a sixtyfold increase driven by the rise in portable multimedia devices.
It defines pico projectors as front projectors weighing less than 2 pounds—or about 0.9 kilograms—and sized at less than 60 cubic inches—or about 983 cubic centimeters—without a battery pack. Despite their small sizes, pico projectors produce large displays, with some products capable of showing bright, 50-inch diagonal images on a wall or other surface.
This combination of small physical size and large image makes embedded pico projectors a perfect fit for space-constrained mobile devices.

“Mobile electronic devices offer consumers and corporate users the portability they desire, causing an increasing number of users to employ products like smart phones and netbook PCs as their primary platforms for computing and Internet access,” said Sanju Khatri, principal analyst, signage/projection, for iSuppli. “However, a major obstacle blocking the use of mobile devices in this fashion has been their tiny displays relative to desktop PCs. Embedded pico projectors promise to enlarge these displays, making mobile devices more capable as primary computing and Internet-access platforms.”

Pico projectors are likely to find initial acceptance in the corporate market, allowing businesspeople to make presentations directly from their mobile PCs, smart phones or PDAs. However, they also have a strong allure to consumers, allowing large-sized display of video, Internet sites and applications.
Smart phones
Smart phones represent a promising market for embedded pico projectors. Samsung Electronics fired the starting gun for this area with the unveiling of its Show smart phone at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. The Show, which presently is only being sold in South Korea, employs Texas Instruments Inc.’s Digital Light Processing (DLP) projection technology. Other smart phones equipped with pico-projectors are likely to be introduced soon.
Besides DLP and other Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) display technologies, Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) technology shows equally strong promise in the embedded pico projector market.
Digital cameras
In an example of the use of LCOS, Nikon announced it will ship in September its Coolpix S1000pj digital camera, which employs pico projection technology for the display of pictures and video.
While iSuppli predicts fast growth for embedded pico projectors, they still will account for a tiny fraction of overall mobile device shipments through 2013.

“The growth potential for embedded pico projectors will be limited during the next few years due to challenges in areas including power consumption, size and manufacturing,” Khatri said. “As these issues are resolved, pico projectors will appear in many more mobile electronics devices.”