LCOS TV MOVES TOWARD 1080P
LCOS developers are quickly shifting attention to developing 1080p-capable microdisplays, despite the relatively short time 720p versions have been on the market. Rear projection TVs containing a 1080p-capable display may at first command a 25-30% premium over 720p-equipped models, but the gap will narrow as component costs decline and 1080p grabs the lead within 36-48 months, said Rainer Kuhn, senior vp at Brillian, which plans to ship 0.7” and 0.8” 1080p LCOS chips in 2005.
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Philips also has developed a 1080p version of its rotating drum LCOS technology. It features a simpler design than the one used with its current 0.9” chip with 1,280x720p resolution, which is at the heart of a 55W rear projection TV shipped in the U.S. the past 6 months. The 1080p chip, with 800:1 contrast ratio and 500 candelas, was developed using a design for 44W rear projection TV. Philips withdrew the 44W from the U.S. market last fall to improve the chip, but isn’t likely to return it to retail, Philips Engineer Matthew Brennesholtz said. Instead it will focus on a 62W rear projection TV to extend the line from 55W -- mainly because of the U.S. preference for larger sets -- he said.
The Philips-Brillian race to grab the lead in LCOS comes as the industry awaits the arrival of Intel, which emerged late last year to champion the technology. Intel has said it will focus on 1080p, forcing many in the microdisplay business, including Texas Instruments, to reconsider an early focus on 720p, industry observers said. Brillian CEO Vincent Sollitto said he “welcomed” the arrival of Intel to legitimize a technology with a checkered past. Both Samsung, which partnered with Displaytech, and Thomson (Three-Five Systems), unveiled LCOS-based TVs several years ago, but withdrew them due to picture quality problems.
Brillian, spun off from Three-Five last fall, has made major strides developing LCOS and is preparing for initial shipments of 65W rear projection TV ($7,000-$8,000) in Aug. that will be sold under a private label brand through a national retail chain, said to be Tweeter. Brillian executives have declined to identify the retailer, but said the 65W sets are assembled by contract manufacturer Suntron at a plant in Tijuana, Mexico. Brillian has contracted with a distribution center in San Diego to handle shipping the product, Kuhn said. The 65W set, which will contain three 0.7” panels with 1,280x720 resolution, will be sold through “significantly more than a dozen” of the initial retailer’s stores before expanding chainwide in Sept.-Oct., he said. Brillian officials declined to disclose how many of its LCOS- based TVs will be shipped to the retailer at the start, but has said the initial production will be 1,000 units monthly.
In addition to 720p, Brillian expects to start production late this year of 0.7” and 0.8” LCOS panels with 1080p resolution, Sollitto said. The 0.7”, which will have 1,920x1080p resolution, 500 candelas and 2,000:1 contrast ratio, will be designed for 65W sets. The 0.8” -- with many of the same specs as the 0.7” but an increase in brightness to 800 lumens -- will target 73W rear projection TVs and front projectors, Sollitto said. The 0.8” is expected to be available the 2nd half of 2005 and is based on a 0.85” panel designed when Brillian was a Three- Five subsidiary. The first LCOS sets will ship as HD-ready, but Wipro’s cable-ready module with an HD tuner will ship for the sets in Jan.
“Each set that goes out will have features that that particular customer thinks is important” ranging from the user interface to integrated components, Kuhn said.
For its part, Philips plans to stick with developing LCOS for rear projection TVs and isn’t developing versions for front projectors, Brennesholtz said. “While we would like to get there eventually, with our current generation optics and panel with a 120 w lamp, we can’t get there,” he said, noting that current configuration is capable of delivering 300 lumens in a home theater market for front projectors where the benchmark is 600- 700 lumens.
In manufacturing the LCOS panels, Philips will handle some production in Europe including the silicon and alignment layers. Long term, Philips also will rely on Hana Microdisplays and Varitronix for about 75% of the packaging and filling of liquid crystal that’s required, Brennesholtz said.