Texas Instruments (TI) are well known for their DLP optical switching technology, which uses an array of micromirrors to manipulate light emission. Development kits allow scientists and engineers to incorporate the technology into their own optical systems.
According to TI’s Arun Chhabra, the introduction of the development kits has driven the development of a whole new range of industrial applications. DLP technology was originally conceived for use in displays, and indeed more than 18 million chipsets have been built into projector displays, digital cinema solutions and high-definition televisions. But photonics engineers have also been able to exploit the development kits to create systems for lighting, metrology, and spectroscopy.
The latest iteration of the development kit targets the emerging market of picoprojectors, which are designed to be so small that they can be integrated into mobile phones and other handheld devices. The development kit incorporates a miniaturized version of the DLP chipset, with the complete kit measuring just 44.8 x 67.4 x 14.2 mm – about the size of a mobile phone.
Expert DVN comment: The future will be partly in the adaptive high beam lighting. One way to obtain could be the micro/pico projector technology. This technology could be one day ripe for lighting applications and lighting suppliers have to follow its progresses.
