Introduction
High definition television is all the rage today in the video realm of consumer electronics. In the U.S. the availability of High Definition television broadcasts, which is becoming more prevalent day by day, has brought a surge in consumer interest in newer televisions that can receive and display the higher quality video signals. But it is not just the video signals themselves that are changing consumer's habits, but the technologies behind the new high definition displays are rapidly advancing as well, providing consumers much improved styling, space efficiency and image quality than was available in the CRT display era of the past. High definition TV's using Texas Instruments' DLP' display technology has proven popular with many customers around the world in the past few years; however, as the average HDTV screen size continues to increase each year, solutions must be found to manage the cost, weight, power and overall styling of these TV's.
With slim DLP technology that Texas Instruments' DLP TV group has pioneered in the past year, DLP televisions have the potential to simultaneously address increased image quality and sleeker styling at larger size screens while keeping costs down and ease of use for consumers up. DLP TV has entered a new era of TV design with its slim line of TV models, drastically changing the cabinet styling as well as image quality. This article will address some of the key features of slim DLP TV technology.
Redefining the DLP HDTV
Slim DLP TV technology began with several goals in mind. Various prototype designs were generated and tested using focus groups and two distinct types of consumers were found, those that wanted to hang the TV on the wall, a small minority, and those that wanted to incorporate the TV into the furniture dcor of their household. This second group preferred a slim TV, not necessarily flat. The winning design was approximately 10" deep, considerably thicker than flat panel TVs but considered thin enough. Thus was targeted the main goal to reduce the overall depth of a standard DLP television by up to 30%, a target that, if reached would allow a 50" DLP TV to be thinner than a 40" plasma or LCD TV on a stand. Lighter weight and stability were surprisingly important considerations for many consumers. But the reduction in DLP TV cabinet depth and weight also had to be balanced with regards to system cost while also allowing for increased modularity of components to maximize cost effectiveness at the light engine level. Wide variety was found in the desired placement of the TV in the home, and so support for many installation options was considered just as important as getting to "thin".
Slim DLP technology merges several new advancements in both the design of the overall DLP TV cabinet as well as the underlying electrical and optical components. Combining these new approaches with Texas Instruments latest generation of DLP chipsets allows for much sleeker DLP TV designs to be realized for designs that are compelling to both men and women. These advancements are described in more detail below.
Figure 1. Minimized depth using offset optics
|
