A Projector in Your Pocket

The next cell phone you buy now might just have a 100 – inch screen, without the phone getting and inch bigger.

That is the idea behind Microvisions tiny new PicoP projector that can turn a wall, table top, or any flat surface into a digital display from your phone or any hand held device. It is small enough to fit in your pocket and pocket sized gadgets because it uses lasers, a brand new revolution being introduced into projectors. Lasers sip power (as opposed to drink power, like most projectors do) and do away with bulky lenses. Also, the pinpoint beams will always be in focus from any distance.

The tiny handheld projector makes images by mixing pulses of green, red, and blue laser light and bouncing them off a vibrating mirror that fills a screen one pixel at a time. Standard definition video from it draws 24.4 million pixels a second!

In a well lit, bright room, the PicoP is bright enough to display an image 8 to 10 inches. But in a dark, unlit room, it will display an image 100 inches big! Aren’t impressed? – You really have to take in consideration the size of the projector. In case you didn’t realize at first, the PicoP is 0.26 x 0.76 x 1.57 inches big! (about the size of a stack of 3 camera memory cards.)

At first, the PicoP will be bundled with a battery in an ipod sized device that you can carry with you. Many companies plan to sell this at the end of the year. Also, large phone makers, like Motorola, are already teaming up with Microvision to put this new technology in their phones the way cameras are today!

Tech Specs

dimensions: 0.5 by 2.5 by 4.5 inches, in the handheld version

Resolution: 848 by 480 pixels

Refresh rate: 60 frames per second

Price: $300 to $500 estimated

www.microvision.com