Mobile DLP Projection - Texas Instruments Shows Off Pico Projector

Imagine showing off images and video on your media storage device on the big screen. With the click of a button, you could project any media content on your mobile device, movie theatre style. Your entire media library at your fingertips, you could readily flash your personal photos and videos against any surface. A home theatre in your pocket, the ease your friends and business associates could view the content would be astonishing.

That day has come! Texas Instruments showed off its new prototype of a DLP pico-projector at the 2007 Vegas CTIA Wireless convention. The device is compatible with cell phones, digital cameras and portable media players.

A lot simpler than schlepping around a computer, downloading the media and then uploading the content, that’s for sure.

DLP pocket projector models were introduced in 2006 for Mitsubishi, Samsung and Toshiba. PMA, a global research firm, estimates there to be over a million units available in the next three years. Frank J. Moizio, the company’s Worldwide Strategic Marketing and Business Development Manager says the 2007 technologies will be revolutionary and will provide “significant improvements in productivity and entertainment experiences.”

So what can we expect to see? Besides smoother, crisper images, fast motion video and vivid colours, the device promises to maintain its image quality over time. Other electronics tend to fade or yellow, but TIs pico-projectors won’t—they’re even dust-resistance.

Great invention. Just make sure none of your friends have any embarrassing or scandalous media of you. If they do, make sure to stay on their good side. These devices could take public humiliation to the next level.

Anyone wanting to make a public statement will be able to do so with ease. Find a white wall in a room full of people, and project any images, sound or video for all to see. A world full of people with personal videos in their pockets? Should be interesting, and a trend worth tracking.