TI: 1080p DLP chips ready for mass production, touts DLP technology

[Gregg Lengling]

Digital light processing (DLP) chips from Texas Instruments (TI) supporting 1080p (1920×1080 progressive scan) are now ready for mass production. The company expects the segment to gradually become mainstream, overtaking 720p, its current mainstream, according to Eric Braddom, director of DLP Asia, a business unit of TI that provides DLP chips.

Sharp, LG Electronics (LGE) and Samsung Electronics showed new DLP rear-projection TVs (RPTVs) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2005 in Las Vegas (Jan 6-9). TI is confident about the growing market and expects this type of chip will be used mainly in the over-50-inch RPTV segment, Braddom said.

Although Epson, along with five other Japan-based makers, formed an alliance to promote LCD technology for projectors and RPTVs at CES 2005, TI is not worried about the threat. Of all the projectors shipped from Taiwan-based makers last July, for instance, 91% were DLP models, Braddom pointed out, citing Taiwan's Market Intelligence Center (MIC). At CES 2005, more than 75 companies introduced their new display products using TI's DLP technology, he added.

In response to claims from the LCD segment that DLP technology has defects that can cause visual discomfort through a "rainbow effect," Braddom said the claim is untrue, citing a recent Merrill Research report where none of the interviewees who purchased DLP-technology-enabled screens reported dissatisfaction after using the products.

DLP projectors had nearly 40% of the projector market in the third quarter of 2004, compared to slightly over 20% in the second quarter of 2002, according to US-based Pacific Media Associates (PMA).

The global front-projection market is expected to grow at a compound-annual-growth rate (CAGR) of 35.3%, from 4.8 million units in 2005 to 11.9 million in 2008, PMA predicted.

Braddom was speaking at a recent press conference, where TI and Taiwan's Optoma detailed their roadmaps for this year.

[StarvingForHDTV]

Excellent news.  I wonder what took them so long