For political parties using this acronym, see Democratic Labour Party.

Digital Light Processing (DLP) is a technology used in projectors and projection televisions. DLP was originally developed by Texas Instruments, and they remain the sole manufacturer of such technology, though many licensees market products based on their chipsets.

In DLP projectors, the image is created by microscopically small mirrors laid out in a matrix on a semiconductor chip, known as a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD). Each mirror represents one pixel in the projected image. The number of mirrors corresponds to the resolution of the projected light dump in Barco terminology).

The rapid repositioning of the mirrors (essentially switching between 'on' and 'off') allows the DMD to vary the intensity of the light being reflected out through the lens, creating shades of grey in addition to white (mirror in 'on' position), and black (mirror in 'off' position). There are two primary methods by which DLP projection systems create a color image, those utilized by single-chip DLP projectors, and those used by three-chip projectors.

Single-chip projectors

In a projector with a single DMD chip, colors are produced by placing a color wheel between the lamp and the DMD where it is reflected out through the optics. The color wheel is usually divided into four sectors: the primary colors: red, green, and blue, and an additional clear section to boost brightness. Since the clear sector reduces color saturation, in some models it may be effectively disabled, and in others it is omitted altogether.

The DMD chip is synchronized with the rotating motion of the color wheel so that the green component is displayed on the DMD when the green section of the color wheel is in front of the lamp. The same is true for the red and blue sections. The red, green, and blue images are thus displayed sequentially at a sufficiently high rate that the observer sees the composite "full color" image. In early models, this was one rotation per frame. Later models spin the wheel at twice the frame rate, and some also repeat the color pattern twice around the wheel, meaning the sequence may be repeated up to four times per frame.

The DLP "Rainbow Effect"

This visual artifact is best described as brief flashes of perceived red/blue/green "shadows" observed most often when the projected content features bright/white objects on a mostly dark/black background (the scrolling end credits of many movies being a common example). Some people perceive these rainbow artifacts all of the time, while others say they only see them when they let their eyes pan across the image. Yet others do not notice the artifact at all. The effect is likely rooted in the concept of the flicker fusion threshold.

The image to the right shows how a white circle looks to a camera while panning horizontally, using a long exposure. The white light is visibly split into into its colored components. The rainbow effect occurs when this is visible to the naked eye.

The manufacturers of single-chip DLP projection systems use color wheels rotating at higher speeds, or with more color segments in order to minimize the appearance of the artifacts.

Three-chip projectors

A three-chip DLP projector uses a prism to split light from the lamp, and each primary color of light is then routed to its own DMD chip, then recombined and routed out through the lens. Single-chip DLP systems are capable of displaying 16.7 million colors, whereas three-chip DLP systems can display up to 35 trillion colors.

Three-chip projectors do not suffer from the "rainbow effect", since all three color components (red, green, and blue) are being generated simultaneously.

Market place

DLP is rapidly becoming a major player in the rear-projection TV market, having sold two million systems and achieved a 10% market share. Over 50 manufacturers will be offering models during the 2004 holidays, up from 18 the previous year. DLP chips currently constitute 5% of Texas Instrument's total sales. Small standalone projection units (also called front projectors) using DLP technology have become very popular for office presentation and home theater duties.

• Pros: Smooth, jitter-free images; good color depth and contrast; no burn-in; DLP rear projection TVs are smaller, thinner and lighter than CRT-based models.

• Cons: In single chip designs, some people observe a "rainbow effect".

DLP and LCoS

The most similar competing system to DLP is known as LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon), which creates images using a stationary mirror mounted on the surface of a chip, and uses a liquid crystal matrix to control how much light is reflected.

See also

• Flat panel display
• LCD
• Plasma display
• OLED
• SED-tv
• Comparison of display technology

External links

• DLP Demo by Texas Instruments (Flash)
• DLP Overview by Texas Instruments
• DLP... See It! Resource page on DLP and TVs in general
• "The Great Technology War: LCD vs. DLP" (projectorcentral.com)
• What's so hot about LCOS technology? A comparison of DLP and LCoS
• DLPmovies.com A directory of DLP-enabled cinemas
• Howstuffworks.com DLP Howstuffworks.com's article on DLPsde:Digital Light Processing

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