23 July 2009

Cell phone projector boosts images

Cell phone TV is a step closer, and with an innovative mini beamer it will be possible to create a public viewing event on a small scale.

The mini beamer does not need an additional illumination system like conventional projectors, said researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Jena, Germany, in cooperation with their partners in the EU project HYPOLED.

A new mini beamer will make it easier to view photos on a cell phone.

Because the beamer can operate without an extra light source, it offers a number of advantages. First, it takes up little space. The prototype is 2.5 centimeters long, has a diameter of 1.8 centimeters, and can easily integrate in a cell phone or a PDA. A second plus is the device needs very little energy, and therefore does not overtax the battery.

“The key component of the projector is an organic display, or OLED, developed by our colleagues at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS in Dresden,” said Dr. Stefan Riehemann, group manager at the IOF.

Currently, the OLED display produces a monochrome image with a brightness of 10,000 candelas per square meter; for color images the brightness is about half that level. By way of comparison, a computer monitor generates about 150-300 candelas per square meter. A lens system projects the image produced by the OLED onto a wall or other flat surface. The lenses consist of glass, but research scientists are already developing an optical system that uses plastic lenses. As you can emboss plastic lenses, you can also produce them in larger quantities more simply and cheaply than glass lenses.

For related information, go to www.isa.org/manufacturing_automation.