First Look:

Kopin has iVision for mobile video future

By Bernard Cole
iApplianceWeb
(10/28/05, 12:54 AM GMT)

Taunton, Mass. – In the months leading up to the Consumer Electronics Show early next year, microdisplay manufacturer Kopin Corp. has begun showing off its next generation Digital iVision display building blocks to manufacturers of mobile devices and to the retailers who will sell them.

Finally, says  Dr. John Fan, Kopin's president and CEO, display technology resolutions and costs are at the point when mobile users will soon be able to see theatre-quality images from video eyewear small enough to put in a pocket. And if he has anything to do with it, the mobile video viewers of the future will be based on his company’s technology.

New Digital iVision products being exhibited at conferences such as ElectronicAsia include:

1) The BDM-922K video subsystem, which weighs only 1 oz (2/3 the weight of iPod nano) but delivers large VGA-resolution (600 x 480) images equivalent to a 48-inch TV;

2) The BDM-230K WVGA microdisplay with 854 x 480 spatial resolution -- the first microdisplay, he claims with a 16:9 aspect ratio for the high-definition (HD) TV; and,

3) The CyberDisplay SXGA microdisplay with 1280 x 1024 spatial resolution (better than HDTV).

"Mobile video content is becoming widely available from cell phone service providers including Cingular and Verizon, from portable DVDs or multimedia players, and from digital mobile broadcasting that started in South Korea," Fan.

"Consumers will not be satisfied, however, with tiny images on small screens in an age when they are demanding large-screen TVs. Yet, they do not want to give up the convenience of using small portable devices and carry around a large heavy screen. "

To satisfy these requirements, he said, the company has developed not only the imaging silicon used to create and display “virtual” screen images which when viewed at a few inches in a headset, look as if they were 10 to 30 inches diagonal in size. They have also developed technology to first compress the the

full-screen image into tiny microdisplays. The image is then enlarged using optical elements that enable the eyes to perceive a much larger image -- the equivalent of a 30-inch TV or greater.

The key enabler for Digtital iVision technology, he said, is Kopin's CyberDisplay microdisplays which are small light-transmitting liquid crystal displays for the resolution -- in sizes ranging from a grain of rice to a postage stamp. These transmissive displays, said Fan,  allow thin, simple optics, which translates into lightweight, compact, and comfortable eyewear.

"Just as iPod has transformed the audio world for music lovers, we think Digital iVision will revolutionize visual information and entertainment on the go," said Dr. Boryeu Tsaur, Kopin's executive vice president. "It allows people to enjoy movies, sporting events, and music videos, browse the Web and check e-mail from mobile phones, or play 3D video games whenever and where-ever they want."

The BDM-230K creates the effect of a virtual 35-inch display viewed from a seven-foot distance and requires only 3.3 V power and video input, either in NTSC or PAL format. Integrated into a lightweight (0.9 oz), self-contained unit (97.5 mm x 23.75 mm x 22.0 mm), it includes two 230K displays, backlights, drive electronics, and a pair of 24-degree field-of-view optics with large eye relief (20 mm) and pupil size (10 mm).

The displays are precisely aligned, said Tsaur, to the optics and to each other for viewing comfort. Its low power consumption (less than 450 mW) allows long viewing time without recharging the battery. It also includes audio pass-through connectors to simplify final assembly.

The pre-production BDM-922K module is very similar to BDM-230K, but has a VGA (600 x 480) resolution. It requires only 3.3 V power and video input, either in NTSC or PAL format. Integrated into a lightweight (1 oz), self-contained unit (95.6 mm x 22.3 mm x 31.1 mm), the it includes two CyberDisplay VGA displays, backlights, drive electronics, and a pair of 32-degree field-of-view optics with large eye relief (20 mm) and pupil size (10 mm). The BDM-922K creates the effect of a virtual 48-inch display viewed from a seven-foot distance, and has low power consumption (960 mW).

The CyberDisplay WVGA preproduction display has an 854 x 480 resolution in a 0.58-ich diagonal package, provides vivid high-resolution color images in a 16:9 aspect ratio, the same as the high-definition (HD) TV.

The CyberDisplay SVGA display is an 800 x 600 resolution in a 0.59-inch-diagonal module, while the CyberDisplay SXGA display features full-color, HDTV-plus resolution (1280 x 1024) in a 0.97-inch-diagonal package.

To learn more, www.kopin.com.