Technical Explanation Key Benefits

Yamaha has chosen Texas Instrument's DLP™ technology for its products.

Brief Explanation:

DLP technology is a revolutionary display solution for video projectors, and other devices, that uses an optical semiconductor to manipulate light digitally. It is proven and dependable, and has been enthusiastically adopted by leading electronics manufacturers worldwide.

DLP technology is unique in that it is the only entirely digital way for a video source to connect to a video projector. A digital connection, from end to end, results in the truest picture quality imaginable.

Technical Explanation:

Digital Light Processing (DLP) generates images by reflecting light off the surface of a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) containing hundreds of thousands of tiny mirrors. The light is turned on and off extremely quickly (in the order of microseconds), and then passes through a colour wheel and a lens and onto the screen.

How does DLP Technology work?

This can be explained in three simple steps:

1. The semiconductor
2. The greyscale image
3. Adding colour

1. The Semiconductor

At the heart of Yamaha's DLP projectors is an optical semiconductor known as the Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) chip. The DMD chip contains a rectangular array of hundreds of thousands of mounted, microscopic mirrors; each of these micromirrors measures less than one-fifth the width of a human hair, and corresponds to a single pixel in a projected image.

Digital Micromirror Device (DMD)

The Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) consists of hundreds-of-thousands of tiny actuated mirrors, each of which is responsible for directing a single pixel to the screen. This direct pixel-for-pixel relationship ensures a sharp, highly accurate picture.

The DMD chip is used in conjunction with a digital video or graphic signal, a light source, and a projection lens. Its mirrors can reflect an all-digital image onto a screen or other surface. The DMD and the sophisticated electronics that surround it are what we call Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology.

2. The Greyscale Image

A DMD panel's micromirrors are mounted on tiny hinges that enable them to tilt either toward the light source (ON) or away from it (OFF), corresponding to a light or dark pixel on the projection surface.

Each "micromirror" is responsible for an individual pixel, and can oscillate at up to several thousand times per second.

The bitstreamed code corresponding to the image reaches the semiconductor, which then switches each of its mirrors 'on' and 'off' at up to several thousand times per second.

As a simplified example: when a mirror is switched 'on' more frequently than 'off', it produces a lighter pixel; a mirror that is switched 'off' more frequently than 'on' produces a darker pixel.

In this way, the mirrors in a DLP projection system can produce pixels in upwards of 1,024 shades of gray to convert the video or graphic signal entering the DMD into a highly detailed greyscale image.

3. Adding Colour

The white light generated by the lamp in a Yamaha DLP projector passes through a colour wheel as it travels to the surface of the DMD panel. The colour wheel filters the light into red, green, and blue. The 'on' and 'off' states of each micromirror are synchronized with these three basic building blocks of colour to create up to 16.7 million colours.

For example: a mirror responsible for projecting a purple pixel will only reflect red and blue light; our eyes then blend these rapidly alternating flashes to see the intended hue in the projected image.

Key Benefits:
(not a complete list)

Reliability

DLP projectors last longer because their digital technology is not susceptible to heat, humidity, or vibration-environmental factors.

There are not as many sensitive parts that are prone to damage over time.

DLP projection systems require minimal maintenance.

Perfect geometry

With CRT technology, geometrical perfection is nearly impossible. In other words, reproducing perfectly straight lines is impossible with CRT. In contrast, DLP guarantees such perfection.

No Convergence Error

When the colours used to make up a video display do not properly come together on the screen. Each pixel, or point of light, on the screen is made up of three component colours. These colours (red, green and blue) converge at a specific point and these points form the overall image. When the colours do not properly come together, there is what is known as convergence error. Convergence error causes one of the colours to be shifted, causing a colour shift or causing the pixels to have a shifted colour around them (for instance, images may seem to have a red halo due to the red light source not converging or meeting properly with the other colours on the screen). DLP avoids these inaccuracies altogether thanks to its elegant optical semiconductor approach.

Clarity

DLP technology is entirely digital, providing unmatched visual clarity.

The thousands of mirrors making up the Digital Micromirror Device at the heart of DLP technology are spaced less than one micron apart, resulting in a very high "fill factor". By minimizing the gaps between pixels in a projected image, DLP projection systems create a seamless digital picture that's sharp at any size-without the pixellation or "screen door" effect apparent in other technologies.

Brightness

DLP projection systems outshine the alternatives because, being mirror-based, they use light more efficiently. While other technologies lose a certain amount of light in transit, the microscopic mirrors in a DLP projection system bring more light from lamp to screen.

Whether the lights are on or off, images achieve maximum impact.

Colour

DLP technology reproduces a range of colours up to eight times greater than that of analog projection systems. DLP projection provides rich blacks and darker shades than is possible with other technologies.

Versatility

DLP is state-of-the-art technology that delivers stunning images in your home, as well as in business presentation environments.

Flicker-free Performance

The DMD display refreshes at approximately 1000 times per second. Even with displays originating at 24 frames per second (e.g. film), the image is completely flicker-free.

No Lagging, Smearing or Blurring

The DMD mirrors in Digital Projection Displays can switch on and off in about 5 microseconds. This near-instant performance completely eliminates any projector contribution to blurring or trails as objects move across the screen.

No Burn-in

Burn in, phosphor burn, or screen burn are terms that describe cases when certain parts of the screen exhibit uneven wear from the rest of the viewing area. With DLP systems, burn-in is no longer an issue.