News

5/9/2003

Texas Instruments Announces HD2+ DLP(TM) Technology; Higher Contrast Ratio, Higher Brightness, Improved Video Quality

Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) (TI) today announced at CEDIA 2003 availability of HD2+ DLP(TM) technology in products from a number of its customers. HD2+ DLP(TM) technology takes advantage of a new manufacturing process which enables projectors that feature it to deliver even higher contrast ratios, thus extending still further the leadership DLP(TM) technology enjoys as the technology of choice for home cinema and home theater applications. It also features dark video enhancement (DVE) made possible by changes to the color wheel to give even better video performance in dark scenes. Projectors featuring HD2+ will ship during the fourth quarter of 2003.

"Videophiles are almost unanimous in their belief that contrast ratio is perhaps the key metric in defining the sharpness and detail of an onscreen picture, and thus how lifelike the picture appears," said Bharath Rajagopalan, Business Development Manager, Consumer Front Projection at TI's DLP(TM) Products division. "Projectors based on DLP technology already lead the market in this respect, and the announcement of HD2+ gives our customers even greater competitive advantage. At the same time, HD2+ delivers higher brightness and improved video performance. We're extremely excited by these new developments."

HD2+ DLP(TM) technology features a new version of the Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) -- the unique semiconductor at the heart of DLP(TM) technology. A new fabrication process allows the onscreen image to appear even more 'filmlike' -- already a key feature of DLP(TM) technology -- and also enables projectors featuring HD2+ DLP(TM) technology to deliver contrast ratio improvements that will further extend the leadership of DLP(TM) technology in this vital aspect of picture quality. The new manufacturing process also delivers some increase in brightness. Concurrently, a revised color wheel architecture will be implemented that will increase the number of bits used to process green light: the effect of this will be to reduce the scarcely- perceptible 'dithering' which has previously characterized DLP(TM) performance in very dark areas of the projected image.

"We're very excited by these most recent developments in DLP technology," said Scott Hix, Vice President and General Manager, Business Development, InFocus. "DLP technology allows us to offer home entertainment systems that lead the market in picture quality - at very affordable prices - and now, HD2+ enables us to deliver even better solutions to our customers."

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