DLP — Digital Light Processing Television

An Exciting Enhancement for HD TV: Digital Light Processing

Television technology may rightfully claim more acronyms than any other industry. DLPT, short for Digital Light Processing Television, is one of the more recent additions to the list. DLP is a technology that uses one, or sometimes three, electronic chips called Digital Micromirror Devices, or DMDs, to produce a vivid picture with a high contrast ratio on a high-definition large-screen TV. More than a million micromirrors mounted on the chip — five micromirrors, laid side by side, would fit across a human hair — respond to electric signals to focus the light from a white lamp either on, or away from, the TV screen. A one-chip DMD can produce more than 16 million colors when the light of each micromirror passes through a color wheel; a three-chip DMD produces several trillion colors.

DLP, a technology developed by Texas Instruments in the late 1980s, is being used in thousands of theaters around the world. At home, DLP can strut its stuff best on large screens — from 43” to 65” with 72” and 84” under development — which makes it ideal for home theaters. DLPTs are frequently referred to as “projection” TVs, with rear-screen and front-screen projection models available. A 1080p DLPT has a resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels, which can only be appreciated on a large screen; and an aspect ratio of 16:9, which emulates the wider movie theater screen. (Smaller household TVs commonly have a 4x3 aspect ratio, which means the screen is about as tall as it is wide.) A 65” screen can be viewed easily from a distance of 5 yards.

DLPTs have several advantages over big-screen plasma and LCD TVs:

• They are more economical, inch per inch.
• They are more svelte, being 13” to 15” slim and of a significantly lighter weight.
• They are more reliable, simply because they have fewer parts vulnerable to failure. Their manufacturers do admit the lamp bulb may need to be changed every 15 years or so.
• They are immune to burn-in, which is caused by excessive gaming or by an ever-present logo in the corner of the screen.

Drawbacks, if any, are largely a function of the needs and preferences of the viewer. True videophiles may find esoteric quirks that others may not notice. As always, it pays to purchase high-quality DLPTs made by familiar manufacturers rather than inexpensive junk models.

Like its brethren the PC and the digital camera, each successive generation of DLPTs has brought about an improved viewing experience by eliminating common causes for complaints. For example, speeding up the color wheel has banished the annoying “rainbows” on the screen, and the too-narrow viewing angle — 30 or 40 degrees, similar to that of a PC screen — has been expanded to up to 180 degrees. That said, however, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers recommends that viewers be within 30 degrees of the picture “cone” for optimal viewing.

Already, 3D Digital Light Processing technology is being tested in theaters around the country. Will we then have to learn about 3D DLP HD TV? Stay tuned. It’ll be easier than it sounds.