Miniature Video Projector for iPhone and iPod

[MacRumors]

Engadget reports that Texas Instruments' DLP Pico Projector will launch on December 1st for sale in Apple Stores in Japan. The miniature projector allows you to display a 60-inch 480x320 video image from up to 8.5 feet away.

David Pogue took an early look at the device and was impressed:

You’d have to be a jaded gizmophile indeed not to be impressed the first time you turn on this tiny, shiny black box. In the center of the short end, there’s a very bright light-emitting-diode lamp. Inside, there’s a miniaturized Texas Instruments digital-light-processing (D.L.P.) chip, similar in principle to the ones that drive some full-size HDTV sets. Together, they produce an astonishingly bright, clear, vivid video or still image. That’s right -- from a projector you’ve pulled from your jeans pocket.

No word on when the projector will be available in the U.S. It will retail for about U.S. $511 in Japan.


Article Link: Miniature Video Projector for iPhone and iPod

[Rybold]

Awesome!

step1: download video DVDs onto iPhone
step2: project DVDs and Youtube onto a white wall anywhere and everywhere you may be.

Quoting the article: "That’s right -- from a projector you’ve pulled from your jeans pocket."

Just imagine the possibilities: movies, Youtube, video games, sharing picture albums with a group of friends, browsing the web without having to "resize" the page, and with the App Store, the possibilities are limitless ... Powerpoint and streaming television in the future?

I'D LIKE TO SEE A BLACKBERRY DO THAT!!! AHA!!!

.

[equlizer]

but............Will it be any different than what the cable can already do? (which isnt much)

I want to display more than just movies and pics

[FrankieTDouglas]

Does it work like a mirrored display? I want one.

[attila]

Originally Posted by equlizer

but............Will it be any different than what the cable can already do? (which isnt much)

I want to display more than just movies and pics

the iPhone can already do anything! What do you want to do? A universal dock with remote?

(why does the universal dock suck so much on the iPhone? you can't navigate menues....)

[ArtOfWarfare]

The price is a bit on the high side... maybe I'll get one refurbished later on...

[Elloise]

I love it.
Make it wireless.

[c-Row]

Originally Posted by Elloise

I love it.
Make it wireless.

Now that would totally rock!

[lftrghtparadigm]

Originally Posted by ArtOfWarfare

The price is a bit on the high side... maybe I'll get one refurbished later on...

LOL its not even for sale or planned to be for sale in the U.S. and you're talking about a refurb. silliness

That is one really really really really cool gadget. A must have for serious iPhone/iPod touch media hounds. But whatever happened to this one??

http://www.popsci.com/gear-%2526-gad...cket-projector

[lftrghtparadigm]

I predict with much confidence that we'll see a projector built in to future iPhone/iPod models, starting with the 4th generation. Not the Macworld/'09 iPhone, but the one after that.

[Jowl]

So thats a mini projector and a TV Tuner that the Japanese are getting for the iPhone.

Not fair, I want them too *stamps feet*

[nagromme]

I'd like higher pixel res, and component input--with an integrated dock instead of needing a cable... but it's a very cool start and would already be very useful for photos, powerpoint, impromptu movies, etc.

Makes me wish for an iPhone/iPod music-visualizer app

[kdarling]

Originally Posted by Rybold

Just imagine the possibilities: movies, Youtube, video games, sharing picture albums with a group of friends, browsing the web without having to "resize" the page, and with the App Store, the possibilities are limitless ... Powerpoint and streaming television in the future?

Half your ideas won't work, since Apple has locked down the video output to just movies and still pictures.

No apps, no video games, no streaming TV, no PowerPoint.

I'D LIKE TO SEE A BLACKBERRY DO THAT!!! AHA!!!.

Aha indeed.

I'd like to see the iPhone do what some of the WM phones can do, especially as far as video output.

[iceman1234]

Go to this link: http://www.3mmpro.com/default.aspx
It sells for $350 @ office depot in america You would also need the $50 "apple universal dock" to bring the video signals to 3M's mini projector.

Overall, 3M's Micro Projector beats out Japan for now, because of its better price and the fact that its available in the USA

[gmeddles]

There was a similar entry on slashdot last week for the Optoma Pico
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.../11/06/1816203

$430
480x320px resolution
W50mm D103mm H15mm
has a speaker

[notjustjay]

Awww, 9 lumens... how cute!

I want one! I have no practical use for it other than the cool factor, though...

I wonder how soon until this or the 3M version will be available for sale in Canada.

[Consultant]

Unfortunately it'll be barely visible in all but the darkest rooms.


"The projector outputs at the native 480x320 resolution of the iPhone and iPod touch and manages a 1,000: contrast ratio but only 10 lumens brightness. A built-in, half-watt speaker setup provides basic audio. Battery life outside of AC power is rated at two hours."

It might also be called as the
Texas Instruments' DLP Pico projector

[NoExpectations]

How does the video signal come out of the 3.5 mm audio jack?

[nickXedge]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

...The miniature projector allows you to display a 60-inch 480x320 video image from up to 8.5 feet away...

This line alone tells me not to purchase one of these. A 60" picture at 480x320?! That's a worse picture than if you tried to watch a VHS tape on a 50" 1080p Plasma. I would sooner play an original Nintendo on a 60" screen because I would get better graphics.

IMO, FAIL!

[nickXedge]

Originally Posted by lftrghtparadigm

I predict with much confidence that we'll see a projector built in to future iPhone/iPod models, starting with the 4th generation. Not the Macworld/'09 iPhone, but the one after that.

No offense, but I predict this to be ridiculous starting right now. If this were to actually happen, (which I cannot see it ever happening, especially in the near future), I would definitely not buy one. I would switch to a functional phone that does what it's supposed to. I have enough functional issues with my current iPhone 3G already, not to mention lacking features that should have been on the Gen 1 iPhone, and you all know which features I'm thinking of.

Perhaps Jobs will announce a built-in projector and give a timeframe and then not deliver. That seems more likely at this point.

[iceman1234]

Originally Posted by NoExpectations

How does the video signal come out of the 3.5 mm audio jack?

I know, the picture in the article doesn't make any sense. Thats why I mentioned that you would need a "apple universal dock" in my reply above. Does anyone have an idea of how the picture above would make sense??

[notjustjay]

Originally Posted by iceman1234

I know, the picture in the article doesn't make any sense. Thats why I mentioned that you would need a "apple universal dock" in my reply above. Does anyone have an idea of how the picture above would make sense??

There's an extra conductor in the 3.5mm minijack. My 30 gig iPod does this, and I use a video cable that came with my Sony camcorder (also with an extra conductor) to output to the 3 RCA connectors for stereo audio and composite video.

Looks like this:



As for the complaints about how blocky and dim this projector would look at 50", given the low resolution and the 9 lumen brightness, the obvious answer is: don't project at 50"! This is clearly designed for smaller projections, perhaps 12-24", for example David Pogue mentions using it on an airplane tray table and projecting onto the seat in front of him.

[ltldrummerboy]

I bet this doesn't work with any iPod more recent than the 5.5G video. That iPod used video-out through the headphone jack. The new ones need that $50 proprietary cable that has an authentication chip. Does the projector have a component or composite-in?

Edit: I suppose it would work, but you'd still need an expensive cable and some adapters. More trouble than it's worth. I'd rather just watch it on my iPod touch.

[Diode]

Originally Posted by lftrghtparadigm

LOL its not even for sale or planned to be for sale in the U.S. and you're talking about a refurb. silliness

That is one really really really really cool gadget. A must have for serious iPhone/iPod touch media hounds. But whatever happened to this one??

http://www.popsci.com/gear-%2526-gad...cket-projector

Which is interesting because TI is a US company.

[EricNau]

It's LED? Al least it won't need a new bulb.