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Miniature Video Projector for iPhone and iPod

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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033341-11-4-08-optoma-pico-pj_3.jpg


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.
Click to expand...
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
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2008/11/11/miniature-video-projector-for-iphone-and-ipod/
Awesome! :eek: :D

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." :D

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!!!

.
 
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:mad:
 
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.
 
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* :D
 
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 :)
 
Rybold said:
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?
Click to expand...

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!!!.
Click to expand...

Aha indeed.

I'd like to see the iPhone do what some of the WM phones can do, especially as far as video output.
 
3M has the Same Thing

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:D
 

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Awww, 9 lumens... how cute! :D

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

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!
 
lftrghtparadigm said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
NoExpectations said:
How does the video signal come out of the 3.5 mm audio jack?
Click to expand...

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??:confused:
 
iceman1234 said:
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??:confused:
Click to expand...

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:
ipod-tv-1.gif



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.
 
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.
 
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