Liquid crystal on silicon

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Conceptual diagram of the LCoS technology.

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS or LCoS) is a "micro-projection" or "micro-display"
technology typically applied in projection televisions. It is a reflective technology similar
to DLP projectors; however, it uses liquid crystals instead of individual mirrors. By way
of comparison, LCD projectors use transmissive LCD chips, allowing light to pass
through the liquid crystal. In LCoS, liquid crystals are applied directly to the surface of a
silicon chip coated with an aluminized layer, with some type of passivation layer, which
is highly reflective.
LCoS technology can typically produce higher resolution and higher contrast images than
standard liquid crystal display and plasma display technologies, which makes it less
expensive to implement in such devices as televisions.
At the 2004 CES, Intel announced plans for the large scale production of inexpensive
LCoS chips for use in flat panel displays. These plans were cancelled in October 2004.
Sony has made it to market (December 2005) with the Sony-VPL-VW100 or "Ruby"
projector, using SXRD, 3 LCoS chips each with a native resolution of 1080p (1920 ×
1080), with a stated contrast ratio of 15,000:1 using a dynamic iris.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 History and implementations

• 2 ∆ισπ λ α ψ σψ σ τ ε µ
αρ χ η ι τ ε χ τ υ ρ ε σ

• 2.1 Three-panel designs

• 2.2 Ο ν ε − π α ν ε λ δεσ ι γ ν σ

• 3 See also

• 4 Ρεφ ε ρ ε ν χ ε σ

• 5 Εξ τ ε ρ ν α λ λινκ σ
[edit] History and implementations
LCoS technology has the potential to enable the manufacture of big-screen high-
definition televisions with very high picture quality at relatively low cost. However,
LCoS, while conceptually straightforward, can be a difficult technology to master; a
number of companies have dropped out of the LCoS business in recent years.
Nonetheless, as of June 2006, proprietary methods for mass-producing LCoS developed,
and at least four manufacturers now produce LCoS-based rear-projection televisions for
the consumer market.
Commercial implementations of LCoS technology include: Sony's SXRD (Silicon X-tal
Reflective Display) and JVC's D-ILA (Digital Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier).
Every company which produces and markets LCoS rear-projection televisions uses three-
panel LCoS technology,[citation needed]. Sony and JVC both produce and market front-
projection displays that use three LCoS panels.
Direct-view LCoS devices such as the single-panel LED-illuminated devices made by
Displaytech and Forth Dimension Displays (Dalgety Bay, Fife, Scotland) (formerly
known as CRLO Displays) are also used as electronic viewfinders for digital cameras, for
pico projectors and within Near to Eye (NTE) applications such as Head Mounted
Displays (HMDs). These devices are made using ferroelectric liquid crystals (so the
technology is named FLCoS), which are inherently faster than other types of liquid
crystals. Displaytech was acquired by Micron Technology in may 2009, who is
continuing to develop the FLCoS technology[1]HYPERLINK \l "cite_note-m2009-05-
21-1"[2].
Developers and manufacturers who have left the LCoS microimaging market include:
Philips, Microdisplay Corporation, Spatialight, Syntax-Brillian.

[edit] Display system architectures

There are two broad categories of LCoS displays: three-panel and single-panel. In three-
panel designs, there is one display chip per color, and the images are combined optically.
In single-panel designs, one display chip shows the red, green, and blue components in
succession with the observer's eyes relied upon to combine the color stream. As each
color is presented, a color wheel (or an RGB LED array) illuminates the display with
only red, green or blue light. If the frequency of the color fields is lower than about 540
Hz, an effect called color breakup is seen, where false colors are briefly perceived when
either the image or the observer's eye is in motion. While less expensive; single-panel
projectors require higher-speed display elements to process all three colors during a
single frame time, and the need to avoid color breakup makes further demands on the
speed of the display technology.
[edit] Three-panel designs
In a DLP device the light is separated into three components and then combined back:
Two beam splitters are needed. In LCoS devices the light is additionally polarized and
then analyzed; four beam splitters are needed. In most DLP sets a color wheel separates
colors from a lamp, using one chip for all three colors; SXRD sets use three separate
chips, one for each color.

[edit] One-panel designs

There were three single-panel LCoS displays in production. One by Philips, one by
Microdisplay Corporation and one from Forth Dimension Displays. Forth Dimension
Displays have a Ferroelectric LCoS display technology (known as TDI) (available in
SXGA and 720P resolutions) which is mainly, but not exclusively, used in high
resolution NTE applications such as Training & Simulation.