'DMD Discovery' Products Showcased by Texas Instruments at Photonics West.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Photonics West 2003

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2003

Key component of DLP(TM) projection technology enables development of new applications including holographic data storage, 3D volumetric display, lithographic patterning, scientific and medical

For the past six years, Digital Light Processing(TM) technology from Texas Instruments has made significant inroads in the projection display market. However, its rapid switching capabilities, high efficiency, unparalleled reliability and market-leading contrast ratio make the DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) - the semiconductor device at the heart of DLP(TM) technology - very attractive for many applications, including volumetric display, holographic data storage, lithography, scientific instrumentation and medical imaging. At Photonics West (25-31 January 2003: San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA USA) Texas Instruments (TI) (NYSE: TXN) will be showcasing the company's new 'DMD Discovery(TM)' product family, which is aimed at organizations looking to develop applications that will leverage the unique capabilities of the DMD. TI will be in Booth 6615, Parkside Hall.

Dana Dudley, Business Manager, New Applications for TI's DLP(TM) Products division, will be giving an invited paper entitled "Emerging Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) Applications" on Tuesday, January 28th, at the MOEMS Display and Imaging Systems conference that is part of Photonics West.

"No other device can create high speed digital light like the DMD, and the DMD Discovery product family puts this power into the hands of the system developer. This will result in exciting new products we cannot even imagine today," said Dudley. "With over one and a half million projectors based on DLP technology shipped, the DMD has a proven track record for enabling highly successful products. No other optical MEMS technology can even approach such a claim."

The 'DMD Discovery(TM)' products - which include the 0.7" XGA (1,024 x 768 pixels) resolution DMD - are available from Productivity Systems, Inc. (PSI). The kit and chipset allow developers to load binary data into the DMD to create mirror patterns with a speed, precision and efficiency far in advance of the capabilities of other spatial light modulators. Newly available are packaging options for visible light, and near-infrared.

PSI is headquartered in Richardson, Texas. The company's mission is to provide clients with innovative, next-generation software and hardware development, system integration, engineering, and support services. PSI is already working with several customers to provide custom electronics based on the DMD Discovery(TM) chipset.

More information can be found at:

http://www.dlp.com/dlp_technology/dlp_technology_products.asp

The types of applications enabled by the 'DMD Discovery(TM)' product line include:

- Specialty display, such as true 3D volumetric 

- Holographic data storage (the XGA resolution DMD can write over

750,000 bits at a time onto DVD-like disk)

- Lithography and other patterning applications, enabling direct

data write to PCBs, printing plates etc.

- Scientific & medical instruments, such as microscopes,

spectrometers, endoscopic imaging, laser applications

The DMD provides a very high data rate, rapid and precise switching of the mirrors which modulate the light, and high optical efficiency coupled with high pixel-to-pixel contrast ratio. For binary applications, the XGA resolution DMD can approach a refresh rate of 10,000 frames/sec, or up to 40,000 for partial array operation.

DLP(TM) technology delivers the clearest, sharpest, brightest, most accurate images in a broad range of projection and display applications including business projectors, home entertainment projectors, large screen tabletop TVs, video walls and projection systems used in commercial entertainment. It is also the most reliable projection/display technology: its digital nature and excellent thermal characteristics means that its image does not degrade over time, and it does not suffer from the 'burn in' that afflicts other technologies and impairs image quality.

A development of DLP(TM) technology - DLP Cinema(TM) technology - delivers large screen images that are superior in many respects to film, and is helping to revolutionize the movie industry.

Today, TI supplies DLP(TM) subsystems to almost all the world's top projection and display manufacturers, who then design, manufacture and market products based on DLP(TM) technology. Since early 1996, over 1,500,000 DLP(TM) subsystems have been shipped. Over the past four years, DLP(TM) technology-based projectors have consistently won some of the audio-visual industry's most prestigious awards, including, in June 1998, an Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

At the heart of TI's Digital Light Processing(TM) technology is the Digital Micromirror Device optical semiconductor chip. The DMD switch has an array of up to 1,310,000 hinged, microscopic mirrors which operate as optical switches to create a high resolution, full color image. For more information, please visit www.dlp.com.

Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers' real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company's businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.

Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at www.ti.com

Digital Light Processing, DLP, DLP Cinema and DMD Discovery are trademarks of Texas Instruments. All other products and names may or may not be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.