New technology to improve pico projector viewability

The quality of viewing from pico projectors connected to handheld devices can be improved thanks to new technology unveiled by QuickLogic Corporation.

The mobile phones and portable electronics solutions firm said its Visual Enhancement Engine (VEE) technology improves the viewability of pico projector content without increasing the projector’s light source wattage.

Until now, the only solution to poor viewability of projected content from smartphones and tablets was to increase the projector’s light source wattage – though since pico projectors typically consume more than 1W of power from handheld devices, this was not always possible.

However, QuickLogic’s VEE technology, based on the iridix® core from Apical Limited, dynamically adapts projected content to the viewing environment, which allows for an increase in effective lumens without higher light source wattage.

Paul Karazuba, senior product marketing manager at QuickLogic, said: “According to In-Stat, the pico projector market is expected to reach 2.3 billion units by 2014, including mobile handsets moving from a 15% embed rate to over 90 per cent.

“VEE presents a unique opportunity to solve a key technical adoption issue for pico projectors and to add greatly to the user experience through increased viewability and effective lumens of projected content.”

He added: “We are currently working with a number of mobile device OEMs and pico projector manufacturers to bring VEE to consumer pico projectors.”