Pico Projection in the Palm of Your Hand

Texas Instruments has been the big name for calculators ever since I can remember and have been into projectors for quite some time. Now Texas Instruments are making ground breaking technology with mini projectors. These projectors are about the size of a small flip phone and pack some seriously futuristic features. The Texas Instruments‘ DLP Pico Projector Development Kit includes a 7.5 lumen projector unit, combined with a Beagle Board (not included in the kit) embedded Linux developer platform.

Big things come in this little package as this tiny projector is capable of HVGA resolution (640×240 – near-Standard Definition quality movie) Two stacked on top of each other could effectively project 640×480 at true VGA, provided you have the right software and hardware to stitch the two images together. The DLP Pico Projector is perfect for field use and easy to set up and eventually you will be able to bring your presentations with you as easy as bringing your cell phone. The next step in this technology will allow the consumer to load a movie or presentation onto a SD card pop it into a Blackberry, or iPhone and the Pico Projector will be compatible.

The Beagle Board itself features an ARM-derived 600Mhz Texas Instruments OMAP 3530 processor, has an integrated graphics accelerator and digital signal processor, and runs on the Angstrom embedded Linux platform. The device also includes the MSP430 Low-Power micro controller, effectively making the Beagle Board a complete system on a chip which consumes only 2 watts of power and does not require a cooling fan.

The Beagle Board is powered entirely by the USB connection, interfaces with a PC using a DB9 serial connection, and interfaces to the Pico DLP via a miniature HDMI connector cable. The TI DLP Pico Projector Developer Kit is available from TI DLP authorized VARs at a suggested retail price of $349.