Microvision Announces SHOW WX Projector Coming Soon
Microvision is a global leader in innovative ultra-miniature projection display and image capture products for mobility applications. Today, the company has announced the commercial introduction of their SHOW WX pico projector. This project was the first to demonstrate laser display technology and feature 10 ANSI lumens, a 5000:1 contrast ratio, and WVGA (848 x 480) resolution. The laser display system is the future of pico projectors because it combines the light from a red, blue, and green laser and combines them into one vivid and colorful display. The key advantage to this display system is that the projector never needs focusing. Other systems require a focus knob and constant adjusting when the projector moves. The SHOW WX does not have these problems and is always in focus no matter what wall, ceiling, or surface that you display on. Microvision has also announced that the SHOW WX will officially release in a matter of weeks, but the retail price was not announced. Based on past reports, expect this projector to retail somewhere around $500.
[via Microvision]
September 15th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
10 lumens? I just read that a candle puts out more like 13 lumens. Will this be bright enough to view comfortably, even in a darkened room?
September 16th, 2009 at 5:37 am
It doesn’t work like a standard projector, lumen values are not directly comparable. The laser based projectors need a fraction of the lumens rated in normal projectors to get nice bright pictures.
September 16th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Using rounded numbers and not too much math…
10 lumens at the source, for each scanned pixel. Once the pixel expands and hits the “display surface”, it is less than 10 lumens. BUT the image is made of 407K pixels that each have a lumen intensity of around 10 when they leave the mirror.
Displaying the image on a 1 square foot area, in a normally lit living room, you have to produce over 20 lumens per square foot. The SHIOW WX only needs to produce more lumens per pixel than 20/407K. Which it does until approximately 32″ diagonally. Of course, the darker the room, the darker the blacks will be as they are not diplayed.
Your retina does not “forget” the pixel image until it is refreshed by a next scan. It appears that the image is fully displayed but it is one pixel at once. Just fast enough that your eye get fooled into “thinking” it sees a full projected image.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Expensive, low resolution, only 10 lumens…I don’t know if anybody will even consider buying this.
September 21st, 2009 at 7:10 am
I will consider buying it…
we are a couple that doesn’t watch television, and don’t even have one.
we only watch dvx titles, which happens to have less resolution than the showwx has.
plus, you can watch the titles everywhere, even on bed projected on the roof… it’s pure mobility, and much better than a fullhd television which costs pretty much the same but you can’t move anywhere.
we also move alot, and the expensive television would be a treat for burglars in search for precious items to steal. a showwx stays in your pocket and comes with you, even in vacation, hotels, where televisions aren’t so great afterall…
September 25th, 2009 at 2:03 am
SO I finally got the answer why MICROVISION projector is not available yet. To all you guys been waiting for a long time BAD NEWS Microvision finally admitted that the sale price of the product is too much compare to a lot of POCKET projectors already available. Also, since laser not proven yet for a pocket projectors thats the main reason it is not available yet MSHOW needs to upgrade the system. GOOD LUCK GUYS
October 4th, 2009 at 4:17 am
Where did You get this information James B?
June 17th, 2010 at 7:43 am
@Projectors. It’s traditional to read and make sure you understand other’s comments before you make an idiot of yourself. Admittedly it would have been better if the article explained what it meant by 10 ANSI Lumens more clearly and about the advantages of this new technology but when Pierre has gone to all the trouble of providing the description of making up for their lack it seems rude of you to ignore that.
Another clue could have been that it’s quite difficult to get a 5000:1 contrast ratio with something that isn’t very bright.
To put it in a way that even YOU might understand:
As (to my understanding) lumen are cumulative and this has 10 lumen per pixel and a resolution of 848×480 then the full amount of lumen is about 848×480x10=4,070,400 lumen – is over four million lumen bright enough for you?
This is because it shows 1 pixel at a time, very fast in a similar manner to the way old CRT monitors and TVs used to scan down the screen – however as it uses laser light instead of phosphorescence the effect is much more focused.
Shame this hasn’t gone on sale. Never mind. Its time will come. Of course there must be some form of mechanical part to this so there may be the potential for mechanical failure.
June 17th, 2010 at 7:46 am
@paul IIRC 1 candle=1 lumen but I guess it depends on what size of candle you’re talking about.