Digital light processing

While the DLP imaging device was invented by Texas Instruments, the first DLP-based projector was introduced by Digital Projection Ltd in 1997.

It was also used in about 85% of digital cinema projection as of around 2011, and in additive manufacturing as a light source in some printers to cure resins into solid 3D objects.

In DLP projectors, the image is created by microscopically small mirrors laid out in a matrix on a semiconductor chip, known as a digital micromirror device (DMD).

Rapidly toggling the mirror between these two orientations (essentially on and off) produces grayscales, controlled by the ratio of on-time to off-time.

A third method, sequential illumination by three colored light emitting diodes, is being developed, and is currently used in televisions manufactured by Samsung.

Newer systems substitute the primary subtractive colors cyan, magenta, and yellow for white.

Single-chip DLP projectors utilizing a mechanical spinning color wheel may exhibit an anomaly known as the "rainbow effect".

This is best described as brief flashes of perceived red, blue, and green "shadows" observed most often when the projected content features high contrast areas of moving bright or white objects on a mostly dark or black background.

Common examples are the scrolling end credits of many movies, and also animations with moving objects surrounded by a thick black outline.

Brief visible separation of the colors can also be apparent when the viewer's gaze is moved quickly across the projected image.

Multi-color LED-based and laser-based single-chip projectors are able to eliminate the spinning wheel and minimize the rainbow effect since the pulse rates of LEDs and lasers are not limited by physical motion.

Historically, the main light source used on DLP display systems has been a replaceable high-pressure xenon arc lamp unit (containing a quartz arc tube, reflector, electrical connections, and sometimes a quartz/glass shield), whereas most pico category (ultra-small) DLP projectors use high-power LEDs or lasers as a source of illumination.

As the lamp ages, its efficiency declines, due to electrode wear, resulting in a reduction in visible light and an increase in the amount of waste heat.

Secondary protections such as a temperature monitor may shut down the projector, but a thermally over-stressed quartz arc tube can also crack or explode.

Ordinary LED technology does not produce the intensity and high-lumen output characteristics required to replace arc lamps.

Luminus Devices PhlatLight LEDs were also used by Christie Digital in their DLP-based MicroTiles display system.

In June 1999, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was the first movie to be entirely scanned and distributed to theaters.

The first all-digital live-action feature shot without film was the 2002 release, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

[citation needed] Additionally, in the pico category (small, mobile display) DLP technology holds approximately 70% market share.