EONEWS: What are your opinions regarding the major trends for this market (slowing, growing, booming…)?
NOVAK: The largest, traditional market for Texas Instruments DLP technology is projectors for classrooms, conference rooms and home theaters. This market traditionally grows at 4%-6% per year and we expect that to continue.
We are also seeing significant growth opportunities in new applications for DLP technology including embedded projection in enterprise and consumer electronics; automotive applications such as heads up display (HUD) and adaptive headlights; and non-display advanced light control solutions including 3-D printing, optical measurement and spectroscopy.
To put things into perspective, just 10 years ago, developers were disassembling projectors to get access to the TI DLP chips inside. Engineers saw the great potential of our technology. Now, we offer a full portfolio of DLP chips and evaluation modules (EVM) so people can have easy access to work with our unique, spatial light modulation technology.
NOVAK: Today’s TI DLP technology is based on years of proven, award-winning experience. The fast speed and reliability of our products gives customers a rock-solid platform for future innovation and the creation of new market categories. We also nurture a mature global ecosystem of display and advanced light control solutions to support current and evolving customer needs.
EONEWS: What are you doing in order to implement your strategies (partnership/agreements, new acquisitions, investments in activities like R&D, people….)?
NOVAK: For more than two decades, TI DLP products have been innovating with flexible and programmable optical chipsets designed to solve some of the world’s most complex display and light control issues. Collaboration with our ecosystem, which helps developers and customers accelerate their innovative product development and time to market, truly sets us apart.
Our DLP Design Network, a group of independent, well-established companies, provides hardware and software integration, optics design, system integration, prototyping, manufacturing services, and turnkey solutions to a worldwide customer base. Our leading ecosystem of optical engine manufacturers in the industry eliminating the need for developers to have optics expertise.
In addition, our powerful yet easy-to-use development tools, such as our TI DLP LightCrafter and TI DLP NIRScan evaluation modules, software and reference designs, enable developers to reduce design cycles and costs and accelerate time to market.
We’ve also made enhancements to ti.com and our TI Store to make our website easier and more intuitive for our customers. By using a my.ti login, customers can set preferences, customize their experience and based on their interests, see related products and resources, similar to popular retail websites we all know and use every day.
EONEWS: What are the most important applications?
NOVAK: Since the creation of digital cinema in the late 1990’s, DLP technology has continued to be the preeminent technology for digital cinema systems and is deployed in nearly 90% of all digital cinema’s in world. DLP continues to be a leader in this space, especially in the new technology area of solid state projectors.
TI DLP technology delivers a range of display and advanced light control applications spanning industrial, automotive, enterprise and consumer markets. DLP video and data display products incorporate bright, efficient, high definition projection in the smallest devices, including pico projectors, digital signage and wearables. Our advanced light control products enable fast and accurate light steering solutions for optical sensing applications, including 3D printing, 3D scanning and spectroscopy. In addition, DLP automotive technology, which includes head-up display, interactive center consoles and adaptive headlights, delivers compelling, high-brightness display systems to enhance the complete driver experience.
EONEWS: Which are the key factors that set your company apart from the competition?
NOVAK: TI DLP products is the global leader in the development and manufacture of fast, flexible and reliable display and light control solutions. All of today’s DLP technology is based on award-winning, proven DLP Cinema® technology, which has received multiple Emmy Awards from The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Whether it is cinema projection, HD projection from small form-factor electronics, 3D printing or spectroscopy, our micomirrors offer the advantage of fast pattern rates of up to 32 kHz. This fast imaging speed of DLP chips, when combined with applications like wearables, mobile projectors and medical devices, results in highly reliable, efficient, and accurate systems.
EONEWS: And in the middle/long term (if you have a crystal ball!)?
NOVAK: By continuously providing all the tools, documentation, and ecosystem at ti.com/dlp, developers will come up with unique uses of the DLP technology in markets and applications that we have never dreamed about.