LCoS

If you are into HDTV technology, then you must be familiar with LCoS. But what exactly is LCoS? First off, LCoS is an acronym for liquid crystal on silicon. And LCoS technology is integrated in projection TV sets. With that aside, let’s move on to the next question: what is LCoS television? And how does LCoS TV work in terms of TV technology?

LCoS actually employs reflective technology. This is the same type of technology that is used in DLP projectors. What’s different this time around is that LCoS makes use of liquid crystals, in place of the individual mirrors that DLP projectors use. The silicon chip in the system has a layer made of aluminum. The liquid crystals are then applied right on to the silicon chip’s surface. The aluminum layer of the chip has a passivation layer, which is very, very reflective.

Because of this, it is easier for LCoS technology to produce images that have higher resolution, with the use of the much advanced silicon technology that comes along with it. This silicon technology is even more advanced than the technologies entailed in liquid crystal display and plasma display. With silicon technology, it would actually be less expensive to apply such technology onto television sets. In fact, it was in the year 2004 that the company Intel publicly announced their intentions of using inexpensive LCoS chips for their flat panel television sets. Best of all, Intel was planning to carry on a huge production of the flat panel screens. But then, those plans were pushed back late 2004 for some undisclosed reason. Fortunately, the world-renowned Japanese company, Sony, pushed through with its own set of plans of releasing LCoS projectors. Sony LCoS technology included the Siny-VPL-VW100 during the year 2005. It was more commonly known as the Ruby projector at that time. This projector used SXRD technology, or Silicon X-tal Reflective Display technology, 3 LCoS chips. Each of these LCoS chips had 1080p as its native resolution, which was actually at 1920 x 1080. The contrast ratio of each chip was pegged at 15,000, with the use of dynamic lens.

LCoS technology is also quite popular these days because it has the strong inclination towards the production of widescreen high-definition television sets in the near future. These television sets will surely have high-end quality in terms of pictures and images. What’s more, because the usage of LCoS technology does not warrant that much costs, especially with the simple usage of silicon chips, then the production of such television sets would not be that expensive either. This is true, even if the television sets would have wide screens. So, it is the low production cost that has caught the attention of major television companies worldwide.

But in spite of these very obvious advantages, and seemingly foolproof plans to produce such technology, LCoS technology is not really that easy to produce. There are certain companies that have abandoned the production of such technology because they find it too difficult to handle. Nevertheless, there are still companies who have held on to the production of this technology. As of mid-2006, four major companies are still in the running in the manufacturing of LCoS technology. These include Sony, Syntax-Brillian, JVC, and MicroDisplay Corporation. They have their own contributions on LCoS technology already as well. Sony has their SXRD. Syntax-Brillian has the Gen II LCoS. JVC has the D-ILA, or the Digital Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier. And MicroDisplay Corporation has the Liquid Fidelity. These companies, save for MicroDisplay Corporation, make use of the 3 silicon chips that come along with LCoS technology. MicroDisplay Corporation, on the other hand, makes use of just one silicon chip. Nonetheless, these companies are considered quite the pioneers in LCoS technology.