Sony is well known for mobile innovations – its camera sensors are found in almost every high-end phone on the market, it recently launched the first 4K smartphone in the Xperia Z5 Premium, and it was one of the first big manufacturers to embrace waterproofing on their mid-range and high-end Xperia smartphones. This week, they showed off another cool piece of tech that might find a place in the next generation of Xperia devices: a pico projector. Here’s the YouTube video:
Sony’s pico projector module is small enough to fit inside a smartphone. It uses laser beam scanning to achieve focus-free projection, meaning that changing the distance or angle to the projection surface doesn’t cause focus to be lost. It’s built from a semiconductor laser, which is reflected and controlled using a MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) mirror. Additionally, the system’s optics are able to reduce “laser speckle noise”, a traditional bugbear for laser beam scanning systems.
The quality of these components allows Sony to produce HD-quality projections (1280 x 720) at a size of 40 inches from just one metre away, or 120 inches from three metres away. Sony also claim that the projector offers a wider colour gamut and higher contrast than conventional systems. Finally, distortion correction can massage trapeziums into proper rectangles (at the cost of resolution).
It’s a pretty impressive feat, and we can only imagine that Sony will try to bring such a system to a smartphone or tablet in the feature. We’ve already seen both smartphones (the Samsung Galaxy Beam) and tablets (the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro) with pico projectors, but Sony might be able to find a way to craft a compelling experience in a way that its rivals have failed to do thus far.
What do you think of the technology – would you use it? Let me know in the comments below, or write to us on Twitter @mobilefun.
I’d buy one. Made by Microvision (MVIS).