MVIS MicroVision CES Update

As some of you probably know I follow the developments at MicroVision, the company that develops tiny display systems based on unique technology of moving micro mirror, that reflects laser light. Last December MicroVision introduced its Pico Projector to the market in Europe. It sells for around $500 and is being offered, among others, by Vodafone Spain, as an accessory to Nokia N97.

MicroVision's technology is interesting, because they use lasers as a source of light. Other pico projectors on the market use Texas Instruments DLP chips and LEDs. In the long run MicoVision's technology should provide very unique edge, not reachable by DLP - based competition. By that I mean direct on - retina image projection using tiny lasers built into some form of multimedia glasses. MicroVision has already had such system - the Witness - but it has been monochrome and has been projecting on a single eye only.

So I saw the PicoP in action yesterday at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. The presentation as at the iLounge area and they focused on iPhone / iPod connectivity, showing videos and picture slide shows originating from iPhones and iPods.

As for the picture quality Microvision without a doubt delivers the best picture quality among the variety of pico projectors I have seen at the show. There are some very minor issues like a small green line flickering sometimes at the bottom of the screen, but really this seems like a small interface software glitch. Overall, judging the technology and its potential by the picture quality, Microvision is the number one.

So this is the good news.

Now the not-so good news.

There were a number of DLP-based designs on display at CES. All of them are far ahead in overall design and user appeal... I also went to the Apple Store yesterday and saw the Optoma DLP- based projector being offered for $229. This is half the price of Microvision and is already on the market.

My conclusion is the current model will not contribute meaningful sales to MVIS top line...

Below is a list of What Microvision should look into short term:

1. Built DisplayLink chips into the projector. This way it could be just connected to any USB port of any laptop (PC or Mac)with a single cable, for power and video signal. This path would also let them drop the analog circuitry at all. DisplayLink is a digital interface and with some help from relatively small digital converting circuitry it could be attached to MicroVision's mirror chip. Direct USB interface would also let them get rid of battery,
   reducing the size of the projector to something like a matchbox.
   
   
2. Make the connector cable thin. What they currently have is below any standards. The current iPhone connector cable is thick and not flexible. The plugs on both sides are big and ugly. This is the design part, that matters and people are willing to pay for (think: Apple).
   
   
3. Implement an Apple dock connector directly on the projector, getting rid o that ugly cable at all. At the same time Apple's power supply could supply power to the thing. Yes I know they want to be universally compatible. But the Apple market alone would probably bring them more revenue than all other devices combined, provided they do it right.
   
   
4. Talk to BlackBerry. BlackBerry has just released the Presenter. A small device that lets play PowerPoint presentations directly from a Blackberry, sans wires. Shouldn't the Presenter have Microvision built in?
   
   
5. Spend some dollars on the design and packaging. For $500 this is an expensive gadget. So by the way it looks and is boxed alone, it should defend its price tag. There have been many Chinese products (tiny projectors) that looked way better (setting aside the picture quality).

Longer term - as I wrote a week ago - MicroVision should focus on 3D active projection glasses. The CES main theme - as expected - was 3D. Every big player on the market has passive 3D shutter glasses connecting to standard LCD screens. The common theme among them is flicker. Flickering is caused by alternate turning on and off right and left eye. So with the current mainstream 3D technology there is never a moment when both eyes are seeing the picture. It is left or right, 30 or 60 times a second. The result is good, but far from perfect. The only way to make it perfect is to project left eye image to the left eye and the right eye image to the right eye simultaneously. And this can be done only by having two separate projectors built in the glasses. Nobody has such solution today. Even iMax. And this is how the real 3D will be handled in future. Go Microvision!