What is DLP technology?

A premier technological tool which was conceived of by Dr. Larry Hornbeck in 1987 for use in video projectors was the DLP or Digital Processing Technology authorized under Texas Instruments. The DLP technology is used in the functioning of DLP front projectors and one of the primary tools which facilitate its functioning is the Digital Micromirror Device or DMD. These are tiny microscopic mirrors which are placed on the matrix of a semiconductor chip known as the Digital Micromirror Device. The image is projected with the help of these microscopic mirrors each of which represent one or more pixels in the final emitted image. In these DLP technology projectors, there are three main ways by means of which colored images are produced.

Certain projectors use only one DLP chip and in such cases it has been observed that color schemes are produced by situating a spinning color wheel in between the DMD and the lamp. The color wheel comprises of three sections containing red, blue and green shades and an extra compartment to add to the brightness of the colors emitted. In such cases, it has often been observed in the use of DLP single chip projectors that viewers experience the ‘rainbow effect’ during which ac current of various colors flood their vision mostly in situations when the eyes move across images displayed in the screen. As it causes minor distress to the audience at times like headaches, several means of reducing the rainbow effect has been utilized like using a color wheel where the colors are arranged in the form of an Archimedean spiral.  Three chip projectors using DLP technology are very efficient and it requires a prism to split the light  from the lamp and is then the primary colors (red, blue, green) reach their respective DMD chips and are emitted thorough the lens. Apart from Texas Instruments, the other patrons of DLP include The Fraunhofer Institute of Dresden, Germany.