Digital Light Processingô (DLPô) TechnologySet To Revolutionize Movie PresentationDLP Cinemaô Projector Technology Matches First Public Appearance At ShoWest

At the 1999 ShoWest convention in Las Vegas on Wednesday, March 10, Texas Instruments (TI) gave its first-ever public showing of its DLP Cinema projector technology. Previously only demonstrated - to signifi-cant acclaim - to select Hollywood insiders, the prototype projector using Digital Light Processing (DLP) Cin-ema technology was seen by an estimated 3,000 movie industry visitors who had the opportunity to com-pare the image projected by the DLP Cinema technology with film and with competitive Image Light Amplifier (ILA) projection technology from Hughes-JVC. ""Weíve been delighted by the response from those whoíve seen the sharp, stable, realistic images delivered by the DLP Cinema projector technology,"" said Paul Breedlove, DLP Cinema Program Director for TIís Digital Imaging division. ""The reaction has been almost unanimous: the DLP Cinema image offers a superior overall viewing experience compared to film."" DLP Cinema projector technology is the result of a number of years of development, based on broad, and deep discussions with all elements of the movie industry - including directors and cinematographers, dis-tributors, movie theatre owners and moviegoers. TI calls the approach it has taken one of rapid prototyping and co-construction. ""While what weíre showing today is very exciting,"" continued Paul Breedlove, ""this is in many ways just an-other milestone - albeit an important. one. There is still much systems level work to do before you can expect to see a projector based on DLP Cinema technology installed in a movie theatre near you but we believe the basic projector image quality threshold has been attained. However, we believe that there could be hundreds installed within two or three years, and perhaps thousands within three to five years. Most impor-tantly for us here at ShoWest, the feedback weíre getting confirms that weíre very much headed in the right direction. ""Film has reigned supreme for movie presentation for the last hundred years. DLP Cinema projector tech-nology is reinventing movie presentation for the next millennium: ""For example, the challenge for todayís movie exhibitors is that the moviegoing experience is a memorable one - especially in the face of increased competition from digital and high-definition television. A key advan-tage of using digital projection technology is not only the high quality natural image, but that the last showing is as good as the first. Digital technology will also allow movie exhibitors to maximize their investment by, for example, offering live screenings of major sporting events. ""Additionally, movie distributors have recurring issues with the physical distribution of film; the high cost of film prints, the number of film prints needed, reduction of piracy and cost effective management of distribu-tion. Digital technology provides potential answers to many of these issues through the use of sophisticated encryption techniques and distribution via satellite or optical disks."" Texas Instruments believes that, as the only all-digital projection/display technology currently in commercial production, DLP is the ""natural"" projection technology in the digital future of cinema: the digital fidelity and digital stability of DLP Cinema projector technology offers many advantages to everyone involved with mov-ies, from creators to audiences. ""Our goal for DLP has always been that it will deliver an image which rivals - perhaps even surpasses - that of film,"" said Sherel Horsley, Senior Vice President and Manager of Marketing for Digital Imaging division. ""The work we have done on DLP Cinema projector technology has been highly instrumental in helping us understand what it takes to achieve that goal. What we have learned has been of enormous benefit throughout our business: DLP-based projectors are now renowned throughout the industry for unsurpassed image quality - and we expect them to maintain that leading position.""Today, TI supplies DLP subsystems to more than twenty-five of the worldís top projector manufacturers, who then design, manufacture and market DLP-based projectors. Over the past three years, DLP-based projec-tors have consistently won some of the audiovisual industryís most prestigious awards, including, in June 1998, an Emmy Award from the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Since shipments began in early 1996, TI has delivered over 130,000 DLP subsystems to its customers. There are now over fifty DLP-based products in the marketplace. At the heart of TIís DLP Cinema projector technology is an optical semiconductor chip that has an array of 1,300,000 (SXGA) mirrors, or Digital Micromirror Deviceô (DMDô). These tiny mirrors operate as optical switches to create a high resolution, full color image. More information on TIís DLP technology can be found at http://www.ti.com/dlp, or contact Gary Feather, Texas Instruments 214 995 2984 or Ian McMurray Texas Instruments 001+44-1604-663075 i-mcmurrav@ti.com, or David Smith Rainier Corporation 978/464-5302,xtn121 dave@rainierco.com.