New technology for (reproducing|the reproduction of) TV images

(Orderly|Neatly|Nicely) (installed on|set-up on|positioned on|arranged on|mounted (on|to)) a silicon chip in rank[s] and file[s] 307 200 (minute|tiny|miniature) mirrors tilt to and fro like see-saws on a (kid's|children's) playground. Each one of them not even (measuring hair's breadth|a hair's breadth wide). Computer-controlled the micro-reflectors receive light from a 1000-watt-lamp and (project|reflect) it onto a screen. There a brilliant TV image appears, about the size of the images of a home movie projector.

(At|During) an expert's conference of the "Society for Information Display" in Seattle the American electronic company Texas Instruments (unveiled|revealed|presented|introduced) last week the wondrous mirror chip to the public for the first time. If the (managers of TI|TI's managers) had their way the technology (dubbed|named|with the name) "Digital Micromirror Device" (DMD) is to (fundamentally|basically) (alter|modify|change) the way the world watches TV.

In more than 20 years of R&D work the DMD inventor Larry Hornbeck has (succeeded|been successful) in creating one of the first promising applications of the new micromechanics technology, still in its infancy (SPIEGEL 3/1992). The (professional magazine|technical journal) Aviation Week commented that profits (in the billions(US)|of several thousand millions|in the range of several billion US dollars) are to be expected from the DMD technology.

(Since computer and TV technology have been melting together more and more|With the (ongoing|progressing) fusion of computer and TV technology) engineers are also trying to digiti(s|z)e the (portrayal|display|presentation) on computer and [colo[u]r] TV screens. The technology behind low-noise CD sound quality could that way be transferred to the quality of moving pictures.

Colo[u]red liquid crystal displays (LCD) that are (built in|put in) portable TVs and computers can [already] be controlled digitally - (suitably|adequately) for computers (in|as) sequences of zeros and ones. [Seen from the technical point of view,] However, the manufacturing of liquid crystal displays is technically extremely (difficult|intricate|complex).

The DMD (unit|component) from (Texas Instruments|TI), (on the other hand|however), has the (good|best) chances to (substitute|do away with|displace) the good old kinescope which is based on conventional silicon chip technology. With the same (methods|procedures) that have been used to produce integrated circuits for decades micro mechanics are producing the chips of the size 1.5 (by|times) 1.3 centrimet(re|er)s with quadratic aluminium mirrors that can only be recognized under the microscope: Their edge length is only (0.017|seventeen thousandths of a) millimet(re|er)[s] (see (illustration|figure)).

(Following|Obeying) the rules of the digital world, each rocking mirror (has|can take) two positions: If the DMD's memory location contains a zero, the reflector tilts to one side, in case of a one it tilts to the other side.

The reflecting mirror chip, the lamp and the projection screen are arranged in such a way that only one mirror position (each|at a time) (directs|projects|reflects) light to the computer [display] or movie screen. Within a hundredthousandths of a second the reflectors change their position. (Even during individual TV frames they can tilt|That way they can even tilt within single TV frames) - 25 of which are composed (in the span of|within) a second - thousands of times from light to dark. The more frequently a mirror (directs|deflects) light to the (respective|pertaining) (image point|pixel|spot on the screen), the brighter this part of the image will appear for the (viewer|spectator). For colo[u]r display the TI engineers have a colo[u]r filter disc rotate quickly in front of the lamp. That way (alternatingly|in turns) red, blue and green lamp light (is directed|shines) onto the mirrors. As with normal TV sets the colo[u]r impression is based on these primary colo[u]rs.

(Thus|Consequently|Therefore) the DMD device (acts|operates|works) as a kind of projector for TV frames: The light of the lamp is projected by mirrors via (optics|an optical device|a lens system) to the screen - either from the front as in cinema or in TV-like (casings|enclosures|boxings) from the back side onto a transparent screen. The (image size to be achieved|maximum frame size) depends on the lamp intensity and the distance to the screen.

The prototype of the mirror TV (introduced by|presented by|unveiled by) Texas Instruments in Seattle, composes the image out of a rectangle of 640 times 480 image points (expert language: "pixel" derived from "picture element"). Each micromirror is (responsible for|in charge of) (the illumination of|illuminating|lightening up) one of these pixels.

In the beginning of next year the electronics giant from Dallas (wants|is) to present a high-definition display of 2048 times 1152 pixels. This chip with then 2.3 million micromirrors - nearly eight times [of] what fits nowadays onto a mirror chip - would (also fit|be suitable) for the (scheduled|planned) high definition TV (standard|norm) (HDTV).

(In co-operation|Together) with (several|some) (major|important) TV manufacturers (, as TI's representatives proclaim,| - according to TI -|- acclaimed by TI - ) the practical uses of the new technology are (presently|currently) [being] tested. For environmentally (aware|conscious) Europe TI has [made up] a special (slant|slogan|argument) for advertising [in (store|mind)]: Because the DMD chip does without (powerful|strong) electromagnets that (control|deflect) the electron beam in (common|normal) TV sets, it (creates|produces) only very weak electromagnetic fields.

(Thus|Therefore), DMD TV sets will be (virtually|practically) free from the controversial electro smog (SPIEGEL 6/1993) which not only preoccupied the minds [of the people] in Germany but also the parliamentarians in Bonn this week in a hearing of the (Bundestag committee|federal commission) for postal and telecommunications services.

Rocking mirror instead of cathode ray tube

Working method of the digital micromirrors from Texas Instruments (schematic representation)

flexible aluminium base, supporting posts, electrode, silicon chip, mirror, lens, screen

The mirrors of microscopic extents are mounted with elastic flexible aluminium bases on two supporting posts each. The mirror (swings|sways|rocks|bounces) around this (revolvable|turnable|rotable) axle if its free corners are pulled by the electrodes to the underlying chip. Depending on which of the 300 000 tiny mirrors accommodated on the chip (reflects|deflects|projects) light on the screen, the image is composed of image points of different (lightness|brightness|intensity) and colo[u]r.