First Digital Camera With DLP(R) Pico(TM) Projection Showing at CES

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Texas Instruments (TI) (NYSE: TXN) DLP® Products and Asia Optical are demonstrating the first digital camera with award-winning DLP Pico(TM) projection technology. The camera and embedded pico projection module were developed by Asia Optical, a leading manufacturer for optical technology and a major worldwide supplier of digital cameras. The embedded Pico projector module for digital cameras will be available to the Asia Optical customer base, composed of the most esteemed camera brands, in the second half of 2010.

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The DLP Pico(TM) projection feature within cameras provides a completely new dimension of social interaction and sharing that has previously not been possible. Today, cameras are limited to viewing pictures on a screen confined by the dimensions of the camera itself. The pico projection feature, while completely transparent to the size of the camera, unleashes that constraint providing incredible viewing options. Consumers can instantly project their pictures to sizes up to 40 inches (in normal indoor light conditions) and in excess of 60 inches (in dark conditions). As a result of DLP Pico(TM) technology, the paradigm of digital camera use has the potential to change from delayed satisfaction to immediate enjoyment.

"Following an extensive comparison of all pico technology options we selected DLP Pico(TM) as the most compelling solution to provide our customers due to its superior image quality, small form factor and energy delivering efficiency," said Robert Lai, founder, chairman and CEO of Asia Optical. "We believe the market opportunity for embedded displays in consumer electronics products, such as digital still cameras and digital video cameras, is significant and we are excited to launch the first product with DLP very soon."

Each consumer electronics category requires unique considerations when embedding Pico projection. DLP's newest chipset, yet to be announced, is targeted to meet the specific requirements associated with digital camera applications. Asia Optical has taken advantage of its extensive experience and knowledge in the digital camera space to design an optical engine that is completely optimized for this application.

"We are proud to work closely with Asia Optical, a leader in the digital camera field who can bring deep insight into the special requirements needed when adding projection to enhance the digital camera experience with no compromises," said Frank Moizio, DLP Emerging Markets business manager. "DLP is committed to pushing innovations in the pico category and continues to optimize the pico chip image quality, form factor and power efficiency to deliver the best consumer experiences."

For updated information during CES about DLP Pico(TM) and other products from Texas Instruments, follow TI on Twitter at @TI_DLP. DLP Pico(TM) products will also be demonstrated at Digital Experience (a Pepcom event) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, at the Mirage Hotel.

For more information on DLP Pico(TM) products, please visit www.dlp.com/pico.

About Texas Instruments DLP Products

DLP display technology from Texas Instruments offers clarity down to the most minute detail, delivering pictures rich with color, contrast and brightness projectors for business, home, professional venue, digital cinema (DLP Cinema®) and large-screen HDTVs. Many of the world's top projection and display manufacturers design, manufacture and market products based on DLP technology. DLP is the only imaging technology with a legacy in digital cinema where it set the industry standard demonstrated by the deployment of DLP Cinema technology in over 14,000 screens worldwide. At the heart of every DLP chip is an array of up to 2.2 million microscopic mirrors which switch incredibly fast to create a high-resolution, highly reliable, full-color image. DLP technology's chip architecture and inherent speed advantage provides razor-sharp images and excellent reproduction of fast motion video. Since early 1996, more than 20 million DLP subsystems have been shipped. For more information, please visit www.dlp.com or follow DLP on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TI_DLP.

About Texas Instruments:

Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through design, sales and manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries. For more information, go to www.ti.com.

DLP and DLP Cinema are registered trademarks of Texas Instruments.

SOURCE Texas Instruments DLP