Pico projectors brought the big screen to small devices in 2009, with iPods, cameras and phones benefiting from the new technology.
Pico projectors exist in their own pocket format or are integrated into the device itself. They reached maturity as products this year, overcoming problems of poor battery life, resolution and luminescence, but they will always suffer from one key weakness.
As I discovered, while trying out the Wowee Cinemin Swivel, the picture is only as good as the surface it is projected on.
The essence of the projectors is that they are portable, but this takes you into many situations where there are uneven, non-white, angled surfaces and the picture suffers as a result.
The Cinemin Swivel also delivered blurry images when I first tried it and I complained to Texas Instruments – makers of the DLP technology behind it.
Much to my embarrassment, I finally realised I had failed to notice the packing tape was still over the lens and removing it produced an impressively clear and bright picture in a darkened room.
The Swivel comes with an iPod/iPhone adapter and has a rather feeble built-in speaker, but I connected some iPod speakers to its headphone socket and projected an iPod touch video onto the ceiling while lying in bed – a picture equivalent to a 60-inch screen was possible.
The Swivel is hinged as its name suggests, making its positioning more versatile, and the battery lasts more than two hours to take you through most movies.
Products featuring integrated pico projectors include the Nikon Coolpix S1000pj camera and the recently announced LG eXpo smartphone, available through AT&T in the US.
While DLP is the dominant technology, other methods of projection are beginning to appear. A number of models will be on show at the Consumer Electronics show next month, including the first product based on Texas-based Syndiant’s technology – the Lasino laser pico projector.
