At the Computex trade show in Taipei this week, DigiLife is displaying a pocket HD camcorder that incorporates a microprojector (see left), according to Engadget.
The camcorder offers video recording at 720p and a 2.5–inch LCD, which isn’t uncommon nowadays. But the big deal is its microprojector that displays images at 640 x 360.
I’ve discussed microprojectors in this weblog as well as in my other columns/blogs. Frankly, I thought that this year we’d see only external microprojectors connected to other devices, such as cellular phones, via a cable.
I didn’t think we’d see integrated microprojectors until next year because of challenges with battery life, image quality and pricing. I guess I was wrong!
Must-have feature
I am convinced that integrated microprojectors will be a must-have feature for consumer and business users. Whether it’s to project photos, videos, mobile television, movies or documents, this feature will help change the way we “view” (in multiple senses of the word) content on cellular phones and other portable devices.
Obviously, there are privacy issues when you don’t want people to see what you’re displaying. But for many applications, having an integrated projector will be so useful that many people won’t want a device without it.
As I’ve written many times before, microprojectors will become a standard capability because people will demand it.
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