Microvision: Unveils Increased Brightness, 720p HD Ready Laser Pico Projector

Press Release
Source: Microvision
Monday May 24, 2010, 6:31 am EDT

REDMOND, Wa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Microvision, Inc. (NASDAQ:MVIS - News), a leading developer of ultra-miniature projection display products announced today that it plans to demonstrate a 720p HD ready laser pico projector at The Society For Information Display annual conference, May 25 – 27, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington.

The 720p prototype pico projector outputs 15 lumens of brightness while still maintaining its compact, low profile form factor, very similar to Microvision’s current WVGA product. The company plans a commercial product version of a 720p HD PicoP display engine in the second half of 2011.

The new 720p, higher brightness prototype highlights the capability of PicoP® technology to support new performance levels while still maintaining the compelling attributes of the existing PicoP platform, including:

• Infinite focus;
• Wide throw angle that offers an immersive visual experience;
• Superior brightness uniformity;
• High optical efficiency resulting in low power requirements;
• 5000:1 contrast ratio; and
• Vivid colors of up to 200% greater than standard broadcast television

“Microvision’s growing success is rooted in our ability to anticipate market needs and proactively innovate and push the limits of our technology to address them,” stated Alexander Tokman, president and CEO. “On behalf of our entire design team, I’m extremely proud to introduce the world’s first 720p laser pico projector demonstrator that fits in the palm of your hand.”

Mr. Tokman added: “Our customers are looking for best-in-class pico projection solutions and we believe that with our demonstrated ability to advance both resolution and brightness on our core PicoP platform, Microvision will continue to be recognized as the premier provider of customer focused solutions in this exciting new product category.”

In addition to the 720p demonstrator, Microvision also plans to showcase the following developer tools, product and application demonstrations at SID in Booth 1401:

Continues…

*****

Here’s the link to the Press Release…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microvision-Unveils-Increased-bw-20446400.html?x=0&.v=1

The company demonstratd the 720p HD laser Pico Projector at SID Conference. In addition to that, Microvision showcased portable gaming, automotive and wearable display applications that were enabled by its current PicoP Display Engine technology.

The commercial opportunities presented by the 720p PicoP projector at 15 lumens of brightness; while still maintaining its compact, low profile form factor, is huge. The current WVGA product SHOWwx ─ at 848x480 resolution and 10 lumen brightness─ has awed the early adopters. The next generation products─ using 720p resolution and 15 lumen brightness PicoP Display Engines─ will surely delight the masses when introduced in the second half of 2011.

To fully appreciate the implications of going to 720p resolution at 15 lumens brightness in the next generation products; you have to own and use the current first generation SHOWwx… to be first amazed and awed.

To further appreciate the impact and value of 720p resolution at 15 lumen brightness; let’s review the history of broadcast to put the image resolution in proper perspective…

Back in the technological dark ages of the late 20th Century, NTSC television signals were broadcast in a resolution now called 480i… in the U.S., while the rest of the world had adopted differing standards.

"480" signifies the number of horizontal lines that make up a single frame of video. The "i" stands for "interlaced," which is a system that delivers a frame of video in two fields. Interlacing was adopted back in the 1950s to overcome limited transmission bandwidth. If you can remember that far back, all TV was broadcast over antennas.

Interlacing has never been a great solution because it does not offer the best image quality. In a movie theater, film is presented one full frame at a time, which is called progressive, or simply “p”.

Until high definition came on the scene, 480i─ now often labeled standard definition or SD─ was the way that every TV set in the U.S. worked. We lived with these NTSC standards for almost fifty years. As technology and marketing marched on, researchers, manufacturers and broadcasters took a two-pronged approach to producing a better quality video image.

First, they increased the resolution of the video signal and the TVs receiving them. Though there are many different choices in the ATSC standard, the two common resolutions are called 720 and 1080. Again, resolution is denoted by the horizontal lines in a frame. Instead of the old 480, these new standards produce 720 or 1080 horizontal lines. Actually, resolution is measured in both directions, vertically and horizontally. So, you may see them listed as 1280 x 720 and 1920 x 1080. If you do the math, these are both 16 x 9 formats.

[Note: ATSC is a set of standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television transmission. ATSC replaced much of the analog NTSC television system in the United States on June 12, 2009 and will replace NTSC by August 31, 2011 in Canada.]

The simple formula is more lines of resolution = a higher quality (or we can call it a higher definition) image. Of course, nothing is simple in these HD days. The second factor in improving image quality is shifting the signal to a progressive format. Broadcasters have split on the idea of transmitting video progressively. Those who do, use the 720p format. Those who don't, opt for 1080i. Video experts, Joe Kane among many others, believe that progressive can out trump video resolution to the extent they prefer 720p over 1080i.

Of course, in the last few years, manufacturers are beginning to grace us with 1080p HDTVs. Which brings us back to the original question? If you have been following along with our HD calculus, the answer seems pretty obvious: “p” is better than “i”, and 1080 is higher than 720. No argument there… just give me the 1080p.

Well, here's the rub…

In the United States, 1080p over the air broadcasts still do not exist as of 2010; and all major networks use either 720p60 or 1080i60 encoded with MPEG-2. Satellite service providers though have many channels that utilize the 1080p/24-30 format… for example Direc TV, XstreamHD, and Dish Network.

If you mostly watch network television, and that includes ESPN HD and the premium channels like HBO HD, the best you will receive is 720p or 1080i.

Now, if your tastes run to high definition DVDs, then you will have better luck finding 1080p material in the stores. You may even see a lot of classic movies reissued in 1080p format now that the HD DVD / Blu-ray format war has been settled… with Blu ray taking the honors.

[All Blu-ray Disc and the now defunct HD DVD are able to hold 1080p HD content such as movies. Most movies released on Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD can produce a full 1080p High Defiition picture when the player is connected to a 1080p HDTV with an HDMI cable. However, the Blu-ray Disc video specification only allows encoding of up to 1080p24 signal.]

One more thing you should be aware of; and that is the native resolution. Almost every new HDTV will advertise that it handles 1080p, but that does not mean that its native resolution is 1080p. A 720p TV/monitor [or projector] can display 1080p sources. They just have to downscale the image.

Now if you think about it, content is available in a range of formats, 480i, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. Your HDTV or HD projector can handle all of them through technical tricks of up-scaling or down-scaling and interlacing or de-interlacing. Not to mention how well it translates native 24 frames per second films to 30 frames per second video.

The theory of course is that a 1080p native resolution TV [or projector] will handle 1080p sources more cleanly than other lower native resolution TVs. But if the TVs [or projectors] are doing their job well, most non-hypercritical viewers will not be able to tell the difference between a 720p and a 1080p TV when watching 1080p programs.

The real test may, however, be how well a 1080p TV handles the more common lower resolution material?

One more consideration, 1080p is currently the leading edge technology… but for how long?

If you are buying an HDTV in the next few months, then supposedly purchasing a 1080p TV should future proof you for a little while!

But technology is on a roll, which feeds marketing's insatiable appetite for new products.

Expect your state of the art 1080p HDTV to be old news in the next year or two. True HD will be replaced by too good to be true Full HD… and that will morph into wallet busting eye popping Ultra HD.

You get my drift, yes?

In a year or so, I expect to hear Microvision coming out with 1080p resolution at 28 lumen brightness PicoP Display Engine; to support new performance levels while still maintaining the compelling attributes of the existing PicoP platform. 

It is then, that I expect the 1080p resolution and 28 lumens bright PicoP Display Engines to be at the heart of front end media projectors; and selling for a few hundred dollars to give the energy guzzling 1080p HDTVs the run for their money… or should I say: “run for their life”.

Anant Goel
[Long List of Credits]

http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/

Microvision: Pico Projector Consumer is Well and Alive

Economists and investors cheered the 2nd Qtr 2010 earnings results from Apple Inc. (AAPL), saying it was a sign that the global consumer is alive and well. The company sold a mind boggling 2.94 million Mac PCs, 10.89 million iPods, and close to 8.75 million iPhones in a three-month time span. And these numbers do not include the 3 million iPads sold since April.

First, here’re the Apple numbers for the 2nd Qtr 2010…

• Total sales: $13.5 billion, up 48.6% year over year
• Earnings: $3.33 per share. up 86%
• Profit: $3.07 billion, up 89.5%
• Mac sales: 2.94 million units, up 33%
• iPhone sales: 8.75 million units, up 131%
• iPod sales: 10.89 million units, down 1%
• iPod touch sales: up 66%; iPod revenue up 12%
• Apple store visitors: 47 million in 286 retail outlets, up 20%
• Gross margin: 41.7%, up from 39.9% last year
• Cash and marketable securities: $41.7 billion, up $1.9 billion since December
• Guidance for the third fiscal quarter: revenue between $13 and $13.4 billion, EPS between $2.28 and $2.39, gross margin 36%

Wow, that doesn’t sound like a recession. But is that really good news or is there something unnerving about all that spending in this harsh recession that we should be concerned about?

Could it be that people spent money in a haphazard manner? Or they spent money [just to keep-up with the Jones] when they really should have been saving?

Either way, I expect the laser based PicoP Projector to follow the same buying pattern as the iPods, iPhones, and iPads.

[Note: Just to be sure we are on the same page; let me qualify that statement with a caveat… it’s the first second half of 2011 that I’m talking about; when the green lasers have become plentiful and their price has come down significantly from the current levels.]

Here’s a story [that I read somewhere] to explain why…

“In the 1970s, Harlem was one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation, but it was a money making machine for people selling expensive clothes, sneakers, and cars. Before it opened, there was much concern that a McDonald’s in the hood would be an abject failure.

As it turns out, the first McDonald’s in Harlem became the number one selling restaurant for the chain in the entire world for years. Back then, there were street vendors who lived in the community and the money they made circulated among the people that earned it. However, for the most part it was like there was a giant vacuum cleaning hose sucking up all disposable, and not-so-disposable, money out of the hood.

Nothing was more peculiar than the need to own “Air Jordan” sneakers. Mothers that scrubbed floors for minimum wage had to drop $200 to make sure their children fit-in and were part of the hip crowd. Households that sustained themselves on welfare checks also felt the same pressure. Demand for these overpriced shoes never waned even after waves of violence, even murder, was being committed to own them. It was the ultimate status symbol, one that made you cool and one that also made you a potential candidate for the morgue. It was American consumerism at its best. It brought out what John Maynard Keynes called “animal spirits.” The desire to own these ultra expensive sneakers also brought out what sociologists might also brand “animal spirits”, too.

After fueling the growth of the world for decades, it is clear that the American consumer is now struggling. One lesson we’ve all learned over the years is that prosperity can be fleeting. In fact, in a blink of an eye it seems like all of our wealth vanished and somehow landed in China. It’s such a fascinating reversal of fortunes, but it underscores the notion of fiscal prudence. Those “Air Jordan” sneakers that were all the rage in Harlem were made by peasants in China whose annual income was so small they couldn’t afford to live [in Harlem] for one week. China isn’t the financial juggernaut it is because there are 1.3 billion people there; the cheap labor source of the world belies the notion of becoming wealthy. Their secret was saving. Saving money for years, living on the bare minimum, fixated on the future.

With that in mind, iPods, iPhones, and iPads are today’s “Air Jordan” sneakers… hip, stylish, and must have gadgets… but not a necessity.

Stuff We (don’t) Need but Must Have:

Ironically, the Pew Research Center released its latest survey on things that the public believes are  necessities. The results are somewhat shocking. There were huge percentage decreases for clothes dryers, home air conditioning (maybe it will be higher in July than April), television sets, and microwaves. In fact, there were only a few items listed that more people believe are necessities now versus 2006. High speed internet access increased 2%, but only 31% said it was a necessity. Flat screen televisions increased the most, up 3%. Then, there were those iPods, again, increasing 1% to 4%. Like many surveys, much could be made of the results. On one hand, it could suggest less materialism.

But this list isn’t about chasing the Jones; rather it’s about basic stuff that is within reach of most Americans… like iPods, iPhones, and iPads. There is no doubt that income, or lack thereof, played a major role as respondents are certainly feeling the pinch. A whopping 57% said that they’ve bought less expensive brands or shopped more at discount stores… this is evident in the moves of stocks such as Family Dollar Store, 99 Cents Only Stores, and CitiTrends. Perhaps a silver lining is the 28% that said they’ve cut back on alcohol and cigarettes.

Here’s the link to Pew Research Center survey database…

http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/395.pdf

There are so many other things people are doing to adjust to their current circumstances. The sharp decline in what people think they need, however, is remarkable. Maybe there is something else afoot in this story.

Still, there is another way to look at the results. In some ways I believe that people may be taking many things for granted… things like iPods, iPhones, and iPads. I kind of lean that way, and it’s not just that we think an air conditioner is less important but some people think we don’t need more ships and jet fighters to protect us. Heck, this weekend we fired up the air conditioners in our house. If asked a week earlier I may have been inclined to say air conditioning wasn’t a necessity, but after a two hour bike ride in the blazing sun I felt like a walking volcano and at that moment the ice cube maker and AC were right up there with Guttenberg’s printing press as the greatest inventions ever.

One of the side effects of a horrific economic slide is a sense of defeat as well. However, we can’t be so down in the dumps as to become vulnerable to so many things, including the shifting away from the things that made the nation great in the first place… our innovation and the high tech industry to fuel the future prosperity.”

Yes, I do expect to see the global consumers buying millions upon millions of more iPods, iPhones, iPads… and of course, the PicoP projectors.

The next popular product categories that integrate PicoP projectors would be fixed and mobile computing devices, and a whole range of multi-functional consumer electronic products such as smartphones, digital photo frames, personal media players, digital cameras, and digital camcorders.

“As mobile devices add more multimedia capabilities, embedded picoprojectors can add a big-screen experience to a very small device,” said David Chamberlain, Author of the report and Principal Analyst, Cellular Devices, Mobile Consumer and Mobile Video Services, In-Stat.

In-Stat found that illumination technologies are rapidly and continuously evolving by the day with manufacturers able to produce and supply Light Emitting Diodes (LED’s) and green lasers, and that the demand for such gizmos integrated within other devices will be so huge that the volumes will easily drive down modular costs to the extent that pico projectors will become part and parcel of billions of relatively low cost cell phones and media players.

“Technological advances in miniaturization, signal processing, and light sources—including green laser—are making pico projectors a realistic feature for small battery powered devices like cell phones, media players, computing devices, and other consumer electronics,” said Chamberlain.

The future for pico projectors is guaranteed since there is evidence of consumers willing to pay more for additional technologies such as good quality cameras, reported TMCnet, to be included in a single hand held mobile device.

Anant Goel
[Edited By]

Flash Crash: Is Another One Coming Soon?

Some of you have asked for my reasons to stop posting new entries on the blog.

Without going into the details, let it suffice to say that after the “flash crash” of May 6th I wanted to take some time off to re-group, re-strategize and get a fresh perspective on all things related to financial matters.

The “flash crash” of May 6th, when the DOW dropped over 1,000 points in a few minutes, may be history but its after-effects—and threat to the global stock markets—continue to haunt further with two recent mini-crashes in individual stocks.

Regulators have characterized the initial flash crash, as a one-off occurrence possibly attributable to a "fat finger" trade or some other market anomaly… and to this day, regulators are still not sure what caused it.

Growing number of traders and regulators believe the flash crash is symptomatic of a larger problem with high-frequency trading, derivatives trading, and a very complex market that lacks visibility and is susceptible to similar events in the future.

Thus far, the main reaction has been the implementation of circuit breakers that stop trading on individual stocks should they rise or fall more than 10 percent in a five-minute span.

The rule, implemented for a six-month test period, played out its part twice over the last few weeks. First, it was when Washington Post [WPO] shares doubled inside of a few seconds on June 16th, from nearly $460 to $929.18. Trades totaling 766 shares at $929.18 crossed on NYSE Euronext’s NYSE Arca platform at 3:07:30 p.m. in New York, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The stock changed hands for $462.84 prior to the jump. The orders, later canceled, triggered a five-minute halt under rules adopted after the May 6th flash crash… which erased $862 billion from U.S. stocks in less than 20 minutes.

The circuit breakers essentially did their job, halting trading in the company after the surge. But the mystery remains over why such events happen in the first place. While the regulations didn’t prevent the erroneous orders from being placed, they may have kept more shares from being bought and sold at prices that would later have been voided.

Tech services company Diebold [DBD] saw its shares plunge 35 percent then recover in a period of a few minutes on June 2nd, before the circuit-breakers kicked in. The plunge in Diebold shares that erased 35 percent of its market value in six seconds is under review by U.S. regulators, people with direct knowledge of the investigation said. The stock dropped $8 in six seconds to $18.26 before recovering to above $25 a minute later, Bloomberg data show. Four-hundred twenty-seven trades occurred in Diebold shares below $23 totaling about 113,600 shares, according to Bloomberg data. All of them took place on electronic venues such as Nasdaq and Bats Exchanges.

The non-transparency that stems from high frequency trades, which can happen in milliseconds, makes tracking the trades virtually impossible. Some estimates have high-frequency trading accounting for about 70 percent of all market activity. Defenders of high-frequency trading say it pumps liquidity into the markets and makes fair trading possible. But perhaps the most stunning characteristic of the May 6th flash crash was that liquidity actually evaporated from the market, sending shares of some big-name companies momentarily to a penny when they couldn't find a bid.

“Exchange traded funds as a class were more affected by the flash crash of May 6th than any other category of securities," the Investment Technology Group said in an analysis.

Most traders still believe that the integrity of the market is intact and investors have little to fear, even though there's little reason to believe future flash crashes won't happen.

With that in mind, I’m back in the saddle for another ride on this roller coaster.

Anant Goel

Microvision: Reschedules Q1 2010 Financial and Operating Results Conference Call

Press Release
Source: Microvision, Inc.
On April 30, 2010, 8:00 am EST

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS) announced today that it has rescheduled its conference call to discuss its first quarter 2010 financial and operating results and current business operations from May 3, 2010 to May 10, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT.

Continues…

*****

Here’s the link…
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100430005288&newsLang=en

To re-schedule an earnings CC just three days after announcing the original date with an excuse like “to provide us with additional time needed to gather and review information on our business operations” is pretty lame to say the least.

What more could you learn about your business operations that you haven’t in the last 14 years? If it is a delay due to the recently deployed ERP [or accounting] system, then say so and we, the small and institutional investors of Microvision, will understand that and wait. Some of us have been waiting for 10 years already… and 10 more days delay will not hurt so much.

But under the circumstance; what would hurt more is that the speculator, competitors, and unscrupulous stock manipulators will have a field day with MVIS stock… the evidence of which is already in place with a 10% drop since the announced CC delay.

This is not the first time that Microvision management has shown insensitivity [to put it mildly] towards the ways of Wall Street; where speculators, competitors, and the manipulators prowl the street looking for the weak, vulnerable, and the unsuspecting.

Acts like this are financially devastating; to the small, as well as, the institutional investors alike.

I speak here for the small investors [my friends and family] and at least one institutional investor that I’m engaged with.

I certainly would like to see some kind of management response to this post… that is if they publish my post at The Displayground in the first place.

Anant Goel

Microvision: Patents Laser 3D Projector with PicoP Display Engine (Part 1)

3D TVs started to arrive in consumer electronic stores in early March to great fanfare, and consumers are intrigued...but are also curious. The big question, of course, is whether these new TVs can transport the 3D excitement from movie theaters to our homes.

Based on excitment generated by the first available HDTV models with 3D video capabilities, the answer is a resounding yes.

Research has shown that users prefer wide screen, high definition, 2D/3D motion pictures with fast refresh [without motion blur] and always in focus images for all forms of video [static, streaming, and broadcast] communications.

3D Content Meets 3D Laser Projector:

3D content is proliferating rapidly. Movies, games and increasingly live sports and concert videos are being filmed in 3D. One unique challenge facing this emerging category is the lack of in-home 3D displays. The 120Hz LCD panels and plasma screens typically require shutter glasses for viewing 3D content, but next generation display technologies employ passive 3D glasses… which are lighter weight, cost less and are more acceptable to the wearer.

Microvision's laser scanning PicoP Display technology platform enables 3D content in the home that is viewed through lightweight passive glasses… all without the purchase of a new, large, expensive flat panel monitor. Recently, in June of 2009, Ben Averch of Microvision made a presentation at the 2009 Projection Summit. His presentation addressed the burgeoning 3D content market and the unique value proposition for a mobile 3D laser projector…using Microvision’s PicoP Display Engine.

In March 2009, Microvision received a patent on laser PicoP based 3D projector. That means the laser PicoP Display Engine of today will have upward growth mobility to High Definition projection [first] and then to 3D projection using passive glasses. That’s an exciting growth road map for the little master of the pico projector domain.

Here’s the information on the patent…

Title: THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGE PROJECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD

Abstract:
An image projection system having an optical projector and a method for projecting an image. The image projection system enables viewing the images in three dimensions and securely viewing the images in a public forum. The image projection system may include a portable, handheld optical projector that is spaced apart from a display screen and that redirects an image signal to the display screen. The image signal is scattered by the display screen and transmitted to a viewer’s eyes through a set of eyewear worn by the viewer. The display screen preserves the polarization state of the image signal. The portable handheld optical projector may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable computer, or the like that includes one or more sets of light emission systems capable of projecting the image signal. The optical projector may be portable and handheld, or stationary or semi-stationary.

Here’s the link to the patent document…
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20090079941.html

This is great news for the simple reason...

The next big thing that the display industry is going into is 3D. Look at the number of 3D movies coming out lately… they have dramatically increased. Here’re some quotes from the patent application…

3D Technology:

“In addition to displaying images in two-dimensions, projection display manufacturers have developed systems for displaying images in three-dimensions. One technique for creating three dimensional (“3D”) projection display systems is to create two separate monochromatic images…

Although these systems are inexpensive to implement, the color reproduction of the images is poor and the filters may not completely block the adjacent eye’s image, which causes ghosting. Further, the technique uses large immobile equipment to project the images.”

“Another technique for creating a 3D image is to project separate images having different polarization states…

This technique offers better color reproduction than the red-blue monochromatic technique, however the projection displays are large, stationary, expensive to implement, and, because about half the light is lost, inefficient.”

“Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a three-dimensional display system and a method for displaying three-dimensional images that is; cost efficient to manufacture, makes efficient use of light, and may be either stationary or portable.”

“The portable handheld optical projector may be a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable computer, or the like that includes one or more sets of light emission systems capable of projecting the image signal. The optical projector may be portable and handheld, or stationary or semi-stationary.”

Microvision 3D Projector patent states…

“In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, an image projection system comprises a light emission system and a scanning device, wherein the light emission system includes a plurality of light sources. For example, the light sources may be two sets of red-green-blue (“RGB”) lasers, where one set of lasers transmits light in a first polarization state and the other set of lasers transmits light in a second polarization state that is different from the first polarization state. Thus, this embodiment comprises two red lasers, two green lasers, and two blue lasers, where the red lasers emit light having different polarization states from each other, the green lasers emit light having different polarization states from each other, and the blue lasers emit light having different polarization states from each other. The light can be linearly polarized or circularly polarized. In the case of a linear polarization state, the light transmitted to one filter may be vertically polarized and the light transmitted to the other filter may be horizontally polarized. In the case of a circular polarization state, the light transmitted to one filter may be right circularly polarized and the light transmitted to the other filter may be left circularly polarized. It should be noted that the light may be coherent light or non-coherent light.

The light from one set of lasers is combined and redirected towards a display screen using a scanning device and the light from the other set of lasers is combined and redirected towards the display screen using the same scanning device as the first set of lasers or a different scanning device. The scanning device spatially modulates the light to vary the color and intensity of each pixel. The scanned beam displays are configured to slightly vary the content between the two two-dimensional images as they are projected into a viewer's eyes. The brain uses this difference in content to create an illusion of depth. More particularly, the light from one set of RGB lasers is in a first polarization state and the light from the other set of RGB lasers is in a second polarization state that is the opposite of the first polarization state. The light from all the lasers may be combined into a single light beam and spatially modulated in unison. Thus, all the light sources are scanned through the same angular extent. The three-dimensional image may be created by temporally delaying the video signal and modulating the intensity of each laser. The scattered light strikes eyewear worn by a viewer, wherein the eyewear includes a filter associated with the viewer's left eye and a filter associated with the viewer's right eye.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, privacy in a public forum may be provided by the image projection system. The eyewear worn by the viewer is configured to decode polarized light. The light can be linearly polarized or circularly polarized. The portable handheld source of electromagnetic radiation projects an image in a first polarization state and an inverse image in a second polarization state that is complementary to the first polarization state. The viewer wearing the eyewear can filter one set of images seeing only the desired content transmitted by the portable handheld source of electromagnetic radiation, whereas others see a “white image” on the display screen. Thus, the viewer can view projected images that are of a personal nature or confidential while others are prevented from viewing or decoding the images. Alternatively, privacy in a public forum can be achieved by using eyewear that is synchronized to the polarization states of the light.”

The display screen is a polarization preserving screen. Thus, the light striking display screen and the light scattered by display screen have the same polarization state. In accordance with one embodiment, display screen comprises a microlens array coated with a layer of aluminum. In accordance with another embodiment, display screen comprises a surface having a silver finish. Suitable screens may be available from Da-Lite Screen Company, Warsaw, Ind., 46581.

Eyewear set comprises of a frame having bow, temples, and filters that transmit images to the left and right eyes. Filters are configured to decode polarized light. The polarized light can be linearly polarized light or circularly polarized light. Filters comprise a quarter-wavelength plate laminated to a polarizer. It should be noted that the type of plates laminated to polarizer are not limitations of the present invention. For example, plates can be waveplates, polarizer filters, combinations of polarizers, combinations of waveplates, polarizing optics, or the like. In addition, the polarization transmission characteristics of filters are not limitations of the present invention. Filters may be configured to decode vertically or horizontally polarized light or right or left circularly polarized light. Techniques for coupling plates to polarizers are known to those skilled in the art.

Here’s what I think…

The PicoP Display Engine will first go with High Definition images and then progress to 3D projection. That looks like the growth path for the next 2 to 3 years with huge revenue growth potential.

Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/

Microvision: One More Purchase Order in Next Two Weeks?

First, the good news…

Microvision Completes Design of New PicoP Laser Display Engine for Mobile Embedded Applications

Press Release
Source: Microvision
Monday March 29, 2010, 7:29 am EDT

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS - News), a leading developer of ultra-miniature projection display products, announced today that it has completed the design and begun shipping initial evaluation samples to several prospective customers of its new ultra-miniature PicoP® laser projection display engine.

Continues…

*****

Here’s the link…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microvision-Completes-Design-bw-3543654902.html?x=0&.v=1

Then, the exciting news…

Microvision Receives $8.5 Million Purchase Order for New PicoP Laser Projection Display Engine

Press Release
Source: Microvision
Monday April 5, 2010, 7:06 am EDT

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS - News), a leading developer of ultra-miniature projection display products, announced today that it has received an $8.5 million purchase order for its new ultra-miniature PicoP® laser projection display engine from a consumer electronics customer. The OEM plans to embed the PicoP engine inside a high-end mobile media player for release in late 2010 and plans to announce its launch at that time.

Continues…

*****

Here’s the link…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microvision-Receives-85-bw-2670010777.html?x=0&.v=1

Now for some projections [pun intended] into the future…

There are four areas that I would like to focus on…

1. SHOWwx was just the beginning of things to come

2. Laser PicoP Technology as “Core” Technology vs. “Commodity” Technology

3. More Purchase Order to Confirm Rapid Ramp-up of Green Laser Production.

4. Case for brighter [like 20 lumens] PicoP Display Engines for the embedded version.

SHOWwx Just the Beginning of Things to Come:
On March 24th, Microvision started selling its laser PicoP projector SHOWwx to the US market… selling them directly; from its on-line web store for a handsome profit. When you sell directly; your margins are always better because of the savings in middleman’s commission. By the next earnings conference call; we would find out for sure what sales revenue and profit margins are from on-line sale of SHOWwx.

On April 5th, Microvision confirmed the receipt of a purchase order for $8.5 million dollars for its ultra miniature PDE… and that is the part that confirms my view that SHOWwx and the $8.5 million purchase order is the just the beginning of things to come.

Here’s why…
Potential markets for laser based PicoP Display Engine technology is not only huge… but it is also a high margin market opportunity. If you were to consider the high-end Media Player market alone… the possibilities are enormous…

Low Power Front Projection Media Players for the Third World Countries:

Think about 2.5 billion people in India and China... as they represent the potential buyers of a low power front projection portable TV/Media Player that offers a large screen [40'' to 100''] high definition always in focus vivid and bright color viewing experience. Extremely low ENERGY consumption [like 10 watts or less] and portability is the key market demand factor here. Energy will become more and more scarce and expensive by leaps and bounds…whereas the portability allows for sharing of resources among friends and family.

Low Power Front Projection Media Player for the Master Bedroom:

Think about a billion bedrooms globally that could use a ceiling projector... for adding another dimension to the various ways of media consumption for information and entertainment. We have desired the bedroom viewing of television for ever, so it seems, and some of us may have installed televisions in the bedroom. However, now it is possible to add, by the millions, a low power media player with built-in PicoP projector in our bedrooms… that offers short throw ratio, wide screen, high definition, bright and vivid color, and always in focus viewing experience. Media player/projector runs on low power batteries... so no risk of electrocuting yourself. No significant heat... so you won't burn yourself. No heavy duty TV to install on the bedroom wall.

Low Power Portable Projection Media Player for Every Bedroom in the House:

All you need is one portable Media Player with built-in PicoP projector… that gets moved around from room to room when and where it’s needed. It certainly is a cheaper alternative than buying a TV for each room of the house. This portable Media Player can also be the one you pack with your bags… when you are on the go.

Market Size for Portable Media Players with built-in PicoP Projectors is huge… like in billions world-wide. The most recent order for $8.5 million from the Consumer Electronic Company is just the beginning of what’s to come and not the end.

Laser PicoP Technology as “Core” Technology vs. “Commodity” Technology:
Some have questioned the laser PicoP as “core” technology [like CPUs from Intel] vs. “commodity” technology [like cell phone touch screen and cameras].

My take on the subject is as follows...

Picop [the generic version] is an enabling technology and therefore a commodity... no question about that.

However, laser PicoP is a core technology and that's how it is being positioned by Microvision. Picop technology from TI or 3M will not create [or capture] as large a market as laser PicoP would... due to inherent image quality and functionality only possible due to lasers being used as the light source.

Microvision laser PicoP technology will capture its fair share of the captive markets but it would go-on-further and create markets that are only possible because of laser PicoP. And that's not the commodity markets by any means. Microvision recognizes that right from the beginning; and therefore is positioning the PicoP Display Engines accordingly… by using the “Image by PicoP” insignia on every thing related to its technology.

There will be others with laser picop technology down the road... and that's why Microvision is churning out these patents by the dozens… to protect its IP turf. Also, the "Image by PicoP" is part of this marketing strategy that positions Microvision PicoP technology as a "core" and not "commodity" right from day one. From what I have seen, and there is plenty of evidence for you to see as well, Microvision is charging a premium price for its PicoP technology. Just look at SHOWwx Limited Edition sold at $999 and the Commercial Edition currently for sale at $549.

I hope you can appreciate the difference... because it’s worth billions of dollars when it is executed with knowledge, passion, and gumption.

More Purchase Orders to Confirm Rapid Ramp-up of Green Laser Production:
If there was another Purchase Order next week, would that convince you that Osram and Corning are ramping-up production of their green lasers faster than expected?

Here’s what I’m thinking…

Many OEMs have sampled the first version PEKs from last year. Now the second generation PEKs, for embedded applications, are going out and dramatically improve upon what has been tested before! I believe that the embedded version of the PicoP Display Engine is brighter [over 20 lumens], smaller and consumes less energy.

In other words, time to market for these OEMs has collapsed to a point that few more may be interested in bringing PicoP embedded digital devices to the market for the coming Christmas season. I don’t think the Japanese and Koreans are going to let APPLE hog all the discretionary income of the America consumer for the iPad.

The case for brighter PicoP Display Engine for Embedded Application…
Corning has been slow to ramp-up due to improvements in their SHG green laser technology… that is the switch from “wave guided SHG laser” to “SIDM-based adaptive optics SHG laser” technology. I remember, from a year ago in a conversation with the Corning Product Manager, that G-2000 green laser would incorporate enhancements leading to brighter pictures… with a target goal of 20 lumens or better.

Here’re some links…

Corning G-1000 laser design [at 10 lumens with 10:1 contrast ratio] and the SIDM-based adaptive optics technology…
http://www.corning.com/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=14329

Corning G-2000 laser pumps more lumens [like 23 lumens] at a reduced contrast ratio of 3:1 …
http://www.corning.com/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=12733

Corning licked its waveguided SHG laser production issues last year by switching over to SIDM-based adaptive optics technology.

This year, Corning is the wild card with its contrast optimized green laser at 23 lumens.

Microvision future is bright and is getting brighter every day… just like its laser PicoP Display Engine.

Higher stock valuation will come in time… just like the HD resolution on its PicoP projection images.

Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/

Microvision: Color Eyewear Development Program

Now that Microvision has commercially launched its laser PicoP projector SHOWwx in the US market; and that the initial shipments have begun in earnest, the inquiring minds want to know: “Now what?”

From what I hear, the focus has now increased in scope to embrace additional five areas with varying levels of priority and resource allocation…

• PicoP Display Engine modules for embedded applications,

• High Definition and brighter pico image initiative,

• Color Eyewear product development,

• 3D projector and light weight passive polarized 3D glasses development,

• New PEK modules and development support for multitude of third party applications.

I promise to pass on the information, on each of the above subjects, as it becomes available to me… or when it has gathered some critical mass to become worthy of further discussion.

So, here we go with our first subject that seems to be coming back to life after sitting on the back burner for almost six months…

First, here’s the link to Microvision Eyewear Development Program that I found on the Internet…
http://www.microvision.com/pdfs/program_brief.pdf

Note the key statement…

“Microvision and its business partners are developing see-through personal Color Eyewear for mobility applications that will extend the usability of mobile devices transforming the user experience.”

Microvision Color Eyewear Product alone is worth billions in [high margin] revenue for the company.

This is why…

Paradigm Shift: Another Microvision product that will change the way we view our world.

Ultimate Mobility: Allows you to engage with the world and your personal mobile content at the same time.

Extend the Usability of Mobile Devices: to further enhance and transform user experience.

Ultimate Social Networking Tool: Allows you to keep in constant contact with social networks… without having to pull your mobile phone out of your pocket.

Next Generation of Color Eyewear: that is not only fashionable but also elevates the user experience.

Ultimate in Private Viewing: of information for business [like teleprompter], networking and entertainment.

Ultimate in High Definition Image Quality: High Definition images in 1080i or beyond… limited only by the pixel size of laser light source.

Immersive Virtual Experiences: in 2D or 3D using Microvision’s Color Eyewear equipped with Augmented Reality

Market Size: Multi-billion dollar worldwide market… no doubt.

Competition: None to speak of at this time.

Timing: Coming soon… in 2011 or there about. Timing of commercial product release to the global market is the only wild card in the deck.

Program Funding: by Lockheed Martin sub-contract…

Here’s this statement from Press Release of July 13th, 2009…

“Microvision is very pleased to work with Lockheed Martin to advance the development of see-through eyewear displays in support of the DARPA ULTRA-Vis program…”

“… By designing Microvision’s ultra-miniature PicoP Display Engine and our thin Substrate Guided Relay (SGR) Optics into a wearable display, we have the potential to bring battery operable, low-profile, see-through, full-color eyewear displays to users.”

“DARPA has created the ULTRA-Vis program to bring tactical see-through heads-up information to ground soldiers in order to increase their safety and situational awareness in urban environments, the company said. When integrated to an information management system, Microvision said its eyewear display could enable users to receive visual commands, view geo-registered iconic representations, and receive other full-color image content overlaid on their view.

Here’s the link…
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2418318/

When you add the billions of dollars revenue potential from the PicoP Display Engine and PicoP Projector market to the “Color Eyewear” market… there is no better conclusion than: “Microvision has the potential of becoming a multi-billion dollar enterprise no doubt”.

Will Microvision stock [Nasdaq: MVIS] be a $500 stock in year 2014 remains to be seen… however all the signs are pointing that we are heading in the right direction and smart money is taking position as we speak?

We, as investors, can be part of this paradigm shift that has the potential of extraordinary financial gains during the “change” process that may spread over a few years… and is underway already.

Anant Goel
(This blog entry represents only the author’s opinion of Microvision as an investment vehicle)

http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/