Texas Instruments DLP Products

Texas Instruments established the DLP Products division in 1993 to unleash the potential of one scientist’s vision for an all-digital optical device that would enable light to be manipulated with previously unimaginable accuracy and speed. The technology is used in a range of projection and display applications, including business projectors, home theater applications, and commercial entertainment products. A version of DLP technology known as DLP Cinema® technology is being used to replace celluloid-based projectors in movie theaters around the world.

The formation of DLP Products represents the largest internally funded program in Texas Instrument’s 76-year history, and marked the first time any company has attempted to independently commercialize a completely new display technology. Since the first products using DLP were introduced in 1996, Texas Instruments has sold in excess of 10 million DLP chips, with the technology being used in more than half of all front-projection display devices.

At the core of DLP is the digital micro-mirror device (DMD) invented by Dr. Larry Hornbeck at Texas Instruments in 1987, an optical switch semiconductor that contains a rectangular array of up to one million hinged, microscopic mirrors. This optical switch is mounted on a standard memory cell to form the DLP chip.

DLP technology has solidified a strong presence in the consumer electronics marketplace in the current and next-generation product lines of leading electronics companies including Samsung, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Panasonic.