Tokyo, Japan—Sony Corporation today announced the upcoming release of the SXRD™ (Silicon X-Tal (crystal) Reflective Display) SXRD241A, the world's smallest^*1 reflective display device in full HD resolution designed for portable projectors, and the CXD3554GG, a dedicated drive LSI equipped with a high-definition signal processing function.

• *1As of announcement on July 18, 2018. According to Sony research.

The SXRD241A full HD reflective LCD device (bottom) and
the CXD3554GG high-definition signal processing drive LSI (top)『CXD3554GG』

The market for portable projectors, which are used to project a variety of content such as videos and still images while at home or out of the house, is growing recently, and their use case is expected to expand along with future advances in more compact design and higher resolution.

The SXRD241A utilizes Sony's original fine pixel pitch technology to reduce the pixel pitch, resulting in full HD resolution on a 0.37-type chip. Generally, when narrowing the pixel pitch, image quality deteriorates due to light leakage into the semiconductor element under the pixel electrode, but Sony added light shielding layers and optimized the pixel structure to achieve significantly improved light shielding function. Sony also employed a new Field-sequential color technique that sequentially switches the RGB light sources at high speed and drives SXRD241A at the appropriate time to deliver full color display on a single panel. Moreover, original SXRD technologies developed for 4K high-end home projectors were adapted to achieve high resolution, high contrast, and high brightness.

The CXD3554GG uses an original high-definition signal processing function to maximize the properties of the SXRD display device. It is equipped with a new geometric compensation function which ensures distortion free images even on curved surfaces, as well as an edge blending function which does away with image seams when multiple projectors are combined together, creating a single seamless image. All of these functions based on the LSI that will make portable projectors even more usable. By adapting SXRD241A together with CXD3554GG, it is possible to realize high-definition portable projectors even with compact sizes.

New product (full HD, left) and previous product (WXGA, right)

Main Features

• 1. High-resolution technology on the SXRD241A full HD reflective LCD display device
  Sony original fine pixel pitch technology results in full HD resolution on a 0.37-type chip. The pixel pitch is shrunk from the 6 μm of a conventional product^*2 to 4.25 μm on the new product, a nearly 30% reduction in size. Generally, the narrower the pixel pitch on a display device for projectors, the easier it is for light to leak into the pixel semiconductor element, resulting in increased light leak current and deteriorating image quality. The new product, however, features an added light shielding layers and optimized pixel structure to achieve significantly improved light shielding function, while still achieving a single pixel surface area that is nearly half of that of the previous product^*2. The product also employs the Field-sequential color technique that sequentially switches the RGB light sources at high speed and drives SXRD241A at the appropriate time, enabling full color display on a single panel. In addition, various original SXRD technologies developed for 4K high-end home projectors were incorporated into this product, including a fine pixel gap structure that results in high reflectance, pixel flattening technology for reducing diffused light reflection in the Liquid Crystal layer, and normally black mode that uses inorganic alignment technology, all resulting in high resolution, high contrast, and high brightness.

• *2Comparison with the Sony SXRD101A (0.37-type WXGA (1,366x768)).

Light shielding structure comparison between
New product (left) and previous product (right)

• 2. High-definition signal processing drive LSI for enhanced usability
  An original Sony high-definition signal processing function is used to maximize the properties of the SXRD. In addition to the trapezoidal compensation function in general projectors required to throw an image onto a fixed screen, this product is also equipped with new geometric compensation and edge blending functions. The geometric compensation function corrects images so they are distortion free even when projected onto a curved surface. The edge blending function does away with image seams when multiple projectors are combined together to create a single seamless image. These features provide greater freedom in where the portable projector can be placed.

Image geometry correction

Edge blending

Key Specifications

• *SXRD oris a trademark of the Sony Corporation.
• *Other companies and product names are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective owners.