LCD isn’t the only microdisplay technology vying for your projector dollars. Texas Instruments (of calculator and chip fame) has developed a system called digital light processing (or DLP).

DLP systems are based on micromirror technology _a DLP chip (the basis of the projector) is an optical semiconductor with millions of tiny mirrors controlled by the logic portion of the chip. Basically these tiny little mirrors are individually controlled and tilted to reflect an amount of light corresponding to the picture brightness required for a single pixel of video. The angle of the mirror is changed to move from black (or close to black) _where no light is reflected onto the screen, through a whole range of grays right on up to white.

With a DLP, color is added with a separate device known as the color wheel _a set of red, green and blue filters arranged in a wheel that is located in the path of light reflecting off the mirrors in the DLP chip _these three colors mixed together produce the colors found in your HDTV’s source material.

Some really expensive DLP projectors (like those used in movie theaters) use three DLP chips (one each for red, green and blue) instead of a color wheel. This system reproduces an even greater number of colors and tends to provide a smoother image on-screen.

DLP-projection TVs are, as we mentioned, about the hottest thing on the market today. They are very thin (some less than 6 or 7 inches, nearly in plasma territory), produce a bright, beautiful picture, with better than LCD black reproduction, and excellent color reproduction.

When you’re choosing a DLP-based projection system, be sure to read the fine print. Not all DLP systems are HDTVs _some inexpensive projectors (mainly front-projection systems) use older DLP chips that don’t reach HDTV resolutions. The DLP chip “HD2+”, which provides 1,280-by-720 resolution (this perfectly matches 720p resolution requirements).

Most people don’t notice, but we should warn you about a situation with DLPs called the rainbow effect. This is caused by the spinning color wheel, and can cause a very small percentage of thepopulation to feel dizzy, or get a headache, while watching DLP _particularly when moving their heads, or during rapidly moving scenes on-screen.

Most people don’t have any problem with this rainbow effect, and most people who own DLP HDTVs love them and never deal with this problem at all!

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