TI chip turns mobiles into movie projectors

LAS VEGAS--Texas Instruments wants to turn your cell phone into a wide-screen TV.

The semiconductor manufacturer is showing a prototype digital projector, based on its digital light processors (DLPs), that could fit on a cell phone. The projector contains three lasers, a DLP chip, and a power supply and measures about 1.5 inches in length. With the projector, the cell phone can beam DVD-quality video onto a screen, thereby allowing it (in conjunction with the screen or a white wall) to serve as a video player or a TV.

"We have it in our labs in Dallas. Now we have to figure out how to commercialize it," said John Van Scoter, senior vice president of DLP products at TI, in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show here.

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