07-07-2012, 02:11 PM
LCOS TECHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS or LCOS) is a "micro-projection" or display" technology typically
applied in projection televisions. It is a reflective technology similar to DLP projectors; however, it
uses liquid crystals instead of individual mirrors. By way of comparison, LCD projectors use
transmissive LCD chips, allowing light to pass through the liquid crystal. LCoS, liquid crystals are
applied directly to the surface of a silicon chip coated with an aluminized layer, with some type
of passivation layer, which is highly reflective.
LCoS technology can typically produce higher resolution and higher contrast images than liquid crystal display and plasma display technologies, which makes it less expensive to implement in
such devices as televisions.
LCoS technology has the potential to enable manufacture of big-screen high-definition televisions
with very high picture quality at relatively low cost. However, LCoS, while straightforward, can be
difficult technology to master; a number of companies have dropped out of the LCoS business in
recent years. Nonetheless, as of June 2006,proprietary methods for mass-producing LCoS and at
least four manufacturers produced LCoS-based rear-projection televisions for the consumer .