|
Advanced Digital Optics (ADO) (Westlake Village, CA) (www.advopt.com)
reports it has completed a build out of a new light engine manufacturing
facility, which will be used for assembly and test of DLP- and
LCOS-based light engines. The facility, which is adjacent to its
existing headquarters, includes clean room space. The capacity
of the facility is about 100 light engines per month, but ADO
plans to double this in 2004.
The build out is part of ADO's new strategy to provide specialty
engine manufacture for low to moderate volume customers. This
means targeting customers in the aerospace and medical industries
where high performance is needed and higher price tags can be
tolerated.
Milton Lee, ADO's president, explained that this is one of four
parts to its business strategy. The others include consumer light
engine design and product development, licensing of engine designs
and production technology, and licensing of IP, like its Ultrex
and illumination designs. "We have been successful with this
model," said Lee.
Indeed they have. Its customers include ViewSonic, JVC, Optoma,
Samsung, Imax, SEOS and JDS Uniphase subsidiary, OCLI. Last September,
ADO announced that ViewSonic had agreed to adopt a DLP light engine
developed by ADO for use in a 56-inch RPTV. OCLI has licensed
the design and will become the volume engine manufacturer for
ViewSonic, using a facility in Thailand for production. ViewSonic
owns about 51% of ADO with OCLI holding a 19% share.
Michael Newell, ADO's director of Product Development, says the
new light engine facility will offer some advantages to customers,
like leveraging the supply base established for the CE part of
its business, and the ability to validate manufacturability, assembly
and performance prior to transfer to higher-volume Asian facilities.
The new facility should have its own dedicated staff and be fully
operational in early Q1'04.
One of the new specialty light engine programs OCLI will be manufacturing
in low volume is a rear-projection monitor designed by SEOS. This
26-inch system is designed to replace a direct-view CRT monitor
in an aircraft simulation system, as described in the October
2003 edition of Projection Monthly (page 80). This four-panel
LCOS system provides a remarkable 100,000:1 contrast ratio by
using a unique engine architecture. Contrast as high as 250,000:1
has been observed in some systems too.
We had a chance to see this system on a recent company visit.
With an image on the screen in a normally illuminated room, the
image looks quite good, but the extremely high contrast is not
overpowering. But when they turned the room lights off, we saw
the difference. The screen is black. There is no discernable light
leakage at all, creating an unbelievable black state. Such a black
state is needed, however, as the application requires users to
wear night vision goggles, which greatly amplify any light.
ADO believes this technology can be leveraged to offer similar
high-performance systems for MRI, X-Ray and CAT scan procedures.
ADO, Michael Newell, 805-497-1771, mnewell@advopt.com
Contact:
Insight Media
Annmarie Gabisch, 203-831-8464
annmarie@insightmedia.info
GET
OUR NEWS ALERTS
|
