Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 03:38:23 GMT Server: BESTWWWD/2.1 MIME-version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html Content-Length: 5492 Last-modified: Wed, 08 Jan 1997 00:33:36 GMT Accept-Ranges: bytes
Spatialight Inc. manufactures video display products utilizing active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs). AMLCD's are actually light gates in which a polarized panel is used to create patterned of light and dark on a display screen, hence creating the desired image. The liquid crystal material is used to control the polarization of the light. In the normal rest state, the liquid crystal is aligned so that light passes directly through the material. When an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal, the material aligns in a different direction which causes the light passing through the material to become polarized. The polarized light exiting the liquid crystal can not pass through a polarized panel in front of the LCD material, thereby creating a dark area on the screen.
Presently, thin film transistor technology (TFT) is the most common commercial method of making active matrix LCD's. Thin film transistors are the switches used to align the liquid crystal, and thereby control each pixel on the display. The company uses a different technology to create the necessary switches. Spatialight's reflective LCD technology offers a number of advantages over other display technologies.
Spatialight has designed a miniature (0.75" diagonal) highly efficient reflective active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) that is also operational as a spatial light modulator (SLM). This device is capable of handling computer and video output at very high speeds, clarity, and contrast. The potential applications for this device are enormous, ranging from projections systems, optical computers and holographic data storage to HMDs and HUDs. The SLM functions as an electrically variable retarder offering gray scaling at 256 levels per pixel. The current device is a 2 dimensional array of 704 X 512 pixels on .020mm centers.
Spatialight announced the commercial availability of the SLM M4-704X512 on July 11, 1995 at the SPIE conference in San Diego, CA. Spatialight has a non-exclusive distribution agreement with Meadowlark Optics, located in Longmont, CO, to market the device in low volumes to primarily large corporate research departments and university research labs.
Separately, Spatialight has a very close partnering/distribution arrangement with Teledyne Brown Engineering (TBE), business unity of Teledyne. TBE has chosen the WAH device to be the SLM of choice for several potential applications including optical scanning/computing and head mounted displays (HMD).
Historically, Spatialight has been working closely with a major government contractor that is planning to develop a holographic mass storage and retrieval product for the commercial market. They have a joint partnership with a non-military public company, and the WAH spatial light modulator is one of the critical components to this holography application where light reflectivity and surface flatness are extremely important. This is still an early stage product development effort by Spatialight's customer, and volume production is 2-3 years away.
Currently, the company is pursuing other display applications for the AMLCD device including desktop computer monitors. Meetings have been held with one of the largest US based PC monitor OEM's. Spatialight has been asked to quote on producing an engineering model for a large screen monitor that could prove capability/productivity. Rear view or front view displays represent a very large market application for the WAH device; the primary revenue and profit financial projections are based on finding one major customer in this market. The combined market for CRT's (consisting of TV and computer displays), and therefore the market for AMLCD's, is expected to grow to $20 billion by the year 2000.
The active matrix LCD being designed by Spatialight represents a significant leap beyond currently available technologies for display/monitor devices, optical computing processors, and holographic data storage. Prior investment by Sayett, as well as the state of the Spatialight device, significantly reduces the amount of funds needed to develop the 1280 x 1024 format and start finding high volume product applications to generate revenue and profits in the 1998/99 time frame. This also reduces new investor risk since Spatialight is beyond the R & D stage - in fact, manufacturing trials are being initiated. The current market cap premiums being placed by Wall Street on flat panel display companies such as Kopin, OIS Corporation, and Planar confirm our belief that Spatialight represents a tremendous growth for the risk-oriented investor who provides a ROI of 4-5X over the next 4 years.
Spatialight currently holds three issued patents with several more pending. The company will file additional patent applications within the next six to twelve months and is confident that it will continue to obtain patents on many key elements of its technology.