Wrap Up from the 2012 International CES
We had a very exciting, incredibly busy and productive booth at the 2012 CES.
We weren't able to provide any real-time updates because we had terrible internet access at the show and at our hotel (I know, can you believe that?!) . We are now able to relive our CES experience and to share it with you here.
We weren't able to provide any real-time updates because we had terrible internet access at the show and at our hotel (I know, can you believe that?!) . We are now able to relive our CES experience and to share it with you here.
Our demo units and our first booth visitor.
Our first booth visitor was also our friend Prof. Michael Bove, who is the head of the Object-Based Media group at the MIT Media Lab, co-director for the Center for Future Storytelling, and director of the consumer electronics program CELab. SiliconMicroDisplay is supporting Prof. Bove's research with our microdisplay technology, and we were happy to start the CES with his visit.
In the photo to the left are (from right to left) Michael Bove, Mike Jin (CTO/Founder of SMD), and Wally Phillips (Principal Engineer of SMD).
For the CES, we showcased our ST1080 as well as our core technology and next generation demo (hint: look just above Michael Bove's left shoulder). Four ST1080 units were available for hands-on demos. The first unit showed the 3D Blu-ray movie Toy Story 3. The second unit was connected to a Playstation 3 and showed both Blu-ray content as well as games like Gran Turismo 5, Avatar, and Uncharted 3. The third unit was connected to an Xbox and showed games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Madden NFL12, and Halo Reach. The fourth unit was at the front of the booth and was connected to either the Blu-ray player (via HDMI splitter) showing Toy Story or to an iPhone 4S (via Apple Digital AV Adapter). The video below show the first three units (Blu-ray, PS3, and Xbox) at our booth.
In the photo to the left are (from right to left) Michael Bove, Mike Jin (CTO/Founder of SMD), and Wally Phillips (Principal Engineer of SMD).
For the CES, we showcased our ST1080 as well as our core technology and next generation demo (hint: look just above Michael Bove's left shoulder). Four ST1080 units were available for hands-on demos. The first unit showed the 3D Blu-ray movie Toy Story 3. The second unit was connected to a Playstation 3 and showed both Blu-ray content as well as games like Gran Turismo 5, Avatar, and Uncharted 3. The third unit was connected to an Xbox and showed games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Madden NFL12, and Halo Reach. The fourth unit was at the front of the booth and was connected to either the Blu-ray player (via HDMI splitter) showing Toy Story or to an iPhone 4S (via Apple Digital AV Adapter). The video below show the first three units (Blu-ray, PS3, and Xbox) at our booth.
Two colors and other features.
Your eyes are not deceiving you - there are two color versions of the ST1080: Pearl White and Jet Black. They are identical in every way except for the color. The Controller is also color matched with the HMD. Booth visitors familiar with the design previously posted on our website commented that this design looked sleeker and lower profile. The Jet Black unit was a hit, and we'd love to hear more feedback from you about the colors.
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The demo units had foldable ear stems, IPD (inter pupil distance) adjustment, and audio/video mute button on the HMD and on the Controller. We used a darker lens cover to provide a better viewing experience (almost 0% transparency) in the very bright show room floor.
The cable on the upper left of the Controller box is a USB power cable (we connected it to a portable battery pack), and the cable on the upper right of the Controller is the HDMI input cable. The cable on the bottom of the Controller is the cable from the HMD unit.
If you've been following us, you may have notice something missing: we've replaced the type-D HDMI connector with a USB power port and removed the AC power adapter. This means one less thing you have to carry around with you.
The cable on the upper left of the Controller box is a USB power cable (we connected it to a portable battery pack), and the cable on the upper right of the Controller is the HDMI input cable. The cable on the bottom of the Controller is the cable from the HMD unit.
If you've been following us, you may have notice something missing: we've replaced the type-D HDMI connector with a USB power port and removed the AC power adapter. This means one less thing you have to carry around with you.
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It was all about image quality.
At this year's CES, we showed that image quality, which was lacking in previous generation HMDs, is finally here. We showed the ST1080 with its native Full HD 1080p (2M pixels) displays as well as our next generation microdisplay: the 4k2k (8M pixels) display. We showed that we are in the leadership position with the first consumer-grade 1080p HMD and a 4k2k not too far away. There is a world of difference between native 1080p and 1080p-support, and all the booth visitors noticed the picture detail, smoothness, absence of the "screen-door appearance", and brightness of the ST1080.
Another recurring feedback was about our excellent exit pupil. Exit pupil is the "sweet spot" that many HMD enthusiasts refer to when talking about the size of the area that's in focus. The bigger the exit pupil, the better the viewing experience. HMDs get bumped and moved around on a users's head regardless of ergonomic design, so having a large exit pupil is important to visual comfort.
We were overwhelmed by the positive reaction to the ST1080 image quality. We now know that we are ahead of the competition and our roadmap will keep us there.
Another recurring feedback was about our excellent exit pupil. Exit pupil is the "sweet spot" that many HMD enthusiasts refer to when talking about the size of the area that's in focus. The bigger the exit pupil, the better the viewing experience. HMDs get bumped and moved around on a users's head regardless of ergonomic design, so having a large exit pupil is important to visual comfort.
We were overwhelmed by the positive reaction to the ST1080 image quality. We now know that we are ahead of the competition and our roadmap will keep us there.
Who is SiliconMicroDisplay, and are we for real?
Many visitors had not heard of our company, and couldn't believe that we design and manufacture the microdisplays ourselves. SMD has a veteran team with many years of expertise in LCoS microdisplay and system design and manufacturing. This also means that we're very aware of the fits and starts the HMD industry has gone through over the last couple of decades. Many well-funded companies failed to live up to the hype. We believe this market is ready for less hype and more follow through, so we've stayed in stealth-mode for quite some time. What we showed at the CES is very close to shipping.
We may be a small company, but our capabilities are world-class. We purchase silicon wafers directly from a foundry, and we do everything downstream from there. We have a class-100 clean room (same as semiconductor packaging facilities) within a 50,000 square-foot, fully equipped factory. Additionlly, we have several process trade secrets for wafer-scale packaging that keeps our yields high. This allows us to directly control our microdisplay quality and factory costs. Additionally, we also have an optical systems and electronics systems teams in-house, so this gives us agility.
We are for real and, from the interest that top tier companies expressed in the ST1080 at the CES, we are looking forward to transforming the HMD and projection display industry in the very near future.
We may be a small company, but our capabilities are world-class. We purchase silicon wafers directly from a foundry, and we do everything downstream from there. We have a class-100 clean room (same as semiconductor packaging facilities) within a 50,000 square-foot, fully equipped factory. Additionlly, we have several process trade secrets for wafer-scale packaging that keeps our yields high. This allows us to directly control our microdisplay quality and factory costs. Additionally, we also have an optical systems and electronics systems teams in-house, so this gives us agility.
We are for real and, from the interest that top tier companies expressed in the ST1080 at the CES, we are looking forward to transforming the HMD and projection display industry in the very near future.
What's next?
We are working on the final product tweaks and getting our organization ready for volume production. We will send out some more units to technology reviewers so that there will be as much information as possible. We are not a big company with limitless marketing and PR budget, so we are taking a lean approach to how and where we market the ST1080. We will provide updates periodically on this website and through our Twitter and Facebook pages.
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