PhlatLight LEDs from Luminus Technology have been used to power some of the new ultra-portable pocket projectors such as the recently released Optoma EP-PK-101 Pico Pocket Projector. Common to all of these new projectors is a low brightness. While the brightness levels match the new paradigm of casual sharing of photos and video, they are not suitable for applications such as home theatre or business projection.

The market situation has now been changed with Luminus Technology’s new PhlatLight LED PT-120 and PT-121 chipsets. The new chipsets (different native resolutions and aspect ratios) are capable of producing brightness levels of up to 3,000 ANSI lumens making them suitable for use in home theatre and business projectors.

PhlatLight chipsets are a new solid state light source combining both LED and laser technologies. PhlatLight is a play on the fact that the light source is not actually a bulb but rather a flat, compact (12 mm2) emitting area. Unlike conventional LEDs, PhlatLight LEDs emit directly into the air.

17 advantages of PhlatLight LED Projector Light Sources

1. 100 percent free of hazardous materials including mercury and lead (RoHS compliant) meaning less hazardous material release into the environment as most projection bulbs end up in landfill.
2. Safe to handle compared to high pressure (200 plus atmospheres) mercury containing lamps
3. Projector weight reduction as PhlatLight LED weigh a fraction of a mercuary-arc, high intensity discharge or halogen lamp
4. Lower power consumption (for portable projectors an LG Electronics and Luminus market survery found a 60 percent reduction)
5. Vastly longer life of up to 60,000 hours (which is realistically the lifetime of a projector) compared to about 2,000 to 3,000 for current high pressure mercury lamps
6. Luminus offers a two year warranty compared to the common 90 day warranty for conventional lamps
7. Compact size compared to a lamp means smaller projectors
8. Lower power consumption equates to cooler running and a much lower noise level as a fan is not required.
9. Filters and the replacement thereof can be avoided
10. fifty percent wider color gamut than the NTSC standard
11. instant start up with no warm up and cool down period required by today’s conventional mercury lamp technologies
12. all PhlatLight chipsets can be used with the DLP, LCoS and LCD micro-displays commonly used in projectors.
13. Excellent maintenance of brightness and color characteristics over time – conventional projection lamps which have only 50 percent of their original brightness at their rated life.
14. Excellent reliability having passed mechanical shock, vibration, temperature cycling and humidity tests
15. 100 percent uniformity (uniform surface emission) compared to the 85 percent or better with a conventional lamp Uniformity is the percentage of the brightness that is carried out through the projected image. Poor uniformity results in brighter patches (hot-spots) in the center of the image.
16. primary colors sequentially pulsed at high speeds provide ultra-fast color refresh for stable, accurate colors and a smooth picture with superior motion quality.
17. No color wheel is required for a DLP projection train as the red, green, and blue LEDs can be pulsed at high speed.
18. high power and high current applications possible