LED based projection displays are the enabler for the 1st generation of consumer AR smart glasses

Small projector units for Near-To-Eye (NTE) displays such as AR glassed are currently a field of intensive research and development activity. To industrialize the first generation of user-friendly consumer smart glasses we propose using LED based solutions. LED illuminated DLP/LCoS pico-projectors are a mature technology which can be further optimized for the use in AR glasses. This article paper will share some updates on recent LED based NTE activities, and describe important design challenges such as etendue match, integration size and power efficiency.