<title>Digital Light Processing and MEMS: reflecting the digital display needs of the networked society</title>

Digital video technology is becoming increasingly important to the networked society. The natural interface to digital video is a digital display, one that accepts electrical bits at its input and converts them into optical bits at the output. The digital-to-analog processing function is performed in the mind of the observer. Texas Instruments has developed such a display with its recent market introduction of the Digital Light Processing^TM (DLP^TM) projection display. DLP technology is based on the Digital Micromirror Device^TM (DMD^TM), a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) array of semiconductor-based digital light switches. The DMD switching array precisely controls a light source for projection display and digital printing applications. This paper presents an overview of DLP technology along with the architecture, projection operation, manufacture, and reliability of the DMD. Features of DMD technology that distinguish it from conventional MEMS technology are explored. Finally, the paper provides a view of DLP business opportunities.