QuickLogic introduces Background Color Compensator (BCC) technology for Pico Projectors

The folks at QuickLogic, creators of low power Customer Specific Standard Products (CSSPs) say that they are proud to announce the availability of a new Proven System Block (PSB) called the Background Color Compensator (BCC).   This technology allows pico projected-content to be correctly viewed on projected surfaces of various colors.  

Editor’s Note: On the one hand this is of interest to me because I have a Pico Projector; on the other hand it’s of academic interest to me only because I don’t have this technology in my Pico Projector; and on the other (other) hand it is of interest because soon just about every handheld device linkenext-generation smartphones and iPads will have Pico Projectors in them, in which case we can only hope they also incorporate this technology (phew!)

Hard-mounted projectors, such as those found in movie theatres and conference rooms, nearly always project onto a white screen.  Accordingly, these projectors are tuned assuming a white surface.  The mobile nature of pico projectors means that they can project anywhere, whether it be on the tan background of an airline seat or the red wall of a living room.  Without accommodating for the different background colors, the user may experience viewing issues such as inaccurate color reproduction and reduced contrast.

QuickLogic’s BCC technology gathers projected surface color characteristics either from
an on-system color light sensor or user-provided data and modifies the projected content through an on-chip proprietary color balancing algorithm.  Additionally, BCC is tightly coupled with QuickLogic’s Visual Enhancement Engine (VEE) technology, which allows the color-compensated video to be further enhanced to provide the highest ‘effective lumens,’ critical to the user’s viewing experience.


According to the Pacific Media Associates 2011 Pico Projector Manufacturer Survey, the pico projector market is forecasted to grow from 2.8 million units in 2011 to over 58 million units in 2015. “As the pico projector market moves to mass adoption in smartphones and tablets, we believe our slate of unique technologies including BCC and VEE will enable QuickLogic to be a partner of choice for system designers and OEMs,” said Paul Karazuba, senior product marketing manager for QuickLogic.  “These technologies directly address important user experience issues, and adopters can be assured they are providing their customers the best possible experience available.”

Availability
QuickLogic’s BCC and VEE technologies (based on the iridix core from Apical Limited) are available today as part of the ArcticLink II VX2 and VX4 platforms and soon in the recently announced ArcticLink III VX6 family of platforms.

Contact QuickLogic at info@quicklogic.com or visit www.quicklogic.com/bcc  for more information.

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