DLP (Digital Light Processing)

What is DLP? #

The acronym DLP stands for Digital Light Processing. Digital Light Processing (DLP®) technology was created by Texas Instruments for use in video projectors and works by reflecting light from moving microscopic mirror panels called Digital Micro Mirror Chips (DMD). A DMD chip is made up of millions of tiny mirrors, each of which acts as a single reflective pixel in the resolution of the projected image.

Around 85% of video projectors are DLP projectors. A native Full HD resolution image is made up of 1080 horizontal lines each containing 1920 pixels. By the same measure, a DLP projector with Full HD resolution would use either 1 or 3 DMD chips (higher-quality projectors use three chips, one each for the Red, Green and Blue color signals) made up of 1080 rows of mirrors, with each row containing 1920 microscopic mirrors.

The DLP advantage #

The advantage of this all-digital system is that it consistently offers better light efficiency and color control in comparison to any other projection technology. This is because each individual pixel is controlled for a smoother, cleaner image since the space between the mirrors on a DMD is so small. Because all the light is reflected out of the projector, DLP projectors also offer higher brightness from smaller units and consequently use less power.