News
Panorama Labs' Breakthrough Technologies to Brighten the Future of Digital Entertainment
NEW YORK-(Business Wire)-February 20, 2007 - Panorama Labs, the company pioneering digital entertainment technologies, announced today that it has achieved significant breakthroughs in the areas of magneto-optics and fiber-device technology that promise to revolutionize the way images are projected and displayed. Panorama Labs' technologies will dramatically improve the quality and economics for a wide range of existing product categories, from large-area flat-panel displays to theatrical and consumer projectors, head-mounted "virtual reality" goggles, and handheld electronic games.
New Speed Record
Because Panorama Labs' magneto-photonic technology uses sub-wavelength, nano-scale structures to directly switch pixel brightness, the switching speed is in the region of 15 nanoseconds—1,000 times faster than current technologies such as plasma and DLP, and one million times faster than LCD. This not only improves image quality due to a wider range of grey scale and elimination of motion artifacts, but is also important for anti-piracy efforts and 3-D video.
The most significant impact of the increased switching speed—in sheer dollar value—may be in assisting the motion picture industry's campaign against piracy, which generates estimated losses of $9 billion a year. The Panorama Labs technology's fast switching speed is expected to enable manipulation of frame rates and image sequencing, preventing a usable screen image from being captured by camcorders.
"The industry has been crying out for a hardware solution that is faster than, and can run circles around, the CCD chips found in all camcorders. A more nimble shutter speed in a smart digital projector virtually ensures that in-theatre camcorder-pirated films won't see the light of day," said Sutherland Ellwood, founder and chief strategy officer of Panorama Labs. "The software alone is not sufficient to the task, but with our hardware we think the industry will be looking at a 'silver bullet' solution to this major problem."
The switching speed will also dramatically enhance the quality of projection 3-D images, creating an unsurpassed theatrical experience. Panorama Labs technology will be able to project 3-D images at sufficient brightness without requiring that exhibitors install special, expensive screens and without creating an uncomfortable visual experience for the viewer.
New Paradigm for Displays
Panorama Labs' other significant breakthrough is its proprietary method for manufacturing very large and flexible displays. Where other types of flat-screen display—LCD, plasma or OLED—are analogous to a very large computer chip and are very expensive to manufacture, Panorama Labs' approach will create a display from woven optical fibers. This capitalizes on the economies of high-tech, engineered textiles, which have the potential to cut manufacturing costs to a fraction of those for other flat-screen technologies, and to pass much of these savings on to the end user.
This same technology, due to aerospace-type tolerances that enable never-before-seen precision and structural integrity, will allow Panorama Labs to create incredibly robust, flexible displays of virtually any size.
"We are talking with a number of consumer electronics and motion picture-industry companies who are very excited about the new phase of digital entertainment our technology will enable," said Frank Stirling, president of the company's Panorama Entertainment Systems division. "A major transformation is coming soon, and Panorama Labs is driving it."
About Panorama Labs Pty. Ltd.
Panorama Labs Pty. Ltd. develops and commercializes applications of its breakthrough magneto-photonic technology in areas including video display and projection, telecommunications and integrated circuits. The company is led by a management team of technical experts, consumer electronics executives, and entertainment industry veterans. More information about Panorama Labs can be found at their website www.panoramalabs.com.
