Tech Convergence Will Spur Demand for New ADAS Technology

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Hi everyone!

I was really keen to see these two press releases as they give a lot of insight into some of the things that are happening at Microvision and the bigger picture that's pulling light source suppliers into mass production of lasers that would be suitable for full color Microvision displays at a very low cost.

Mitsubishi plans to have their Laser TV on the market within two years. According to the press release, Laser TV offers image quality that surpasses LCD and Plasma panels. So, I think it stands to reason that if Mitsubishi is going to full production of Laser TV in 2008, then many other manufacturers are sure to follow. This is hugely important to the arrival of low cost light sources suitable for Microvision displays.

The question about light sources to power things like the MicroHUD, PicoP and Color Eyewear has been how to get them mass produced so that the costs come down dramatically. Now it's not just Microvision's applications that are providing the demand for light source manufacturers to start churning out next generation laser light sources. It's TV manufacturers.

This is HUGE for this company. The widespread availability of low cost light sources will enable Microvision's applications to come down in price, which opens new market opportunities by itself; and it reduces risk to OEM companies who may be considering partnering with MVIS to incorporate the Integrated Photonics Module (IPM) in any given product.

With the arrival of Novalux NECSEL light sources, Microvision was able to create the PicoP: "According to Greg Niven, Novalux vice president of marketing, "In the past, laser-based projectors have been limited by the constraints of green lasers—typically the only green option was a diode-pumped solid-state unit. With NECSEL technology, we can now produce an inexpensive, compact green source ideal for this application."

This adds up to something really significant. Cheap laser light sources in miniature package sizes are coming online due to market demand beyond Microvision itself. Big, powerful companies like Mitsubishi are now on record saying that full production of Laser TV is a go for 2008. This means that there will be competition among light source suppliers like Corning, OSRAM and Novalux to provide the cheapest, brightest, smallest, most efficient lasers in red, green and blue.

This means cheaper prices and wide new markets for MVIS products, less risk for potential OEM partners and a clearer path to the fruition of the MVIS-inside vision.

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