Audio Video News

Brillian Corporation is making waves among the HDTV elite with its first-ever rear projection monitor, a 65"-diagonal widescreen unit with exceptional specifications—among them a 160-degree viewing angle and 2000:1 contrast ratio. At the heart of the new BR6501m/I are three 1280x720 microdisplays, the latest in the company's patent-pending Gen II LCoS line.

The BR6501m/l generated plenty of buzz the last week of May at the Society for Information Display (SID) conference held in Seattle. The monitor is Brillian's first television product; the SID show was its official debut. Only 20" deep, the BR6501m/I delivers ultra high-rez images with glitch-free motion, and incorporates what observers described as an excellent audio system. An expansion port on the back of the unit allows use of CableCards, an external ATSC tuner, and other options.

The BR6501m/I is the first in a series of 720p and 1080p HD monitors from Brillian. The set should be available in OEM versions later this year. It exceptional picture quality is due to its Gen II LCoS active-matrix-driven liquid crystal displays, each of which has approximately one million, 12-micron-square picture elements, each capable of displaying more than 256 gray levels. With a screen sourced from Japan's Toppan, the BR6501m/I delivers bright images by rejecting ambient light even in brightly lit rooms, a characteristic said by the manufacturer to be ideal for home-theater applications. The monitor has exceptional grayscale detail at all brightness levels, even in the darkest scenes, and its fast response time and high fill factor eliminate grain, and any rainbow, moir, or "screen door" effects.

Brillian's marketing strategy is to supply 720p and 1080p monitors and televisions to brand name OEMs, as well as to retailers seeking a private label product. The design of the basic chassis makes it easy to add customized features, according to a Brillian announcement. "By offering a total system solution, rather than simply selling components, Brillian believes its high-end HDTVs can enter the consumer market more rapidly and at attractive price/performance levels," the announcement stated.

In addition to the new monitor, Brillian has announced its BR1080HC microdisplay, a 0.72"-diagonal, 1920x1200 LCoS panel with the company's proprietary Gen II technology. Each Brillian BR1080HC microdisplay contains more than 2.3 million pixels for rear-projection HDTV applications that demand the highest broadcast resolution available. Each pixel in the BR1080HC is only 8.1 micron square; the dense pixel packing is said to allow delivery of unprecedented high-definition images.