History of Projectors

Do you still remember that when your school teacher lugged out a huge projector to show you overhead images?And also when we are at a very young agem, we are watching movie with a huge projector? When the teacher is setting up the slide-show projector, and all the students in the middle of the room had to move their desks aside; then the big screen had to be set up at the front of the classroom. What a hassle it is! But now, with the development of science, we can see, the industry has created many new technology to make it changed. Through this history of projectors, new technology has definitely achieved its goal. However the projector technology started long before we spent the time in the classroom.
In 1420 the First Projector Was Created
Johannes de Fontana , envisioned in a drawing with the first idea of projecting an image on a surface In 1420. It was a sketch of a monk holding a lantern. In the side of the lantern, there was a small translucent window had an image of a devil holding a lance. The image, probably drawn on a thin sheet of bone, was projected onto a wall by the flame in the lantern. However without a lens, the image on the wall were very blurry.

The first overhead projector was used for police identification work. It adopred a glassine paper roll over a 9-inch stage allowing facial characteristics to be rolled across the stage. The U.S. Army in 1945 was the first to use it in quantity for training as World War II wound down. Then It was began to be widely used in businesses and schools in the late 1950s and early 1960s.


Gradually the Projector Was Improved

The magic lantern of those days looked like a kerosene-fired slide projector. The lantern slides were large, bulky, complex objects, made of glass, paint, wood and metal. Some had built-in mechanical features, such as pulleys and winches, so the lantern’s projected images could be given a very crude version of animation. Some slides could even project complex, constantly-moving screen displays.

The Multimedia Projector Answered the Call

In the mid 1990s, with the hardworking of scientists and engineers, new technology was created that eventually led to the first multimedia projector. The newest technology of the day was digital processing. Applying digital principals to projectors permited the development of digital light processing (DLP). DLP technology, created by Texas Instruments, takes the reflective power of more than 1.3 million microscopic mirrors, and hinges them on a digital micromirror device (DMD) chip. The first DLP projectors produced grainy images, but the technology has greatly improved from then on, and now the brightest images ever can be manufactured in a multimedia machine.

Multimedia Projectors’ Future Seems Bright

Multimedia projectors will be injected with so many technological advancements. And considering let it can be carried everywhere. Right now, there’s no end in sight, at least not in the near future. So what will be coming next?

As the wireless age creeps in, projectors won’t have those bulky VGA cables connecting the projector to your laptop. And, with the onset of PDAs, you’ll soon be able to manage your entire presentation in the palm of your hand. If you use multimedia projectors now, just think of the possibilities then!

Now mini projectors and small projectors are coming out from the market, according to the requirement of the customers, manufactures are trying their best to develop more new and attractive products to cater to the requirement of customers, and also the pocket projector will be a trend in the near future!

Reference: http://cobby2510.vox.com/