NEC Display Solutions Adopts Xilinx FPGAs for 3D-Capable Cinema Projectors

DLP Cinema projectors comply with the U.S. Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI(1)) standard, including a host of security features, and can adapt to a wide range of input signals. The systems faithfully reproduce input sources, with both high-resolution and high-contrast requirements, incorporating Texas Instruments' high-resolution 2K (2,048 × 1,080 dot) DLP Cinema(R) chips. The Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA family reduces the design cost of peripheral devices by providing interfaces for all required standards (HD-SDI, 3G-SDI) plus SerDes (serializer-deserializer) in a single chip. Thus, the Virtex-5 FPGA helps reduce overall system costs while enabling advanced performance, including communication via a high-speed Ethernet interface.

NEC Display Solutions has commercialized three models in the DCP Cinema Projector, including: the NC3200S for screen sizes up to 32m in width, the NC2000C (20m) and NC1200C (12m)(2), with capability for the recent fast-growing 3D content. The three models are capable of projecting all existing 3D video content. The company has started shipments in stages.

NEC Display Solutions is active in the digital cinema business in Japan and overseas, with DLP Cinema(R) Projectors as our core products, says Atsushi Kuroda, head of projector development at NEC Display Solutions. Sophisticated performance is required of projectors in this market segment, but since they are not mass-produced like consumer electronics products, we considered using FPGAs instead of ASICs right from the start, to achieve superior performance while keeping development costs down. A major factor that led us to select Xilinx FPGAs is that they offer a range of high-speed interfaces on a single chip, making superior performance possible at low cost.

We are delighted to be able to contribute toward 3D technology in the movie business as a result of NEC Display Solutions selecting Virtex-5 for its DLP Cinema(R) projectors, added Sam Rogan, president and representative director of Xilinx K.K. The Virtex-5 family has been highly rated in the industry, with sales exceeding $100 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2010--a record figure for an FPGA product. Xilinx FPGAs offer a number of features that customers require on a single chip and a platform that integrates development environments, allowing customers to concentrate on differentiating their products.

NEC Display Solutions used Xilinx FPGAs from the prototype-making stage of the DLP Cinema(R) Projector, selecting the Virtex-5 LXT for volume production. The Virtex-5 LXT provides video interfaces with devices via four SDI I/O ports, gigabit Ethernet, and low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS); and high-speed interfaces compliant with several standards, including one for DDR2 memory. It uses the Xilinx Reference Design for the video process. Technical support provided by sales agent Paltek Corporation has also been well received.

Demand for DLP Cinema(R) Projectors is forecast to increase amid aggressive expansion of multiscreen cinema complexes in the movie business and outlook for strong growth of 3D content.