Projectors & Presentation
3LCD Vs. DLP Projector
by Solomon Poretsky
Most business projectors use one of two technologies. digital light processing projectors make an image by reflecting or deflecting light with microscopic mirrors. Projectors with three liquid crystal display panels direct light through a small version of a flat screen TV, coloring the light and generating an image. Both technologies have advantages and drawbacks.
How 3LCD Works
3LCD projectors use a prism to separate the light from their bulb into its red, green and blue components. Each part of the light passes through an LCD panel that shows the image for that color. The projector then recombines the light into a single full-color image and projects it through the lens.
How DLP Works
DLP projectors bounce the light from the bulb off of a special chip with one mirror for each pixel. The reflected image from the chip then passes through a color wheel that tints it. This process happens thousands of times per second, alternating between a red image, a blue one, a green one, a black one and a white one. Because the image changes so quickly, viewers perceive it as a solid moving image.