Formovie THEATER is revolutionizing the home entertainment scene with a trailblazing range of Google integrated, voice-operated, smart projectors. The portable projectors which can be set up almost anywhere tender a sleek appearance with their easy-to-use technology, and built-in Chromecast that allows a seamless projection display from most smart devices. But perhaps the most interesting feature is the cinema-level picture quality offered by the crucial integration of the latest ALPD® 4.0 Technology into the projectors.

What Is ALPD® Technology?

Advanced Laser Phosphor Display (ALPD®) is a technology that was created in an attempt to combat the disadvantages of the traditional lamp projector, and LED projectors. Also known as fluorescent laser technology, ALPD® uses a blue laser to excite fluorescent materials and produce more primary colors. Projectors that utilize this technology offer brighter, and more vivid projection displays for an extended period of time.

How Is ALPD® Better?

Projectors have come a long way since the transparent slide and overhead projectors in the biology classes of the 1960s, and have grown to become a flawless mesh of smart technology and state-of-the-art projection display. In order to achieve this, the science behind lighting and the projection of color imagery had to be carefully studied to craft the best solution.

Lamp Light Projectors

The oldest and most common types of projectors make use of a bulb or ultra-high pressure lamp light source. Although reliable, light bulbs take a long time to heat up in order to display an image. Once running, bulbs produce excessive amounts of heat that require cooling fans to prevent overheating. This poses a safety hazard, and noise produced by the fan is easily picked up in small spaces and can cause unwanted disruption. Standard light bulbs used in projectors offer a lifespan of anywhere between 1000-3000 hours, though some are known to last up to 5000 hours. Unlike the light bulb utilized in everyday lighting, projector lamps don’t stop illuminating immediately when they lose power, they instead begin to dim. This causes the color profile to diminish and can result in the reduction of the color gamut of the projector. The combination of these problems results in the need for constant bulb replacements, which can be costly in the long run.

LED Projectors

Due to the extended lifespan of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) in comparison to light bulbs, attempts have been made to adopt LED technology in the production of projectors. These attempts have fallen short of success due to LED’s large Etendue values, and efficiency droop. Large etendue indicates the placement of fewer light diodes in parallel, the result of which is low illumination. An efficiency droop refers to a significant drop in illumination when a current is run through the light. In more simple terms, LED lights aren’t very bright in comparison to the lamp. LED light source projectors are largely unpopular because of their inability to cast images in large rooms, or cinematic settings.

Laser Projectors

Direct laser light projectors have the benefit of being as bright as the ultra-high pressure lamp and can last as long as LED light. Due to the coherent nature of lasers, projectors of this type share the common problem of speckle and limited wavelength capacity. Speckle noise is essentially a disruption to the projection display, in the form of random dark and shiny spots. In addition to this, laser light projectors are costly to acquire.

The Foundation of ALPD® Projectors

Initially developed by Appotronics in 2007, ALPD® 4.0 combines the efficiency of LED light with the desired brightness produced by a lamp, to deliver a high luminance output. The technology has since grown in leaps to develop a more refined projection display by achieving a wider range of luminance and color gamut while remaining cost-efficient. Merging ALPD® 4.0 into an Ultra Short Throw projector provides the added benefit of shielding the eyes against radiation associated with the blue light of liquid crystal display technology (LCD).

The first update to the technology was carried out in 2012 when two significant improvements were made to ALPD® 1.0 to create ALPD® 2.0. The first is an addition of a reflective phosphor wheel that improved the thermal dissipation of excited phosphor. The second improvement to the design increased the efficiency of Lambertian light filtering and essentially madeALPD® 2.0 projectors illuminate brighter than those of the first generation. The most recent update to ALPD® technology is known as ALPD® 4.0, and it combines RGB lasers and phosphors to essentially combat the color gamut limitations previously presented in the use of phosphors alone.

"The Formovie THEATER is an ALDP projector, which stands for Advanced Laser Phosphor Display, which is arguably the most advanced fluorescent laser technology. Laser projection basically has all of the benefits of LED projection - the light source is compact and energy efficient and allows for easier non-standard optical angles, which is precisely what the ultra-short-throw optics on the Formovie THEATER are." - GSMARENA

How does ALPD® 4.0 and ALPD® 3.0 technology differ?

Significant improvements made between the third and fourth generation enable a wider color gamut in ALPD® 4.0 technology products. As such, the high contrast in colors produced reaches cinema standards of 2500:1. ALPD® has made crucial improvements in the way we interact with projectors, be it in cinemas, home entertainment, at the office for work, and even at school. The technology proves to be reliable in helping to create projectors that display a wide color gamut, illuminate brightly, are cost-effective, and can last for longer periods of time.

Final Thoughts

The latest projectors from Formovie THEATER offer the smart-home owner the option to take their entertainment space to the next level with innovative imagery, and up-to-date connectivity and processing systems.