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Texas Instruments

Corning’s breadth of capabilities helps Texas Instruments make light work of projection systems.

The Challenge

Texas Instruments’ (TI) 1987 invention of DLP® technology had become a perfect prospect for wide-scale commercialization by 2003, just as consumers began expecting spectacular viewing images at every turn. DLP devices, which employ up to two million microscopic, hinge-mounted mirrors, had particular potential in large applications like professional and home-theater projection display systems. In scaling up production, TI needed a high-quality supplier for the wafer-thin optical windows that protect the DLP mirror array while enabling them to manipulate light signals. Moreover, as TI set its sights on the consumer market, controlling costs was of paramount importance.

The Breakthrough

Corning looked beyond the small glass window and saw the opportunity to apply even more of its innovation and manufacturing expertise to the DLP challenge. Each optical window—barely bigger than a postage stamp—needed a patterned optical coating and a hermetically sealed metal frame.

With Corning’s wide range of optical, thermal, chemical and wavelength-management capabilities, coupled with strength in manufacturing, it was able to offer TI the advantage of a single source for all the process steps for the optical window: creating the glass, cutting, polishing, lithography, coating, glass-to-metal sealing and more.

The Impact

TI’s DLP technology, providing an ideal combination of contrast, color and brightness at an affordable price, now has a significant share of the market for front projectors around the world.

During 2007, DLP Cinema® technology also became the standard for movie theaters throughout the world, and is currently deployed on more than 6,000 movie screens.