It isn't every day that someone figures out how to make a new kind of display. But Prysm is unveiling today its line-up of high-definition screens which can be assembled in snap-together fashion into giant outdoor displays.
These big displays are sharper from all angles and cost less to make than current digital signs. They also consume a lot less energy than the competing LED displays used today. They are ideal for big marquee signs like you see in Las Vegas or Times Square, as well as other places such as malls and stores.
Called Laser Phosphor Displays, these screens are eye-catching. They come in stackable shapes and can be cobbled together to create video walls. From far enough away, the seams between the screens become invisible.
They also consume about 25 percent of the energy of rival LED or LCD screens, said Dana Corey, vice president of global sales and marketing at San Jose, Calif.-based Prysm, in an interview.
"Our goal was to create a screen that didn't have compromises," said Corey (pictured). "We think the first thing we can target is replacing paper signs in outdoor media."
Other display wate light using filters or layers of material that light shines through. But LPD users a blue laser engine (driven by laser diodes) and a surface-emissive phosphor panel. The laser strikes the phosphor, energizing it and creating red, blue or green light. Light then emerges on a panel, much like the way a laser printer creates images on paper. In this case, the laser creates images on a screen. The images are flicker-free and don't have motion blur. An 80-inch screen uses about 100 watts of power, compared to for a comparable LCD screen.
The good thing about the displays is that you don't need a multibillion dollar factory to make them. Prysm is making its own displays at a small plant in Concord, Mass. And the screens require no toxic chemicals in their manufacture. Today, the company can assemble a 100-inch screen from smaller 25-inch diagonal displays that are 12 inches deep.
Right now, the company is targeting the digital sign market, which is getting bigger as retailers try harder to grab the attention of sensory-number shoppers. Eventually, Prysm will try to figure out how to make the screens cheap enough for commercial purposes. Today, the 40-inch screens have to be at least four inches thick. That width doesn't really work in the age of flat-panel TVs, at least as far as consumers are concerned.
But the screens have a lot of advantages, including a 180-degree viewing angle. That means you can view them from the side, whereas other screens start to fade if you aren't looking at them head on. The company can build larger screens using tiles that are 320 pixels wide by 240. With 30 tiles, you can create a 142-inch screen with high-definition resolution. At its headquarters, Prysm showed a working screen that was 50 inches diagonal, consuming 116 watts. The same-size LED screen consumed 600 watts. In technical parlance, the screens have a brightness of 800 nits, an optical seam of .25 millimeters, and a refresh rate of 240 hertz. Translation: They are bright, the seams between the screens are tiny, and the screens are fast.
Prysm is a pretty big enterprise. It was founded in 2005 by chief executive Amit Jain and chief technology officer Roger Hajjar. Jain was chief executive of Bigbear Networks, while Hajjar was an executive at Avanex. The company came out of stealth in January.
Prysm has 120 employees and has raised $75 million, with $44 million of that raised in February. Investors include Yatin Mundkur of Artiman Ventures in Palo Alto and Tim Wilson of Partech International. (Other investors will be disclosed later).
Rivals include makers of LED screens, projection screens, and plasma displays. Those include companies such as Lighthouse, NEC, Samsung, Christie Digital and Orion. Prysm has applied for 125 patents and around 15 or so have been issued.
