China-based microLED microdisplay developer JBD launched a new color projector module, branded as Roadrunner I. The company says that this new product achieves smaller pixel size and increased optical efficiency compared to its earlier generation products, translating into a substantial advantage in overall form factor and image performance for full-color AR smart glasses.
The Roadrunner I projector utilizes JBD's latest 10,160 PPI (2.5 um pitch) Hummingbird monochrome microLED microdisplay, that JBD announced two months ago. The display module offers a 25-degrees field of view (FOV) and achieves an angular resolution of up to 32 pixels per degree (PPD), delivering an increase of over 20% relative to previous products from JBD. The Roadrunner I can operate at 480 Hz, an ultra-high refresh rate.
JBD says that in addition to the significant increase in pixel density, the optical system of "Roadrunner I" has been completely re-architected. At a limiting spatial frequency of 200 lp/mm, the modulation transfer function (MTF) at the center of the field still reaches a high level of 0.4, while delivering an ultra-high contrast ratio of 100:1
Built on an X-cube architecture, "Roadrunner I" is engineered down to just 0.2 cubic centimeters in volume and only 0.5 grams in weight. Compared with "Hummingbird I" at the same 640×480 resolution, both volume and weight are reduced by approximately 50%. JBD says that its new project is among the lightest and most compact polychrome projectors in the market. "Roadrunner I" also features deep optimization of the light engine's physical architecture, compressing the total optical path length to 7.8 mm—a 35% reduction from the 11.99 mm of "Hummingbird I".
The projector provides luminous flux of up to 3.2 lumens, with typical operating power consumption of only 90 mW, enabled by the adoption of a 22-nm backplane process on the microLED microdisplays, which reduces backplane power consumption to 18 mW.
