A long time ago, the machine you’re using to read this article would’ve been large enough to fill an entire room. Moore’s Law dictates that as time goes on, processing power increases and physical size decreases. Just as this applies to the smartphone in your hand or the PC on your desk, this also applies to Virtual Reality headsets and display technologies.
Meet Kopin. Kopin manufactures what they call OLED microdisplays. These are essentially tiny OLED screens with huge resolution numbers. Their “Lightning” microdisplays, for instance, boast 2048 x 2048 resolution (per eye) at a 120 Hz refresh rate. This is well beyond the HTC Vive’s 1080 x 1200 per-eye resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate…and it’s smaller. Much smaller.
To demonstrate their microdisplay technology, Kopin unveiled their Elf VR headset at E3 2017 last year, to much positive feedback. Our friends at Road To VR certainly took to it– at half the weight and twice the resolution of competing headsets, that’s not a big surprise.
While Elf VR looks to be a successful headset in its own right when it releases, don’t be surprised if you see Kopin’s remarkable microdisplays elsewhere. Next-gen Vive, Rift and Mixed Reality headsets may well choose to license Kopin’s industry-leading microdisplays. Since Kopin’s going to be at CES 2018, there’s a fair chance that a partnership like this may have already happened.
If you want to be the first to know, stay tuned to VR World for all the latest Virtual Reality news. Also, comment below and let us know: what do you think of Kopin’s OLED microdisplay technology?
