(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| Canon Unveils Eyeglass Display with Upgraded Image Quality
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March 2, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Canon Inc. said it will start marketing an eyeglass-type,
head-mounted display with enhanced image quality in late March.
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Canon's new GT270 display lets users enjoy a virtual viewing level of
a 52-in. TV set two meters in front of the viewer. It complies with
the National Television System Committee (NTSC) format. It is connectable
to game machines, video and DVD players and camcorders. The price will
be 85,000 yen.
Sony Corp.'s PLM-A55, priced at 77,000 yen, and Olympus Optical Co.,
Ltd.'s Eye-Trek FMD011F, priced at 65,000 yen, are similar products
already on the market.
Canon claims its GT270 has higher image quality than the competitive
companies. It uses liquid-crystal displays with 270,000 pixels compared
to the 180,000 pixels used in the other products.
Unlike Sony's concave mirror system, Canon adopts free-curved surface
prisms, an optical system similar to Olympus' Eye-Trek series. It offers
brightness four times as much as that of the concave mirror optical
system, company officials said.
The display has a function to preset its brightness, sharpness and sound
volume for images to be displayed. Users can select four modes -- standard,
movie, animation and outdoor. Users also can enjoy their own presetting,
using the additional manual mode, company officials said.
A super-elastic titanium alloy is used for the frame with pads for the
head rest. The distance between the prism and the eye is large enough
to enable the viewer to use it while wearing eyeglasses. It also has
a tilt-up mechanism to enable the viewer to look at the outside quickly,
in case of necessity.
The display weighs about 150g, and its control unit weighs about 90g
without batteries. Domestic AC power source is available, as well as
the optional, 9,500-yen battery pack BP-915 designed for video cameras.
Canon plans its monthly output will reach 2,000 units.
(BizTech News Dept.)
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