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Thread: Celluon PicoBit review

  1. #1
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    Default Celluon PicoBit review

    This little projector uses what's called a laser beam steering projection system to generate 720p video from 5 laser diodes (2 red, 1 blue, 2 green). The projection system is by Microvision and modified by Sony to get some more brightness. Advertised as 65 ANSI lumens but looks closer to around 300 lumens from a LED pico projector. This kind of makes sense because of the coherent nature of the projection and how the image is generated. The beam goes from top to bottom in a zigzag fashion 60 times per second thanks to a micromirror which I believe is tilted by an electric magnet.

    The projector is tiny even in the pico projector standards, slightly smaller than my Galaxy S8 but twice the thickness. Still fits easily in my pocket.

    The image quality is excellent, zero to none screendoor effect and hardly noticeable scanlines. Since the image is generated by moving a laser spot around it has no need for focusing.

    The non laser stuff: comes with full Android OS, microHDMI port, wifi screen sharing, builting media viewer and web browser, microSD card reader, USB-C port for charging and aux port.
    Automatic keystone correction feature which works pretty well.
    Top of the screen is a touchpad for controlling the mouse cursor.
    The case is made from aluminum except the top which is probably plastic.
    Honestly I think if they just went with plastic case and not put an actual Android and touchpad on it they could make it more affordable. The AAXA M6 LED pico projector costs as much and is advertised as 1200 lumens and 1080p.

    Anyway, this is how the projection looks like:
    Click image for larger version. 

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    This is exactly how it looks to the eyes except the two bright lines caused by the camera's CMOS sensor.
    In the dark I enjoy projecting movies at 100'' on my cream color ceiling. At this point it starts getting dim.
    Contrast advertised as 80,000:1, not sure why not infinity to 1 since its a modulating beam moving around.

    On the bottom of the projector there's info about the lasers used.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    170mW red, 165nW blue, 100mW green. You might guess which diodes they use. Since there's two reds and greens my bet is they used waveplates to get from revious 35 lumens to 65.

    Cons: no zoom. Always in focus is cool but fixed zoom kinda zeroes it out.
    Laser generated image is grainy, very subtle but noticeable.

    I contacted PicoPro and they have plans of releasing a 80 lumen version of the engine in Q4 of 2018 but it will still be 720p.

    Conclusion: if you need a truly pocket video projector than this is probably the best option right now. 30,000 lamp hours is more than I'll probably ever use it. If you want 100'' or more screen and don't mind a projector not fitting your pocket you'll probably be better off with a bigger but brighter and cheaper LED pico projector as at those sizes its just not bright enough even at pitch black.

    From a laserist perspective it's nice to see such a polished and high quality product. it's also sad to see so few companies (just Sony and Celluon?) using the technology. Also sad to see it falling behind LED alternatives both in resolution and brightness. Still not sure why Microvision is only interested in such tiny pico projectors and doesn't release a bigger but brighter version of their projection system. Competition's projectors are mainly much bigger, at least twice the size, so I don't get the reasoning of only sticking with the smallest design they can get away with.
    But in this size category I believe it beats any led pico's ass.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    PS. I payed too much to be comfortable disassembling it, sorry.
    Last edited by Yerkat; 10-10-2017 at 12:56.

  2. #2
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    Default

    Thanks for the review I've been looking at those for a long time. What is the cost?

    I had thought to stack two sets of the dtr rgb packs via a prism to double the output. They might do the same. The first double is mirror free but aligning not so free.

  3. #3
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    Nice review. Here's a pic of a holographic despeckler I built while working at a previous company. We used electrically switchable holograms to remove the speckle from such a laser pico projector. It worked, but now well enough.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eidetic View Post
    Nice review. Here's a pic of a holographic despeckler I built while working at a previous company. We used electrically switchable holograms to remove the speckle from such a laser pico projector. It worked, but now well enough.
    Interesting. If you think it can be made to work good enough you might want to contact Microvision about working with them or selling/licensing your design. http://www.microvision.com/careers/

    I was considering using their pico engine in my own product in the future and am waiting for a higher resolution and brighter version engine from them. if speckle was reduced it would be even better even if it increased the cost of each unit. Personally I like the speckle effect but objectively it's not what most users would prefer.

    Quote Originally Posted by kecked View Post
    Thanks for the review I've been looking at those for a long time. What is the cost?
    It cost me $430. Shipping to US is free, you can also choose DHL if you want.
    Sony's pico projector MP-CL1A also using the Microvision laser beam steering projection system is 35 ansi lumens compared to 63 on this one and costs $400.
    You can also buy the projection system with a controller board from Microvision directly and it costs a little over $400 but is also 35 lumens vs 63. I believe Sony modified the original Microvision design to add more diodes to boost the brightness and sold the design or OEM units to Celluon and are yet to release their own 63 lumen pico projector.
    Microvision used to sell their own consumer version pico projectors but I think they are all discontinued.
    I got the PicoBit one myself to get a better idea what to expect from Microvisions upcoming 80 lumen version projection engine.

    Keep in mind the projection engine includes the micromirror (around 1mm diameter) in it, if you want to modify it and remove the mirror and use a galvo scanner I guess you could do that but with the existing controller board you'd still only be able to control the modulation via a HDMI or VGA video signal. Unless you also want to resolder the diodes in which case I guess it might work. From the diagrams I've seen the diodes aren't ordinary 5.6mm barrel shaped diodes but are mounted directly to a pcb.
    Last edited by Yerkat; 10-13-2017 at 10:03.

  5. #5
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    The internals should be quite similar to Sonys model disassembled here: http://www.chipworks.com/about-chipw...ony-bring-pico
    In the article you can also find a macro photo of the tiny mirror. As I had assumed the movement is controlled by magnets.


    Sadly the 720p (right now) is unusable for my application. I really need 1080p. If anyone knows of OEM 1080p pico projection engines please let me know. AAXA has one but its 1000 lumens which is way more than I need and for that reason it is maybe a bit too bulky and heavy for my project.

  6. #6
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    It looks impressive from all aspects except the brightness capability. I doubt that it will not perform well in a well-lit room... Have you used it in a bright environment? Please let me know.

    Thanks

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