Texas Instruments

Almost no exhibitor buys anything from Texas Instruments, and almost every exhibitor depends on it completely. The DLP Cinema chip — a digital micromirror device, a semiconductor carrying millions of individually hinged mirrors — is what actually forms the image in a Barco, Christie or NEC projector. TI invented it, TI is the sole commercial manufacturer, and the cinema-grade chips are sold only to a handful of licensed partners.

That is an unusual market structure and it explains things exhibitors otherwise find puzzling. It is why the three main projector manufacturers have such similar specifications. It is why resolution and contrast improve across all brands at roughly the same time. And it is why the projector market consolidated to three players rather than fragmenting: you cannot enter it without a chip supply agreement.

The cinema-class devices come in a 0.98-inch 4K format and a larger 1.38-inch variant, and TI reports DLP running in excess of 60,000 cinema screens worldwide.

Filmgrail has no commercial relationship with Texas Instruments and this listing is not an endorsement. It is here because a cinema evaluating its supply chain should be able to see the whole of it in one place. Details change — check anything decision-critical with the supplier.