Although Forth Dimension Displays (ForthDD) are recognised as the world’s leading microdisplay supplier to the premium near to eye display market, it is less well known that they successfully supply to a number of high technology companies producing innovative,leading edge applications in markets not generally associated with microdisplays. One such company is Sensofar-Tech of Barcelona, Spain.
Sensofar-Tech is a multi-national spin-off company from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) whose mission is to be successful by producing and commercializing optical metrology tools and providing consultancy within the field of the optical metrology, effectively using the philosophies of high quality, advanced techniques and accurate customer services.
One of Sensofar’s most successful products is the PLµ 2300 imaging profiler which combines both confocal and interferometry techniques in a single sensor head – an attribute which is unique to Sensofar’s product. The advantage of this dual technique is that it covers the highest number of measurable surfaces by combining a low magnification interferential objective (from 2.5X to 50X) with a high magnification confocal objective (from 10X to 200X) in a single tool.
At the heart of each Sensofar PLµ 2300 you will find a microdisplay manufactured by Forth Dimension Displays.
The SXGA microdisplay is just part of the enabling technology required by the PLµ 2300 and the integration of a microdisplay technology into the application could only be achieved by a company who had in-depth knowledge of their own IP and access to the microdisplay driver algorithms and timings.
ForthDD Engineering Manager Calum Dewar explained “the Sensofar application is quite different from a near to eye system or any other traditional microdisplay application. The fundamental operation of the microdisplay had to be radically altered to perform to the specification that Sensofar demanded. By working closely with Sensofar engineers and listening to their requirements, we were able to deliver to this need in a timely and cost effective manner”.
The next step for ForthDD and Sensofar is the integration of the forthcoming SXGA-3DM product. European Sales Manager Dave Vettese continued “When the SXGA-3DM specification consultancy exercise concluded and the SXGA-3DM product was conceived, I had one question: will it work for Sensofar? Our engineers immediately replied with a ‘yes'”.
Sensofar will be one of the first companies to receive the SXGA-3DM when it is made available later this year. The 3DM product will continue to offer the exact timings and algorithms which are special to the Sensofar requirement but will also give the added benefit of a small simple microdisplay system without the video interface (superfluous to Sensofar) with triggers and signals to ensure complete synchronisation of the microdisplay with the Sensofar system.
The future for Sensofar and ForthDD will no doubt be linked by a common intention to achieve success through providing innovative solutions. By providing the SXGA-3DM ForthDD will continue to be at the heart of the Sensofar product.
