CES and the promise of falling micro-display prices

One of our takeaway from the recent Consumer Electronics Show was that micro-display prices will be dropping nicely in 2012, which is good news for anyone clamoring for high-quality HMDs at lower costs. As I wrote previously, the cost of micro-displays has a big impact on the final cost of HMDs, so a substantial reduction if costs can allow companies to reduce prices on HMDs in the hope of reaching a broader market.

At CES, both on and off the show floor we saw evidence of micro-display prices coming down, both with new companies offering micro-display solutions, existing companies presenting 720p or higher solutions at affordable costs, or very large companies professing their ability to use large-screen technology to create economical micro-displays.

I believe all of these trends would also create downward price pressure on the established micro-display providers like Kopin/4DD and eMagin, unless they want to focus on higher-end military-type solutions.

At the same time, companies like Sensics are going beyond the traditional "an HMD is a microdisplay plus a lens" paradigm to offer smarter goggles and extra features. This combination of reduced component costs and valuable capabilities should make for a fascinating 2012.