microdisplay

In addition to plasma and LCD television sets (which have an expensive digital panel at the front) there is a third screen called a "microdisplay." This is actually a rear-projection television and is skinnier than other television sets.

There are three main microdisplay types, each uses a different small digital circuit in the rear to generate the picture which is then projected onto the large screen at the front:

• DLP (Digital Light Processing) - uses a special chip loaded with minuscule mirrors;
• LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) - uses a tiny LCD chip;
• LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) - is a hybrid of the two using both liquid crystals and mirrors.