International Speedway Corp. this week signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Texas Instruments for its DLP (Digital Light Processing) products. TI's HD will become the "'official" display technology for several motor speedways.
The agreement, which runs through 2008, stipulates that TI will exclusively demonstrate its technology with at-track hospitality, themed advertising, promotion and marketing support.
TI's DLP projection system targets an optical semiconductor known as the Digital Micro-mirror Device (commonly referred to as the DLP chip), which was invented by Texas Instruments in 1987. The chip is a sophisticated light switch that contains a rectangular array of up to 2 million hinge-mounted microscopic mirrors--each of which measuring less than one-fifth the width of a human hair.
When a DLP chip is coordinated with a digital video or graphic signal, a light source and a projection lens, its mirrors reflect an all-digital image onto the screen.
The affected race courses to be equipped with the DLP displays include: Daytona International Raceway; Talladega Superspeedway; Michigan International Raceway; Phoenix International Raceway; Homestead-Miami Speedway; Kansas Speedway; Martinsville Speedway; Watkins Glen International; and Darlington Raceway.
