Kopin to Develop Future Force Warrior Displays

TAUNTON, Mass., March 2 -- Kopin Corp. announced today a $3.2 million Department of Defense contract to develop ultrahigh-resolution color microdisplays for the US Army's future force warrior (FFW) program and other applications for soldiers.

The FFW program's goal is to reduce the weight and power consumption of soldiers' equipment and uniforms using miniaturized electronics, wireless communications, nanotextiles and ultralow-power communications systems.

Under the two-year FFW development program, Kopin will deliver the CyberDisplay 1280 CF MVA, an enhanced full-color version of its monochrome CyberDisplay 1280 active matrix liquid crystal display. The display will allow soldiers to view battlefield information through a head-mounted unit. Smaller than a postage stamp, the 1280 CF MVA provides a full-size, ultrawide-angle HDTV-quality image. With 1280x1024 (x3) SXGA resolution, or nearly 4 million color sub-pixels, the new microdisplay will be the highest density color display of that size, Kopin said. Kopin also said it will develop a black LCD to provide soldiers with a high-contrast display for night vision.

"The 1280 CF MVA technology is ideal for combining high-resolution night vision and thermal imagery with situational awareness data and full-color digital maps," said Mike Presz, vice president of Kopin's Visual Products Group. "The black, high-contrast image from the 1280 CF MVA, combined with the ultrawide viewing angle, makes this display ideal for lightweight, low power head-mounted displays for our soldiers of the future."

For more information, visit: www.kopin.com