Breaking the Japanese monopoly, the ultra-short-focus optical lens developed by "Shengyang Optics" has achieved mass production | Early-stage project
Written by Zhang Zhuoqian
Edited by Yuan Silai
In recent years, the popularity of projection devices has been on the rise. Users not only expect a convenient installation of a home theater in the living room and an unobstructed viewing experience, but also have higher expectations for using large projection screens for entertainment, work, and learning in different spaces such as cars, cafes, kitchens, and studies. However, traditional projectors require a long projection distance, which has become a major obstacle to the expansion of their application scenarios. The ultra-short-throw lens, with its short projection distance and suitability for small spaces, has become the first choice for many manufacturers to expand the application scenarios of projections.
Since 2012, when Ricoh Japan introduced the second-generation ultra-short-throw lens technology, more than 60% of the global ultra-short-throw projection industry market share has been monopolized by it for a long time. Despite the efforts of many global optical companies such as Sony, Epson, Leica, LG, Samsung, Coretronic... and others in researching the technology of ultra-short-throw lenses over the years, they have not been able to bypass Ricoh's patents. Even Hisense Group, the pioneer of the laser TV (a sub-category of ultra-short-throw projection), uses Ricoh's patented products for the ultra-short-throw lenses in the laser TVs it researches, develops, and manufactures. The remaining market share is often occupied by Ricoh's imitations.
Shenzhen Shengyang Optical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shengyang Optical"), which 36Kr recently got in touch with, is an ultra-short-throw optical enterprise that has broken through the global patent restrictions of Ricoh Japan and become one of the only two global suppliers. "Shengyang Optical" was established in 2020, focusing on the R & D, production, and sales of ultra-short-throw lenses. Its products can be applied to new optical display terminals such as projections, automotive displays, IoT hardware displays, AR/VR, etc.
After four years of research and development, in September 2024, Shengyang Optical's ultra-short-throw lenses based on its independent patented technology began mass production and delivery, and it started to deliver ultra-short-throw lenses to several of the world's top 10 automotive groups and well-known electronics groups. Li Wenzong, the founder of "Shengyang Optical", told 36Kr, "At present, the imaging quality of our products has reached the same level as that of Ricoh Japan. Moreover, we not only achieved domestic substitution, but also exceeded Ricoh in technical level. We have reduced the volume of the ultra-short-throw lens by about 15%." The reduction in volume also provides a feasible solution for ultra-short-throw projections to enter the narrow space of a car and be embedded in various household appliances.
The core of the ultra-short-throw projection industry chain is concentrated in the optical engine, and the optical engine has three core components: chips, light sources, and ultra-short-throw lenses. The use of ultra-short-throw lenses can make better use of small spaces, shortening the projection distance of traditional projectors from two to three meters to twenty to thirty centimeters, and the projection image size that previously required a larger space to display can be completed by simply adhering to the wall.
"Shengyang Optical" has its own independent intellectual property rights for ultra-short-throw lens patents, with the "Inverse-axis Ultra-short-throw Optical Architecture" patent technology. The patented architecture of "Shengyang Optical", in the design, not only adopts the traditional optical imaging technology, but also utilizes the computational optical imaging technology. Based on the new geometric discipline invented by the world's most renowned Chinese-American mathematics professor, it can more accurately calculate and optimize the distortion in the optical system to ensure that the lens can minimize the distortion to the greatest extent during the imaging process.
"Shengyang Optical" Products
The simple and compact lens structure is the key to realizing the expanded application scenarios of ultra-short-throw projections. The products developed by "Shengyang Optical" are more than 15% smaller in size compared to similar products, with a more concise appearance and better portability. "This is a completely new optical design. The assembly difficulty is reduced, and the product consistency can be better guaranteed. It is easy to mass-produce, with a high product yield and a relatively low cost," Li Wenzong introduced.
Currently, the ultra-short-throw lens products of "Shengyang Optical" are divided into four series: L16, L23, L47, and L39. According to the different throw ratios (TR), they can support various different display application scenarios. "The L16 series is currently the smallest ultra-short-throw projection lens in the world, with a throw ratio (TR) ranging from 0.17 to 0.29. It can not only enable the ultra-short-throw lens to be embedded in smart IoT products such as household appliances, but also make the overall volume of the ultra-short-throw projection only as large as a power bank, becoming a large-screen projection that can be carried around for PPT presentations, movie watching, and office processing," Li Wenzong told 36Kr. In addition to the ultra-short-throw lens products, "Shengyang Optical" and its downstream partners also provide solutions for optical engines and complete machines for customers.
"We believe that the in-vehicle optical display market will experience explosive growth in the future. In the current wave of automotive intelligence, users' demand for intelligent experiences is increasing. And the ultra-short-throw lens has many applications in in-vehicle displays, such as the integrated in-vehicle theater with a curtain and projection, panoramic HUD, panoramic exterior light carpet, and transparent window displays, etc.," Li Wenzong introduced. Currently, the in-vehicle optical display is the core application scenario of the ultra-short-throw lens of "Shengyang Optical". For example, the application of the ultra-short-throw lens in the in-vehicle theater solves the pain points of traditional LCD TVs being too heavy and difficult to install, as well as long-throw projections being prone to hitting the head, having an incorrect viewing position, and being difficult to install through the integrated design of the curtain and projection.
Currently, "Shengyang Optical" has two production bases. One is a 1,000-square-meter production workshop in Shenzhen, and the other is a 4,000-square-meter factory building in Nanxun that is under construction. After "Shengyang Optical" began mass production and delivery in September last year, in just over three months, the order amount has exceeded 40 million RMB. Previously, "Shengyang Optical" has completed two rounds of financing. Currently, it is undergoing the third round, and the funds from this round of financing are mainly used for capacity expansion.
In terms of the team, "Shengyang Optical" currently has more than 40 employees. The core team comes from companies such as Hisense, Taiwan Industrial Technology Research Institute, and Konka, with more than twenty years of R & D and management experience in the optical industry. Dr. Li Wenzong, the founder, once developed the world's first laser TV and served as the deputy technical director of Hisense Laser TV and the director of the "Laser Display Institute of the National Key Laboratory of Digital Multimedia Technology in China".