Number 302 (Story #3), January 8, 1997 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein DIGITAL MIRRORS .Texas Instruments has developed a digital micromirror device (DMD), basically a planar array of thousands of tiny, independently-steerable mirrors. Each pixel in the device consists of a mirror (only 16 microns across) mounted on a hinged platform. A signal sent to an electrode makes the mirror tilt forward or backward; a beam of light aimed at the pixel is thereby reflected toward a viewing screen or scattered into oblivion. This compact, fully digital form of optical switch is not yet available in a commercial product, but it may have advantages over liquid crystals in large projection display systems. (Physics World, December 1996.)