Mobile projector is an emerging technology that applies the use of a projector in a handheld device. It is a response to the emergence of compact portable devices such as mobile phones, "Personal digital assistant" personal digital assistants, and digital cameras, which have sufficient storage capacity to handle presentation materials but little space to accommodate an attached display screen. Handheld projectors involve miniaturized hardware and software that can project digital images onto any nearby viewing surface, such as a wall. The system comprises four main parts: the electronics, the laser light sources, the combiner optic, and the scanning mirrors.

First, the electronics system turns the image into an electronic signal. Next the electronic signals drive laser light sources with different colors and intensities down different paths. In the combiner optic the different light paths are combined into one path demonstrating a pallet of colors. Finally, the mirrors copy the image pixel by pixel and can then project the image. This entire system is compacted into one very tiny chip. An important design characteristic of a handheld projector is the ability to project a clear image, regardless of the physical characteristics of the viewing surface.