LIGHT REDIRECTING FILM, A POLARIZER AND A DISPLAY COMPRISING THE SAME

Abstract

The present invention discloses a light redirecting film, a polarizer with the light redirecting film, and a display comprising the polarizer. The light redirecting film includes a light redistribution layer, and a light guide layer disposed on the light redistribution layer. The light redistribution layer includes a plurality of strip-shaped micro prisms extending along a first direction and arranged at intervals and a plurality of diffraction gratings arranged at bottoms of the intervals between the adjacent strip-shaped micro prisms, wherein each of the strip-shaped micro prisms has at least one inclined light-guide surface, and the bottom of each interval has at least one set of diffraction gratings, and the light guide layer is in contact with the strip-shaped micro prisms and the diffraction gratings. The present light redirecting film is disposed on the viewing side of the display to decrease the light loss in the side viewing angle of the display, and homogenize the brightness distribution at different viewing angles thereof.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 110144782 filed on Dec. 1, 2021, which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a light redirecting film, a polarizer having the light redirecting film, and a display having the polarizer. The present light redirecting film can equalize the brightness of each viewing angle of the display, and decrease the excessive dependence of brightness on the viewing angles.

Description of the Related Art

With the developing trend of the large-size displays, especially applications in TVs or splicing display walls, even if the user is watching these displays from a front viewing angle, the contrast and brightness of the edge images and the central image of the large-size displays can still be found to be inconsistent. Not to mention that when the user is watching from a side viewing angle, the main reason for the lack of overall lateral brightness will cause more serious problems of color-shift and color-washout. Although today's displays, whether they are passively illuminated liquid crystal displays (LCDs), or electroluminescent displays, such as organic light-emitting diode displays (OLED displays), small-pitch LED displays, sub-millimeter light-emitting displays (mini LED displays) or micro LED displays that can actively emit light have excellent contrast characteristics at all viewing angles, so that the user can watch the displayed images at various viewing angles. However, the so-called contrast value is actually the ratio of a bright-state image to a dark-state image. Regarding the contrast value of the display at the side viewing angle, such as in a liquid crystal display, because the side viewing angle light has been greatly degraded, the light leakage in the dark state has also become extremely low, which still has a certain contrast value. In the electroluminescent displays, the contrast values are also high because the electroluminescent displays do not emit light in the dark state. The above-mentioned contrast value does not represent the uniformity and image quality of the bright image how the user can actually experience. Therefore, current users are not only satisfied with the minimum requirement that the displayed image can be watched at the side viewing angles and the actual image brightness is weak, but the displayed image is expected to have uniform image light and image quality at all viewing angles. In addition, current displays generally use electroluminescent diodes as image light sources, regardless of passive or active luminescence displays, such as liquid crystal displays with light-emitting diode (LED) backlights, or self-luminous organic light-emitting diode displays. Since the electroluminescent diode is a point light source with an extremely high single-point brightness, a good light guide is required to create a uniform and flicking-free overall display image. Referred to FIG. 1A, FIG. 1A is an example of brightness distribution diagrams in the horizontal viewing angle direction of a conventional liquid crystal display and an ideal liquid crystal display. It is obvious from the diagram that the intensity of the light emitted by the conventional liquid crystal display decreases sharply as the viewing angle increases. This is because the liquid crystal display is a non-active light-emitting display and the transmittance of the pixels of the display panel is low. In order to increase the intensity and efficiency of the backlight, it is often necessary to use optical structure films such as brightness enhancement film and concentrating-prism plate in the light-emitting diode backlight module for brightness enhancement, but these methods can only increase the maximum brightness of the front view, and when the light emitted by the backlight passes through the display panel, it is limited by the aperture ratio of the pixels, and will be further attenuated as the viewing angle increases. In addition, for electroluminescent displays that use their own luminous bodies directly as display pixels, due to the display side lacks the optical structure films used in the conventional backlight module such as diffusers and light-guide plates. It is easy to cause loss of light and uneven light distribution when watching from a larger side viewing angle, and it is difficult to form an ideal surface light source with equivalent brightness in each viewing angle. Therefore, the images watched from the side viewing angle cannot have the better image quality as watched from the front viewing angle, and it is especially easy to cause images with low contrast or abnormal color performance due to lack of light and insufficient brightness.

In addition, from the diagram of FIG. 1A, we can also know the brightness distribution characteristics of the conventional display. The brightness intensity in the front viewing angle range (for example, within ±30° viewing angles) is higher, and that in the side viewing angle range (for example, out of ±30° viewing angles) is greatly reduced, which does not meet the ideal normal distribution of brightness of the ideal display, and the brightness spectrum has a large tangent slope change to the viewing angle. In the conventional technology, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the spectral curve is increased by enhancing the normal incident intensity of the backlight, but the overall distribution characteristics of the brightness spectrum of the display cannot be changed. Therefore, it is not sufficiently representative to observe whether the brightness distribution of each viewing angle is uniform and wide with the conventional FWHM.

Also refer to FIG. 1B, it is recommended that the evaluation method should be reflected the brightness of the front viewing angle and the side viewing angle independently. For example, 75% or more of the maximum brightness of the front viewing angle of the display represents the front viewing angle range, and 40% or more of the maximum brightness of the front viewing angle of the display represents the side viewing angle range. When the front viewing angle range is not excessively reduced and restricted, the side viewing angle range can be extended and increased, so that the tangent slope of the brightness spectrum to the viewing angles changes less and shows a more ideal normal distribution curve, and the uniformity of the brightness of the display is better in all viewing angles, and the human eye can feel more uniform brightness when watching.

Known methods for improving the image quality of the side viewing angle of the display have been disclosed, for example, Taiwan Patent TW1645218 discloses a light redirecting film with two-layered grating surface to improve the color-washout or grayscale-reverse phenomenon of the liquid crystal display at a wide viewing angle. However, through actual tests, although the light redirecting film has the effect of improving the color-washout and grayscale-reverse phenomenon of images, the two-layered grating surface structure reduces the brightness of the light more, and due to the diffraction effect of the grating structure under the actual measurement, the zero-order diffraction and the first-order diffraction are relatively high. Therefore, the enhanced interference has better light deflection efficiency than refraction or scattering, but the influence is still in front viewing angle range, and the gain ratio for increasing the brightness of side viewing angle is less. For another example, Taiwan Patent TW1731590 discloses a liquid crystal display includes a color enhancement film with a strip-shaped micro-prism layer to improve the color-shift problem and saturation reduction at side viewing angles. However, under the premise that the resolution of the display is not reduced due to excessive refraction of the micro-prisms, the light-guiding angle of the strip-shaped micro-prisms is still insufficient, so it still cannot solve the problems of light loss and uneven light distribution at side viewing angle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is to provide a light redirecting film applied to a light-emitting side of a display for enhancing the brightness performance of the display in the side viewing angle range without overly decrease of the brightness to cause the reduced range of the front viewing angles The light redirecting film can change the brightness distribution of the display without affecting the visual perception of the original front-view brightness of the display, extend the side viewing angle range and enhance the light quality and uniformity of the image viewed from various angles.

The present invention discloses a light redirecting film comprising a light redistribution layer including a plurality of strip-shaped micro prisms extending along a first direction and arranged at intervals, and a plurality of diffraction gratings arranged at bottoms of the intervals between the adjacent strip-shaped micro prisms, wherein each of the strip-shaped micro prisms has at least one inclined light-guide surface, and the bottom of each interval has at least one set of diffraction gratings; and a light guide layer disposed on the light redistribution layer and in contact with the strip-shaped micro prisms and the diffraction gratings.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, the light redistribution layer has a first refractive index n1, the light guide layer has a second refractive index n2, the first refractive index n1 and the second refractive index n2 are in a range of 1.4 to 1.7, and the difference between n1 and n2 is not less than 0.05.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, the maximum width of bottom of each of the strip-shaped micro-prisms of the light redistribution layer is in a range of 3 μm to 15 μm.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, the height of each of the strip-shaped micro-prisms of the light redistribution layer is in a range of 5 μm to 15 μm.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, the width of the bottom of the intervals between the adjacent strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer is in a range of 3 μm to 15 μm.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, the top portions of the strip-shaped micro-prisms are flat, triangular, or curved.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, an included angle θ is formed between the inclined light-guide surface and a normal direction of the light redirecting film on the cross-section perpendicular to the first direction, and the included angle θ is more than 5° and less than 15°.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, the pitch of the diffraction gratings arranged at bottoms of the intervals between the adjacent strip-shaped micro prisms is in a range of 0.5 μm to 3.0 μm

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, the height of each of the diffraction gratings arranged at bottoms of the intervals between the adjacent strip-shaped micro prisms is in a range of 0.4 μm to 1.0 μm.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, the light redirecting film further comprises a functional layer formed on the light-exiting surface of the light redirecting film, wherein the functional layer is selected from the group consisting of a hard coating layer, an anti-reflection layer, an anti-glare layer, and combinations thereof.

Another aspect of this invention is to provide a polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and one of the above-mentioned light redirecting films, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

Another aspect of this invention is to provide a display, comprising a display panel; and the above-mentioned polarizer, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

In an embodiment of the display of this present invention, the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10⁻².

The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiment(s). The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B illustrate light distribution diagrams of the bright state of a liquid crystal display at a horizontal viewing angle.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a light redirecting film of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of a light redirecting film of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a light guiding effect of a conventional color improvement film with only a strip-shaped micro-prism layer.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a light guiding effect of a light redirecting film of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a light redirecting film of another aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a polarizer of an aspect of the present invention,

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a display of an aspect of the present invention,

FIG. 8 is a normalized spectrum of the measured maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The detailed description provided below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of the present examples and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present example may be constructed or utilized. The description sets forth the functions of the example and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the example. However, the same or equivalent functions and sequences may be accomplished by different examples.

In the following description, numerous specific details are described in detail in order to enable the reader to fully understand the following examples. However, embodiments of the present invention may be practiced in case no such specific details. In other cases, in order to simplify the drawings, the structure of the apparatus known only schematically depicted in figures.

Referred to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a light redirecting film of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of a light redirecting film of a preferred embodiment of the present invention along the direction perpendicular to the Y-axis. The light redirecting film 10 of the present invention comprises a light redistribution layer 20 including a plurality of strip-shaped micro prisms 21 extending along a first direction D1 and arranged at intervals, and a plurality of diffraction gratings 22 arranged at bottoms of the intervals between the adjacent strip-shaped micro prisms 21, wherein each of the strip-shaped micro prisms 21 has at least one inclined light-guide surface 21a, and the bottom of each interval has at least one set of diffraction gratings 22; and a light guide layer 30 disposed on the light redistribution layer 20 and in contact with the strip-shaped micro prisms 21 and the diffraction gratings 22.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of the present invention, the maximum width W1 of bottom of each of the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 of the light redistribution layer 20 is in a range of 3 μm to 15 μm. The height H1 of each of the strip-shaped micro-prisms is in a range of 5 μm to 15 μm. The width W2 of the bottom of the intervals between the adjacent strip-shaped micro prisms is in a range of 3 μm to 15 μm. In the embodiment of the light redirecting film of the present invention, the height H1 of the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 is used to provide the light deflected by the diffraction gratings 22 to pass through obliquely. The maximum width W1 of the bottom of the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 and the width W2 of the bottom of the interval of the adjacent strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 can be adjusted according to the intensity and ratio of the lateral light source required by the actual application of the display.

The light redirecting film 10 of the present disclosure uses curable resins with different refractive indexes to form the light redistribution layer 20 and the light guide layer 30. In the interface between the light redistribution layer 20 and the light guide layer 30, the diffraction gratings 22 have a strong diffraction effect, and thus the entering light can be split for the first time. The light splitting effect of the diffraction gratings 22 relates to the pitch and height of the gratings, and is not significantly affected by the light path firstly passing through the resin layer with high refractive index and then passing through the resin layer with low refractive index, or by passing through the resin layer with low refractive index firstly and then through the resin layer with high refractive index. However, the refractive index difference between the two curable resins should be existed. Therefore, the first refractive index n1 of the light redistribution layer 20 can be selected to be greater than or less than the second refractive index n2 of the light guide layer 30. In an embodiment of the present invention, the first refractive index n1 and the second refractive index n2 are between 1.4 and 1.7, and the difference between the first refractive index n1 and the second refractive index n2 is not less than 0.05 and not greater than 0.3.

Referring to FIG. 3, which is a schematic diagram of a light guiding effect of a conventional color enhancement film 40 with only a strip-shaped micro-prism layer 41. The conventional color enhancement film 40 uses the refractive index difference between the strip-shaped micro-prism layer 41 and the filling layer 42 and inclined light-guide surfaces 411a of the plurality of strip-shaped micro-prisms 411 to make the light L entering the strip-shaped micro-prism layer 41 be deflected to improve the color-shift problem and saturation reduction at side viewing angles. However, because as the light L is incident at the front viewing angle, the deflection of the light L occurs only when passing through the inclined light-guide surfaces 411a, thereby under the trend of thinner displays, it relies on increasing the included angle θ between the inclined light-guide surfaces 411a and the normal direction of the film surface to change the proportion of light that can pass through the inclined light-guide surfaces 411a, or on increasing the refractive index difference between the strip-shaped micro-prism layer 41 and the filling layer 42 to enhance the degree of deflection of the incident light. It is still difficult to have the optical materials with special extremely high refractive index or extremely low refractive index. Therefore, it is hard to transmit the light to the side viewing angle to improve the brightness distribution difference between the side viewing angle range and the front viewing angle range.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a light guiding effect of a light redirecting film 10 of the present invention. In a preferred embodiment of the light redirecting film 10 of the present invention, the light redistribution layer 20 of the light redirecting film 10 is disposed on the light incident side of the light L, and the light guide layer 30 is disposed on the light exiting side. The light redistribution layer 20 includes not only a plurality of strip-shaped micro-prisms 21, but also a plurality of diffraction gratings 22 arranged at bottoms of the interval between the adjacent strip-shaped micro-prisms 21. Without increasing the overall thickness of the light redirecting film 10, the incident light L directly passes through the inclined light-guide surfaces 21a, and passes through the diffraction grating 22. The light L which is undeflected when passing through bottoms of the intervals of the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 can also be diffracted and deflected first, and then obliquely enter the inclined light-guide surface 21a in the light guide layer 30, so as to increase the light guide path without increasing the overall thickness of the light redirecting film 10. The light is refracted, diffracted or reflected to a larger angle by the adjacent inclined light-guide surfaces 21a and the diffraction gratings 22, so that the intensity of the light decreases naturally with the increased deflection times at the lateral viewing angle, and the difference of brightness distribution of the side viewing angle range and the front viewing angle range can be reduced to obtain a stronger lateral light guide and homogenization effect.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film 10 of this present invention, the top portions of the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 are not limited to flat, triangular, or curved but to that not to cause the bright image of the display to flicker. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the top portions of the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 of the light redirecting film 10 are flat.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film 10 of this present invention, an included angle θ is formed between the inclined light-guide surface 21a of the strip-shaped micro-prism 21 of the light redirecting film 10 and a normal direction of the light redirecting film 10 on the cross-section perpendicular to the first direction D1. The included angle θ is preferably not less than 5°, which is used to provide a sufficient light-guide incident surface to receive light from passing through the diffraction gratings 22, and not more than 15°, so as to have the light guide effect of linear variation.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film 10 of this present invention, the maximum width W1 of the bottom, the height H1, the width W2 of the bottom of the intervals, and the included angle θ of the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 of the light redirecting film 10 may independently design to be all the same or partly the same, and vary depending on the pixel arrangement, pixel size, overall requirements, or product design requirements of different display panels. Therefore, the adjacent inclined light-guide surfaces 21a can be symmetrical or asymmetrical.

In an embodiment of the light redirecting film 10 of this present invention, the pitch P of the diffraction gratings 22 of the light redistribution layer 20 is in a range of 0.5 μm to 3.0 μm, and the height H2 of each of the diffraction gratings 22 of the light redistribution layer 20 is in a range of 0.4 μm to 1.0 μm. When the pitch P and the height H2 of the diffraction gratings 22 are smaller than the width and height of the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21, relatively more diffraction effects can be generated without affecting the image resolution. Moreover, the sizes of the diffraction gratings 22 are not lower than the wavelength of visible light, so there is no sub-wavelength effect, which affects the degree of reflection and penetration of visible light at the interface of the diffraction gratings 22, and causes unexpected design variables by the discontinuity of the diffraction effect.

Referred to FIG. 5, in an embodiment of the light redirecting film 11 of this present invention, the light redirecting film 11 further comprises a functional layer 50 formed on a light-exiting surface of light guide layer 30 of the light redirecting film 11, wherein the functional layer 50 is selected from one of the group consisting of a hard coating layer, an anti-reflection layer, and an anti-glare layer, or combinations thereof. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the functional layer 50 can be the substrate used in the forming process of a second curable resin of the light guide layer 30, and other functional surface treatment can be appropriately added to the surface of the substrate as required. In another embodiment of the present invention, the functional layer 50 can be a protective layer on the outside of the light redirecting film 11.

Referred to FIG. 6, another aspect of this invention discloses an integrated polarizer 60. The polarizer 60 comprises a polarizing layer 70 with an absorption axis 70a and one of the above-mentioned light redirecting films 10 disposed on a side of the polarizing layer 70, wherein the light redirecting film 10 can be arranged on the light exiting side or the light entering side of the polarizing layer 70. In a preferred embodiment, the light redirecting film 10 of the present invention is arranged on the light exit side of the polarizing layer 70, wherein the first direction D1 (Y-axis direction) in which the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 of the light redistributing layer 20 and the diffraction gratings 22 extend, and the absorption axis 70a of the polarizing layer 70 intersect at an angle of 90°±25° to increase the brightness and homogenization effect of the horizontal viewing angles. In a preferred embodiment, the light redirecting film 10 of the present invention is disposed on the light exit side of the polarizing layer 70. In an embodiment of the polarizer 60 of the present invention, the polarizing layer 70 can also be used as a substrate of a first curable resin for forming the light redistribution layer 20, and the light redirecting film 10 can be used as a protective layer for the polarizing layer 70.

Referred to FIG. 7, another aspect of this invention is to provide a display 100. The display 100 comprises a display panel 80 and the above-mentioned polarizer 60 as the display side polarizer. A viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display 100 is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display 100 is more than 1.3. The front viewing angle range at 75% of the maximum brightness (VW75) refers to the viewing angle range covered by more than 75% of normalized maximum brightness relative to the vertical front viewing angle, and the side viewing angle range at 40% of the maximum brightness (VW40) refers to the viewing angle range covered by more than 40% of normalized maximum brightness relative to the vertical front viewing angle. The original front viewing angle range at 75% of the maximum brightness and the original side viewing angle range at 40% of the maximum brightness of a conventional display that does not include the light redirecting film 10 are represented by VW75_origin and VW40_origin respectively. The viewing angle extension ratio is the ratio of the viewing angle of the display 100 of the present invention with the light redirecting film 10 to the original viewing angle of the conventional display without the light redirecting film 10. In the display 100 of the present invention, when the image light of the display panel 80 is vertically incident to the light redirecting film 10, the image light is efficiently transmitted laterally to extend the front viewing angle range and the side viewing angle range, that is, the viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the maximum brightness of the front viewing angle range is more than 1.0 (VW75/VW75_origin>1.0), and the viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the maximum brightness of the side viewing angle range is more than 1.3 (VW40/VW40_origin>1.3), without degrading or limiting the brightness of the front viewing angle.

The light redirecting film disclosed in the present invention can be used in a variety of display panels without being limited to the light-emitting mechanism thereof. The display panel with the light redirecting film can improve the light distribution of the bright-state image of the display, especially for the display panels that the difference of the maximum brightness of L255 gradation between the front viewing angle and the side viewing angle is large, or the brightness changes rapidly with the viewing angles.

In an embodiment of the display of this present invention, the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display 100 varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10⁻². When the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope is small, it means that the brightness changes more moderately with the viewing angles, and it is not easy to be perceived by the human eye and to affect the visual perception.

There are no restrictions on the manufacturing method and the sequence of formation of the strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 and the diffraction gratings 22 of the light redirecting film 10 of the present disclosure. In an embodiment of the light redirecting film of this present invention, a first curable resin (not shown) with a first refractive index n1 can be embossed by a mold, an engraving roller, etc., to form a plurality of strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 and diffraction gratings 22 extending in the same direction. After curing the first curable resin to form the light redistribution layer 20, a second curable resin (not shown) with a second refractive index n2 can be filled on the embossed surface of the light redistribution layer 20 and flattened to form the light guide layer 30. In another embodiment of the present invention, the second curable resin (not shown) with the second refractive index n2 used as the light guide layer 30 can also be embossed by using a mold, an engraving roller, etc. with a reverse structure to form a reverse corresponding structure strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 and a plurality of diffraction gratings 22 extending in the same direction. After curing the second curable resin, the first curable resin (not shown) with the first refractive index n1 can be filled on the embossed surface of the light guide layer 30 and flattened to form the light redistribution layer 20. The first curable resin and the second curable resin may be photo-curable resin or thermo-curable resin, for example, an acrylic resin, a silicone resin, a polyurethane resin, an epoxy resin, or combinations thereof.

The method for manufacturing the stripe-shaped micro-prisms 21 and the diffraction gratings 22 of the light redirecting film 10 of the present disclosure can also coat a first curable resin (not shown) with a first refractive index n1 on a substrate, and then emboss the first curable resin by a mold, engraving roller, etc. to form a plurality of strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 and a plurality of diffraction gratings 22 extending in the same direction. After curing the first curable resin to form the light redistribution layer 20, a second curable resin with a second refractive index n2 is filled on the embossed surface of the light redistribution layer 20 and flattened to form the light guide layer 30. In another embodiment of the present invention, the second curable resin (not shown) with the second refractive index n2 used as the light guide layer 30 can also be coated on a substrate and then embossed by using a mold, an engraving roller, etc. with a reverse structure to form a reverse corresponding structure strip-shaped micro-prisms 21 and a plurality of diffraction gratings 22 extending in the same direction. After curing the second curable resin, the first curable resin (not shown) with the first refractive index n1 can be filled on the embossed surface of the light guide layer 30 and flattened to form the light redistribution layer 20. After the light redistribution layer 20 and the light guide layer 30 are manufactured, the substrate may be retained or removed. In the embodiment of using the substrate for the manufacturing process of light redirecting film, the substrate can be a transparent substrate usually used in this technical field, such as a polyethylene terephthalate film (PET), a triacetate cellulose film (TAC), a polymethyl methacrylate film (PMMA), etc.

The present invention will be described below with reference to Examples to describe the present invention in detail but the present invention is not limited to the description thereof.

EXAMPLE

Example 1, Example 2 and Example 3

Examples 1 to 3 disclose different light redirecting films, wherein the sizes of the strip-shaped micro-prisms and the diffraction gratings of the light redistribution layers of the light redirecting films, the refractive index of the materials, and the included angles of the inclined light-guide surfaces of the Examples are shown in Table 1. The light redirecting films of the Examples are adhered to the same polarizing layers on the sides of the light redistribution layers, and the influences of air layer interfaces are eliminated to form integrated polarizers, wherein the included angles between the first directions in which the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layers extend and the absorption axes of the polarizing layers are all 105°.

Comparative Example

Comparative Example 1

Comparative Example 1 only uses a polarizer with the same polarizing layer as used in Examples 1 to 3 without laminating any strip-shaped micro-prisms, diffraction gratings and other light guide structures.

Comparative Example 2 and Comparative Example 3

Comparative Example 2 and Comparative Example 3 use the color enhancement films with strip-shaped micro-prisms as illustrated in FIG. 3 to be laminated on the same polarizing layers as in the Examples, and the attachment methods and the included angles between the absorption axes of the polarizing layers are the same as in the Examples. The sizes of the strip-shaped micro-prisms of the color enhancement films, the refractive index, and the included angles of the inclined light-guide surfaces of the Comparative Example 2 and Comparative Example 3 are shown in Table 1.

Comparative Example 4

Comparative Example 4 adopts the same attachment method as Example 1 to laminate an optical film with diffraction grating structures on the same polarizing layer as the Example.

	TABLE 1
				Comparative	Comparative	Comparative	Comparative
	Example 1	Example 2	Example 3	Example 1	Example 2	Example 3	Example 4
Height, H1 (μm)	9.5	9.5	10.0	—	5.0	15.0	—
Width, W1 (μm)	7.5	7.5	7.5	—	6.5	10.8	—
Width, W2 (μm)	6.2	6.2	7.2	—	4.0	10.4	—
Included angle, θ	9.5°	9.5°	11.5°	—	7.5°	9°	—
Pitch, P (μm)	2.0	1.0	1.0	—	—	—	2.0
Height, H2 (μm)	0.5	0.5	0.5	—	—	—	1.0
first refractive index, n1	1.47	1.45	1.45	—	1.6	1.5	1.5
second refractive index, n2	1.6	1.6	1.6	—	1.5	1.62	1.62

The integrated polarizers prepared in the above-mentioned Examples 1 to 3, Comparative Examples 2 to 4 and the polarizer of Comparative Example 1 are laminated on the liquid crystal display panel (model: AUO, VP229DA) with adhesive layers. A panel measuring instrument Autronic Melchers GmbH Mechanics, ConoScope 80 was used to measure variation of the maximum brightness of L255 gradation with the viewing angles in the direction of the absorption axis of the polarizing layer. The normalized spectrums are shown in FIG. 8. The measured results are shown in Table 2.

	TABLE 2
				Comparative	Comparative	Comparative	Comparative
	Example 1	Example 2	Example 3	Example 1	Example 2	Example 3	Example 4
Maximum brightness	266.32	248.99	239.58	309.73	277.78	271.23	284.54
The front viewing angle	51°	44°	62°	38°	36°	36°	39°
range at 75% of the
maximum brightness (VW75)
Viewing angle extension	1.34	1.15	1.63	1.0	0.95	0.95	1.03
ratio at 75% of the
maximum brightness
The side viewing angle	86°	93°	95°	64°	68°	78°	70°
range at 40% of the
maximum brightness(VW40)
Viewing angle extension	1.34	1.45	1.48	1.0	1.06	1.22	1.09
ratio at 40% of the
maximum brightness
Absolute value of the	3.1. × 10−2	3.7. × 10−2	3.2 × 10−2	4.3 × 10−2	4.1 × 10−2	3.2 × 10−2	3.9 × 10−2
maximum tangent slope

The measured result data in Table 2 obviously shows that: integrated polarizers with only a strip-shaped micro-prisms film used in Comparative Example 2 and Comparative Example 3, and an integrated polarizer with only a diffraction gratings optical film used in Comparative Example 4 are difficult to simultaneously increase the coverage angle range of the side viewing angle and reduce the maximum tangent slope of the brightness spectrum on the liquid crystal display, compared with the polarizer without any light guide structure in Comparative Example 1. Especially in Comparative Example 3, which only has strip-shaped micro-prisms structures, even though the height of the strip-shaped micro-prisms has been greatly increased to increase its receiving ability of lateral light on the inclined light-guide surface, however, the maximum coverage angle range of the side viewing angle with a brightness of more than 40% can only reach 78°. Although the maximum tangent slope of the brightness curve with viewing angles can be reduced, the coverage angle of the front viewing angle range with brightness above 75% has been slightly reduced, and it is difficult to expect that the lateral light guiding effect can be further improved by continuously increasing the thickness of the structure. For Comparative Example 4, which only has diffraction gratings structures, although the front viewing angle range is not affected, the effect of diffracting light to the side viewing angle range is poor. From the measured values in Table 2 and the spectrums of the maximum brightness change with viewing angles in FIG. 8, the Comparative Example 1 without any light-guiding structure film is used as a comparison, and its normalized maximum brightness above 40% represents the original side viewing angle range at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness (VW40_origin) and its normalized maximum brightness above 75% represents the original front viewing angle range at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness (VW75_origin). Examples 1 to 3 can effectively extend and expand the viewing angles, especially when the normalized maximum brightness is above 40%, the efficiency of improving the side viewing angle range (VW40) is extremely significant, and the viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the side viewing angle range VW40/VW40_origin is more than 1.3. For the normalized maximum brightness above 75% of the front viewing angle range (VW75), the viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the front viewing angle range VW75/VW75_origin is more than 1.0, which is still better than the original viewing angle without limiting the original front viewing angle range. Only a peak value of the maximum brightness L255 gradation of the front viewing angle is reduced and the light is efficiently guided and distributed to the side viewing angle uniformly, and absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the brightness changing with the viewing angles can be kept less than 4.0×10⁻², so that the bright state spectrum of the display is close to an ideal normal distribution curve.

While the invention has been described by way of example(s) and in terms of the embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.

Claims

1. A light redirecting film, comprising: a light redistribution layer including: a plurality of strip-shaped micro prisms extending along a first direction and arranged at intervals; anda plurality of diffraction gratings arranged at bottoms of the intervals between the adjacent strip-shaped micro prisms, wherein each of the strip-shaped micro prisms has at least one inclined light-guide surface, and the bottom of each interval has at least one set of diffraction gratings; anda light guide layer disposed on the light redistribution layer, and in contact with the strip-shaped micro prisms and the diffraction gratings.

2. The light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light redistribution layer has a first refractive index n1, the light guide layer has a second refractive index n2, the first refractive index n1 and the second refractive index n2 are in a range of 1.4 to 1.7, and the difference between n1 and n2 is not less than 0.05.

3. The light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, wherein the maximum width of the bottom of each of the strip-shaped micro-prisms of the light redistribution layer is in a range of 3 μm to 15 μm.

4. The light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, wherein the height of each of the strip-shaped micro-prisms of the light redistribution layer is in a range of 5 μm to 15 μm.

5. The light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, wherein the width of the bottom of the intervals between the adjacent strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer is in a range of 3 μm to 15 μm.

6. The light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top portions of the strip-shaped micro-prisms are flat, triangular, or curved.

7. The light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, wherein an included angle θ is formed between the inclined light-guide surface and a normal direction of the light redirecting film on the cross-section perpendicular to the first direction, and the included angle θ is more than 5° and less than 15°.

8. The light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pitch of the diffraction gratings of the light redistribution layer is in a range of 0.5 μm to 3.0 μm.

9. The light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, wherein the height of each of the diffraction gratings of the light redistribution layer is in a range of 0.4 μm to 1.0 μm.

10. The light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a functional layer formed on the light-exiting surface of the light redirecting film, wherein the functional layer is selected from one of the group consisting of a hard coating layer, an anti-reflection layer, and an anti-glare layer, or combinations thereof.

11. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

12. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 11, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

13. The display as claimed in claim 12, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.

14. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 2, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

15. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 14, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

16. The display as claimed in claim 15, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.

17. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 3, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

18. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 17, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

19. The display as claimed in claim 18, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.

20. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 4, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

21. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 20, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

22. The display as claimed in claim 21, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.

23. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 5, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

24. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 23, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

25. The display as claimed in claim 24, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.

26. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 6, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

27. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 26, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

28. The display as claimed in claim 27, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.

29. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 7, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

30. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 29, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

31. The display as claimed in claim 30, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.

32. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 8, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

33. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 32, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

34. The display as claimed in claim 33, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.

35. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 9, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

36. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 35, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

37. The display as claimed in claim 36, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.

38. A polarizer, comprising a polarizing layer with an absorption axis and a light redirecting film as claimed in claim 10, wherein the light redirecting film is disposed on a side of the polarizing layer, and the first direction of the strip-shaped micro prisms of the light redistribution layer and the absorption axis of the polarizing layer intersect at an angle of 90°±25°.

39. A display, comprising: a display panel; anda polarizer as claimed in claim 38, wherein a viewing angle extension ratio at 75% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.0, and a viewing angle extension ratio at 40% of the normalized maximum brightness of the display is more than 1.3.

40. The display as claimed in claim 39, wherein the absolute value of the maximum tangent slope of the spectrum of the normalized maximum brightness of the display varying with the viewing angles is less than 4.0×10−2.