This invention relates to providing illumination (e.g., illumination with collimated backlighting) in a display system. The display system may include one or more displays and may be a multilayer layer display (e.g., a display including at least first and second displays arranged substantially parallel to each other in order to display three-dimensional (3D) features to a viewer(s)). Thus, this invention relates generally to displays and, more particularly, to display systems and methods for providing illumination for displays.
Traditionally, displays present information in two dimensions. Images displayed by such displays are planar images that lack depth information. Because people observe the world in three-dimensions, there have been efforts to provide displays that can display objects in three-dimensions. For example, stereo displays convey depth information by displaying offset images that are displayed separately to the left and right eye. When an observer views these planar images they are combined in the brain to give a perception of depth. However, such systems are complex and require increased resolution and processor computation power to provide a realistic perception of the displayed objects.
Multi-component displays including multiple display screens in a stacked arrangement have been developed to display real depth. Each display screen may display its own image to provide visual depth due to the physical displacement of the display screens. For example, multi-display systems are disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2015/0323805 and 2016/0012630, the disclosures of which are both hereby incorporated by reference.
Multi-component displays rely on backlight units to provide illumination to the multiple display screens. One of the challenged with multi-component displays is that the transmission due to multiple displays can be 20% of a standard display system.
There are also efforts to reduce the amount of power that is required to operate conventional backlight units due to limited available power. For example, displays in vehicle dashes (e.g., instrument panels) and portable devices (e.g., PDAs), are restricted in their power consumption requirements due to the limited battery storage capacities. Even small reductions in the power consumption, can improve the performance of devices including the displays (e.g., increases vehicle range).
In addition, displays in application such as vehicle dashes and portable devices, must compete with high ambient light conditions which stop down the users pupils. These displays also compete with reflections from other surfaces (e.g., vehicle interior or user's face and/or clothing) Such constraints place limits on the kind of backlight units that can be used in these application because of a need in increased luminance at lower power consumption. As an example, a multi-component display in a vehicle may need to provide upwards of 800 cd/m̂2 luminance with less than 15 Watts power consumption.
Furthermore, high luminous flux from a backlight unit nay cause a photo-voltaic effect in a rear display of a multi-component display, where the voltages that are held across an LC cell are dependent on transistor not producing a current. Providing too much light incident upon the rear display, may cause current to flow on the pixel electrode, therefore changing the cell voltage,
The backlight units also generate heat that can affect the efficiency and the quality of the display. For example, heat in the backlight unit may be generated by the LED light source due to the down-conversion process. This heat may heat the LED die reducing the efficiency. In addition, the heat from the backlight may cause liquid crystal cells in the display to pass the clearing point resulting in a black panel and/or unreadable display,
Furthermore, light that is emitted in the vertical and horizontal directions outside of the viewing area of a user may be problematic because a reflection can be seen on other nearby surfaces (e.g., in either the driver or passenger side door or the windscreen). Such reflections are unwanted because they can be distracting, and the information will be of the wrong sense or “back to front”. To address this issue automotive display manufacturers put in light control films, however light emitted in directions suppressed by the films is wasted and results a reduction in efficiency (e,g., 20% efficiency reduction),
Certain example embodiments of the instant invention provide solution(s) that reduce power consumption by backlight units, address issues of displays competing with ambient lighting conditions, improve image quality by reducing photo-voltaic effect, improve efficiency, reduce the display components reaching clearing point, reduce unwanted windshield and side windows reflections, and/or address other challenges in multi-component displays.
In example embodiment of this invention, there is provided a display device comprising: a first display in a first plane for displaying a first image; a second display in a second plane for displaying a second image; a backlight unit disposed adjacent to the second display and including a light guide in a third plane, wherein said first, second, and third planes are approximately parallel to each other, and the backlight unit is configured to produce and direct collimated light from a top surface of the light guide and towards the first and second displays; and a beam mapping element disposed between the first and second displays and configured to direct rays output from the second display through sub-pixels of the first display, and to smooth out area luminance distribution of the backlight unit.
In another example embodiment of this invention, there is provided a method of displaying images via a display device including a first display in a first plane for displaying a first image, a second display in a second plane for displaying a second image, a backlight unit disposed adjacent to the second display and including a light guide in a third plane, wherein said first, second, and third planes are approximately parallel to each other, and the backlight unit is configured to produce and direct collimated light from a top surface of the light guide and towards the first and second displays, the method comprising: controlling a beam mapping element, disposed between the first and second displays, to direct rays output from the second display through sub-pixels of the first display, and to smooth out area luminance distribution of the backlight unit.
In another example embodiment of this invention, there is provided a backlight system for providing illumination to a multi-layer display including a first display in a first plane for displaying a first image and a second display in a second plane for displaying a second image, wherein said first and second planes are approximately parallel to each other, the backlight system comprising: a plurality of light emitting diodes; one or more concentrators, each concentrator configured to receive light from one or more of the plurality of light emitting diodes and provide collimated light; and a light guide disposed adjacent to the one or more concentrators, the light guide including a plurality of extraction features provided on a top and/or bottom surface of the light guide, the plurality of extraction features configured spread the collimated light received from the light emitting diodes and/or the one or more concentrators across the top surface of the of the light guide and to direct collimated light towards the first and second displays, wherein the plurality of light emitting diodes, one or more concentrators and the light guide are commonly housed in a housing and the light guide is retained centrally to the housing.
In another example embodiment of this invention, there is provided a backlight system for providing illumination to one or more display layers, the backlight system comprising: a plurality of light emitting diodes; one or more compound parabolic concentrators, each concentrator configured to receive light from one or more of the plurality of light emitting diodes and provide collimated light, at least one of the one or more concentrators including extraction features configured to spread the light received from the one or more of the plurality of light emitting diodes; and a light guide disposed adjacent to the one or more concentrators, the light guide including a plurality of extraction features provided on a top and/or bottom surface of the light guide, the plurality of extraction features configured spread the collimated light received from the light emitting diodes and/or the one or more concentrators across the top surface of the of the light guide and to direct collimated light towards the one or more display layers.
These and other features and advantages may be better and more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the drawings, of which:
This invention relates to providing illumination (e.g., illumination with collimated backlighting) in a display system (e.g., a display including at least first and second displays arranged substantially parallel to each other in order to display three-dimensional (3D) features to a viewer(s)). The displays may be flat or curved in different embodiments. Thus, embodiments of this invention relate generally to displays and, more particularly, to display systems and methods for providing illumination for displays displaying three-dimensional features. Multi-Layer Displays (MLDs) according to example embodiments of this invention may be used, for example, as displays in vehicle dashes in order to provide 3D images (e.g., for speedometers, vehicle gauges, vehicle navigation displays, etc.)
Certain example embodiments of the instant invention provide solution(s) that reduce power consumption by backlight units, address issues of displays competing with ambient lighting conditions, improve image quality by reducing photo-voltaic effect, improve efficiency, reduce the display components reaching clearing point, reduce unwanted windshield and side windows reflections, and/or address other challenges in multi-component displays.
Certain example embodiments of this disclosure provide a backlight system for use in a display system (e.g., instrument cluster console) and provide illumination in the viewing direction of one user (e.g., a driver) and at the exclusion of illumination to other users (e.g., passengers) or other areas (e.g., side windows, windshield, or downwards towards the floor). In addition, example embodiments of this disclosure provide a backlight system for use in a display system (e.g., a central information display). The backlight system may allow for the direction of the backlight output to be changed from one user in first location (e.g., a driver) to another user in a second location (e.g., a passenger), or to provide backlight output to both locations (e.g., sides of the display) concurrently. In some embodiments, two light pipes (e.g., two transparent light pipes) could be stacked and controlled to provide backlight to different locations. For example, a rear light pipe may be configured to direct light to one location (e.g., a passenger) and a front light pipe may be configured to direct light to another location (e.g., a driver). In some embodiments, the front and back light may be of the same design but flipped either to the left or right. Whether one or both of the light pipes are controlled to provide backlight may be determined based on a user input(s) (user controls to display information to one or both locations) and/or based on sensors detection presence and/or viewing direction of a viewer/observer.
The display system 100 may display graphical information to a viewer/observer 190, such as an operator or passenger of a vehicle, by displaying information the front and rear displays simultaneously. For example, each of the displays may be controlled to display a different portion of a gauge and/or needle found in a traditional vehicle instrument panel. In certain embodiments, each of the display may be controlled to display a different portion of an image (e.g., clock, gauge and/or needle(s)).
Displays or display layers herein may be LCDs, OLEDs, or the like. Twisted nematic (TN) LCDs may follow a fairly generic pixel layout, such as a square divided into three portions running horizontally (or vertically) with red green and blue sub-pixels. The sub-pixels may be separated by a black mask in the horizontal and vertical directions. There is often a square protrusion in the corner of the sub-pixel to cover the drive transistor. There are several different types of pixel technology that enable wide screen viewing and temporal performance required for modern desktop monitors and televisions. Embodiments of the present invention are compatible with all of these LCDs, since the backplanes are designed to follow the basic RGB stripe pixel layout. As such, the backplane layout required for each pixel not need to change. For example, pixel type displays by manufacturer include: Panasonic (IPS Pro), LG Display (H-IPS & P-IPS), Hannstar (S-IPS), AU Optronics (A-MVA), Samsung (AFFS), S-LCD (S-PVA), and Sharp Corporation (ASV and MVA). In certain embodiments, both displays or display layers may be OLEDs, or one display may be an OLED and the other an LCD. Note that in OLEDs, respective sub-pixels or pixels would be filled with red, green, and blue material as the color filter material (as opposed to having LCD type color filters).
The display system 100 may further include a diffraction component 140, which may be also be an interstitial diffuser, a diffractive optical element (DOE), or a refractive beam mapper (RBM) member, provided between the front display 110 and the rear display 120. The display system 100 may further include a light diffuser 150 provided between the rear display 120 and the backlight unit 130. The display system 100 may also include a reflector 160 provided behind and adjacent to the backlight unit 130. The display system 100 is not limited to components illustrated in
The diffraction component 140 may be configured to reduce moire interference due the caused by interactions between the color filters within the layers when projected onto the viewer's retina. The diffraction component 140 may make moire interference in MLD systems vanish or substantially vanish, but without significantly sacrificing the rear display resolution and contrast. In one embodiment, the diffraction component 140 may be a refractive beam mapper (RBM), such a beam mapping element made up of, or including, a plurality of micro-lenses and may be used as a stand-alone element for reducing moire interference via pseudo random mapping.
Examples of reducing moire interference via RBM in multi-display systems are disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017/0131558, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. In certain example pseudo random mapping embodiments, each of the refractive micro-lenses of an RBM may be designed to direct incident rays from the rear display 120 to the observer 190 in a defined path, each ray passing through a different sub-pixel in the front display 110 according to a pseudo random mapping. The pseudo random mapping is used in order to not introduce extra moire effects, and can reduce moire interference. In an example embodiment, the divergence of these individual beams is limited so that light from any pixel or subpixel of the rear display 120 is not diverted more than one pixel or subpixel distance from a straight line on the front display 110. Optionally, the RBM may be laminated to the front display 110, and optionally matched or substantially matched optically to media between the two displays with a non-birefringent material. However, in other embodiments, the refractive beam mapper can be placed anywhere within the LCD stack.
In certain example embodiments, the micro-lenses of an RBM may be fabricated using gray-scale lithography, to produce arbitrary surface structures in a micro-lens format. Each lens element may configured for directing light in a controlled direction enabling arbitrary and asymmetric scattering angles. It is possible to make a master to replicate the RBM using a variety of high-volume manufacturing processes and materials as in the replication of micro-lens features, profile slope angle is more important than profile height. The refractive beam mapper may superimpose rays from the rear display 120 onto the front display 110 from an observer's point of view. The beam paths are mapped in a pseudo random fashion so not to introduce other artifacts such as extra moire. The underlying structure of the rear display 120 is randomized and thus incapable of generating significant moire interference with the front display 110.
Alternatively, a diffuser may instead be used for the construction of a moire suppression element. While the process can be adapted to make a refractive beam mapper, engineered diffusers can also be used as optimal diffuser elements for more reduction.
The refractive beam mapper may exhibit various features. For example, an RBM may exhibit achromatic performance. In addition, an RBM may exhibit arbitrary/asymmetric scattering angles. Further, an RBM may exhibit controlled intensity distribution patterns (e.g., circular, square, rectangular, elliptical, line, ring, etc.). Also, an RBM may exhibit controlled intensity profiles (e.g., flat top, Gaussian, batwing, custom, etc.). An RBM may also exhibit high optical transmission efficiency (e.g., 90 percent). Additionally, an RBM may exhibit the preservation of polarization. An RBM may be of or include various materials, such as polymer injection molding, hot embossed polymers, polymer-on-glass components, etc.
The light diffuser 150 may be configured to even out the light dispersion and at the same time directs the light towards the viewer/observer 190. The light diffuser 150 may reduce the appearance of extraction features in the numeral aperture preserving features of the backlight unit 130. The light diffuser 150 may be a thin sheet of transparent plastic or glass material which has one surface imprinted with small humps and hollows, is placed over the face of the guide to provide in a thin, bright, uniformly lit lambertian surface. In some embodiments, the light diffuser 150 may be an integral part of the backlight unit 130.
The reflector 160 may be configured to reflect light which is emitted from the back side of the light unit 130 back to the light unit 130. In some embodiments, the reflector 160 may be an integral part of the backlight unit 130.
The backlight unit 130 may be configured to illuminate the displays (e.g., liquid crystal displays) in the display system 100. As will be discussed in more detail below it is desirable to provide a backlight unit 130 that collimates the light from an illumination source so that the maximum luminance is provided to the displays.
The luminance in the display system 100 can be decreased due to attenuation of the light by successive displays, diffuser(s), and/or diffraction layer(s) in the display system 100. As an example, the light diffuser 150 illustrated in
To avoid the problem of reduced luminance in the display system 100 and/or to decrease the space needed for the display system, the light diffuser 150 may be omitted and the diffraction component 140 may be configured as a duel-purpose device to both smooth the pixel structures to prevent moire interference and to smooth out area luminance distribution of the backlight unit 130 to increase homogeneity.
Because the diffraction component 140 in
There may be multiple sources of uniformity in the display system. For example, gross non-uniformity may be caused by poor optimization of plunge depth of extraction features down the length of a light pipe of the backlight unit 130. A second uniformity source may be due to the discreet nature of the extraction features in the light pipe. When viewed from the top of the light guide with no diffuser these extraction features may look like a fine linear array of bright lines against a dark background. These bright lines may be at ˜0.3 mm spacing, compared with the dark lines of the black matrix of the rear display 120 (e.g., an LCD panel) which may have 0.16˜0.2 mm spacing.
As discussed above, in the case of the LCD panel, the pixel features of the rear display 120 may give rise to moire interference with the front panel. The human visual system is more sensitive to this lower spatial frequency and so any residual noise pattern will be seen. The trade-off for addressing the pixel features is causing blur to the rear display 120.
In the case of the backlight unit 130 extraction features, these are small and so are more difficult to detect. Also the tradeoff is different for the backlight unit 130 extraction features because more diffusion will cause more angular diffusion and to less luminance. However, the angular spread can be reduced, while maintaining the apparent spread (e.g., a blur kernel acting on the features), by increasing the distance between the diffraction component 140 and the extraction features. This is achieved by the various embodiments of this application by configuring the diffraction component 140 (e.g., RBM) to do both jobs. This also provides an advantage over other arrangements because the diffraction component 140 (e.g., RBM) is already provided further away from the features of the backlight unit 130 (e.g., 3˜5 mm) as compared to being closer (e.g., 1˜2 mm) to the rear panel, which means no additional divergence.
According to one embodiment, the effective full width half maximum (FWHM) of the spreading kernel in microns of the element would need to satisfy the following equations:
FWHM(z1)≈pixel_pitch, and (1)
FWHM(z2)>extraction_pitch. (2)
In one example for the embodiment illustrated in
Removing the light diffuser 150, as illustrated in
For a diffraction component 140 (e.g., the refractive beam mapper) embedded in n=1.42 material, removing the backlight unit 130 diffuser results in the final output distribution to the viewer being +/−12.5 degrees (i.e. sqrt(20 deĝ2+15 deĝ2)/2=(FWHM of 24 deg)). Thus, the final saving is about 10 degrees of output distribution over the original configuration.
In some embodiments, brightness enhancing film (BEF) 165 with features running in the vertical direction of the display may be provided in the display system 100. The brightness enhancing film 165 may include prisms facing the back light unit to direct light in multiple direction (e.g., left and right of the display system 100 for a passenger and a driver).
The backlight unit 130 may include a light guide 132 with a substantially planar upper and/or lower surface, but is not so limited. As illustrated in
A light source 134, which may be a Light Emitting Diode (LED), may be provided along one or more of the peripheral edges of the light guide 132. The LEDs may be, for example, surface emitting or edge emitting. The LEDs may be selected to provide good efficiency, with a slim design (as additional thickness may to the length of the system), good heat transfer, with surface mount, and/or with a small die (e.g., ˜0.3 mm) to enable placement tolerance. In some embodiments, instead of using separate RGB dies which may cause issues with color non-uniformity, a phosphor white LED method may be used to provide white light in a single LED. The single LED may be configured to combine a short wavelength LED (e.g., a blue or UV), and a phosphor coating to produce the white light. The phosphor white LED may provide better color rendering and improved efficiency as compared to the RGB LEDs. In some embodiments, the LED may include a KSF based tri-color die which provides narrow spectral color bands, and may reduce the need for thick color filters for the same color gamut.
As illustrated in
One more of the internal surfaces of the light guide 132 may be provided with a plurality of extraction features 138. In one embodiment, the upper and the lower surface of the light guide 132 is provided with the extraction features 138. The extraction features 138 may help to spread the collimated light across the surface of a flat plane that extends across the rear facing surfaces of the one or more displays. The extraction features 138 may be microlenses. The extraction features 138 may include a birefringent material and/or may have a saw tooth structure, or a curved structure. The spacing, size, geometry of the extraction features 138 may change as the distance from the light source increases. Although
The surfaces and/or the features in the light guide 132 may be arranged to ensure that the numerical aperture of the system does not increase as the light traverses across the surface of the light guide. In one example, the features may be provided with a spacing, height, and/or vertical position such that the area though which the rays are traversed do not exceed preset limits. In some embodiments, the surfaces of the light guide 132 may remain parallel except where there are ejection features 138 provided in the surfaces.
As illustrated in
The decreasing cross section may be provided by the light guide 132 having one of the front or the back surfaces provided parallel to the front and/or rear displays, and the other of the front or the back surfaces provided at an angle to the front and/or rear displays. For example,
In some embodiments, the backlight unit 130 may include a plurality of light pipes. The light pipes may be configured to provide backlight to different locations relative to the display system. For example, two light pipes (e.g., two transparent light pipes with a front surface configuration) could be stacked and controlled to provide backlight to different locations in a vehicle. For example, a rear light pipe with a front surface configuration may be configured to direct light to one location (e.g., a passenger) and a front light pipe with a front surface configuration may be configured to direct light to another location (e.g., a driver). In some embodiments, the front and back light may be of the same design but flipped either to the left or right. Whether one or both of the light pipes are controlled to provide backlight may be determined based on a user input(s) (user controls to display information to one or both locations) and/or based on sensors detection presence and/or viewing direction of a viewer/observer.
In some configurations, surfaces of the light guide 132 (e.g., the optically inactive parallel surfaces) may be adjusted such that their angles are aligned with the flow lines of the light traversing through h the light guide 132. Extraction features adjacent to the optically in-active flow lines features may reflect bundles of rays out towards the displays.
Because in some applications (e.g., automotive applications), strict form factor requirements needs to be satisfied, providing the collimation features outside of the surface of the active areas will allow the backlight system to fit within a narrow bezel, while still providing sufficient collimation to meet other requirements discussed above. This can be achieved by putting numeral aperture preserving extraction features on the surface of the parabolic portion of the light guide 132 (e.g., on a portion of the concentrator). The plunge depth of the features or the reflection angle of these features can be adjusted since the rays at this location are traversing at large angles with respect to the optical axis of the light guide 132.
Light from the light source may be directed into an opening in the concentrator 136. Light from the light source may be directed by the concentrator into the light guide 132. In one embodiment, the concentrator may collimate the light in both the vertical and horizontal direction simultaneously.
In addition, light that is reflected from the light guide 132 and would otherwise leave the light guide 132 on a side of the light guide 132 may be reflected by the concentrator 136 back into the light guide.
Light from the light source may be directed by the concentrator 136 along the length of the light guide 132. Extraction features on one or more surfaces of the light guide 132 and/or concentrator 136 may reflect the light such that the light is emitted through an upper surface of the light guide 132. As shown in
Each of the concentrators 136 may include an opening or surface 148 to accommodate a light source (e.g., a circular opening, a flat surface, a curved surface or a concave surface to receive an LED). Each of the concentrators 136 may include substantially vertical surfaces 142 provided on opposite sides of opening or surface 148. The vertical surfaces 142 of concentrators 136 on the ends may extend to a vertical surface 152 of the concentrator extension portion 150. The vertical surfaces 142 of concentrators 136, which are adjacent to other vertical surfaces 142, may connect and terminate at the concentrator extension portion 150. The substantially horizontal surfaces 146 of the concentrators 136 may be provided on opposite sides of opening or surface 148. The horizontal surfaces 146 of concentrators 136 may extend to a horizontal surface 156 of the concentrator extension portion 150. While in
In some embodiments, one or more surfaces of the concentrator may be removed to reduce the expansion and contraction of the backlight unit due to extreme temperature variations. For example, temperature variations in a vehicle, which can range from −40 degrees to 100 degrees Celsius, can cause the backlight unit to expansion and contraction and change the luminance uniformity. Materials with lower thermal expansion can be used in the backlight unit to reduce the expansion and contraction due to temperature changes but such materials require higher processing temperatures which can increase cycle times and therefore cost.
In one example, one or more vertical surfaces of the concentrators may be removed to reduce thermal expansion and contraction.
The concentrator may include an opening or surface 748 to accommodate a plurality of light sources (e.g., a circular openings, a flat surface, curved surfaces, or concave surfaces to receive an LED). The concentrator 736 may include substantially vertical surfaces 7 provided on opposite sides of opening or surface 748. The vertical surfaces 742 may extend to a vertical surface 752 of the concentrator extension portion 750. The substantially horizontal surfaces 746 of the concentrators 736 may be provided on opposite sides of opening or surface 748. The horizontal surfaces 746 may extend to a horizontal surface 756 of the concentrator extension portion 750. While in
The concentrator 736 in
Due to variations in the irradiance and radiance as emitted by the concentrator regions, and total internal reflections from the top surface of the light guide, there may be bright and dim regions along the height of the light guide. The amount of light coming out of any one region of the light guide may be modulated by adjusting the so-called plunge depth of the feature, the transition height between one feature and the next, and/or the spacing between features.
This process may be performed in an iterative loop until a desired luminance uniformity is achieved.
In step 810, a first setting for the feature heights and/or spacings are made. Providing the first setting for the feature heights and/or spacings may include setting the heights and/or spacings to preset values, even values, and/or random values (e.g., within respective preset ranges). In step 820, a trace of the system is made and a profile of the average luminance in the x direction is determined. In step 830, a percentage change from the mean is calculated. In step 840, a new transition height and/or plunge depth profile is calculated by multiplying the original profile by the inverse of the inverse of the original profile.
The process in
The components of the backlight unit may be produced by case or injection molding, over molded (e.g., for high-fidelity material such as silicon), or hot embossed, but is not so limited. Sample materials that may be used for molding include Poly Methyl Methacrylate, polycarbonate, Grillamid, and Cyclic Olefin Copolymer.
As discussed above, the light guide may decrease in thickness from the end at which the light is injected. In conjunction with various diffusion elements that are placed after the light extraction features, the feature spacing may need to be such that the features are blurred out by an interstitial diffuser element (e.g., diffraction component 140 illustrated in
As discussed above, the thermal expansion of the backlight unit needs to be considered for application with high temperature variations. For example, temperature variations in a vehicle, which can range from −40 degrees to 100 degrees Celsius, can cause changes in the luminance uniformity of the backlight unit. As an example, high temperature variations should be considered because some optical collimators require alignment to be within +−˜0.5 and the high transmission plastics in some embodiments may change size by ˜1 mm in these conditions. Example calculations are provided below for acrylic and polycarbonate plastics with respect to aluminum or copper board substrates.
When an object is heated or cooled, its length changes by an amount proportional to the original length and the change in temperature. The linear thermal expansion of an object can be expressed as d1=L0α (t1−t0), where d1 is change in object length (m, inches); L0 is initial length of object (m, inches); α is linear expansion coefficient (m/m° C., in/in° F.); to is initial temperature (° C., ° F.); and ti is final temperature (° C., ° F.). Sample requirements and estimated backlight linear expansion about the centre are provided in the table shown in
The circuit board 1030 may include a substrate supporting and driving the plurality of light sources and an expansion joint 1032. Retention structures 1040 are provided on the end of the concentrators 136 and are configured to movably engage the expansion joints 1032 to tie the optical center of the concentrator 136 to the optical center of the light source coupled to the circuit board 1030. As shown in
In other embodiments, the processing system may comprise additional storage (e.g., removable storage 1240, non-removable storage 1245, etc.). Removable storage 1240 and/or non-removable storage 1245 may comprise volatile memory, non-volatile memory, or any combination thereof Additionally, removable storage 1240 and/or non-removable storage 1245 may comprise CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store information for access by processing system 1200.
As illustrated in
Communication interface 1270 may also couple the processing system 1200 to one or more input devices 1280 (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc.) and/or output devices 1290 (e.g., a display, speaker, printer, etc.). The input devices 1280 may be used by an observer to manipulate the way information is displayed on an output device 1290 and/or what information and/or graphics are displayed in different portion of the output device 1290. In one embodiment, communication interface 1270 may couple the processing system 1200 to a display including three or more display panels arranged in an overlapping manner
As shown in
As shown in
While the foregoing disclosure sets forth various embodiments using specific block diagrams, flowcharts, and examples, each block diagram component, flowchart step, operation, and/or component described and/or illustrated herein may be implemented, individually and/or collectively, using a wide range of hardware, software, or firmware (or any combination thereof) configurations. In addition, any disclosure of components contained within other components should be considered as examples because many other architectures can be implemented to achieve the same functionality.
The process parameters and sequence of steps described and/or illustrated herein are given by way of example only and can be varied as desired. For example, while the steps illustrated and/or described herein may be shown or discussed in a particular order, these steps do not necessarily need to be performed in the order illustrated or discussed. The various example methods described and/or illustrated herein may also omit one or more of the steps described or illustrated herein or include additional steps in addition to those disclosed.
While various embodiments have been described and/or illustrated herein in the context of fully functional computing systems, one or more of these example embodiments may be distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, regardless of the particular type of computer-readable media used to actually carry out the distribution. The embodiments disclosed herein may also be implemented using software modules that perform certain tasks. These software modules may include script, batch, or other executable files that may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium or in a computing system. These software modules may configure a computing system to perform one or more of the example embodiments disclosed herein. Various functions described herein may be provided through a remote desktop environment or any other cloud-based computing environment.
The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as may be suited to the particular use contemplated.
Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.
In example embodiments of this invention, there is provided a display device comprising: a first display in a first plane for displaying a first image; a second display in a second plane for displaying a second image; a backlight unit disposed adjacent to the second display and including a light guide in a third plane, wherein said first, second, and third planes are approximately parallel to each other, and the backlight unit is configured to produce and direct collimated light from a top surface of the light guide and towards the first and second displays; and a beam mapping element disposed between the first and second displays and configured to direct rays output from the second display through sub-pixels of the first display, and to smooth out area luminance distribution of the backlight unit.
In the display device of the immediately preceding paragraph, the beam mapping element may be disposed directly adjacent to one side of the second display and the backlight unit may be disposed directly adjacent to the opposite side of the second display.
In the display device of any of the preceding two paragraphs, the light guide may include a plurality of extraction features configured to direct collimated light towards the first and second displays and spread the collimated light across the top surface of the of the light guide, and the backlight may further comprise, one or more concentrators disposed adjacent to a first side of the light guide; and one or more light emitting diodes configured to produce light to each of the concentrators, and wherein the one or more concentrators are configured to direct the light from the light emitting diodes into the light guide and toward a second side of the light guide.
In the display device of any of the preceding three paragraphs, the display device may further comprise a housing, and the first display, the second display, and wherein the beam mapping element are commonly housed by the housing, the light guide is retained centrally to the housing, the one or more light emitting diodes are disposed on a circuit board, and the circuit board includes an expansion joint configured to engage one or more retention structures provided on the one or more concentrators.
In the display device of any of the preceding four paragraphs, the display device may further comprises a housing, and the first display, the second display, the backlight unit, and the beam mapping element are at least partially provided in the housing, and the light guide is retained centrally to the housing.
In the display device of any of the preceding five paragraphs, the beam mapping element may have a refractive beam mapper.
In the display device of any of the preceding six paragraphs, the beam mapping element may direct rays output from the second display in a pseudo random manner through sub-pixels of the first display and toward a viewer.
In the display device of any of the preceding seven paragraphs, the second display may be a rear display, and the first display may be a front display, of the display device.
In the display device of any of the preceding eight paragraphs, rays from a given subpixel in the second display may be directed toward multiple different subpixels of the first display, and rays from a plurality of different subpixels of the second display may proceed through a given subpixel of the first display.
In another example embodiment of this invention, there is provided a method of displaying images via a display device including a first display in a first plane for displaying a first image, a second display in a second plane for displaying a second image, a backlight unit disposed adjacent to the second display and including a light guide in a third plane, wherein said first, second, and third planes are approximately parallel to each other, and the backlight unit is configured to produce and direct collimated light from a top surface of the light guide and towards the first and second displays, the method comprising: controlling a beam mapping element, disposed between the first and second displays, to direct rays output from the second display through sub-pixels of the first display, and to smooth out area luminance distribution of the backlight unit.
In the method of the immediately preceding paragraph, the beam mapping element may be disposed directly adjacent to one side of the second display and the backlight unit may be disposed directly adjacent to the opposite side of the second display.
In the method of the preceding two paragraphs, the light guide may include a plurality of extraction features directing collimated light towards the first and second displays and spreading the collimated light across the top surface of the of the light guide, and the backlight may further include: one or more concentrators disposed adjacent to a first side of the light guide; and one or more light emitting diodes providing light to each of the concentrators, and wherein the one or more concentrators are configured to direct the light from the light emitting diodes into the light guide and toward a second side of the light guide.
In the method of any of the preceding two paragraphs, the beam mapping element may include a refractive beam mapper.
In another example embodiment of this invention, there is provided a backlight system for providing illumination to a multi-layer display including a first display in a first plane for displaying a first image and a second display in a second plane for displaying a second image, wherein said first and second planes are approximately parallel to each other, the backlight system comprising: a plurality of light emitting diodes; one or more concentrators, each concentrator configured to receive light from one or more of the plurality of light emitting diodes and provide collimated light; and a light guide disposed adjacent to the one or more concentrators, the light guide including a plurality of extraction features provided on a top and/or bottom surface of the light guide, the plurality of extraction features configured spread the collimated light received from the light emitting diodes and/or the one or more concentrators across the top surface of the of the light guide and to direct collimated light towards the first and second displays, wherein the plurality of light emitting diodes, one or more concentrators and the light guide are commonly housed in a housing and the light guide is retained centrally to the housing.
In the backlight system of preceding two paragraphs, extraction features may be provided at a curved surface of the one or more concentrators.
In the backlight system of any of the preceding three paragraphs, the backlight system may further include a circuit board including an expansion joint configured to engage one or more retention structures provided on each of the one or more concentrators, and the light emitting diodes may be disposed on the circuit board.
In the backlight system of any of the preceding four paragraphs, the first display and the second display may be provided at least partially in the housing.
In another example embodiment of this invention, there is provided a backlight system for providing illumination to display layers for displaying images, the backlight system comprising: a plurality of light emitting diodes; one or more compound parabolic concentrators, each concentrator configured to receive light from one or more of the plurality of light emitting diodes and provide collimated light, at least one of the one or more concentrators including extraction features configured to spread the light received from the one or more of the plurality of light emitting diodes; and a light guide disposed adjacent to the one or more concentrators, the light guide including a plurality of extraction features provided on a top and/or bottom surface of the light guide, the plurality of extraction features configured spread the collimated light received from the light emitting diodes and/or the one or more concentrators across the top surface of the of the light guide and to direct collimated light towards the one or more display layers.
In the backlight system of the preceding paragraph, the backlight system may further include a brightness enhancing film adjacent to the top surface of the light guide, the brightness enhancing film including prisms configured to provide bimodal light distribution by directing the light emitted across the top surface of the light guide in multiple directions.
Embodiments according to the present disclosure are thus described. While the present disclosure has been described in particular embodiments, it should be appreciated that the disclosure should not be construed as limited by such embodiments.
This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/527,175 filed on Jun. 30, 2017, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62527175 | Jun 2017 | US |