Methods and systems for multiple primary color display

Abstract

Methods and systems for multiple primary color display are provided. Methods and systems of the present invention improve the spectrum efficiency of a color display system, and provide enhanced brightness and color gamut. In an embodiment, methods and systems of the present invention improve the brightness of a color display system employing a high pressure lamp by efficiently incorporating lights components of the lamp output that are outside the red, green, and blue spectrum in creating the color image.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a chromaticity diagram and a typical RGB color gamut.

FIG. 2 illustrates the spectra of a typical RGB system and a normalized output spectrum of a high pressure lamp.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates a 1-Panel display system.

FIG. 4 illustrates a color wheel that may be employed in the system of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a process flowchart for a multiple primary color display method.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram that illustrates an example multiple primary color display system.

FIG. 7A is an example diagram of beam scrolling.

FIG. 7B illustrates a color wheel that may be employed in the system embodiment of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram that illustrates a 2-Panel display system.

FIG. 9 illustrates a color wheel that may be employed in the system of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a process flowchart for a multiple primary color display.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram that illustrates an example multiple primary color display system.

FIG. 11A is a block diagram that illustrates another example multiple primary color display system.

FIG. 12 illustrates a color wheel that may be employed in the system embodiment of FIG. 11.

Claims

1. A method for displaying a color image on a display, comprising: (a) selectively filtering a light to generate a filtered light;(b) spatially separating said filtered light into at least first and second beams;(c) projecting said at least first and second beams onto a modulating panel to generate at least first and second modulated light beams; and(d) projecting said first and second modulated light beams onto the display to create the color image.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the filtered light is a non-primary color, and wherein a primary color is one of a set of basis colors from which all other colors can be generated.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises: passing the light through a selective color filter, wherein the selective color filter is divided into one or more color filter segments, thereby sequentially passing different color components of the light.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more color filter segments consist of non-primary color filter segments.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein each of the one or more color filter segments passes a pair of primary color components.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more color filter segments comprise a yellow/blue filter segment, that passes yellow and blue color components of the light.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more color filter segments comprise a red/green filter segment, that passes red and green color components of the light.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least first and second beams are primary color components.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprises: projecting said at least first and second beams onto at least first and second portions of the modulating panel, wherein said at least first and second portions are non-overlapping portions of the modulating panel; andscrolling said at least first and second beams such that said at least first and second beams cycle between said at least first and second portions of the modulating panel.

10. A method for displaying a color image on a display, comprising: (a) selectively filtering a light to generate a filtered light;(b) projecting a first color component of said filtered light onto a first modulating panel to generate a first modulated light component;(c) projecting a second color component of said filtered light onto a second modulating panel to generate a second modulated light component; and(d) recombining the first and second modulated light components, and projecting the recombined light components onto the display to create the color image.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein step (a) further comprises: passing the light through a selective color filter, wherein the selective color filter is divided into one or more color filter segments, thereby sequentially passing different color components of the light.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein each of the one or more color filter segments passes a pair of primary color components.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more color filter segments are sized differently from one another.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the one or more color filter segments comprise a yellow/green filter segment and a red/blue filter segment.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first modulating panel modulates a red color component of the filtered light, and wherein the second modulating panel modulates a blue color component of the filtered light.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first modulating panel modulates a yellow color component of the filtered light, and wherein the second modulating panel modulates a green color component of the filtered light.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the first and second modulating panels are Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) panels.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising: (e) projecting a third color component of said filtered light onto a third modulating panel to generate a third modulated light component; and(f) combining the third modulated light component with the first and second modulated light components, and projecting the combined light components onto the display to create the color image.

19. A system for displaying a color image, comprising: (a) a light source that produces a polychromatic light;(b) a selective color filter that filters the polychromatic light to generate a filtered light;(c) a spatial light separator that separates said filtered light into at least first and second beams; and(d) a light control mechanism that selectively controls the light paths of the first and second beams to create the color image, wherein the filtered light is a non-primary color, and wherein a primary color is one of a set of basis colors from which all other colors can be generated

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the selective color filter cycles according to a refresh rate of the color image, and wherein the selective color filter comprises one or more color filter segments.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more color filter segments consist of non-primary color filter segments.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more color filter segments comprise a yellow/blue filter segment and a red/green filter segment.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the first and second beams represent primary colors.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the light control mechanism comprises: (i) a rotating prism; and(ii) a light modulating panel;wherein the rotating prism selectively places the first and second beams onto at least first and second portions of the modulating panel,wherein the light modulating panel controls the polarization of the first and second beams according to voltage levels of pixels of said panel, thereby generating modulated beams.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the light control mechanism further comprises: (iv) a light transmitting component;(v) one or more relay lenses; and(vi) one or more polarizers.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the light modulating panel is a Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) panel, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panel, or a Digital Light Processing (DLP) panel.

27. A system for displaying a color image, comprising: (a) a light source that produces a polychromatic light;(b) a selective color filter that filters the polychromatic light to generate a filtered light; and(c) a light control mechanism that selectively controls the light paths of at least first and second color components of the filtered light to create the color image,wherein the light control mechanism comprises at least first and second light modulating panels, and wherein each of said light modulating panels controls the light paths of at least two primary color components of the polychromatic light.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the selective color filter cycles according to a refresh rate of the color image, and wherein the selective color filter comprises one or more color filter segments.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the one or more color filter segments consist of non-primary color filter segments.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the one or more color filter segments comprise a red/blue filter segment and a yellow/green filter segment.

31. The system of claim 27, wherein the light control mechanism further comprises: (i) a first polarization filter;(ii) a polarization beam splitter; and(ii) a second polarization filter,wherein the first polarization filter controls the polarization of the at least first and second primary color components of the polychromatic light prior to reaching the first and second light modulating panels,wherein the polarization beam splitter passes at least first and second light beams modulated by the first and second light modulating panels onto to the second polarization filter, in accordance with polarization set by the first and second light modulating panels, andwherein the second polarization filter controls the polarization of the least first and second modulated light beams to recombine the modulated light beams, and projects the recombined light onto a projection lens.

32. The system of claim 27, wherein the light control mechanism further comprises: (iv) a lightpipe;(v) one or more relay lenses; and(vi) one or more polarizers.

33. The system of claim 27, wherein the at least first and second light modulating panels are Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) panels.