FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a portable image capturing device and more particularly to a portable image capturing with embedded projector.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cellular communications systems typically include multiple base stations for communicating with mobile stations in various geographical transmission areas. Each base station provides an interface between the mobile station and a telecommunications network. Mobile telephone systems are in use or being developed in which the geographic coverage area of the system is divided into smaller separate cells, it communicates with the network via a fixed station located in the cell. Mobile telephones belonging to the system are free to travel from one cell to another. When a subscriber within the same system or within an external system wishes to call a mobile subscriber within this system, the network must have information on the actual location of the mobile telephone.
Recently, the price of cellular telephone, digital still camera, digital video camera has been greatly reduced and become affordable to lots of people. It is common that a person owns more than one cellular phone. Some people even replace their cellular telephones, digital still camera, digital video camera as often as they replace their clothes or hairstyle. The cellular, digital still camera, digital video camera manufactures have to release new models with different appearances, function and styles more frequently so as to attract the attention of the buyer and occupy a favorable marketing share. Furthermore, the conventional projector employ white light lamp as a light source, therefore, at least two reflector lens and at least three light-split lens are required to split the white light into three colors (red, green and blue). The optical lens set is expensive. The mechanism of the optical system is too complicated and the size can not be reduced. Further, the lamp source will generate heat with high temperature. Another type projector is called digital light projector, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,733,137, 6,988,808 disclose such projector. The type of projector employs DMD (digital micro-mirror device) and a color wheel for projecting. The digital mirror device has several hundreds of thousand of mirror elements and it is capable of reducing a difference in chromaticness (tint) caused by performance/characteristic variation between filters or between light sources. A driving unit controls an inclination of each of mirror elements of a DMD panel according to a corrected video signal and a revolution state of a color filter wheel and wherein the correcting unit corrects luminance signal for each color of video signals by calculating a relative intensity of light having passed through each filter making up the color filter wheel using the output of a photosensor occurring when each mirror element of the DMD panel is put in the OFF state. The color filter wheel is driven by a motor and it's size is not small, consequently, it is unlikely to embedded the projecting device into a portable device. Further, the conventional technical employs white light as the light source and it generates high temperature heat during operation. The projector needs a lot of lens to cooperate with the light source and the color filter wheel as well. Low-frequency flashing effect will occurs due to the white light passing through the high speed revolution color wheel which is driven by the motor. As recognized herein, for portability, it is desirable to configure the projector to be as slim as possible. But the goal of size reduction is frustrated by the present of the elements mentioned above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a digital video camera or digital still camera having embedded projector. The portable image capturing device with embedded projector comprises a control integrated circuits; an image capturing module coupled to said control integrated circuits for capturing image; a memory coupled to said control integrated circuits for storing said captured image; a projection module coupled said control integrated circuits to project said captured image in said memory or from an external device outside said portable image capturing device; wherein said a projection module includes a color control module couple to a light source unit for switching said light source unit to emit R, G, B color light in sequence; a reflective type panel coupled to said control integrated circuits so as to reflect light fed from said light source unit; and projection lens positioned in the reflected light path from said reflective type panel to project image. The reflective type panel includes digital mirror device panel having a plurality of mirror elements or a LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon). The light source unit includes OLED, LED element, laser diode, electroluminescence element, field emitting element to emit light of red, green or blue.
The portable image capturing device with embedded projector comprises a control integrated circuits; an image capturing module coupled to the control integrated circuits for capturing image; a memory coupled to the control integrated circuits for storing the captured image; a projection module coupled the control integrated circuits to project the captured image in the memory or from an external device outside the portable image capturing device; wherein the projection module includes a light source unit; a reflective type device coupled to the control integrated circuits so as to reflect light emitted from the light source unit to a screen for projecting image; a color combiner coupled to the light source unit to combine the R, G, B light from the light source unit. The light source unit includes R, G, B sources adjacent to the color combiner, respectively. Alternatively, the light source unit includes R, G, B sources at one side and the projection module including three reflector mirrors arranged in a line to reflect the light source unit, respectively. In another embodiment, the portable image capturing device with embedded projector comprises a control integrated circuits; an image capturing module coupled to the control integrated circuits for capturing image; a memory coupled to the control integrated circuits for storing the captured image; a projection module coupled the control integrated circuits to project the captured image in the memory or from an external device outside the portable image capturing device; wherein the projection module includes a light source unit; a transmissive type panel coupled to the control integrated circuits so as to allow light emitted from the light source unit pass through the light transmissive type panel; and projection lens positioned in light path from the transmissive type panel to project image. In one example, the at least one transmissive type panel includes color filter. In further example. The projector module includes a color control module couple to the light source unit for switching the light source unit to emit R, G, B color light in sequence to pass the transmissive type panel, having light source unit for projection; and a prism located adjacent to the three transmissive type display. In another case, the projector module includes three transmissive type panel; and a prism located adjacent to the three transmissive type panel for color combination.
FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a projector and FIG. 1 A, 1B show the diagram of the color light source unit according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a diagram of a color light source unit according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 show a diagram of field emitting device according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows a diagram of EL emitting source according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows a diagram of a mobile phone with projector according to the present invention.
FIGS. 6 and 7 show diagrams of an image capturing device and media player with projector according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 shows a diagram of a computer (or notebook) with projector according to the present invention.
FIGS. 9-10 show a diagram of a projector module according to the present invention.
FIGS. 11-13 show a diagram of another projector module according to the present invention.
FIGS. 14-16 show a diagram of another projector module according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates generally to a projecting module for portable terminal or stand alone projector. The portable terminal includes but not limited to cellular phone. PDA (personal digital assistant), smart phone, notebook, medium player (MP3, MP4), GPS, digital still camera, digital video camera and the equivalent thereof.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating main components of a filter free projector using a reflective type panel, for example a DMD (Digital Micro-mirror Device) panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The DMD may be replaced by Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) panel to act as the reflective type panel. At the embodiment, a PBS is introduced to guide the illumination for the type of LCOS. The examples may be referred to FIG. 13A-C. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the filter free projector 1000 of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a light source unit 1100, a DMD panel 1200, and projection lens 1300. Some elements (such as lens amplifier, converter, correcting section and driving section) may be necessary. In one embodiment, lens amplifier may be located between the light source unit 1100 and the DMD panel 1200. However, they are not the feature of the present invention, thus the description is omitted. In the embodiment, the DMD panel 1200 includes a plurality of micro-mirror elements (not shown) and controlled by the driving section. The driving section produces image light to be projected onto the screen and the inclination state of each of the mirror elements (not shown) is according to a switching state of the color light source state. The light source unit 1100 may emit mono-light with red, green or blue, respectively. A color control module 1400 is coupled to the light source unit 1110 to determine which color of light will be emitted. The signal to be fed in from the correcting section and the inclination state of each of the mirror elements is cooperated with the alternation state of the color light source unit 1100. The color control module 1400 is employed to switching the colors and it may be formed by integrated circuits. The switching time of the color is far faster than the wheel of the prior art. It reduces time required for switching colors in the color wheel of prior art. The switching of the color light unit causes the light to be emitted in order of the red, blue, and green colors and the switched light is output to DMD panel 1200. Preferably, the color control module 1400 make the light source unit 1100 to emit the read, blue and green color light with sequence and repeat. The order of the color can be altered. The color light source unit 1100 has plural color segments and if desired for brightness white segment. Preferably, the unit 1100 includes red color segment, followed by green segment, which in turn is followed by blue segment. In order increase image brightness, each blue segment may be followed by a white segment.
The light source unit 1100 insides electrical discharge lamps such as metal halide lamps, or halogen lamps, could be used in the light source unit. In preferable embodiment, please refer to FIG. 2, the filter free projector comprises three light emitting sources 210R, 210G, and 210B is employed and positioned in correspondence with the DMD 1200, respectively. In one embodiment, the light emitting sources 210R, 210G, and 210B are organic EL (electroluminescence) elements. These organic EL elements are electric-field light emitting thin films that capable of emission of red, green, and blue light. The DMD 1200 is positioned on the light-incidence side. The projection lens 1300 could be made up of a plurality of lenses. Thus, the data or file stored in the memory of the device or external device can be projected on a screen or wall. It allows the user to project the image, game or file on an external screen. The EL element is small, flat form, light weight, therefore, it allows the small projection to be integrated in the portable device. The light source unit can be formed by three mono-light EL devices or a single EL device which may emit three mono-lights. In another case, the unit 1100 may includes light emitting sources 210W for emitting white light. The light source may be made of thin film, and thereby it can be embedded into the portable device.
The digital mirror device panel having a plurality of mirror elements each being controlled so as to be put in a first inclination state and in a second inclination state and reflecting light fed from the light source unit and switched by the control module while being put in the first inclination state. A driving unit is used to control so as to put each of the mirror elements in the digital mirror device panel in the first inclination state or the second inclination state according to a corresponding video signal and a switching state of the color control unit. A correcting unit is used to receive a video signal and the voltage obtained by photoelectric conversion device, to correct the video signal, based on the received voltage and to output the corrected video signal to the driving unit. The color control module 1400 is configured to include a red, a green and a blue color light source for making image light of the plurality of colors. As know in the art, the projector may include digital signal processor mounted on a DLP circuits board. However, it is not the feature of the present invention, the description is therefore omitted.
Alternatively, another embodiment of light source is shown in FIG. 4, it is a cross-sectional view of the field emission device (FED) according to the embodiment of the present invention. As seen in FIG. 3, a transparent substrate 400 is provided and transparent electrodes 420 are formed on the glass substrate 400. The transparent electrodes 420 may be made of indium tin oxide (ITO) and may be used as the emitter electrodes. Stacked gate 410 that cover a portion of the transparent electrodes 420 are formed on the glass substrate 400. Emitters 460 that emit electrons are formed on a portion of the transparent electrode 420. Each stacked gate 410 includes a mask layer 440 that covers a portion of the transparent electrodes, and is formed by UV photolithograph mask. The mask layer 440 is preferably transparent to visible light, but opaque to ultra violet rays and can be made of an amorphous silicon layer. The silicon layer will be transparent when the thickness is thin enough. A stacked gate 410 structure includes first insulating layer/a gate electrode/a second insulating layer/focus gate electrode, sequentially formed over the substrate. The gate insulating layer is preferably a silicon oxide thin film with a thickness of 2 mu.m or more and the gate electrode is made of chrome with a thickness of about 0.25 mu.m. The gate electrode is used for extracting an electron beam from the emitter. The focus gate electrode performs as a collector for collecting electrons emitted from emitter so that the electrons can reach a fluorescent film 480 disposed above the emitter 460. If the device is used for display, the substrate can be silicon or transparent substrate. Referring to FIG. 3, a front panel 450 is disposed upward and above the stacked gate. A variety of visual images are displayed on the front panel 450. A fluorescent film 480 is attached to a bottom surface of the front panel 450 that faces the stacked gate and a direct current voltage is applied to the fluorescent film 480 to emit color for display. The fluorescent substance may emit color light by mixing the emitted light if the thin film with R, G, B fluorescent substances. Preferably, the present invention includes three such emission displays that separately display image in red components, green components, and blue component (namely, red, green and blue images). The fluorescent substances emit red, green, and blue visible light when excited by the electron beam is evenly distributed on the fluorescent film 480. Spacer separating the front panel 450 from the stacked gate is a black matrix layer and is not shown for convenience. Due to the thin film display if formed with thinner thick and the power consumption is lower than LCD, the present invention may provide smaller size, lighter weight device. The life of battery may last longer. The field emission device does not require complicated, power-consuming back lights and filters which are necessary for LCD. Moreover, the device does not require large arrays of thin film transistors, and thus, a major source of high cost and yield problems for active matrix LCDs is eliminated. The resolution of the display can be improved by using a focus grid to collimate electrons drawn from the microtips. Preferably, the emitter includes a carbon nanotube emitter to further reducing the device size. Further, the display may omit the liquid crystal material. Further, the field emission display does not require the S/D regions which are required by TFT for LCD. Preferably, LED source may irradiate mono color light. Namely, blue light, red light and green light LEDs are employed to act the light source. In one case, the LED may be formed in a matrix or linear configuration. Please be noted that the elements with fluorescent substances shown in FIG. 4 (carbon nanotube field emission device if the emitter is formed by carbon nano-tube) and FIG. 4 (EL) can be used as light source as well. Similarly, the light source unit can be formed by three mono-light FED (or EL) or a single FED (EL) which may emit three mono-lights. One of the reference of organic EL display may refer to U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,371, entitled “Color conversion material, and organic electroluminescent color display using the same”. Please be note, laser diode maybe used as the light sources. Alternatively, the color light source unit 1100 may be composed of a laser 1100 B and a color conversion module 1100A posited on the light path of the laser. Preferably, color conversion module 1100A may be achieved by an efficient laser wavelength conversion technology, which enables the generation and conversion of new laser wavelengths via material's nonlinearity character. Based on engineered microstructures within ferroelectric nonlinear materials, a quasi-phase-matching (QPM) is generated to compensate the phase-velocity mismatching between interaction waves for efficient wave-mixings. The QPM enables laser-based R, G, B display application. In order to achieve efficient wavelength conversion, phase matching between interaction waves are required. This has been done in nonlinear materials through birefringence phase matching techniques, which orient crystal axis to a specific angle to achieve phase matching condition for specific interaction wavelengths. U.S. Pat. No. 7,170,671, entitled “High efficiency wavelength converters” disclosed one method of the wavelength conversion. For example, the color conversion module 1100A may include waveguide with multiple grating with different periodic pattern as shown in FIG. 1B. The color conversion module may include waveguide device or bulk device. The grating could be uniform grating, multiple grating, cascade grating, fan out grating and chirped grating. The laser sequentially provides the radiation to the color conversion module 1100A, whereby converting the incident light into R, G, B, respectively.
In another embodiment, the light source of FIG. 4 includes a transparent electrode 510 on a transparent substrate 500. A fluorescent film or power 520 is attached to an upper surface of the lower transparent electrode 510. Preferably, the fluorescent substance emits color light. The present invention includes three such devices that separately emit light in red components, green components, and blue component. Each irradiates single color light. Different powder will emit different color. An upper transparent electrode 530 is formed on the fluorescent film or power 520. A second transparent substrate 540 is formed on the transparent electrode 540. A bias is applied on the electrodes to inject hole and electron, thereby exciting the fluorescent substances by the combination of the electron and hole to emit red, green, or blue visible light depending on the compound of the fluorescent substances. The elements may refer to ELP. In the examples, the light emitting device (LED) can be employed as light source as well and the mechanism and process is simpler than prior art. Preferably, LED sources that irradiate blue light, red light and green light LEDs are employed as the three mono-color light sources.
From above, the color filter wheel, high temperature white light source and a lot of lens such as condense lens are removed from the present invention. Therefore, the thermal issue, huge size and flashing effect are solved by the present invention. Furthermore, the present invention employs thin film as cold light source, no high temperature thermal issue, the lift time of the source is longer than the white light source of prior art, motor vibration noise is omitted. The poser consumption is far lower than the prior art and it may be integrated into small volume portable device. The light having undergone switching in such a manner such as that the light has any one of the red, blue, and green colors by the color control module and travels toward the DMD panel 1200 and its luminous flux maybe calibrated by relay lens (not shown) so that the light is effectively applied to the DMD panel 1200. The light applied to the DMD panel 1200 is incident on each of the mirror elements as know in the art. The DMD 1200 receives an input signal with a gray level signal used to control an inclination of each of the mirror elements according to a gray level of each of the red, blue, and green colors represented by a video signal. The correction method and the control a state of inclination of mirror is well known in the art. Each image light is obtained by operating mirror elements of the DMD panel 1200, thereby projecting single picture element on the screen. Since switching of the color light source unit is sufficiently fast, previous light stays as an afterimage detected by human eyes and almost no case occurs in which a color looks to have been decomposed.
The present invention may be integrated into a portable device for example, cellular. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a portable terminal with SIM card connector 130 to carry the SIM card 135, it is well know in the art, the SIM card is not necessary for some other type of cellular such as PHS system. The diagram is used for illustrating and not used for limiting the scope of the present invention. The portable terminal or device 10 includes a RF module. As know in the art, the RF module includes antenna 105. This antenna 105 is connected to a transceiver 110, which is used to receive and transmit signal. AS know, the RF module further includes CODEC 115, DSP 120 and A/D converter as well. Due to the RF module is not the feature of the present invention, therefore, the detailed description is omitted. The present invention includes a central control IC 100, an input unit 150, a build-in display 160, OS 145, and memory 155 including a ROM program memory, a RAM memory and a nonvolatile FLASH memory. The RF module may perform the function of signal transmitting and receiving, frequency synthesizing, base-band processing and digital signal processing. The SIM card hardware interface is used for receiving a SIM card. Finally, the signal is send to the final actuators, i.e. a loudspeaker and a microphone 190.
Moreover, the portable terminal according to the present invention shown in FIG. 5 includes the projecting module 1500. An embodiment is now described with reference to FIG. 1. A projection display module 1500 is coupled to the control IC 100. The projection lens 1300 could be made up of a plurality of lenses. Thus, the data or file stored in the memory of the device can be projected on a screen or wall. It allows the user to project the image, game or file on an external screen. The EL element is small, flat form, light weight, therefore, it allows the small projection to be integrated in the portable device. Similarly, the projecting module could be integrated into a notebook, PDA, video camera, digital still camera, game player or media player.
The projector or the portable device may include a wireless transferring module 1500 coupled to the central control unit 100 for transferring data wireless and it maybe employed to transfer data between the hand-held device and an external device such as access point or computer (local or remote terminal) via network. In one embodiment, the wireless transmission module 1500 for short range refers to WLAN (wireless local area network) module. As known, the WLAN may transfer data, information between the device and the external device. Thus, the device 10 may employ the wireless transmission module 1500 to exchange data. The wireless transmission module 1500 is compatible to the WiFi, 802.11 standard (802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n), Bluetooth standard or WiMax. In general, the wireless transmission module 1500 allows the device 10 couple to the internet via access point, gateway or computer. Thus, the user may download the material, data, image, game, audio, video from internet and project the download data on the screen.
Further, referring to FIG. 6, the device includes a main body having a process 402; a display 404 formed on the main body and coupled to the processor 402; an image capture element 406 formed within the main body and coupled to the processor 402; a memory 408 coupled to the processor; a lens mechanism 310 formed on the main body, coupled to the processor 402 and corresponding to the image capture element 406; the projecting module 1000 is coupled processor of the portable device so as to project the captured image on a screen.
If the projecting module 1000 is employed for medium player such as MP3 player, MP4 player, the player includes an analog/digital (A/D) converter 202 for converting analog audio signals into digital audio signals. The analog audio signals can come from an audio source coupled to player 200. A digital signal processor (DSP) 204 or an audio and/or video driving module 206, for instance MP3, MP4 codec, are coupled to A/D converter 202 to receive the digital audio signals. In one embodiment, MP3 or MP4 codec 206 executes a firmware that includes a MPEG audio layer (e.g., MP3, MP2, or both) codec or video codec (e.g. MP4), and DSP 204 executes a firmware that includes a different type of audio codec (e.g., WMA, ACC, or both). In one embodiment, the firmware for DSP 204 also includes a video codec for encoding and decoding videos (e.g., MPEG-4 V1/V2/V3, DivX 3.11/4.0/5.0, Xvid, AVI/ASF, or any combination thereof). MP3 (or MP4) codec 206 and DSP 204 are coupled to a nonvolatile memory 208 that stores the compressed audio data. The user can select an audio file from nonvolatile memory 208. DSPs 204 and 206 are coupled to an audio processor 210, which processes the digital audio signals according to default settings or user instructions. Audio processor 210 is coupled to a digital/analog (D/A) converter 212, which converts the digital audio signals into analog audio signals for the user. A display 214 is coupled to the DSP 206.
As shown in FIG. 8, wherein the projecting module 1000 can be integrated into the portable computer system comprises: a processor 800 formed within the portable device; a keypad 802 formed on the portable device; a display 804 coupled the processor; a memory 806 coupled to said processor 800. The device further includes an application and/or OS 808 and hard disc 810 coupled to the processor. It further includes the WLAN module 1500 and the projecting module 1000.
Moreover, another projection module for the portable terminal according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 9. A projection display module 1000 is coupled to the control IC 100. One type of such a projection display module is the liquid crystal projector wherewith images on a liquid crystal panel are enlarged and projected by a projection lens onto a reflective screen and thus displayed. The liquid crystal projection display module comprises a light source lamp unit inside a shell of the device. Electrical discharge lamps such as metal halide lamps, or halogen lamps, could be used in the light source lamp unit. The light emitted from this light source lamp unit is guided via a mirror to dichroic mirrors, whereby it is separated into red light, green light, and blue light. The images displayed on the three liquid crystal panels, respectively, are illuminated by their respective colors, and this light is combined by a prism. In one embodiment, please refer to FIG. 10, the liquid crystal projector comprises three liquid crystal panels 200R, 200G, and 200B that perform image displays in red, green, and blue, respectively. The panel-form light emitting sources 210R, 210G, and 210B is employed and positioned in correspondence with the liquid crystal panels, respectively. In one embodiment, the light emitting sources 210R, 210G, and 210B are organic EL (electroluminescence) elements. These organic EL elements are electric-field light emitting thin films that capable of emission of red, green, and blue light. The EL elements are formed behind and adjacent to the liquid crystal panels 200R, 200G, and 200B, respectively. The liquid crystal panels 200R, 200G, and 200B and the light sources 210R, 210G, and 210B are positioned on the light-incidence side of the side surfaces of the prism 220 for each display color combination. The projection lens 230 could be made up of a plurality of lenses. Thus, the data or file stored in the memory 155 of the device can be projected on a screen or wall. It allows the user to project the image, game or file on an external screen. The EL element is small, flat form, light weight, therefore, it allows the small projection to be integrated in the portable device. The illumination sources could be LED, laser diode, FED or the like.
An embodiment is now described with reference to FIG. 11. Pluralities of illuminations 210R, 210G, 210B are coupled to the control IC 100. The control IC will sent a image control signal to the pluralities of illuminations 210R, 210G, 210B, respectively. The pluralities of illuminations 210R, 210G, 210B are all independent light sources, such as LED, OLED or Laser. The images will be enlarged and projected by two-dimension reflector onto a reflective screen and thus displayed. A color combiner (or illuminator combiner) 400C will receive the illumination from each of the pluralities of illuminations 210R, 210G, 210B, thereby constructing a demanded color which is determined by the control IC 100. The color combiner (or illuminator combiner) 400C can mix any color via the R, G, B illumination sources at any timing controlled by the control IC 100. A two-dimension angle-variable reflector 420C is coupled to the color combiner (or illuminator combiner) 400C to reflect the combined illumination to a pre-determined location on the screen. The two-dimension angle-variable reflector 420C may change the angle between the normal line of the screen and the reflected beam. Preferably, the two-dimension reflector 420C is made by thin membrane which can reflect illumination along the X and Y axis to show the image pixel-by pixel. It can be made by digital mirror technology or micro electro mechanical systems. The illuminations includes a laser, LED, or OLED to emit a laser beam to the two dimension reflector for horizontally moving the laser beam at a first sweep frequency along X-axis, and vertically moving the laser beam up or down along Y-axis. The control IC is operative for controlling two-dimension reflector to insure the pixel of the image can be reflected to a demanded location. A driver of the two-dimension reflector drives the angle of the two-dimension reflector. The driver horizontally sweeps X-direction to form a horizontal scan line from one point, then the drive adjusts the angle to move scan line to next vertical position, followed by sweeping another X-direction to form a second horizontal scan line along the X-direction to form a second scan line. The formation of successive scan lines proceeds in the same manner. The whole image can be scanned by one two dimension reflector and can be made by digital mirror technology or micro electro mechanical systems. The projection image can be displayed by the two dimension reflector.
In another embodiment, please refer to FIG. 11, light emitting sources 210R, 210G, and 210B is employed and positioned in correspondence with the color combiner 400C, respectively. In one embodiment, the light emitting sources 210R, 210G, and 210B are organic EL (electroluminescence) elements, LED or Laser. These organic EL elements are electric-field light emitting thin films that capable of emission of red, green, and blue light. The EL elements are formed adjacent to the color combiner 400C, respectively. The light sources 210R, 210G, and 210B are positioned on the three sides of the color combiner 400C for each display color combination. Thus, the data or file stored in the memory of the device can be projected on a screen or wall. It allows the user to project the image, game or file on an external screen. The EL element is small, flat form, light weight, therefore, it allows the small projection to be integrated in the portable device. FIG. 12 shows the three mirrors RS, GS, BS are arranged in a line and illuminations sources are reflected by the lined reflected mirrors. The sources indicated in FIGS. 1a, 1b and 2-5 could be used. FIG. 13 shows that the light emitting sources 210R, 210G, and 210B are reflected by a reflector into the color combiner 400c, and thereby projecting by the two-dimension reflector 420.
FIG. 14 illustrates the image projector with plural light sources and single display, which comprises a color-light control unit 1150. In an embodiment, a single display 1200 is provided for displaying grey scale images. And those images can be magnified and projected on a screen or wall by the projection lens 1300. Aforementioned display 1200 may includes LCD, organic light-emitting display, field emission display, etc. Multiple mono-light sources 1100 emit at least three kinds of mono-light for emitting blue, green, and red light respectively, thereby facilitating to combine the color image. The image in single LCD can appeared as grey scale, and it can be penetrated by the corresponding light, such as red, green, and blue light, which are emitted respectively, and finally, the image penetrated by corresponding light can be magnified and projected by the projection lens 1300. The emitting order of aforementioned three kinds of mono-light can be arranged randomly, such as BGR (blue, green, red), BRG, GRB, GBR, BRG, or BGR, etc. Because three colors are emitted successively, people can see color images due to visual persistence phenomena. Luminous intensity and emitting time of every color from multiple mono-light sources 1100 can be controlled based on the color information by the color-light control unit 1000.
For improving luminous intensity and preventing the dark light issue, the multiple mono-light sources 1100 can further emit white light in addition to aforementioned three colors, so as to enhance luminous intensity. The white light can be inserted in any arrangements of aforementioned three colors. Images generated by the display 1200 are fed by the image signals input unit 1400. Because the present invention emits at least three kinds of mono-light and sequentially projects a red image, a green image, and a blue image to the screen by a grey scale display, the color separation device is not required and the image has not to be split, therefore, the light beam splitter is not required any more. If LED, laser, or EL (electroluminescence) elements, etc is chosen, the device can be not only minimized, but also achieve heat dissipation efficiency higher than the bulb.
Simply speaking, emitting order and luminous intensity of each independent mono-light can be controlled by the color-light control unit, thereby mixing the three independent images into color image by visual persistence of human eyes based on the three color light beams are emitted in sequence within the duration of the visual persistence. When mono-light passes through the display 1200, the grey scale image on the display 1200 will become mono-color image such as red, green or blue image, and afterward, each mono-color image will be projected by the projection lens 1300, followed by being mixed into a color image due to the visual persistence of human eyes. Hence, the present invention employs plural mono-light sources which generate not much heat.
Further, the present invention introduces a single display. Three images with different colors can be generated in different time because each mono-light emits through the single display in success. Then, those images can be projected on the screen by the projection lens, independently. Therefore, the advantage of the present invention is that a plurality of displays are not required, thereby reducing the cost and simplifying the structure. Furthermore, the light beam splitter for splitting light is not required any more, and the prism for combining split light is not desired either. Consequently, the present invention simplifies the optical structure significantly. Moreover, the color separation device for separating colors of a frame is also not required. In a preferred embodiment, the display 1200 comprises LCD for rendering grey scale images. When grey scale images are employed, the LCD doesn't need any color filter. Because color filters shade light greatly, which make luminosity insufficient, if the color filters can be eliminated, it will be helpful for minimizing the structure, improving luminosity and reducing power consumption.
Aforementioned emitting light source can employ organic light-emitting elements, which emits red, green, and blue light. The projection lens 1300 is configured at the side of the display, and a screen can be placed at a proper position for receiving the projected images. Thus data, files, or games stored in the communication device, the media player, or the computer memory can be magnified and projected to external. Because the present invention utilizes thin and small elements such as organic light-emitting elements, light emission elements, or laser, etc, it can be integrated in the cell phone, digital camera, digital image recorder or GPS. The wireless transmission module 1500 can received images from external, and the images or signals desired to be projected can be input by the image signal input unit 1400. Images or signals desired to be projected can also be input through a memory card or a flash drive 1600, such that inconvenience raised by carrying the computer can be alleviated. Those images or signals can also be input through the input interface 1700, such as the cell phone with USB, or HDMI, thereby projecting images or information in the cell phone.
FIG. 15 illustrates the image projector 3500 of the present invention, which comprises a color display with transparent substrates 3200 for rendering color images. The first embodiment displays grey scale images, and is quite different from the present embodiment. The color images can be enlarged and projected on a screen or wall. Aforementioned display 3200 may include LCD, organic light-emitting device, field emission display, etc. The mono-light source 3100 emits white color. The images on the single LCD in the first embodiment is grey scale, followed by being penetrated respectively by three kinds of corresponding mono-light, such as red, green, and blue light. However, the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment. The embodiment employs white light to penetrate the color display, and images will be magnified and projected. Images on the display 3200 are feed by image signal input unit 3400. If Plasma display, field emission display, or organic light emitting display is introduced, florescence powders can be employed to appear grey scale or colors to take place of color filters, thereby raising luminosity.
Therefore, the advantage of the present invention is not requiring a plurality of RGB respective displays, thereby simplifying the circuit structure. Further, the present invention doesn't need a light beam splitter for splitting light from light source, and further doesn't need any prism for combining split light either. Thus, the present invention can simplify the optical structure significantly. Moreover, the color separation device for separating colors of a frame is also not required.
If the light source 3100 is a planar mono-light source (such as field emitter, organic light emitting element, etc), parallel light can be provided to the display 3200, thereby alleviating non-uniformity of light. Other components in the figure are similar with FIG. 14 and FIG. 15, so they are not described redundantly here. Concerning about minimizing, because color filters will shade light considerably, the grey scale image display collocated with three independent light sources are preferred for sequentially generating red, green, blue images, followed by generating color images by the visual persistence of the human eyes. In another embodiment, color filters is not introduced herein and images can be rendered by florescence material, so that simplifying the structure and decreasing opacity, and thus, a mono-light source can be merely required, so as to generating light penetrating through the color display directly. Choices of aforementioned elements can be determined based on cost, resolution, or luminosity, etc.
Referred to FIG. 16, if aforementioned planar light source is not employed, a Fresnel lens 3210 can be configured adjacent to the light source 3100. The light source 3100 is positioned at the focal point, a parallel light bean will be generated and will penetrate the lens. In the meantime, the Fresnel lens 3210 can reduce the thickness for minimizing the device. The Fresnel lens can be regarded as a serial of prisms arranged circularly, wherein the edge is sharper, and center is smoother. The configuration of the Fresnel lens allows reducing the thickness, weight, and size of the present invention dramatically. Besides, the Fresnel lens configured in front of the light source can be applied in aforementioned embodiments, such as embodiments of FIG. 14, or FIG. 15, and is not limited to the current embodiment. A collimator 3220 can also be introduced to replace aforementioned Fresnel lens or to cooperate with the Fresnel lens for facilitating to generate parallel light, such as shown in FIG. 16B. The collimator 3220 comprises a curved lens, and the light source is positioned at the focal point of the curved lens. The surface of the collimator 3220 that faces the light source has higher curvature, and the other surface not facing the light source has lower curvature. The collimator 3220 can also check whether other optical components are located on the optical axis, and hence, it can not only make light parallel, but also be used for correction. The collimator 3220 configured in front of the light source can further be applied in aforementioned embodiments, and is not limited to the present embodiment. Aforementioned Fresnel lens may also be configured between the display and the projection lens, wherein the projection lens is positioned at the focal lens. In another embodiment, apart from aforementioned features, if the self-luminous color display, such as OLED, field emission display, or EL display, is employed, the light source can be omitted since the florescence layer therein can illuminate when providing current. If the luminosity is in the acceptable range, the light source can be retrenched, thereby further achieving the advantage of minimizing. Compared to the LCD, the advantages include: thickness thinner than 1 mm, and lighter weight; solid structure with vibration resistance better than liquid. Moreover, it's advantageous that the structure almost has no issues about the viewing angle, so that the images would still not be distorted while being watched in a widely viewing angle. For, example, AMOLED (Active Matrix/Organic Light Emitting Diode) can be employed, because it submits higher speed, higher contrast ratio, wider viewing angle, and doesn't require any back light plate, it can be manufactured in a thinner configuration and can save more power. The AMOLED without the back light plate can save about 30-40% of the cost of the back light module in TFT LCD, referred to FIG. 16D. A Fresnel lens or collimator 3230 is configured between the projection lens 3300 and the self-luminous display 3200, and aforementioned projection lens is positioned at the local point of the Fresnel lens or the collimator 3230. A reflector can be configured at the backside of the light source in each embodiment mentioned above depending on demands, so as to reflect light to the display. Aforementioned collimators can be replaced by the light grating, so as to provide uniform light. The means can be used for above and later embodiments to achieve the purpose of evening the illuminations.
FIG. 2
13A-13C includes a color control module 1000 to control the emission of R, G and B light sources to penetrate through the PBS in sequence and the PBS will re-direct the light into the LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) panel without color filter. Then, the lights are respectively reflected from the silicon substrate in sequence, followed by penetrating the PBS toward to the projection lens. Please refer to FIG. 13B, the three illumination sources, namely, R, G and B are arranged at three sides of the prism, the prism re-directs the R, G and B to the projection lens, it is not used for the color combination in the embodiment. The distances from each one of the three light sources to the projection lens are equal to offer the same optical path. A gray scale display is provided, and the R, G and B lights pass the prism and the projection lens in sequence. The color image will be combination due to the pre-resistance phenomena of eyes. The light sources can be the same of previous embodiment. The three-side arrangement may integrate and scale down the devices. Further, the present invention may control the R, B, G independently to achieve desired contract and color combination. In FIG. 13B, the light sources are arranged at the same side to the PBS. The light sources are arranged in matrix form as shown in FIG. 13C. The main R, G, B are configured in alternating and repeating. The column and row number can be changed by desired. Other features are already partially descried in the above embodiments.
As will be understood by persons skilled in the art, the foregoing preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrative of the present invention rather than limiting the present invention. Having described the invention in connection with a preferred embodiment, modification will now suggest itself to those skilled in the art. Thus, the invention is not to be limited to this embodiment, but rather the invention is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures. While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Patent Application
20110242392
