IMAGE PROJECTION SYSTEM ENGINE ASSEMBLY
First Claim
1. A projection display apparatus comprising:
- a light source providing a beam of light;
a wide angle reflecting polarizer for passing substantially all of a first polarized portion of the beam that is polarized in a first direction, and reflecting substantially all of a second polarized portion of the beam that is polarized in a second direction; and
an image engine that receives one of the first or second polarized portions and returns to said wide angle reflecting polarizer a polarized image in which the polarization of the one of the first or second polarized portions is shifted corresponding to an image to display to include components of the second or first polarized portion.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A light projection engine uses a wide angle reflecting polarizer material (preferably 3M DBEF brand double brightness enhancement filter) as a polarizing beamsplitter to direct polarized light to beam splitter/combiner (such as an X-cube dichroic reflector). The beam splitter/combiner then splits the directed polarized light into separate reflective LCD panels acting as light valves. The LCD panels alter the polarity of the incident light from 0 degrees up to 90 degrees to control which light is passes from the wide angle reflecting polarizer back towards the light source and which light has the necessary polarization change to allow it to pass from the wide angle reflecting polarizer to the lens system. After reflecting off of the LCD panels, the light goes back through the X-cube dichroic reflector, where it is recombined. The recombined light which is of a first polarity is transmitted from the reflecting polarizer to the lens system, while the recombined light which is of a second polarity is transmitted to the light source. The LCDs are preferably analog polarizing LCDs.
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Citations
50 Claims
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1. A projection display apparatus comprising:
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a light source providing a beam of light;
a wide angle reflecting polarizer for passing substantially all of a first polarized portion of the beam that is polarized in a first direction, and reflecting substantially all of a second polarized portion of the beam that is polarized in a second direction; and
an image engine that receives one of the first or second polarized portions and returns to said wide angle reflecting polarizer a polarized image in which the polarization of the one of the first or second polarized portions is shifted corresponding to an image to display to include components of the second or first polarized portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of producing a visual image comprising:
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(a) providing a light source providing a beam of light;
(b) directing the light onto a wide angle reflecting polarizer for passing substantially all of a first portion of the beam which is polarized in a first direction and for reflecting substantially all of a second portion of the beam which is polarized in a second direction;
(c) receiving one of the first or second portions in an image engine;
(d) shifting the polarity of the one of the first or second portions corresponding to an image to be displayed to include components of the second or first portion to yield a polarized image; and
(e) returning the polarized image to the wide angle reflecting polarizer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A projection display apparatus comprising:
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(a) a source of rays of polarized light;
(b) a wide angle reflecting polarizer aligned at an angle to the rays of polarized light for passing substantially all of the rays of polarized light which are polarized in a first direction and for reflecting substantially all of the rays of polarized light which are polarized in a second direction;
(c) a beam splitter/combiner, having a first, primary incidence plane aligned at an angle to the wide angle reflecting polarizer, for splitting incident rays of polarized light from the reflecting polarizer into a first, second, and third color of light rays;
(d) a first reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the first color of light rays from the beam splitter/combiner, shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the first color of light rays, and directing the first color of light rays back into the beam splitter/combiner;
(e) a second reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the second color of light rays from the beam splitter/combiner, shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the second color of light rays, and directing the second color of light rays back into the beam splitter/combiner;
(f) a third reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the third color of light rays from the beam splitter/combiner, shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the third color of light rays, and directing the third color of light rays back into the beam splitter/combiner; and
(g) a lens for receiving and transmitting substantially all of the rays of polarized light whose polarity has been shifted and which have passed from the beam splitter/combiner to the wide angle reflecting polarizer. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A projection display apparatus comprising:
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(a) a source of rays of polarized light;
(b) a wide angle reflecting polarizer aligned at an angle to the rays of polarized light for passing substantially all of the rays of polarized light which are polarized in a first direction and for reflecting substantially all of the rays of polarized light which are polarized in a second direction;
(c) a beam splitter/combiner, having a first, primary incidence plane aligned at an angle to the wide angle reflecting polarizer, for splitting incident rays of polarized light from the reflecting polarizer into a first and second color bands of rays;
(d) a color wheel/shutter for receiving the first color band of rays from the beam splitter/combiner and for sequentially passing rays of a first color and of a second color in the first color band;
(e) a first reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the sequentially passed rays of the first color and of the second color in the first color band, for shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the sequentially passed rays, and for directing the rays back into the beam splitter/combiner;
(f) a second reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the second color band for rays from the beam splitter/combiner, for shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the second color band of rays, and for directing the rays back into the beam splitter/combiner; and
(g) a lens for receiving and transmitting substantially all of the rays of polarized light whose polarity has been shifted and which have passed from the beam splitter/combiner to the wide angle reflecting polarizer. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A projection system comprising:
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(a) a source of rays of polarized light;
(b) a wide angle reflecting polarizer aligned at an angle to the rays of polarized light for passing substantially all of the rays of polarized light which are polarized in a first direction and for reflecting substantially all of the rays of polarized light which are polarized in a second direction;
(c) a beam splitter/combiner, having a first, primary incidence plane aligned at an angle to the wide angle reflecting polarizer, for splitting incident rays of polarized light from the reflecting polarizer into a first, second, and third color of light rays;
(d) a first reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the first color of light rays from the beam splitter/combiner, shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the first color of light rays, and directing the first color of light rays back into the beam splitter/combiner;
(e) a second reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the second color of light rays from the beam splitter/combiner, shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the second color of light rays, and directing the second color of light rays back into the beam splitter/combiner;
(f) a third reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the third color of light rays from the beam splitter/combiner, shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the third color of light rays, and directing the third color of light rays back into the beam splitter/combiner;
(g) a lens for receiving and transmitting substantially all of the rays of polarized light whose polarity has been shifted and which have passed from the beam splitter/combiner to the wide angle reflecting polarizer; and
(h) a display surface for receiving rays from the lens. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
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35. A projection display apparatus comprising:
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(a) a source of rays of polarized light;
(b) a wide angle reflecting polarizer aligned at an angle to the rays of polarized light for passing substantially all of the rays of polarized light which are polarized in a first direction and for reflecting substantially all of the rays of polarized light which are polarized in a second direction;
(c) a beam splitter/combiner, having a first, primary incidence plane aligned at an angle to the wide angle reflecting polarizer, for splitting incident rays of polarized light from the reflecting polarizer into a first and second color bands of rays;
(d) a color wheel/shutter for receiving the first color band of rays from the beam splitter/combiner and for sequentially passing rays of a first color and of a second color in the first color band;
(e) a first reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the sequentially passed rays of the first color and of the second color in the first color band, for shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the sequentially passed rays, and for directing the rays back into the beam splitter/combiner;
(f) a second reflecting polarizing LCD for receiving the second color band for rays from the beam splitter/combiner, for shifting the polarization of none, some, or all of the second color band of rays, and for directing the rays back into the beam splitter/combiner;
(g) a lens for receiving and transmitting substantially all of the rays of polarized light whose polarity has been shifted and which have passed from the beam splitter/combiner to the wide angle reflecting polarizer; and
(h) a display surface for receiving rays from the lens. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38)
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39. A projection display engine apparatus that receives a beam of light from a light source, comprising:
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a wide angle reflecting polarizer for passing substantially all of a first polarized portion of the beam that is polarized in a first direction, and reflecting substantially all of a second polarized portion of the beam that is polarized in a second direction; and
an image engine that receives one of the first or second polarized portions and returns to said wide angle reflecting polarizer a polarized image in which the polarization of the one of the first or second polarized portions is shifted corresponding to an image to display to include components of the second or first polarized portion. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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Specification