Projection system and mirror elements for improved contrast ratio in spatial light modulators
First Claim
1. A projection or direct-view light system, comprising:
- an array of active micromirrors disposed in a rectangular shape, the micromirrors capable of rotation around a switching axis between an off-state and an on-state, the micromirrors corresponding to pixels in a viewed image;
a light source for directing light to the array of micromirrors, the light source disposed so as to direct light non-perpendicular to at least two sides of each micromirror, and parallel, when viewed as a top view of each micromirror, to at least two other sides of each micromirror;
projection or viewing optics disposed to receive light from micromirrors in an on-state.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In order to minimize light diffraction along the direction of switching and more particularly light diffraction into the acceptance cone of the projection optics, in the present invention, mirrors are provided which are not rectangular. Also, in order to minimize the cost of the illumination optics and the size of the display unit of the present invention, the light source is placed orthogonal to the rows (or columns) of the array, and/or the light source is placed orthogonal to a side of the frame defining the active area of the array. The incident light beam, though orthogonal to the sides of the active area, are not however, orthogonal to any substantial portion of sides of the individual mirrors in the array. Orthogonal sides cause incident light to diffract along the direction of mirror switching, and result in light ‘leakage’ into the on-state even if the mirror is in the off-state. This light diffraction decreases the contrast ratio of the mirror. The mirrors of the present invention result in an improved contrast ratio, and the arrangement of the light source to mirror array in the present invention results in a more compact system.
100 Citations
94 Claims
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1. A projection or direct-view light system, comprising:
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an array of active micromirrors disposed in a rectangular shape, the micromirrors capable of rotation around a switching axis between an off-state and an on-state, the micromirrors corresponding to pixels in a viewed image;
a light source for directing light to the array of micromirrors, the light source disposed so as to direct light non-perpendicular to at least two sides of each micromirror, and parallel, when viewed as a top view of each micromirror, to at least two other sides of each micromirror;
projection or viewing optics disposed to receive light from micromirrors in an on-state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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38. A projection or direct view light system, comprising:
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an array of micromirrors, each micromirror corresponding to a pixel in a viewed image and having a shape of a concave polygon or one or more non-rectangular parallelograms;
a light source for directing light to the array of micromirrors projection or viewing optics disposed to receive light reflected from the micromirrors.
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59. An array of movable mirrors, each mirror having a shape substantially the same as that illustrated in any of FIGS. 14A to F, 15A to F, 17 to 19, and 20A to L.
- 60. An array of movable micromirrors, the array having a substantially rectangular shape and comprising at least 1,000 micromirrors, wherein the micromirrors are in the shape of a concave or convex polygon and wherein no sides of the polygonal micromirrors are parallel to the sides of the substantially rectangular active area.
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78. A projection system comprising a light source for providing an incident light beam, an array of movable reflective elements, and projection optics for projecting light from the array, wherein an image projected from the projection system will appear on a target as a rectangular image, with the image being formed of from thousands to millions of pixels, each pixel being in the shape of a concave polygon, a single non-rectangular parallelogram, or an assembly of non-rectangular parallelograms.
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85. A projection system comprising a light source, an array of movable mirror elements, and projection optics, wherein each mirror element in the array has a switching axis substantially parallel to at least one side of the active area of the array, and at an angle of from 35 to 60 degrees to one or more sides of the mirror element.
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86. A projection system comprising a light source and an array of movable mirror elements, each mirror element having a leading side that is non-perpendicular to the incident light beam, and non-perpendicular to any side of the active area, so as to achieve an increase of 2 to 10 times the contrast ratio compared to mirror elements having perpendicular sides to the incident light beam.
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87. A projection system comprising a light source, projection optics, and an array of movable mirror elements, the projection system having a diffraction pattern substantially the same as that illustrated in FIG. 21C.
- 88. A projection system comprising a light source and a rectangular array of movable mirrors, the mirrors capable of moving between an on-state and an off-state and capable of reflecting light in the on-state to a predetermined spatial area, wherein the light source is disposed to direct light at a substantially 90 degree angle to at least one side of the rectangle defined by the array, and wherein substantially no diffracted light enters the predetermined spatial area when the mirrors are in the off-state.
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89. A method for projecting an image on a target comprising:
directing a light beam onto a rectangular array of mirrors, the light beam directed to the leading side of the rectangular array at an angle within a range of 90 degrees plus or minus 40 degrees, and wherein the mirrors in the array are shaped as polygons and positioned such that the light beam is incident on all of the polygonal sides at angles other than 90 degrees; and
projecting the light from the mirrors onto a target so as to form an image thereon.
- 91. An array of pivotable mirrors, each mirror having a pivot axis, and each mirror having one or more elongated sides that extend at an angle of less than 45 degrees to the pivot axis.
- 93. An array of movable mirrors, each mirror having four or more sides, wherein two of the sides come together at an angle of less than 90 degrees.
Specification