Color Mixing Rod Integrator in a Laser-Based Projector
First Claim
1. A color mixing rod integrator (100) (200) for a plurality of beams of laser light of a plurality of primary display colors, comprising:
- a rod-shaped body (106) having an interior that passes laser light therethrough and an interior surface (107) that reflects light incident thereon;
an entrance face (101) covered with a first reflective coating (102) to reflect light incident thereon back into the interior of the rod-shaped body (106) and positioned on a first end of the rod-shaped body having a plurality of holes (103) therein such that each hole of said plurality (103) allows light of at least one beam of said plurality of beams to pass therethrough into the interior of the rod-shaped body (106);
an exit face (105) positioned on a second end of the rod-shaped body (106) opposite to and parallel to the entrance face (101), said exit face (105) to allow a part of light incident thereon to pass therethrough; and
means for diverging each of said beams toward said exit face (105) through said interior, wherein, part of the laser light entering said rod integrator via said holes (103) is forced to pass through the interior thereof several times before passing through said exit face (105) and then exiting through said exit face (105) is homogenized.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a system (150) (160), apparatus (100) (200) and method to exploit the high beam quality of a laser light source to lower the cost and decrease the size of a color sequentially operated and laser based projector. Using a color mixing rod integrator (100) (200) (500) (550), laser light is homogenized, thus supplying the proper illumination pattern to a spatial light modulator. The rod integrator is also used to recombine the light of the primary colors, thus obviating dichroic recombination optics. For this purpose all light is coupled into the entrance plane of one and the same color mixing rod integrator. In this way a low cost and compact illumination system is obtained. By adding extra reflective layers to entrance (101) (201) and exit faces (105) of the integrator, the length of the integrator is decreased and/or the F/# in the system is increased. This enables a truly portable projector. When applying a color mixing rod integrator according to the present invention in a light engine with a reflective spatial light modulator, the integrator is very well suited for light recycling, which can increase an image'"'"'s brightness up to a factor of three at average video display load.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A color mixing rod integrator (100) (200) for a plurality of beams of laser light of a plurality of primary display colors, comprising:
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a rod-shaped body (106) having an interior that passes laser light therethrough and an interior surface (107) that reflects light incident thereon; an entrance face (101) covered with a first reflective coating (102) to reflect light incident thereon back into the interior of the rod-shaped body (106) and positioned on a first end of the rod-shaped body having a plurality of holes (103) therein such that each hole of said plurality (103) allows light of at least one beam of said plurality of beams to pass therethrough into the interior of the rod-shaped body (106); an exit face (105) positioned on a second end of the rod-shaped body (106) opposite to and parallel to the entrance face (101), said exit face (105) to allow a part of light incident thereon to pass therethrough; and means for diverging each of said beams toward said exit face (105) through said interior, wherein, part of the laser light entering said rod integrator via said holes (103) is forced to pass through the interior thereof several times before passing through said exit face (105) and then exiting through said exit face (105) is homogenized. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for integrating a plurality of laser beams of light each beam comprising one of a plurality of primary display colors, comprising:
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providing a rod-shaped body (106) that includes an entrance face (101) positioned on a first end and an exit face (105) positioned on a second end (106) opposite to and parallel to the entrance face (101) and having an interior that passes the laser beams of light therethrough and an interior surface (107) that reflects light incident thereon back into the interior of the rod-shaped body (106); covering the entrance face (101) of the provided rod-shaped body with a first reflective coating (102) having a plurality of holes (103) therein to allow light of said laser beams to pass therethrough into the interior of the rod-shaped body, said first reflective coating to reflect light incident thereon back into the interior of the rod-shaped body (106); and diverging each of said beams toward said exit face (105) through said interior, wherein part of the light of said laser beams entering said rod-shaped body (106) via said holes (103) is forced to pass through the interior thereof a plurality of times before passing through said exit face (105) and then exiting through said exit face (105), is homogenized. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A projection engine (160), comprising:
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a color mixing rod integrator (100) (200) including; a rod-shaped body (106) having an interior that passes a plurality of beams of laser light of a plurality of primary display colors therethrough and an interior surface (107) that reflects light incident thereon back into the interior of the rod-shaped body (106), an entrance face (101) positioned on a first end of the rod-shaped body covered with a first reflective coating (101) having a plurality of holes (103) therein to allow the laser beams of light to pass therethrough into the interior of the rod-shaped body, said first reflective coating to reflect light incident thereon back into the interior of the rod-shaped body (106), means for diverging each of said beams of said plurality of beams toward said exit face (105) through said interior, said means being positioned in proximity to said plurality of holes (103), and an exit face (105), positioned on a second end of the rod-shaped body (106) opposite to and parallel to the entrance face (101), wherein part of the beams of laser light entering said rod integrator via said plurality of holes (103) at a given half angle is forced to pass through the interior thereof several times before passing through said exit face (105) and then exiting through said exit face (105) is homogenized; a display panel (108) configured in proximity to said exit face (105) of said color mixing rod integrator (100) (200) such that illumination of said display panel (108) is by the homogenized light exiting through said exit face (105). - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification