DISPLAY APPARATUS AND ILLUMINATION APPARATUS

• US 20090159786A1
• Filed: 12/08/2008
• Published: 06/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Japan Display West Incorporated (Japan Display Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Higuchi, Masaru, Tanaka, Tsutomu, YANG, Ying Bao, Yamaguchi, Kazunori, Ino, Masumitsu
• Application Number:
  US12/329,762
• Publication Number:
  US 20090159786A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/227.290
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0043 provided on the surface of the light guide
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0053 Prismatic sheet or layer; Brightness enhancement element, sheet or layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0068 Arrangements of plural sources, e.g. multi-colour light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means

Abstract

A display apparatus includes: a display panel including a plurality of pixels laid out on the surface of a pixel area of the display panel; and an illumination section configured to generate illumination light in a normal direction perpendicular to the display panel, wherein the illumination section has a light source, a light guiding board, the display panel also includes a plurality of photo sensor devices, the light source includes an invisible light source, the light guiding board includes an invisible light beam reflection section.

Claims

1. A display apparatus comprising:

a display panel including a plurality of pixels laid out on the surface of a pixel area of said display panel; and

an illumination section configured to generate illumination light in a normal direction perpendicular to said display panel, wherein

said illumination section has

a light source for radiating original light and

a light guiding board which is exposed to a surface of said display panel,

said original light generated by said light source hits an incidence surface of said light guiding board and said original light hitting said incidence surface is guided to a radiation surface of said light guiding board to be radiated from said radiation surface as said illumination light,

said display panel also includes

a plurality of photo sensor devices also arranged in said pixel area to serve as devices each used for receiving incoming light propagating in a direction parallel to the direction from a front-surface side of said display panel to a rear-surface side of said display panel and functions as a panel configured to display an image in said pixel area on said front-surface side,

said light source includes

an invisible light source for generating an invisible light beam as said original light,

said light guiding board includes

an invisible light beam reflection section configured to reflect said invisible light beam generated by said invisible light source in a direction parallel to said direction from said rear-surface side of said display panel to said front-surface side of said display panel,

said invisible light beam reflection section is provided at a location corresponding to an area included in said pixel area in which said photo sensor devices are created, and

said invisible light beam reflected by said invisible-light beam reflection section is radiated from said radiation surface of said light guiding board as said illumination light.

2. The display apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said invisible light source generates an infrared light beam as said invisible light beam.

3. The display apparatus according to claim 2, said display apparatus further employing:

a biometric authentication section configured to authenticate a biological subject located on said front-surface side of said display panel, wherein

said biological subject reflects said illumination light, which has been generated by said illumination section, in said direction parallel to said direction from said front-surface side of said display panel to said rear-surface side of said display panel,

said photo sensor devices receive said reflected illumination light as said incoming light and generate received-light data from said reflected illumination light, and

said biometric authentication section authenticates said biological object on the basis of said received-light data.

4. The display apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said photo sensor devices generate said received-light data by receiving said reflected light reflected from said illumination light reflected by blood flowing in said biological subject.

5. The display apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said display panel employs:

a first substrate provided on said rear-surface side;

a second substrate exposed to said first substrate and separated away from said first substrate by a gap; and

a liquid-crystal layer provided in said gap sandwiched by said first and second substrates to serve as a layer including uniformly oriented liquid-crystal molecules.

6. The display apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said illumination section is provided on said rear-surface side of said display panel.

7. The display apparatus according to claim 6 wherein

said display panel is a transmission-type liquid-crystal panel,

said illumination section includes

a visible light source for generating a visible light beam, and

said light guiding board guides said visible light beam, which is radiated by said visible light source to said incidence surface, and said invisible light beam, which is radiated by said invisible light source to said incidence surface, to said radiation surface as said illumination light in order to display an image in said pixel area of said display panel functioning as said transmission-type liquid-crystal panel.

8. The display apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said invisible light beam reflection section has an invisible light beam reflection layer including an invisible light beam reflection pigment for reflecting said invisible light beam.

9. The display apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said invisible light beam reflection section includes

a plurality of said invisible light beam reflection layers created at a location corresponding to an area included in said pixel area, in which said photo sensor devices are created, by separating said invisible light beam reflection layers from each other.

10. The display apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said invisible light beam reflection section employs

a diffraction lattice section configured to diffract said invisible light beam and

a reflection section configured to reflect said invisible light beam diffracted by said diffraction lattice section.

11. The display apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said invisible light beam reflection section includes

a plurality of said diffraction lattice sections created at a location corresponding to an area included in said pixel area, in which said photo sensor devices are created, by separating said diffraction lattice sections from each other.

12. The display apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said illumination section is provided on said front-surface side of said display panel.

13. The display apparatus according to claim 12 wherein said invisible light beam reflection section includes

a prism surface configured to reflect said invisible light beam generated by said invisible light source in said direction parallel to said direction from said rear-surface side of said display panel to said front-surface side of said display panel.

14. The display apparatus according to claim 12 wherein said invisible light beam reflection section has

an invisible light beam reflection layer including an invisible light beam reflection pigment for reflecting said invisible light beam.

15. The display apparatus according to claim 14 wherein said invisible light beam reflection section includes

a plurality of said invisible light beam reflection layers created at a location corresponding to an area included in said pixel area, in which said photo sensor devices are created, by separating said invisible light beam reflection layers from each other.

16. The display apparatus according to claim 12 wherein said display panel is a liquid-crystal panel of a reflection type.

17. The display apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said display panel make is an EL (Electro Luminescence) panel.

18. An illumination apparatus employing:

an illumination section configured to generate illumination light in a normal direction perpendicular to a display panel provided with a plurality of pixels, which are laid out on the surface of a pixel area, and provided with a plurality of photo sensor devices, which are also arranged in said pixel area to serve as devices each used for generating received-light data by receiving incoming light propagating in a direction parallel to a direction from a front-surface side of said display panel to a rear-surface side of said display panel, to serve as a panel configured to display an image on said front-surface side, wherein

said illumination section has

a light source for radiating original light and

a light guiding board which is exposed to a surface of said display panel so as to direct said original light generated by said light source to hit an incidence surface and guide said original light hitting said incidence surface to a radiation surface to be radiated from said radiation surface as said illumination light,

said light source includes

an invisible light source for generating an invisible light beam as said original light,

said light guiding board includes

an invisible light beam reflection section configured to reflect said invisible light beam generated by said invisible light source in a direction parallel to a direction from said rear-surface side of said display panel to said front-surface side of said display panel,

said invisible light beam reflection section is provided at a location corresponding to an area included in said pixel area in which said photo sensor devices are created, and

said invisible light beam reflected by said invisible-light beam reflection section is radiated from said radiation surface as said illumination light.