ILLUMINATION APPARATUS AND METHODS
First Claim
1. An apparatus for illuminating a display, comprising:
- a light source for providing a plurality of light beams; and
a light guide positioned to receive the light beams at a side surface of the light guide, wherein the light guide further includes at least a first and second set of light extractor features that are arranged with respect to each other so as to direct at least some of the received light beams out a bottom surface of the light guide towards a display, wherein the first and second set of light extractor features are rotated with respect to each other so that when the first set of light extractor features causes a shadow along a first region of the display as would be viewed from one of a predetermined range of viewing angles, the second set of light extractor features illuminates such first region so as to substantially eliminate the shadow in such first region.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are apparatus and methods for illuminating a display. In certain embodiments, the illumination apparatus includes a light guide that receives light from a light generator along an edge of the light guide and directs the received light via light extractor features (e.g., grooves) towards a display. The light guide includes at least two sets of light extractor features that are rotated with respect to each other so as to reduce a shadowing effect on the display when the display is viewed from within a specific range of viewing angles. In further embodiments, the spacing or orientation of each or one of the extractor feature sets may also be adjusted so that other visual artifacts, such as a Moiré effect, are reduced.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An apparatus for illuminating a display, comprising:
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a light source for providing a plurality of light beams; and a light guide positioned to receive the light beams at a side surface of the light guide, wherein the light guide further includes at least a first and second set of light extractor features that are arranged with respect to each other so as to direct at least some of the received light beams out a bottom surface of the light guide towards a display, wherein the first and second set of light extractor features are rotated with respect to each other so that when the first set of light extractor features causes a shadow along a first region of the display as would be viewed from one of a predetermined range of viewing angles, the second set of light extractor features illuminates such first region so as to substantially eliminate the shadow in such first region. - 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)
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27. An apparatus for illuminating a display, comprising:
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means for generating a plurality of light beams; and means for directing at least some of the light beams out a bottom surface of the light guide substrate(s) towards a display so as to provide a predetermined range of viewing angles for the display while substantially eliminating shadows within the predetermined range of viewing angles and minimize a Moiré
effect.
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28. A method of illuminating a display, comprising:
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generating a plurality of light beams at a side surface of a light guide substrate(s) having at least a first and second set of light extractor features; and directing at least some of the received light beams out a bottom surface of the light guide substrate(s) towards a display so as to provide a predetermined range of viewing angles for the display, wherein when the first set of light extractor features cause a shadow along a first region of the display at a particular one of the viewing angles, the second set of light extractor features illuminate such first region so as to substantially eliminate the shadow in such first region.
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Specification