BACKLIGHTING SYSTEM INCLUDING A SPECULAR PARTIAL REFLECTOR AND A CIRCULAR-MODE REFLECTIVE POLARIZER
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A backlight, comprising:
- an illumination device comprising at least one light source;
a circular-mode reflective polarizer; and
a specular partial reflector disposed between the illumination device and the circular-mode reflective polarizer;
wherein the specular partial reflector is in substantially direct polarization communication with the circular-mode reflective polarizer.
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Abstract
In a display backlight (120, 220, 420) a specular partial reflector (250, 450) is placed between a circular-mode reflective polarizer (242, 442) and an illumination device (230, 430). The specular partial reflector (450) recycles otherwise unused polarized light (468L) reflected from the circular-mode reflective polarizer (442) which results in an optimized backlight brightness. The main application of the backlight (120) is in liquid crystal displays (100)
31 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A backlight, comprising:
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an illumination device comprising at least one light source; a circular-mode reflective polarizer; and a specular partial reflector disposed between the illumination device and the circular-mode reflective polarizer; wherein the specular partial reflector is in substantially direct polarization communication with the circular-mode reflective polarizer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A display comprising a liquid crystal panel and a backlight that provides light to the liquid crystal panel, wherein the backlight comprises:
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an illumination device comprising at least one light source; a circular-mode reflective polarizer disposed between the liquid crystal panel and the illumination device; and a specular partial reflector disposed between the illumination device and the circular-mode reflective polarizer; wherein the specular partial reflector is in substantially direct polarization communication with the circular-mode reflective polarizer.
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16. A backlight for providing polarized light, comprising:
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an illumination device comprising at least one light source; a circular-mode reflective polarizer configured to transmit a first portion of light having a first circular polarization and reflect a second portion of light having a second circular polarization orthogonal to the first circular polarization; and a specular partial reflector disposed between the illumination device and the circular-mode reflective polarizer, the specular partial reflector suitable for receiving the second portion of light from the circular-mode reflective polarizer and returning a third portion of light to the circular-mode reflective polarizer, the third portion of light being a fraction of the second portion of light and having the first circular polarization that is transmittable by the circular-mode reflective polarizer.
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17. A method of making a backlight, comprising:
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providing an illumination device; providing a circular-mode reflective polarizer; selecting an orthogonal reflection fraction value for a specular partial reflector to result in an optimized backlight brightness; and placing a specular partial reflector having the selected orthogonal reflection fraction value between the illumination device and the circular-mode reflective polarizer, wherein the specular partial reflector is in substantially direct polarization communication with the circular-mode reflective polarizer.
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Specification