WEARABLE DISPLAY APPARATUS

• US 20110109528A1
• Filed: 11/09/2010
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: MUN, Yong-kweun, Lee, Hong-seok
• Application Number:
  US12/942,405
• Publication Number:
  US 20110109528A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/8
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0112 comprising device for genereting colour display
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/012 comprising devices for attenuating parasitic image effects
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/00 Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings

Abstract

A wearable display adopting a diffractive optical system includes a light source unit to emit light of a plurality of colors having wavelength bands which do not overlap each other; a light guide plate including a light guide portion to guide light incident from the light source unit by reflection, and a plurality of light output portions protruding from a surface of the light guide portion to output the light incident from the light source via a specular reflection as a surface light source. The light incident on a panel type optical modulation device from the light guide plate is modulated according to input image signals. The light emitted from the panel type optical modulation device is diffracted by a first diffractive device to be coupled to the waveguide and propagated by the waveguide. The light transferred through the waveguide is focused by an imaging device to form an enlarged image.

Claims

1. A wearable display apparatus comprising:

a light source unit to emit light of a plurality of colors having wavelength bands which do not overlap each other;

a light guide plate comprising;

a light guide portion to guide light incident from the light source unit by reflection, and

a plurality of light output portions protruding from a surface of the light guide portion to output the light incident from the light source unit via a specular reflection as a surface light source;

a panel type optical modulation device to modulate the light irradiated from the light guide plate according to input image signals to display images;

a first diffractive device to diffract light incident from the panel type optical modulation device to change an optical path;

a waveguide in which light incident from the first diffractive device propagates; and

an imaging device to focus the light transferred through the waveguide to form an enlarged image.

2. The wearable display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light guide plate is disposed to maintain a polarization of light that is linearly polarized in a first direction, and the light output portion includes a light output surface that is parallel with the first direction.

3. The wearable display apparatus of claim 2, wherein the light output portion is formed as an inverted trapezoid shape or a parallelogram.

4. The wearable display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source unit includes at least one laser device to emit a laser beam.

5. The wearable display apparatus of claim 4, wherein the light source unit comprises red, green, and blue laser devices to respectively emit laser beams of red, green, and blue wavelength bands.

6. The wearable display apparatus of claim 4, wherein the light source unit comprises red and blue laser devices to respectively emit laser beams of red and blue wavelength bands, and a green light emitting device (LED) to emit light of green wavelength band.

7. The wearable display apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a polarization device disposed between the light source unit and the light guide plate such that light of a linearly polarized component proceeds toward the light guide plate.

8. The wearable display apparatus of claim 4, wherein the light source unit comprises red and blue LEDs to respectively emit red light and blue light, and a green laser device to emit a green laser beam.

9. The wearable display apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a polarization device disposed between the light source unit and the light guide plate such that light of a linearly polarized component proceeds toward the light guide plate.

10. The wearable display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the panel type optical modulation device is a transmissive liquid crystal display (LCD) device provided between the light guide plate and the first diffractive device.

11. The wearable display apparatus of claim 10, wherein the light guide plate is configured to maintain a polarization direction of light that is linearly polarized in a first direction, the light output portion has a light output surface that is parallel with the first direction, the light incident in the light guide plate from the light source unit is linearly polarized in the first direction, and the transmissive LCD device comprises:

two transparent substrates;

a liquid crystal layer disposed between the two transparent substrates; and

a polarization plate disposed on the transparent substrate adjacent to the first diffractive device.

12. The wearable display apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transmissive LCD device is a mono-transmissive type, and the light source unit is sequentially driven according to colors.

13. The wearable display apparatus of claim 11, wherein the transmissive LCD device further comprises a color filter to display color images, and the light source unit and the transmissive LCD device are sequentially driven according to the colors or driven simultaneously.

14. The wearable display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the panel type optical modulation device is a reflective display panel, and the light guide plate is located between the panel type optical modulation device and the first diffractive device so that the light output portions face the panel type optical modulation device.

15. The wearable display apparatus of claim 14, wherein the panel type optical modulation device is a panel displaying images by mirror driving, or an LCoS panel.

16. The wearable display apparatus of claim 15, wherein the panel type optical modulation device is a mono-reflective type, and the light source unit is sequentially driven according to colors.

17. The wearable display apparatus of claim 15, wherein the panel type optical modulation device displays color images, and the light source unit and the panel type optical modulation device are sequentially driven according to the colors or driven simultaneously.

18. The wearable display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light source unit comprises:

an infrared ray light device to emit infrared rays;

wherein an eye tracking sensor array used to interface is further disposed between the light guide plate and the first diffractive plate or on a side opposite to the panel type optical modulation device in the light guide plate.

19. The wearable display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first diffractive device comprises a plurality of holograms which respectively diffract the light of the colors to be coupled to the waveguide.

20. The wearable display apparatus of claim 19, wherein the imaging device includes a second diffractive device that includes a plurality of holograms which respectively diffract the light of each wavelength band transferred through the waveguide to eyes of a user and focus images of each color formed by the panel type optical modulation device on the eyes of the user.