MULTIPLE FUNCTION DISPLAY SYSTEM

• US 20130342512A1
• Filed: 06/25/2012
• Published: 12/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: GASS, Paul Antony, ZAWADZKI, Alexander, SMITH, Nathan James
• Granted Patent: US 9,679,506 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/204
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/023 Display panel composed of stacked panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0426 Layout of electrodes and connections
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/028 by changing the viewing angle properties, e.g. widening the viewing angle, adapting the viewing angle to the view direction
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/003 to produce spatial visual effects
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3406 Control of illumination source illumination devices structurally associated with liquid crystal cells G02F1/1336
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3611 Control of matrices with row and column drivers

Abstract

A display system which includes a first image display; a second image display; a reflective polariser disposed between the first image display and the second image display, with the second image display disposed on a viewing side of the display system; and a controller for addressing image data to the first image display and the second image display, wherein the controller, the first image display and second image display are configured to selectively operate in accordance with: a first display function in which the first image display is visible to a viewer through the second image display and the second image display appears substantially transparent to the first image display; a second display function in which the display system appears as a plane mirror to the viewer; and a third display function in which the display system appears as a patterned mirror to the viewer.

Claims

1. A display system, comprising:

a first image display;

a second image display;

a reflective polariser disposed between the first image display and the second image display, with the second image display disposed on a viewing side of the display system; and

a controller for addressing image data to the first image display and the second image display,

wherein the controller, the first image display and second image display are configured to selectively operate in accordance with;

a first display function in which the first image display is visible to a viewer through the second image display and the second image display appears substantially transparent to the first image display;

a second display function in which the display system appears as a plane mirror to the viewer; and

a third display function in which the display system appears as a patterned mirror to the viewer.

2. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the controller, first image display and second image display are further configured to selectively operate in accordance with a fourth display function in which an image data from the first display is visible to a viewer through the second image display and a patterned mirror is visible to the viewer from the second image display.

3. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the controller, first image display and second image display are further configured to selectively operate in accordance with a fifth display function in which the second image display functions as a switchable parallax optic to present autostereoscopic viewing to the viewer of three dimensional data presented by the first image display.

4. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the second image display is a Zenithal Bistable Liquid Crystal Display (ZBD).

5. The display system according to any one of claims 4, wherein the controller, the first image display and second image display are further configured to selectively operate in accordance with a sixth display function in which the second image display functions as a switchable obscuring optic in order that the image presented by the first image display is substantially viewable on-axis of the display system but is substantially obscured from view off-axis.

6. The display system according to claim 4, wherein the controller addresses the ZBD to switch pixels between first and second stable states.

7. The display system according to claim 6, wherein a pixel in the first stable state is substantially transparent to the first image display, and in a second stable state is reflective to the viewer.

8. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the second image display is a Super Twisted Nematic Liquid Crystal Display (STN).

9. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the second image display is a Bistable Twisted Nematic Liquid Crystal Display (BTN).

10. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the second image display is a Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Display (FLC).

11. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the reflective polariser has specular reflection properties.

12. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the reflective polariser is a Dual Brightness Enhancement Film (DBEF).

13. The display system according to claim 1, wherein a retardation film is disposed between an uppermost substrate of the first image display and the reflective polariser.

14. The display system according to claim 1, wherein a retardation film is disposed between the reflective polariser and a lowermost substrate of the second image display.

15. The display system according to claim 13, wherein the retardation film is a quarter waveplate.

16. The display system according to claim 13, wherein the retardation film is a half waveplate.

17. The display system according to claim 1, wherein a polariser is positioned between an uppermost substrate of the first image display and the reflective polariser.

18. The display system according to claim 1, wherein an addressing scheme of the second image display does not utilize opaque transistors.

19. The display system according to claim 1, further comprising a backlight for providing backlight to the first image display, and the controller being configured to turn the backlight on or off as a function of the particular display function.

20. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the controller, the first image display and the second image display are configured to operate in accordance with two or more of the display functions simultaneously in different corresponding spatial regions.