Light Management for Image and Data Control
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An image display device comprising:
- a transparent medium; and
at least one light source for providing light to pass through said transparent medium; and
a plurality of essentially transparent light-directing elements, located in said transparent medium in the path of light from said at least one light source with each having at least one surface angled to reflect light from a said at least one light source and the ability to exhibit a first refractive index that is near to the refractive index of said transparent medium and also having the ability to exhibit at least one different refractive index; and
an image source for providing at least one image to be displayed; and
a power provision assembly for powering components; and
a controller, operatively connected to said image source, said power provision assembly, and to said light-directing elements, for controlling the refractive indices of said light-directing elements so that those exhibiting the first refractive index have an effectively negligible effect on light passing through them and those exhibiting a different refractive index than said transparent medium will reflect at least some portion of light from said at least one light source with said controller directing a plurality of said light-directing elements to exhibit refractive indexes different from that of said transparent plate where those refractive indexes and light-directing elements are selected by said controller because the light each will reflect towards at least one viewer will be perceivable as part of said at least one image to be displayed.whereby;
to display said at least one image, the controller can select the effective reflectivity of each light-directing element applicable to displaying an image emanating from inside a transparent medium while allowing an otherwise unimpeded view through said transparent medium.
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Abstract
A light control and display technology applicable to light redirection and projection with the capacity, in a number of embodiments modified for particular applications, to produce managed light, including advanced images. Applications include miniature to very large scale video displays, optical data processing, 3-dimensional imaging, and lens-less vision enhancement for poor night-driving vision, cataracts and macular degeneration.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An image display device comprising:
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a transparent medium; and at least one light source for providing light to pass through said transparent medium; and a plurality of essentially transparent light-directing elements, located in said transparent medium in the path of light from said at least one light source with each having at least one surface angled to reflect light from a said at least one light source and the ability to exhibit a first refractive index that is near to the refractive index of said transparent medium and also having the ability to exhibit at least one different refractive index; and an image source for providing at least one image to be displayed; and a power provision assembly for powering components; and a controller, operatively connected to said image source, said power provision assembly, and to said light-directing elements, for controlling the refractive indices of said light-directing elements so that those exhibiting the first refractive index have an effectively negligible effect on light passing through them and those exhibiting a different refractive index than said transparent medium will reflect at least some portion of light from said at least one light source with said controller directing a plurality of said light-directing elements to exhibit refractive indexes different from that of said transparent plate where those refractive indexes and light-directing elements are selected by said controller because the light each will reflect towards at least one viewer will be perceivable as part of said at least one image to be displayed. whereby; to display said at least one image, the controller can select the effective reflectivity of each light-directing element applicable to displaying an image emanating from inside a transparent medium while allowing an otherwise unimpeded view through said transparent medium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
1) providing separate paths for light of each color populated by light-directing elements which, when made reflective by said controller, will reflect light based on the color traversing that path,
2) time-separated color control where light from said at least one light source is one color while a selected set of light-directing elements are reflective and another color while another set of light-directing elements are reflective,
3) separation of colors from multispectral light after it is reflected from light-directing elements being engaged at the times for display of particular colors, and
4) combinations of 1-3.
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4. The image display device of claim 1, wherein
for the display of any given point in the perceived image, a plurality of said light-directing elements may be selected by said controller to have their refractive index changed to be different from that of said transparent medium because they are positioned and angled so that light from said at least one light source reflecting off of them will be perceivable by a viewer from at least one point of observation as coming from the same point in space; - whereby
a viewer'"'"'s eye can perceive a selected one of the group comprising
1) a brighter image where any given perceived point in the perceived image can be brighter because it is coming from multiple light-directing elements,
2) a complex wavefront reconstruction with light from any point in the perceived image traveling in a plurality of directions for a 3-D image with natural depth perception,
3) a complex multi-color image where, for the display of any given point in the perceived image, said at least one light source provides different colors to different light-directing elements whose light contributes to a single perceived point in the image, and
4) any combination of 1-3.
- whereby
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5. The image display device of claim 1, wherein
because light-directing elements having the first refractive index do not substantially interfere with light passing through said transparent medium, said controller is able to perform a selected one of the group comprising 1) change the refractive index of selected said light-directing elements to be different from the refractive index of said transparent medium in portions of said transparent medium that are to display an image while leaving an otherwise clear view through said transparent medium, 2) block light, other than the light provided by said at least one light source, from entering said transparent medium where a view through said transparent medium is not desired, and 3) a combination of 1 and 2 wherein selected portions of a natural view through said transparent medium are blocked. -
6. The image display device of claim 1, wherein said at least one light source illuminates a color image by emitting a plurality of colors with each color encountering a selected one of the group comprising 1) a subset of said plurality of light-directing elements which are positioned in said transparent medium to encounter a particular color where different colors of light follow essentially different paths, 2) said light-directing elements at different points in time so that when a given color is emitted said controller causes the refractive indexes of the essentially transparent elements for displaying pixels of that color to be different from that of said transparent medium, and 3) a combination of 1 and 2.
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7. A device for displaying an image comprising:
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at least one light source; and a transparent material; and a power provision means for powering components; and a plurality of essentially transparent elements, located in said transparent material and in the path of light from said at least one light source, capable of having a refractive index sufficiently near that of said transparent material to have an essentially negligible effect on light encountering the boundaries between the two and also capable of being changed to exhibit at least one refractive index sufficiently different from that of said transparent material in which case light encountering said boundaries will be at least partially redirected; and a refractive index adjustment assembly for adjusting the refractive index of said essentially transparent elements being operably connected to said plurality of essentially transparent elements; and a processor having access to at least one image to be displayed and being operatively connected to said refractive index adjustment assembly for directing said refractive index adjustment assembly to adjust the refractive index to be different from that of said transparent material for those essentially transparent elements that will, due to their location, shape, and orientation, redirect light from said at least one light source towards a viewer in an array of light perceivable, from at least one point of view, as said at least one image to be displayed. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A display device comprising:
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a transparent plate; and at least one light source for providing light to pass through said transparent plate; and a plurality of light-directing elements, located in said transparent plate and in the path of light from said at least one light source, which are essentially transparent and have the ability to at least approximately attain the refractive index of said transparent plate and also have the ability to attain at least one additional refractive index; and a controller, operatively connected to said plurality of light directing elements and having access to at least one image to be displayed, for controlling the refractive indexes of said plurality of light directing elements to have essentially the same refractive index as said transparent plate or to exhibit a refractive index significantly different than that of said transparent plate; and a power source operatively connected to and for providing power to components requiring power;
whereina perceivable image of said at least one image to be displayed is effected when said controller directs a plurality of light-directing elements to have refractive indexes different from that of said transparent plate with those refractive indexes and light-directing elements being selected by said controller because the light each will redirect towards at least one viewer will be perceivable as part of said at least one image to be displayed. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification