Method and system employing a push-pull liquid crystal modulator
First Claim
1. A push-pull liquid crystal modulator system, for transmitting circularly polarized light of alternating handedness,including:
- (a) a pair of surface mode liquid crystal cells having orthogonal rub axes;
(b) a linear polarizer having an absorption axis bisecting the orthogonal rub axes; and
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(c) a driver electrically coupled to the cells, and capable of driving the cells so that when one cell in the pair is in a higher voltage state, the other cell in the pair is in a lower voltage state.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method employing a push-pull modulator for stereoscopic image selection. The modulator includes a pair of surface mode liquid crystal cells having orthogonal rub axes, and a linear polarizer having absorption axis bisecting the orthogonal rub axes, and has high speed, good transmission, and symmetrical dynamic range characteristics. A field-sequential steroscopic video image may be transmitted from a video display screen (or video projector) through the modulator as the cells of the modulator are driven so that fields of alternately left-handed circularly polarized light and right-handed circularly polarized light will emerge. The transmitted circularly polarized light may be viewed using passive spectacles incorporating circular polarizing filters.
262 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A push-pull liquid crystal modulator system, for transmitting circularly polarized light of alternating handedness,including:
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(a) a pair of surface mode liquid crystal cells having orthogonal rub axes; (b) a linear polarizer having an absorption axis bisecting the orthogonal rub axes; and
;(c) a driver electrically coupled to the cells, and capable of driving the cells so that when one cell in the pair is in a higher voltage state, the other cell in the pair is in a lower voltage state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A stereoscopic video display system, including:
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(a) a monitor for displaying a field sequential stereo image; and (b) a push-pull liquid crystal modulator unit, including a pair of surface mode liquid crystal cells having orthogonal rub axes and a linear polarizer having an absorption axis bisecting the orthogonal rub axes, said modulator unit being positioned to receive light transmitted from the monitor, and being capable of transmitting alternately left-handed and right-handed ciruularly polarized images with a first frequency. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. Stereoscopic video display apparatus, including:
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(a) a monitor for displaying a field-sequential stereo image; and (b) a shutter system, including a push-pull liquid crystal modulator including a pair of surface mode liquid crystal cells having orthogonal rub axes and a linear polarizer having an absorption axis bisecting the orthogonal rub axes, and capable of sequentially transmitting left-hand circularly polarized light comprising the image and right-hand circularly polarized light comprising the image. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of displaying a stereoscopic video image, including the steps of:
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displaying a field-sequential stereoscopic image whose fields alternate at a field rate; positioning a push-pull liquid crystal modulator that includes a pair of surface mode liquid crystal cells with orthogonal rub axes and a linear polarizer having an absorption axis bisecting the orthogonal rub axes, so that light comprising the image will propagate therethrough; and driving the modulator in synchronization with the fields of the image so that the transmitted image emerging from the modulator consists of right-handed circularly polarized fields alternating at the field rate with left-handed circularly polarized fields. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification