Color imaging systems and methods
First Claim
1. A system for separating and combining three spectrums of light, comprising:
- first, second, third and fourth polarizing beamsplitters, wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to allow light having a first polarization orientation to pass therethrough, wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to reflect light having a second polarization orientation, and wherein each polarizing beamsplitter has two interior sides adjacent two other polarizing beamsplitters, and two exterior sides that are not adjacent other polarizing beamsplitters; and
a first retarder stack located adjacent an exterior side of the first polarizing beamsplitter;
a second retarder stack located adjacent an interior side of the first polarizing beamsplitter; and
a third retarder stack located between interior sides of two of the polarizing beamsplitters.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for separating light into different spectrums and for recombining the light includes at least one polarizing beamsplitter and at least one retarder stack configured to condition the polarization of input light differently for different spectrums. A device embodying the invention could utilize multiple polarizing beamsplitters and multiple retarder stacks. Alternatively, a system could utilize a single polarizing beamsplitter and a single retarder stack in combination with one or more dichroic beamsplitters. In preferred embodiments, one or more reflective modulator panels are included to separately modulate each separated spectrum of light. Such an embodiment can be used for a color projection system. In each of the embodiments that utilize modulators, distances between the modulators and the focusing optics is essentially the same.
-
Citations
59 Claims
-
1. A system for separating and combining three spectrums of light, comprising:
-
first, second, third and fourth polarizing beamsplitters, wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to allow light having a first polarization orientation to pass therethrough, wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to reflect light having a second polarization orientation, and wherein each polarizing beamsplitter has two interior sides adjacent two other polarizing beamsplitters, and two exterior sides that are not adjacent other polarizing beamsplitters; and
a first retarder stack located adjacent an exterior side of the first polarizing beamsplitter;
a second retarder stack located adjacent an interior side of the first polarizing beamsplitter; and
a third retarder stack located between interior sides of two of the polarizing beamsplitters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A color projection system, comprising:
-
first, second, third and fourth polarizing beamsplitters, arranged in a square pattern, wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to allow light having a first polarization orientation to pass therethrough, wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to reflect light having a second polarization orientation, and wherein each polarizing beamsplitter has two interior sides adjacent two other polarizing beamsplitters, and two exterior sides that are not adjacent other polarizing beamsplitters;
a first retarder stack located on an exterior side of the first polarizing beamsplitter;
a second retarder stack located adjacent an interior side of the first polarizing beamsplitter;
a third retarder stack located between interior sides of two of the polarizing beamsplitters;
a light source located adjacent the first retarder stack; and
projection optics located adjacent the fourth polarizing beamsplitter. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. A system for separating and combining three spectrums of light, comprising:
-
a polarizing beamsplitter;
an input retarder stack located adjacent a first side of the polarizing beamsplitter;
a spacer located adjacent a second side of the polarizing beamsplitter; and
a dichroic beamsplitter located adjacent a third side of the polarizing beamsplitter. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 54)
-
-
48. A color projection system, comprising:
-
a polarizing beamsplitter;
an input retarder stack located adjacent a first side of the polarizing beamsplitter;
a light source located adjacent the first retarder stack;
a spacer located adjacent a second side of the polarizing beamsplitter;
a dichroic beamsplitter located adjacent a third side of the polarizing beamsplitter; and
projection optics located adjacent a fourth side of the polarizing beamsplitter. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
-
-
55. A method of separating, modulating and re-combining spectrums of light, comprising the steps of:
-
conditioning input light with a first retarder stack so that input light in a first spectrum has a first polarization orientation, and input light in a second spectrum has a second polarization orientation;
separating the light in the first spectrum from the light in the second spectrum using a polarizing beamsplitter;
conditioning the separated light in the second spectrum using a second retarder stack so that light in a third spectrum has the first polarization orientation, and light in a fourth spectrum has the second polarization orientation;
separating the light in the third spectrum from the light in the fourth spectrum using a polarizing beamsplitter;
modulating light in the first, third and fourth spectrums separately, using first, second and third modulators; and
recombining the first, third and fourth modulated spectrums of light.
-
-
56. A method of separating, modulating, and re-combining spectrums of light, comprising the steps of:
-
conditioning input light with a first retarder stack so that input light in a first spectrum has a first polarization orientation, and input light in a second spectrum has a second polarization orientation;
separating the light in the first spectrum from the light in the second spectrum using a polarizing beamsplitter;
separating light in the separated second spectrum into third and fourth spectrums of light with a dichroic beamsplitter;
modulating the light in the first, third and fourth spectrums separately, using first, second and third modulators; and
recombining the first, third and fourth modulated spectrums of light.
-
-
57. A system for separating input light into multiple spectra, comprising:
-
first, second, third and fourth polarizing beamsplitters, wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to allow light having a first polarization orientation to pass therethrough, and wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to reflect light having a second polarization orientation; and
first, second and third retarder stacks, wherein the first, second, third and fourth polarizing beamsplitters and the first, second and third retarder stacks are arranged and optically coupled such that said input light is separated into said multiple spectra.
-
-
58. A system for separating and combining multiple spectra of light, comprising:
-
a polarizing beamsplitter;
an input retarder stack located adjacent a first side of the polarizing beamsplitter; and
a dichroic beamsplitter located adjacent a second side of the polarizing beamsplitter.
-
-
59. A system for combining multiple input spectra, comprising:
-
first, second, third and fourth polarizing beamsplitters, wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to allow light having a first polarization orientation to pass therethrough, and wherein each polarizing beamsplitter is configured to reflect light having a second polarization orientation; and
first, second and third retarder stacks, wherein the first, second, third and fourth polarizing beamsplitters and the first, second and third retarder stacks are arranged and optically coupled such that said multiple input spectra are combined.
-
Specification