Compensation for DC balancing of liquid crystal displays

• US 6,313,893 B1
• Filed: 12/19/1997
• Issued: 11/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Duke University
• Original Assignee: Duke University
• Inventors: Knox, Richard M., Huang, Austin L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Parker, Kenneth
• Application Number:
  US08/995,030
• Time in Patent Office: 1,418 Days
• Field of Search: 349/18, 349/117, 349/74, 349/75, 349/76, 349/77, 349/78, 349/79
• US Class Current: 349/74
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133638 Waveplates, i.e. plates with a retardation value of lambda/n
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1347 Arrangement of liquid crystal layers or cells in which the final condition of one light beam is achieved by the addition of the effects of two or more layers or cells
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/141 using ferroelectric liquid crystals
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2203/02 reflective
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2203/62 Switchable arrangements whereby the element being usually not switchable

Abstract

In a reflective mode FLC application, a ¼-wave plate compensating FLC is used in series with a ¼-wave imaging FLC to compensate for the effects of DC balancing. Alternatively, the compensating wave plate could be any odd ¼-wave multiple, such as 3λ/4, 5λ/4, etc. The FLCs are driven in synchronization between on and off states with the total effective retardation for each FLC being either none or one-half wavelength in a double pass.

Claims

1. A system for DC balancing of liquid crystal displays, comprising:

an odd number multiple quarter-wave compensator having first and second states, wherein said compensator is adapted to propagate light with a shifted polarization when in said first state and to propagate light with a polarization which is unshifted when in said second state;

an odd number multiple quarter-wave imager disposed such that is it in series with said compensator, said imager having first and second states wherein said compensator is adapted to propagate light with a shifted polarization when in said first state and to propagate light with a polarization which is unshifted when in said second state;

wherein, in operation, said system is arranged such that in a reflective mode operation, incoming light enters said system and travels through said compensator, then through said imager in a direction which is away from said compensator, then returns to travel through said imager in a direction which is toward said compensator, and then travels through said compensator in a direction which is away from said imager, and wherein as the light travels through said system its polarization is influenced by the operative state of said compensator and said imager such that when said imager and said compensator are both in said first state or both in said second state, light is not output, but when said imager and compensator are in different states with respect to the other said system is arranged to transmit output light to thereby provide optical efficiency for reflective mode operation.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a reflector that reflects the light from said imager back toward said imager.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said reflector comprises a mirror positioned in said system such that it is aligned with said imager on a side opposing said compensator.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said apparatus has a reflective mode operation having four possible operative states such that two of the four operative states are complementary to each other responsive to the operative state of said imager and said compensator, said first complementary pair of operative states being:

a first operative state wherein said compensator and said imager are both in a first operative state such that no light is passed as output light, and a second operative state wherein said compensator and said imager are both in said second state such that no light is passed as output light, and

said second complementary pair being a third operative state wherein said compensator is in said first state and said imager is in said second state such that light is passed as output light, and a fourth operative state wherein said compensator is in said second state and said imager is in said first state such that light is passed as output light.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said imager comprises a plurality of cells each having first and second cell states, and wherein said imager propagates the light with a polarization which is dependent on whether said cell is in said first or second cell state.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein said imager is configured to impart information on the light traveling in said system including individual cell information.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein, during operation, transitions occur between said imager first and second states and transitions occur between compensator first and second states.

8. The system of claims 1, wherein said compensator comprises a single cell.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said imager comprises a liquid crystal material.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said first and second imager states correspond to liquid crystal states.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a polarizing reflector disposed in said system such that it reflects the light as light travels from and to said compensator.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a polarizing beam splitter operably associated with said compensator and said imager such that, in operation, said beam splitter reflects the light which is traveling from and to said imager.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a reflector operably associated with said imager, wherein said compensator is configured to transmit light to said imager and to receive light from said imager, and wherein said imager is configured to receive light from said compensator and to transmit light to and from said reflector.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein said imager comprises a ferroelectric liquid crystal display.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein said compensator comprises a ferroelectric liquid crystal material.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein said compensator in one of said first and second states retards the light by a total of approximately λ

/2 in a double pass arrangement.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein said imager retards in said first imager state the light by a total of approximately λ

/2 in a double pass.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein said compensator comprises a wave plate.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the wave plate comprises a one-quarter-wave compensator configured to propagate the light to and from said imager.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein said imager is configured to impart information on the light traveling in said system including polarization information.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a reflecting polarizer in communication with said compensator disposed in said system such that it is upstream of said compensator in a direction opposite said imager; and

a reflecting mirror in communication with said imager upstream of said imager in a direction opposite said compensator.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said compensator has an associated director, and wherein said director of said compensator is oriented in said system such that it is at a 45 degree angle with respect to the incoming light.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein incoming light introduced into said system is linearly polarized, and wherein when in said first operative compensator state, the polarization of the light as it passes through said compensator toward said imager is shifted such that it becomes circularly polarized.

24. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said system is adapted to be driven by an AC driving waveform.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein, in operation, said system is configured such that the operative state of said imager and compensator are influenced by the electrical polarity of said AC waveform.

26. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said imager is a λ

/4 imager.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said compensator is a λ

/4 compensator.

28. A system for DC balancing of liquid crystal displays comprising:

an odd number multiple quarter-wave compensator having first and second states, wherein said compensator is adapted to propagate light with a shifted polarization when in said first state and to propagate light with a polarization which is unshifted when in said second state;

an odd number multiple quarter-wave imager disposed such that is it in series with said compensator, said imager having first and second states wherein said compensator is adapted to propagate light with a shifted polarization when in said first state and to propagate light with a polarization which is unshifted when in said second state;

wherein, in operation, said system is arranged such that in a reflective mode operation, incoming light enters said system and travels through said compensator, then through said imager in a direction which is away from said compensator, then returns to travel through said imager in a direction which is toward said compensator, and then travels through said compensator in a direction which is away from said imager, and wherein as the light travels through said system its polarization is influenced by the operative state of said compensator and said imager such that when said imager and said compensator are both in said first state or both in said second state, light is not output, but when said imager and compensator are in different states with respect to the other said system is arranged to transmit output light to thereby provide optical efficiency for reflective mode operation;

wherein said imager comprises a liquid crystal material; and

wherein said imager liquid crystal material comprises a ferroelectric liquid crystal material, and wherein, during operation, said compensator is configured to compensate for DC balancing of said liquid crystal material.

29. A system for DC balancing of liquid crystal displays comprising:

an odd number multiple quarter-wave compensator having first and second states, wherein said compensator is adapted to propagate light with a shifted polarization when in said first state and to propagate light with a polarization which is unshifted when in said second state;

an odd number multiple quarter-wave imager disposed such that is it in series with said compensator, said imager having first and second states wherein said compensator is adapted to propagate light with a shifted polarization when in said first state and to propagate light with a polarization which is unshifted when in said second state;

wherein, in operation, said system is arranged such that in a reflective mode operation, incoming light enters said system and travels through said compensator, then through said imager in a direction which is away from said compensator, then returns to travel through said imager in a direction which is toward said compensator, and then travels through said compensator in a direction which is away from said imager, and wherein as the light travels through said system its polarization is influenced by the operative state of said compensator and said imager such that when said imager and said compensator are both in said first state or both in said second state, light is not output, but when said imager and compensator are in different states with respect to the other said system is arranged to transmit output light to thereby provide optical efficiency for reflective mode operation; and

wherein said imager alternates between said first and second imager states in response to DC balancing, and wherein said compensator alternates between said compensator first and second states in response to the DC balancing to compensate for the change in imager states.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein said compensator alternates between said compensator first and second states and said imager transitions between imager first and second states synchronously.

31. A system for DC balancing of liquid crystal displays comprising:

an odd number multiple quarter-wave compensator having first and second states, wherein said compensator is adapted to propagate light with a shifted polarization when in said first state and to propagate light with a polarization which is unshifted when in said second state;

an odd number multiple quarter-wave imager disposed such that is it in series with said compensator, said imager having first and second states wherein said compensator is adapted to propagate light with a shifted polarization when in said first state and to propagate light with a polarization which is unshifted when in said second state;

wherein, in operation, said system is arranged such that in a reflective mode operation, incoming light enters said system and travels through said compensator, then through said imager in a direction which is away from said compensator, then returns to travel through said imager in a direction which is toward said compensator, and then travels through said compensator in a direction which is away from said imager, and wherein as the light travels through said system its polarization is influenced by the operative state of said compensator and said imager such that when said imager and said compensator are both in said first state or both in said second state, light is not output, but when said imager and compensator are in different states with respect to the other said system is arranged to transmit output light to thereby provide optical efficiency for reflective mode operation;

wherein said system is adapted to be driven by an AC driving waveform;

wherein, in operation, said system is configured such that the operative state of said imager and compensator are influenced by the electrical polarity of said AC waveform; and

wherein said imager state and said compensator state are selected and synchronously changed in response to DC balancing.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein, during operation, said imager state is inverted relative to said compensator state, and wherein said imager state and said compensator state transition during operation such that each changes electrical polarity.

33. An apparatus comprising:

a λ

/4 wave or odd multiple thereof reflective mode imager having imager states, said imager adapted to retard light transmitted by said imager depending on the state of said imager;

a λ

/4 wave or odd multiple thereof compensator having compensator states, said compensator configured to provide light to said imager and to receive light reflected through said imager, said compensator adapted to retard light transmitted by said compensator depending on the state of said compensator; and

a polarizer configured to receive incoming light and to direct at least a portion of the received incoming light to said compensator.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein said polarizer is further configured to receive light from said compensator after it returns from a double pass through said imager and two passes through said compensator to provide a portion of the light received from said compensator as output light depending on the state of said imager and on the state of said compensator, and wherein the light provided as output light has a polarization which is rotated relative to the polarization of the incoming light.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein said polarizer comprises a reflecting polarizer.

36. An apparatus, comprising:

an imager having a first imager state and a second imager state, said imager configured to;

propagate light;

rotate polarization of the light propagated by about a λ

/4 by said imager in each pass of a double pass arrangement when said imager is in the first imager state, and

not rotate polarization of the light propagated by said imager when said imager is in the second imager state; and

a compensator in series with said imager having a first compensator state and a second compensator state, said compensator configured to;

propagate light to and from said imager,

rotate polarization of the light propagated by said compensator by about λ

/4, both as the light is propagated to said imager and as the light is propagated from said imager, when said compensator is in the first compensator state, and

not rotate polarization of the light propagated by said compensator when said compensator is in the second compensator state.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the apparatus further comprises operational modes, wherein one mode is associated with the output of light and the other mode is associated with no output of light, wherein the apparatus is in one operational mode whereby no light is output when said imager and said compensator are one of (a) both in their respective first states and (b) both in their respective second states, and wherein the apparatus is in another mode whereby light is output when said imager and said compensator are one of (a) not both in their respective first states and (b) not both in their respective second states.

38. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said first imager state and said first compensator state comprise on states, and wherein said second imager state and said second compensator state comprise off states.

39. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said imager and said compensator are configured to make state transitions between their respective first and second states in synchrony.

40. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the apparatus produces output light depending on which of the first and second imager states said imager is in and on which of the first and second compensator states said compensator is in.

42. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein a complementary pair with the same operational output is formed for (a) said imager operating in the first imager state with said compensator operating in said second compensator state and (b) said imager being switched between the first imager state to the second imager state with said compensator being switched between the second compensator state to the first compensator state.

43. The apparatus of claim 36, further comprising:

a reflecting polarizer in communication with said compensator disposed in said apparatus such that it is upstream of said compensator in a direction opposite said imager; and

a reflecting mirror in communication with said imager upstream of said imager in a direction opposite said compensator.

44. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein said compensator has a director associated therewith, and wherein said director is oriented in said apparatus such that it is at a 45 degree angle with respect to the incoming light.

45. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein incoming light introduced into said apparatus in advance of said compensator is linearly polarized, and wherein, when in said first operative compensator state, the polarization of the incoming light as it passes through said compensator toward said imager is shifted such that it becomes circularly polarized.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein said imager is adapted to be driven by an AC driving waveform.

47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein, in operation, said apparatus is configured such that the operative states of said imager and compensator are influenced by the electrical polarity of said AC waveform, and wherein the operative states of said compensator is adapted to change during operation in response to DC balancing applied to said imager.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein said operative imager state and said compensator state are selected and synchronously changed in response to DC balancing.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein, during operation, said imager state is transitioned to an inverted state such that it changes electrical polarity and wherein, during operation, the operative state of said imager is selected such that it presents a state which is opposite that of said compensator.

50. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein said imager is a λ

/4 FLCD multi-cell imager.

51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein said compensator is a λ

/4 FLCD single cell compensator.

41. The apparatus of clam 36, wherein a complementary pair with the same operational output is formed for said imager and said compensator being switched in synchrony between their respective first states and their respective second states.

52. An apparatus comprising:

a quarter-wave compensator having first and second states, wherein the quarter-wave compensator is adapted to provide propagated light along an optical path with a shifted polarization when in the first state and propagated light with an unshifted polarization when in the second state;

a quarter-wave imager having first and second states disposed along the optical path in series with the quarter-wave compensator, wherein the quarter-wave compensator is adapted to not shift a polarization of the propagated light when the quarter-wave compensator is in the first state and is adapted to shift the polarization of the propagated light when the quarter-wave compensator is in the second state; and

wherein the quarter-wave imager comprises a ferroelectric liquid crystal material and the quarter-wave compensator is configured to compensate for DC balancing of the ferroelectric liquid crystal material.

53. An apparatus comprising:

an imager having a first imager state and a second imager state, said imager configured to;

propagate light;

rotate polarization of the light propagated by about a λ

/4 by said imager in each pass of a double pass arrangement when said imager is in the first imager state, and not rotate polarization of the light propagated by said imager when said imager is in the second imager state; and

a compensator in series with said imager having a first compensator state and a second compensator state, said compensator configured to;

propagate light to and from said imager,

rotate polarization of the light propagated by said compensator by about λ

/4, both as the light is propagated to said imager and as the light is propagated from said imager, when said compensator is in the first compensator state;

not rotate polarization of the light propagated by said compensator when said compensator is in the second compensator state; and

wherein said compensator makes state transitions between its first and second states to compensate for DC balancing of said imager.

54. An apparatus comprising:

an imager having a first imager state and a second imager state, said imager configured to;

propagate light;

rotate polarization of the light propagated by about a λ

/4 by said imager in each pass of a double pass arrangement when said imager is in the first imager state and not rotate polarization of the light propagated by said imager when said imager is in the second imager state; and

a compensator in series with said imager having a first compensator state and a second compensator state, said compensator configured to;

propagate light to and from said imager,

rotate polarization of the light propagated by said compensator by about λ

/4, both as the light is propagated to said imager and as the light is propagated from said imager, when said compensator is in the first compensator state;

not rotate polarization of the light propagated by said compensator when said compensator is in the second compensator state; and

wherein combinations of the first and second imager states and the first and second compensator states results in a light output when a condition representative of a Boolean logic exclusive-OR functionality exists.