Laser projection system

• US 7,142,257 B2
• Filed: 03/01/2002
• Issued: 11/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Magic Lantern LLC
• Original Assignee: Magic Lantern LLC
• Inventors: Pease, Richard W., Callison, John P., Pease, Jeffrey S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yenke, Brian P.
• Application Number:
  US10/086,272
• Publication Number:
  US 20020180869A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,733 Days
• Field of Search: 348744-745, 348/750, 348780-781, 348/197, 348/202, 348/203, 353/31, 353/37, 353/69, 345/613, 345/614
• US Class Current: 348/744
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3129 scanning a light beam on the display screen scanning a light beam on a screen in displays other than projection devices G09G3/02; scanning systems in general G02B26/10; projectors using laser light sources in general H04N9/3161

Abstract

Laser projection system suitable for commercial motion picture theaters and other large screen venues, including home theater, uses optical fibers to project modulated laser beams for simultaneously raster scanning multiple lines on screen. Emitting ends of optical fibers are arranged in an array such that red, green and blue spots are simultaneously scanned onto the screen in multiple lines spaced one or more scan lines apart. Use of optical fibers enables scanning of small, high resolution spots on screen, and permits convenient packaging and replacement, upgrading or modification of system components. Simultaneous raster scanning of multiple lines enables higher resolution, brightness, and frame rates with available economical components. Fiber-based beam coupling may be used to greatly enhance the flexibility of the system. Alternate embodiments illustrate the flexibility of the system for different optical fiber output head configurations and for different types, sizes, and arrangements of laser, modulation, and scanning components.

Claims

1. A system for projecting an image onto a viewing surface, comprising:

at least three light beams,

a scanner adapted to direct at least three of the light beams onto the viewing surface to form a two-dimensional pattern of at least three spots on the viewing surface,

said scanner being further adapted to traverse the directed light beams during each of a succession of scan passes during a frame pass, wherein at substantially the same time during at least one scan pass of such frame pass, at least one spot of the pattern of spots substantially illuminates a dot location of such array that is not adjacent to the dot location illuminated by any other spot of the pattern of spots and at least three of the spots are substantially aligned in a straight line angled with respect to the lines of dot locations.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein during a frame pass at least one spot scanned to illuminate at least one line of dot locations during one scan pass of such frame pass is not scanned to illuminate any line of dot locations adjacent to such one line of dot locations during any other scan pass of such frame pass.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said scanner is a raster scanner.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein at some time during a scan pass at least one line is incomplete while another line is complete.

5. The system of claim 1 or 3, wherein movement of the pattern of spots in the frame direction is substantially continuous during such frame pass.

6. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein each spot of the pattern of spots is so aligned and substantially illuminates locations along a different line of dot locations on the viewing surface during at least one of the scan passes.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein at least four of the light beams are directed to the viewing surface by said scanner such that at least four of said spots are aligned at an angle with respect to the lines of dot locations.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein at least twelve of the light beams are directed to the viewing surface by said scanner such that at least twelve of said spots are aligned at an angle with respect to the lines of dot locations.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein all of the spots of the pattern of spots are so aligned.

10. A method for projecting an image onto a viewing surface, comprising the steps of:

illuminating the viewing surface at substantially the same time with at least three spots of a two-dimensional pattern of spots;

sweeping such pattern of spots during a scan pass substantially along at least two different lines of desired dot locations of a two-dimensional array of desired potential dot locations to be illuminated on the viewing surface during a frame pass;

adjusting the position of the pattern of spots on the viewing surface in a frame direction transverse of the lines of dot locations; and

repeating the sweeping and adjusting steps a desired number of times to write a frame, wherein during each of one or more sweeping steps at least one spot of the pattern of spots substantially illuminates a dot location of such array that is not adjacent to the dot location illuminated by any other spot of the pattern of spots, and at least three spots of the pattern of spots are substantially aligned in a straight line angled with respect to the lines of dot locations.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein all spots of the pattern of spots are substantially aligned in a straight line angled with respect to the lines of dot locations.

12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein at least one spot of the pattern of spots illuminating dot locations in a given line of dot locations during a sweeping step does not illuminate another line of dot locations adjacent to such given line of dot locations during any other sweeping step during the same frame pass.

13. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein said adjusting step is substantially continuous during the frame pass.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein at some time during a scan pass all dot locations in at least one line of dot locations have not been illuminated by at least one spot while all dot locations in another line of dot locations have been illuminated by at least one other spot.

15. A system for projecting a frame of an image onto a viewing surface, comprising:

two or more light beams,

a scanner adapted to direct the light beams to form two or more spots on the viewing surface and to traverse the directed light beams such that the spots are swept along different sweep paths on the viewing surface drying each of a succession of scan passes written drying a frame pass and the spots are adjusted transverse of the sweep paths during such frame pass, and

said light beams and said scanner are configured such that all of said spots are substantially aligned along a slant line substantially non-perpendicular to the sweep paths and each of such spots is swept along a different sweep path during at least one scan pass of such succession of scan passes.

16. The system as in claim 15, further comprising;

three or more light beams,

said scanner being further adapted to direct the light beams to form three or more substantially aligned spots on the viewing surface.

17. The system as in claim 15, further comprising:

twelve light beams,

said scanner being further adapted to direct the light beams to form twelve substantially aligned spots on the viewing surface.

18. The system as in claim 15, 16, or 17, wherein said scanner is further adapted to sweep said spots along sweep paths substantially corresponding to lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface, and wherein during each of a preponderance of such scan passes during such frame pass at least two of such substantially aligned spots illuminate adjacent lines of dot locations.

19. The system as in claim 18 and further comprising

at least one optical fiber adapted to emit at least one of the light beams directed to the viewing surface from an emitting end thereof.

20. The system as in claim 15, 16 or 17, further comprising an adjustable structure adapted to change the angle of the slant line with respect to the sweep paths.

21. The system as in claim 20, further comprising

at least two optical fibers having emitting ends arranged in a head, said beams being emitted from such emitting ends;

and

said adjustable structure being adapted to move said head to change the orientation of the beams with respect to the scanner to change the angle of the slant line with respect to the sweep paths.

22. The system as in claim 15, 16 or 17, wherein a preponderance of said light beams are of wavelengths in the visible light spectrum.

23. The system as in claim 15, 16 or 17, wherein at least one of said light beams is generated by lasers.

24. The system as in claim 23, further comprising at least one of such spots being a combined spot formed by a combined beam of at least two substantially different wavelengths.

25. The system as in claim 24, further comprising at least one of such spots being a composite spot formed by a composite beam.

43. The system as in claim 15, 16, 17, 39, 40 or 41, wherein said scanner is further adapted such that the sweep paths substantially correspond to lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface, and wherein during each of a preponderance of such scan passes during such frame pass at least two of the sweep paths substantially correspond to different lines of dot locations.

44. The system as in claim 15, 16, 17, 39, 40 or 41, wherein said scanner is further adapted such that the sweep paths substantially correspond to lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface, and wherein during each of a preponderance of such scan passes during such frame pass at least two of the sweep paths substantially correspond to the same line of dot locations.

45. The system as in claim 16, 17, 40 or 41, wherein the substantially aligned spots are substantially evenly spaced along the slant line.

46. The system as in claim 16, 17, 40 or 41, wherein the substantially aligned spots are substantially unevenly spaced along the slant line.

49. The system as in claim 15, 16, 17, 39, 40 or 41, further comprising at least one dot location being substantially overwritten during different scan passes by at least two beams having substantially different wavelengths to form a composite color substantially at such overwritten dot location.

50. The system as in claim 15, 16, 17, 39, 40 or 41, wherein said scanner is further adapted such that the sweep paths substantially correspond to lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface, and wherein during each of a preponderance of such scan passes during such frame pass all lines of dot locations illuminated by such substantially aligned spots are adjacent.

51. The system as in claim 50, wherein said light beams and said scanner are further adapted such that during a preponderance of such scan passes during such frame pass at least two of such substantially aligned spots illuminating adjacent lines of dot locations are adjacent along the slant line.

52. The system as in claim 50, wherein said light beams and said scanner are further adapted such that during a preponderance of such scan passes during such frame pass at least two of such substantially aligned spots illuminating adjacent lines of dot locations are not adjacent along the slant line.

53. The system as in claim 50, wherein said light beams and said scanner are further adapted such that during a preponderance of such scan passes during such frame pass all of such substantially aligned spots illuminating adjacent lines of dot locations are adjacent along the slant line.

59. The system as in claim 19, 21 or 55, and adapted such that two or more of such light beams within one or more optical fibers are combined into one or more optical fibers using one or more fiber-based beam couplers.

60. The system as in claim 59, and adapted such that the resulting combined beam forms a combined spot.

61. The system as in claim 59 and adapted such that one or more combined light beams within one or more optical fibers are combined with one or more other light beams within one or more other optical fibers into one or more optical fibers using one or more fiber-based beam couplers.

62. The system as in claim 61, and adapted such that the resulting combined beam is a composite beam.

63. The system as in claim 62, and adapted such that the composite beam forms a composite spot.

65. The system as in claims 15, 16, 17, 39, 40, 41 or 64, wherein said scanner is a raster scanner.

66. The system as in claims 15, 16, 17, 39, 40, 41 or 64, wherein said scanner is a continuous raster scanner.

67. The system as in claims 15, 16, 17, 39, 40, 41 or 64, wherein said image being projected on the viewing surface is a high definition image.

26. A method for projecting an image onto a viewing surface during a given frame pass, comprising the steps of:

illuminating the viewing surface with two or more spots, all of such spots being substantially aligned along a slant line;

sweeping the spots to substantially illuminate different sweep paths on the viewing surface, the slant line being substantially non-perpendicular to the sweep paths;

repeating the sweeping step a desired number of times; and

adjusting the position of the spots transversely of the sweep paths.

27. The method as in claim 26, wherein

the illuminating step further comprises illuminating three or more of such aligned spots on the viewing surface;

and

the sweeping step further comprising sweeping the spots to substantially illuminate three or more different sweep paths on the viewing surface.

28. The method as in claim 26 or 27, further comprising the step of:

changing the angle of the slant line with respect to the sweep paths.

29. The method as in claim 26 or 27, wherein a preponderance of the spots are of wavelengths in the visible light spectrum.

30. The method as in claim 26 or 27, wherein during said sweeping steps the spots are swept substantially along lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface, and at least two of the lines of dot locations swept by the substantially aligned spots are adjacent.

31. The method as in claim 30, further comprising the steps of:

emitting light beams from emitting ends of optical fibers to form such spots on the viewing surface.

32. The method as in claim 26 or 27, further comprising the steps of:

emitting light beams from emitting ends of optical fibers to form such spots on the viewing surface.

33. The method as in claim 32, further comprising the step of:

changing the angle of the slant line with respect to the sweep paths.

34. The method as in claim 32, further comprising the steps of:

combining two or more light beams into at least one optical fiber using at least one fiber-based beam coupler.

35. The method as in claim 34 and adapted such that the resulting combined beam is a composite beam.

36. The method as in claim 34, further comprising the steps of:

combining one or more of such combined light beams with at least one other light beam into at least one optical fiber using at least one fiber-based beam coupler.

37. The method as in claim 36, wherein said illuminating step further comprises illuminating the viewing surface with one or more composite spots including at least two substantially different wavelengths.

38. The method as in claim 32, wherein at least one of said light beams is generated by lasers.

76. The method as in claim 26, 27 or 69, further comprising the step of:

overwriting substantially the same dot locations during different sweeping steps with at least two different spots including substantially different wavelengths to form a composite color substantially at such overwritten dot locations.

77. The method as in claim 26, 27, 68 or 69, wherein during said sweeping steps the aligned spots are swept substantially along lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface, and all lines of dot locations swept by the substantially aligned spots are adjacent.

78. The method as in claim 26, 27 or 69, further comprising the steps of:

emitting light beams from emitting ends of optical fibers mounted in a head,

orienting the head with respect to the scanner such that during the illuminating step the light beams form the spots on the viewing surface; and

moving the head to change the orientation of the beams to the scanner thereby

changing the angle of the slant line with respect to the sweep paths.

87. The system as in claims 26, 27, 68, 69 or 86, wherein said scanner is a raster scanner.

88. The system as in claims 26, 27, 68, 69 or 86, wherein said scanner is a continuous rester scanner.

89. The system as in claims 26, 27, 68, 69 or 86, wherein said image being projected on the viewing surface is a high definition image.

39. A system for projecting a frame of an image onto a viewing surface, comprising:

three light beams,

a scanner adapted to direct the light beams to form three spots on the viewing surface and to traverse the directed light beams such that the spots are swept along sweep paths on the viewing surface during each of a succession of scan passes written during a frame pass and the spots are adjusted transverse of the sweep paths during such frame pass, and

said light beams and said scanner are configured such that two or more of said spots are substantially aligned along a slant line substantially non-perpendicular to the sweep paths and each of such aligned spots is swept along a different sweep path during at least one scan pass of such succession of scan passes.

42. The system as in claim 39, 40 or 41, wherein said scanner is further adapted such that the sweep paths substantially correspond to lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface, and wherein during each of a preponderance of such scan passes during such frame pass at least two of such substantially aligned spots illuminate adjacent lines of dot locations.

40. A system for projecting a frame of an image onto a viewing surface, comprising:

four or more light beams,

a scanner adapted to direct the light beams to form four or more spots on the viewing surface and to traverse the directed light beams such that the spots are swept along at least three sweep paths on the viewing surface during each of a succession of scan passes written during a frame pass and the spots are adjusted transverse of the sweep paths during such frame pass, and

said light beams and said scanner are configured such that a majority of said spots are substantially aligned along a slant line substantially non-perpendicular to the sweep paths and each of such aligned spots is swept along a different sweep path during at least one scan pass of such succession of scan passes.

41. The system as in claim 40, further comprising:

twelve light beams,

said scanner being further adapted to direct the light beams to form twelve substantially aligned spots on the viewing surface and sweep such spots along different sweep paths.

47. The system as in claim 40 or 41, wherein a preponderance of said light beams are of wavelengths in the visible light spectrum.

48. The system as in claim 40 or 41, further comprising at least one of such spots being a composite spot formed by composite beam of at least two substantially different wavelengths.

54. The system as in claim 40, wherein during each of a preponderance of such scan passes during such frame pass at least two of such substantially aligned spots that are adjacent along the slant line substantially illuminate non-adjacent lines of dot locations.

55. The system as in claim 40, and further comprising

at least one optical fiber adapted to emit at least one of the light beams directed to the viewing surface from an emitting end thereof.

56. The system as in claim 40, 41 or 55, further comprising an adjustable structure adapted to change the angle of the slant line with respect to the sweep paths.

57. The system as in claim 56, wherein such light beams and scanner are further adapted such that when the angle of the slant line with respect to the sweep paths is changed by said adjustable structure, the spacing between sweep paths is also adjusted.

58. The system as in claim 40, 41 or 55, wherein at least one of said light beams is generated by lasers.

64. A system for projecting a frame of an image onto a viewing surface, comprising:

four or more light beams,

a scanner adapted to direct the light beams to form four or more spots on the viewing surface and to traverse the directed light beams such that the spots are swept along at least three sweep paths on the viewing surface during each of a succession of scan passes written during a frame pass and the spots are adjusted transverse of the sweep paths during such frame pass, and

said light beams and said scanner are configured such that said spots are substantially aligned along two or more slant lines, each slant line being substantially non-perpendicular to the sweep paths.

68. A method for projecting an image onto a viewing surface during a given frame pass, comprising the steps of:

illuminating the viewing surface with three spots, at least two of such spots substantially aligned along a slant line;

sweeping each of the aligned spots to substantially illuminate a different sweep path on the viewing surface, the slant line being substantially non-perpendicular to the sweep paths;

repeating the sweeping step a desired number of times; and

adjusting the position of the spots transversely of the sweep paths.

70. The method as in claim 68 or 69, wherein during said sweeping steps the aligned spots are swept substantially along lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface, and at least two of the lines of dot locations swept by the substantially aligned spots are adjacent.

71. The method as in claim 68 or 69, wherein during said sweeping steps at least two of the aligned spots are swept substantially along different lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface.

72. The method as in claim 68 or 69, wherein during said sweeping steps at least two of the aligned spots are swept substantially along the same line of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface.

69. A method for projecting an image onto a viewing surface during a given frame pass, comprising the steps of:

illuminating the viewing surface with four or more spots, a preponderance of such spots substantially aligned along a slant line;

sweeping each of the aligned spots to substantially illuminate a different sweep path on the viewing surface, the slant line being substantially non-perpendicular to the sweep paths;

repeating the sweeping step a desired number of times; and

adjusting the position of the spots transversely of the sweep paths.

73. The method as in claim 69, wherein a preponderance of the spots are of wavelengths in the visible light spectrum.

74. The method as in claim 69, wherein said illuminating further comprises illuminating the viewing surface with one or more combined spots including at least two substantially different wavelengths.

75. The method as in claim 69, wherein during said sweeping steps the aligned spots are swept substantially along lines of dot locations of an array of dot locations of the frame to be illuminated on the viewing surface, and at least two of the lines of dot locations swept by adjacent spots of the substantially aligned spots are not adjacent.

79. The method as in claim 69, further comprising the steps of:

emitting light beams from emitting ends of optical fibers to form at least one of such spots on the viewing surface.

80. The method as in claim 69 or 79, further comprising the step of:

changing the angle of the slant line with respect to the sweep paths.

81. The method as in claim 69 or 79, further comprising the steps of:

changing the angle of the slant line with respect to the sweep paths thereby

adjusting the spacing between the sweep paths.

82. The method as in claim 69 or 79, wherein at least one of said light beams is generated by lasers.

83. The method as in claim 79, further comprising the steps of:

combining two or more light beams into at least one optical fiber using at least one fiber-based beam coupler.

84. The method as in claim 83, further comprising the steps of:

combining one or more of such combined light beams with at least one other light beam into at least one optical fiber using at least one fiber-based beam coupler.

85. The method as in claim 84 wherein the resulting combined beam is a composite beam.

86. A method for projecting an image onto a viewing surface during a given frame pass, comprising the steps of:

illuminating the viewing surface with four or more spots substantially aligned along two or more slant lines;

sweeping each of the aligned spots to substantially illuminate at least three different sweep paths on the viewing surface, each slant line being substantially non-perpendicular to the sweep paths;

repeating the sweeping step a desired number of times; and

adjusting the position of the spots transversely of the sweep paths.