System and method for capturing, transmitting, and displaying an image

• US 7,180,556 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2001
• Issued: 02/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microvision, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Microvision, Inc.
• Inventors: Tegreene, Clarence T., Lewis, John R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yenke; Brian P.
• Application Number:
  US09/858,688
• Publication Number:
  US 20020171776A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,107 Days
• Field of Search: 348744-745, 348/753, 348/763, 348/768, 348/777, 348/786, 348/811, 359/495
• US Class Current: 348/744
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/101 with both horizontal and vertical deflecting means, e.g. raster or XY scanners colour television using laser beams scanning a display screen H04N9/3129
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 3/08 having a moving reflector
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/7416 involving the use of a spatial light modulator, e.g. a light valve, controlled by a video signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/7491 of head mounted projectors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3102 using two-dimensional electronic spatial light modulators micromechanical modulators as such G02B26/0833; liquid crystal modulators as such G02F1/13
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3105 for displaying all colours simultaneously, e.g. by using two or more electronic spatial light modulators simultaneous projection in colour photography G03B33/10; beam splitting or combining systems per se G02B27/10

Abstract

An optical image system includes an image projector and an image generator. The image projector has regions with adjustable brightness levels. The image generator generates an image received from a remote location on the image projector by directing first and second electromagnetic beams onto the regions of the image projector. The first beam changes the brightness levels of the regions in a direction, and the second beam generates the image by changing the brightness levels of predetermined ones of the regions in an opposite direction. Such an image system can capture, transmit, and display an image using an optical signal without converting the optical signal into an electrical signal and back again. Thus, the image system often provides a higher-quality image than conventional electro/optical image systems.

Claims

1. An image system, comprising:

an image projector having regions with adjustable brightness levels; and

an image generator operable to simultaneously direct first and second electromagnetic beams onto the regions of the image projector from a single side of the image projector, the beams being narrower than a dimension of the image projector at the image projector, the first beam operable to change the brightness levels of the regions according to a polarity and the second beam operable to generate an image by changing the brightness levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to an opposite polarity.

2. The image system of claim 1 wherein:

the polarity corresponds to dimming a region of the image projector; and

the opposite polarity corresponds to brightening a region of the image projector.

3. The image system of claim 1 wherein the image generator is operable to direct the first beam onto the regions before directing the second beam onto the regions.

4. The image system of claim 1 wherein:

the image has regions having respective brightness levels;

the second beam has intensity levels that respectively correspond to the brightness levels of the image regions; and

the second beam is operable to change the respective brightness level of each predetermined region of the image projector to a level that is related to the intensity of the second beam as the second beam strikes the predetermined region.

5. The image system of claim 1 wherein:

the image has regions having respective brightness levels;

the second beam has time durations that respectively correspond to the brightness levels of the image regions; and

the second beam is operable to change the respective brightness level of each predetermined region of the image projector to a level that is related to the amount of time that the second beam strikes the predetermined region.

6. The image system of claim 1 wherein:

the image has regions having respective brightness levels;

the second beam has time durations that respectively correspond to the brightness levels of the image regions; and

the second beam is operable to change the respective brightness level of each predetermined region of the image projector to a level that is related to the time duration of the second beam while the image generator directs the second beam onto the predetermined region.

7. The image system of claim 1 wherein the image generator comprises:

an image receiver operable to receive the image; and

an image scanning assembly coupled to the image receiver and operable to generate the image on the image projector by directing the first and second beams onto the regions of the image projector.

8. The image system of claim 1 wherein the image generator comprises:

an image converter operable to convert the image into an optical signal; and

an image scanning assembly coupled to the image converter and operable to generate the second beam from the optical signal and to generate the image on the image projector by directing the first and second beams onto the regions of the image projector.

9. The image system of claim 1 wherein the image generator comprises:

an optical cable;

a first image scanner coupled to the optical cable and operable to scan a beam from the image into the optical cable; and

a second image scanner coupled to the optical cable and operable to scan the beam from the optical cable onto the image projector as the second beam.

10. The image system of claim 1, further comprising an illuminator operable to illuminate the projection screen.

11. The image system of claim 1 wherein the cross section of the first beam is approximately the same size as the cross section of the second beam.

12. The image system of claim 1 wherein:

the respective brightness level of each region of the image projector is operable to change according to the polarity in response to the first beam striking the respective region; and

the respective brightness level of each of the predetermined ones of the regions is each operable to change according to the opposite polarity in response to the second beam striking the respective predetermined region.

13. An image system, comprising:

an image projector having regions with adjustable reflectivity levels; and

an image generator operable to generate an image on the image projector by simultaneously generating electromagnetic off and on beams and by directing the electromagnetic off beam and the electromagnetic on beam onto the regions of the image projector from a single side of the image projector, the off beam having a width that is narrower than the image projector at the image projector, the off beam operable to change the reflectivity levels of the regions according to a polarity and the on beam operable to generate the image by changing the reflectivity levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to an opposite polarity.

14. The image system of claim 13 wherein:

the polarity corresponds to decreasing the reflectivity of a region of the image projector; and

the opposite polarity corresponds to increasing the reflectivity of a region of the image projector.

15. The image system of claim 13 wherein the image generator is operable to direct the off beam onto the regions before directing the on beam onto the regions.

16. The image system of claim 13 wherein:

the image has regions having respective brightness levels;

the on beam has intensity levels that respectively correspond to the brightness levels of the image regions; and

the on beam is operable to change the respective reflectivity level of each predetermined region of the image projector to a level that is related to the intensity of the on beam as the on beam strikes the predetermined region.

17. The image system of claim 13 wherein:

the image has regions having respective brightness levels;

the on beam has time durations that respectively correspond to the brightness levels of the image regions; and

the on beam is operable to change the respective reflectivity level of each predetermined region of the image projector to a level that is related to the amount of time that the on beam strikes the predetermined region.

18. The image system of claim 13 wherein:

the image has regions having respective brightness levels;

the on beam has time durations that respectively correspond to the brightness levels of the image regions; and

the on beam is operable to change the respective reflectivity level of each predetermined region of the image projector to a level that is related to the time duration of the on beam while the image generator directs the on beam onto the predetermined region.

19. The image system of claim 13 wherein the image generator comprises:

an image receiver operable to receive the image; and

an image scanning assembly coupled to the image receiver and operable to generate the image on the image projector by directing the on and off beams onto the regions of the image projector.

20. The image system of claim 13 wherein the image generator comprises:

an image converter operable to convert the image into an optical signal; and

an image scanning assembly coupled to the image converter and operable to generate the on beam from the optical signal and to recreate the image on the image projector by directing the on and off beams onto the regions of the image projector.

21. The image system of claim 13 wherein the image generator comprises:

an optical cable;

a first image scanner coupled to the optical cable and operable to scan a beam from the image into the optical cable; and

a second image scanner coupled to the optical cable and operable to scan the beam from the optical cable onto the image projector as the on beam.

22. The image system of claim 13, further comprising an illuminator operable to illuminate the projection screen.

23. The image system of claim 13 wherein:

the respective reflectivity level of each region of the image projector is operable to change according to the polarity in response to the off beam impinging on the respective region; and

; and

the respective reflectivity level of each predetermined region is operable to change according to the opposite polarity in response to the on beam impinging on the respective predetermined region.

24. An image system, comprising:

an image projector having regions with adjustable luminance levels; and

an image generator operable to generate an image on the image projector by simultaneously directing electromagnetic erase and image beams onto the regions of the image projector from a single side of the image projector, the erase beam having a cross section that is narrower than a dimension of the image projector at the image projector, the erase beam operable to set the luminance levels of the regions to a predetermined level and the image beam operable to generate the image by changing the luminance levels of predetermined ones of the regions from the predetermined level to respective levels other than the predetermined level.

25. The image system of claim 24 wherein the predetermined level is the lowest luminance level of the image projector.

26. The image system of claim 24 wherein the image generator is operable to direct the erase beam onto the regions before directing the image beam onto the regions.

27. The image system of claim 24 wherein:

the image has regions having respective luminance levels;

the image beam has intensity levels that respectively correspond to the luminance levels of the image regions; and

the image beam is operable to set the respective luminance level of each predetermined region of the image projector to a luminance level that is related to the intensity of the image beam as the image beam strikes the predetermined region.

28. The image system of claim 24 wherein:

the image has regions having respective luminance levels;

the image beam has time durations that respectively correspond to the luminance levels of the image regions; and

the image beam is operable to set the respective luminance level of each predetermined region of the image projector to a level that is related to the amount of time that the image beam strikes the predetermined region.

29. The image system of claim 24 wherein:

the image has regions having respective luminance levels;

the image beam has time durations that respectively correspond to the luminance levels of the image regions; and

the image beam is operable to change the respective luminance level of each predetermined region of the image projector to a level that is related to the time duration of the image beam while the image generator directs the image beam onto the predetermined region.

30. The image system of claim 24 wherein the image generator comprises:

an image receiver operable to receive the image; and

an image scanner coupled to the image receiver and operable to recreate the image on the image projector by directing the erase and image beams onto the regions of the image projector.

31. The image system of claim 24 wherein the image generator comprises:

an image converter operable to convert the image into an optical signal; and

an image scanner coupled to the image converter and operable to generate the image beam from the optical signal and to recreate the image on the image projector by directing the erase and image beams onto the regions of the image projector.

32. The image system of claim 24 wherein the image generator comprises:

an optical cable having input and output ends;

a first image scanner coupled to the optical cable and operable to scan a beam from the image into the input end of the optical cable; and

a second image scanner coupled to the output end of the optical cable and operable to scan the beam from the output end of the optical cable onto the image projector as the image beam.

33. The image system of claim 24, further comprising an illuminator operable to illuminate the projection screen.

34. An image system, comprising:

a first image projector having regions with adjustable brightness levels;

a first image generator operable to capture a first image, receive a second image, and to generate the second image on the first image projector by simultaneously generating first electromagnetic off and on beams and by directing the first electromagnetic off beam and the first electromagnetic on beam onto the regions of the first image projector from a single side of the image projector, the first off beam having a cross section that is narrower than a dimension of the first image projector at the first image projector, the off beam operable to change the brightness levels of the regions according to a first polarity and the on beam operable to generate the image by changing the brightness levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to a polarity opposite to the first polarity;

a second image projector having regions with adjustable brightness levels; and

a second image generator coupled to the first image generator and operable to capture the second image, transmit the second image to the first image generator, receive the first image from the first image generator, and generate the second image on the second image projector by directing a second electromagnetic off beam and a second electromagnetic on beam onto the regions of the image projector, the second off beam operable to change the brightness levels of the regions according to a second polarity and the second on beam operable to generate the image by changing the brightness levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to a polarity opposite to the second polarity.

35. The image system of claim 34 wherein:

the first image generator comprises a first image converter operable to convert the first image into a first optical signal;

the second image generator comprises a second image converter operable to convert the second image into a second optical signal;

the first image generator comprises a first image-generation assembly operable to generate the first on beam from the second optical signal and to recreate the second image on the first image projector by directing the first on and off beams onto the regions of the first image projector; and

the second image generator comprises a second image-generation assembly operable to generate the second on beam from the first optical signal and to recreate the first image on the second image projector by directing the second on and off beams onto the regions of the second image projector.

36. The image system of claim 34, further comprising:

an optical cable coupled between the first and second image generators;

wherein the first image generator comprises a first image scanner operable to scan a first electromagnetic beam from the first image into the optical cable;

wherein the second image generator comprises a second image scanner operable to scan a second electromagnetic beam from the second image into the optical cable;

wherein the first image generator comprises a third image scanner operable to scan the second beam from the optical cable onto the first image projector as the first on beam; and

wherein the second image generator comprises a fourth image scanner operable to scan the first beam from the optical cable onto the second image projector as the second on beam.

37. The image system of claim 34, further comprising:

a first illuminator operable to illuminate the first image projector; and

a second illuminator operable to illuminate the second image projector.

38. The image system of claim 34 wherein the second off beam has a cross section that is smaller than the second image projector at the second image projector.

39. An image system, comprising:

a first image projector having regions with adjustable reflectivity levels;

a first image generator operable to capture a first image, receive a second image, and to generate the second image on the first image projector by directing a first electromagnetic off beam and a first electromagnetic on beam onto the regions of the first image projector from a single side of the image projector, the first off beam having a cross section that is narrower than a dimension of the first image projector at the first image projector, the off beam operable to change the reflectivity levels of the regions according to a first polarity and the on beam operable to generate the image by changing the reflectivity levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to a polarity opposite to the first polarity;

a second image projector having regions with adjustable reflectivity levels; and

a second image generator coupled to the first image generator and operable to capture the second image, transmit the second image to the first image generator, receive the first image from the first image generator, and generate the second image on the second image projector by simultaneously directing a second electromagnetic off beam and a second electromagnetic on beam onto the regions of the image projector, the second off beam operable to change the reflectivity levels of the regions according to a second polarity and the second on beam operable to generate the image by changing the reflectivity levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to a polarity opposite to the second polarity.

40. The image system of claim 39 wherein:

the first image generator comprises a first image converter operable to convert the first image into a first optical signal;

the second image generator comprises a second image converter operable to convert the second image into a second optical signal;

the first image generator comprises a first image-generation assembly operable to generate the first on beam from the second optical signal and to generate the second image on the first image projector by directing the first on and off beams onto the regions of the first image projector; and

the second image generator comprises a second image-generation assembly operable to generate the second on beam from the first optical signal and to generate the first image on the second image projector by directing the second on and off beams onto the regions of the second image projector.

41. The image system of claim 39, further comprising:

an optical cable coupled between the first and second image generators;

wherein the first image generator comprises a first image scanner operable to scan a first electromagnetic beam from the first image into the optical cable;

wherein the second image generator comprises a second image scanner operable to scan a second electromagnetic beam from the second image into the optical cable;

wherein the first image generator comprises a third image scanner operable to scan the second beam from the optical cable onto the first image projector as the first on beam; and

wherein the second image generator comprises a fourth image scanner operable to scan the first beam from the optical cable onto the second image projector as the second on beam.

42. The image system of claim 39, further comprising:

an optical cable coupled between the first and second image generators;

wherein the first image generator comprises a first image scanner operable to scan a first electromagnetic beam from the first image into the optical cable;

wherein the second image generator comprises a second image scanner operable to scan a second electromagnetic beam from the second image into the optical cable;

wherein the first image scanner is operable to scan the second beam from the optical cable onto the first image projector as the first on beam; and

wherein the second image scanner is operable to scan the first beam from the optical cable onto the second image projector as the second on beam.

43. The image system of claim 39, further comprising:

a first illuminator operable to illuminate the first image projector; and

a second illuminator operable to illuminate the second image projector.

44. The image system of claim 39 wherein the second off beam has a cross section that is smaller than the second image projector at the second image projector.

45. An image system, comprising:

a first image projector having regions with adjustable luminance levels;

a first image generator operable to capture a first image, receive a second image, and to generate the second image on the first image projector by simultaneously directing a first electromagnetic erase beam and a first electromagnetic image beam onto the regions of the first image projector from a same side of the first image projector, the first erase beam having a cross section that is narrower than a dimension of the first image projector at the first image projector, the erase beam operable to set the luminance levels of the regions to a first predetermined level and the image beam operable to generate the image by setting the luminance levels of predetermined ones of the regions to levels other than the predetermined level;

a second image projector having regions with adjustable luminance levels; and

a second image generator coupled to the first image generator and operable to capture the second image, transmit the second image to the first image generator, receive the first image from the first image generator, and generate the second image on the second image projector by directing a second electromagnetic erase beam and a second electromagnetic image beam onto the regions of the image projector, the second erase beam operable to set the luminance levels of the regions to a second predetermined level and the second image beam operable to generate the image by setting the luminance levels of predetermined ones of the regions to levels other than the predetermined level.

46. The image system of claim 45 wherein:

the first image generator comprises a first image converter operable to convert the first image into a first optical signal;

the second image generator comprises a second image converter operable to convert the second image into a second optical signal;

the first image generator comprises a first image-generator assembly operable to generate the first image beam from the second optical signal and to generate the second image on the first image projector by directing the first erase and image beams onto the regions of the first image projector; and

the second image generator comprises a second image-generator assembly operable to generate the second image beam from the first optical signal and to recreate the first image on the second image projector by directing the second erase and image beams onto the regions of the second image projector.

47. The image system of claim 45, further comprising:

an optical cable coupled between the first and second image generators;

wherein the first image generator comprises a first image scanner operable to scan a first electromagnetic beam from the first image into the optical cable;

wherein the second image generator comprises a second image scanner operable to scan a second electromagnetic beam from the second image into the optical cable;

wherein the first image generator comprises a third image scanner operable to scan the second beam from the optical cable onto the first image projector as the first image beam; and

wherein the second image generator comprises a fourth image scanner operable to scan the first beam from the optical cable onto the second image projector as the second image beam.

48. The image system of claim 45, further comprising:

an optical cable coupled between the first and second image generators;

wherein the first image generator comprises a first image scanner operable to scan a first electromagnetic beam from the first image into the optical cable;

wherein the second image generator comprises a second image scanner operable to scan a second electromagnetic beam from the second image into the optical cable;

wherein the first image scanner is operable to scan the second beam from the optical cable onto the first image projector as the first image beam; and

wherein the second image scanner is operable to scan the first beam from the optical cable onto the second image projector as the second image beam.

49. The image system of claim 45, further comprising:

a first illuminator operable to illuminate the first image projector; and

a second illuminator operable to illuminate the second image projector.

50. The image system of claim 45 wherein the second erase beam has a cross section that is smaller than the second image projector at the second image projector.

51. A method, comprising:

changing the brightness levels of the regions of a screen according to an off polarity with an electromagnetic off beam that is narrower than a dimension of the screen at the screen and that is incident on the regions from a side of the screen; and

generating an image on the screen by changing the brightness level of at least one of the regions according to an on polarity with an electromagnetic on beam that is incident on the at least one of the regions from the side of the screen at the same time that the electromagnetic off beam is incident on the screen.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein:

the off polarity corresponds to dimming a region of the screen; and

the on polarity corresponds to brightening a region of the screen.

53. The method of claim 51, further comprising changing the brightness levels of the regions in the off direction before changing the brightness level of the at least one region in the on direction.

54. The method of claim 51 wherein generating the image comprises changing the brightness level of the at least one region to a level that is related to the brightness level of the corresponding region of the image and the intensity of the on beam as the on beam strikes the at least one region.

55. The method of claim 51 wherein generating the image comprises changing the brightness level of the at least one region to a level that is related to the brightness level of the corresponding region of the image and the amount of time that the on beam strikes the at least one region.

56. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

receiving the image; and

wherein generating the image comprises recreating the received image on the screen by scanning the on and off beams across the regions of the screen.

57. The method of claim 51, further comprising:

converting the image into an optical signal; and

wherein generating the image comprises,

generating the on beam from the optical signal, and

recreating the image on the screen by directing the on and off beams onto the regions of the screen.

58. The method of claim 51 wherein generating the image comprises scanning a beam reflected from the image onto the screen as the on beam.

59. The method of claim 51, further comprising illuminating the screen.

60. The method of claim 51 wherein:

changing the brightness levels of the regions of the screen with the off beam comprises changing the reflectivities of the regions according to the off polarity with the off beam; and

changing the brightness levels of the regions with the on beam comprises changing the reflectivities of the regions according to the on polarity with the on beam.

61. The method of claim 51 wherein:

changing the brightness levels of the regions of the screen with the off beam comprises selling the brightness levels of the regions to a predetermined brightness level with the off beam; and

generating the image comprises changing the brightness level of the at least one region to a brightness level other than the predetermined brightness level.

62. A method, comprising:

changing the brightness levels of regions of a first image projector according to a first off polarity with a first off beam that is narrower than a dimension of the first image projector at the first image projector and that is incident on the regions of the first image projector from a side of the first image projector;

changing the brightness levels of regions of a second image projector according to a second off polarity with a second off beam that is narrower than a dimension of the second image projector at the second image projector and that is incident on the regions of the second image projector from a side of the second image projector;

generating a first image on the first image projector by changing the brightness levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to a first on polarity with a first on beam that is incident on the predetermined ones of the regions of the first image projector from the side of the first image projector, the first off and on beams being simultaneously incident on the first image projector from the side of the first image projector; and

generating a second image on the second image projector by changing the brightness levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to a second on polarity with a second on beam that is incident on the predetermined ones of the regions of the second image projector from the side of the second image projector.

63. The method of claim 62, further comprising:

capturing first and second images;

converting the captured first and second images into first and second optical signals, respectively;

generating the first and second on beams from the first and second optical signals, respectively.

64. The method of claim 62, further comprising illuminating the first and second image projectors.

65. The method of claim 62, wherein:

changing the brightness levels of the regions of the first image projector according to the first off polarity comprises changing the reflectivity levels of the regions according to the first off polarity with the first off beam;

changing the brightness levels of the regions of the second image projector according to the second off polarity comprises changing the reflectivity levels of the regions according to the second off polarity with the second off beam;

generating the first image on the first image projector comprises changing the reflectivity levels of the predetermined regions according to the first on polarity with the first on beam; and

generating the second image on the second image projector comprises changing the reflectivity levels of the predetermined regions according to the second on polarity with the second on beam.

66. The method of claim 62, wherein:

changing the brightness levels of the regions of the first image projector according to the first off polarity comprises setting the brightness levels of the regions to a first predetermined off level with the first off beam;

changing the brightness levels of the regions of the second image projector according to the second off polarity comprises setting the brightness levels of the regions to a second predetermined off level with the second off beam;

generating the first image on the first image projector comprises changing the brightness levels of the predetermined regions to brightness levels other than the first predetermined off level with the first on beam; and

generating the second image on the second image projector comprises changing the brightness levels of the predetermined regions to brightness levels other than the second predetermined off level with the second on beam.

67. An image system, comprising:

an image projector having regions with adjustable brightness levels; and

an image generator operable to simultaneously direct first and second spatially separated electromagnetic beams onto regions of the image projector from a same side of the image projector, the first beam operable to change the brightness levels of the regions according to an off polarity and the second beam operable to generate an image by changing the brightness levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to an on polarity.

68. An image system, comprising:

an image projector having regions with adjustable brightness levels; and

an image generator operable to simultaneously sweep first and second electromagnetic beams onto the regions of the image projector from a same side of the image projector, the first beam operable to change the brightness levels of the regions according to an off polarity and the second beam operable to generate an image by changing the brightness levels of predetermined ones of the regions according to an on polarity.

69. A method, comprising:

changing the brightness level of a first region of a screen according to an off polarity with an electromagnetic off beam, the screen having a side surface, the first region including a first portion of the side surface, and the electromagnetic off beam striking the first portion of the side surface; and

generating an image on the screen by simultaneously changing the brightness level of a second region of the screen according to an on polarity with an electromagnetic on beam, the second region including a second portion of the side surface and the electromagnetic on beam striking the second portion of the side surface while the electromagnetic off beam is striking the first portion of the side surface.

70. A method, comprising:

sweeping an electromagnetic off beam across regions of a screen from a side of the screen and changing the respective brightness level of each region according to an off polarity while the off beam is striking the region; and

simultaneously sweeping an electromagnetic on beam across the regions from the side of the screen and changing the respective brightness level of at least one of the regions according to an on polarity while the on beam is striking the at least one of the regions, the electromagnetic on beam being spatially separated from the electromagnetic off beam.