Re-writeable optical element and a display, reflector and backlight incorporating the same
First Claim
1. An optical element comprising:
- a material thermally switchable between a first stable state and a second stable state different from the first stable state, wherein the material has a transmissivity different in the first stable state as compared to the second stable state;
a switching mechanism for switching the transmissivity of one or more selected areas of the material between the first stable state and the second stable state thereby to change the a transmissivity in the visible spectrum of one or more selected areas of the optical element, wherein the material is bistable or multistable and has the first stable state and the second stable state as its two bistable states or as two of its multistable states,wherein the optical element is configured for use in a display that switches between a multi-view directional display mode and a single view display mode, and the switching mechanism switches between the first stable state and the second stable state to switch the display between the multi-view directional display mode and the single view display mode, andwherein, by applying a thermal pulse to the material once, the material is able to be maintained in the first stable state or in the second stable state until another thermal pulse is applied, even after the application of the thermal pulse is removed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical element (22) comprises a material (27) thermally switchable between a first stable state and a second stable state different from the first state and a switching mechanism (28a-28c) for switching one or more selected areas of the material (27) between the first state and the second state thereby to change the transmissivity of one or more selected areas of the optical element (22). The optical element may be placed in an optical path through another component such as, for example, a display (21), reflector or backlight, such that the optical element may be controlled to change the optical properties of the component. The properties that may be changed include, but are not limited to, the display mode of a display (21), viewing angle range, brightness/luminance, and color.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. An optical element comprising:
- a material thermally switchable between a first stable state and a second stable state different from the first stable state, wherein the material has a transmissivity different in the first stable state as compared to the second stable state;
a switching mechanism for switching the transmissivity of one or more selected areas of the material between the first stable state and the second stable state thereby to change the a transmissivity in the visible spectrum of one or more selected areas of the optical element, wherein the material is bistable or multistable and has the first stable state and the second stable state as its two bistable states or as two of its multistable states,wherein the optical element is configured for use in a display that switches between a multi-view directional display mode and a single view display mode, and the switching mechanism switches between the first stable state and the second stable state to switch the display between the multi-view directional display mode and the single view display mode, and wherein, by applying a thermal pulse to the material once, the material is able to be maintained in the first stable state or in the second stable state until another thermal pulse is applied, even after the application of the thermal pulse is removed. - 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)
- a material thermally switchable between a first stable state and a second stable state different from the first stable state, wherein the material has a transmissivity different in the first stable state as compared to the second stable state;
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24. A display comprising:
- an image display panel;
a material thermally switchable between a first state and a second state different from the first state disposed over at least part of the image display panel; and
a switching mechanism for switching one or more selected areas of the material between the first state and the second state thereby to change a transmissivity in the visible spectrum of one or more selected areas of the material,wherein the switching mechanism switches between the first stable state and the second stable state to switch image display panel between a multi-view directional display mode and a single view display mode, and wherein, by applying a thermal pulse to the material once, the material is able to be maintained in the first stable state or in the second stable state until another thermal pulse is applied, even after the application of the thermal pulse is removed. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
- an image display panel;
Specification