Spatio-optical directional light modulator
First Claim
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1. A light modulator for displaying a 3D image comprising:
- an emissive micro emitter array device having a micro array of light emitting pixels each light emitting pixel being individually addressable and individually controllable in intensity of light emitted by the respective light emitting pixel, the micro array of light emitting pixels being organized into multiple groups of multiple light emitting pixels, anda micro lens array, each micro lens in the micro lens array spanning a group of light emitting pixels of the emissive micro emitter array device, each micro lens in the micro lens array directing light received from each light emitting pixel of the emissive micro emitter array device in the respective group of light emitting pixels in a different direction.
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Abstract
A novel spatio-optical directional light modulator with no moving parts is introduced. This directional light modulator can be used to create 2D/3D switchable displays of various sizes for mobile to large screen TV. The inherently fast modulation capability of this new directional light modulator increases the achievable viewing angle, resolution, and realism of the 3D image created by the display.
119 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A light modulator for displaying a 3D image comprising:
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an emissive micro emitter array device having a micro array of light emitting pixels each light emitting pixel being individually addressable and individually controllable in intensity of light emitted by the respective light emitting pixel, the micro array of light emitting pixels being organized into multiple groups of multiple light emitting pixels, and a micro lens array, each micro lens in the micro lens array spanning a group of light emitting pixels of the emissive micro emitter array device, each micro lens in the micro lens array directing light received from each light emitting pixel of the emissive micro emitter array device in the respective group of light emitting pixels in a different direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A light modulator for displaying a 3D image comprising:
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an emissive micro emitter array device having a micro array of light emitting pixels, and a micro lens array, each micro lens in the micro lens array spanning a group of light emitting pixels of the emissive micro emitter array device, whereby a micro lens in the micro lens array will direct illumination from each emissive micro emitter in the respective group of light emitting pixels in a different direction; the light emitting pixels of the emissive micro emitter array device being multi color pixels and are individually addressable to emit light with a selected color and intensity; the micro lens array having a plurality of stacked micro lens arrays, each of the lenses of the micro lens array being associated and aligned with a plurality of light emitting pixels within a pixel group of the emissive micro emitter array device, with each micro lens optically mapping the light emitted from the respective plurality of light emitting pixels into a corresponding discrete set of directions within a numerical aperture of the respective lens to enable the individual control of color and intensity of the light emitted in each individual direction of the discrete set of directions; thereby enabling the light modulator to generate light that is modulated in color, intensity and direction.
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24. A light modulator comprising a collective set of light modulators in a tiled array, each light modulator for displaying a 3D image comprising:
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an emissive micro emitter array device having a micro array of pixels, and a micro lens array, each micro lens in the micro lens array spanning a two dimensional group of light emitting pixels of the emissive micro emitter array, whereby a micro lens in the micro lens array device will direct illumination from each emissive micro emitter in the respective group of light emitting pixels in a different direction; wherein each of the light emitting pixels in the emissive micro emitter device is a solid state light emitter that is individually addressable, the solid state light emitter being selected from the group consisting of light emitting diodes and laser diodes; and wherein in each light modulator, the light emitting pixels of the emissive micro emitter array device are multicolor light emitting pixels and are individually addressable to each emit light with a selected color and intensity, the micro lens array is comprised of a plurality of stacked micro lens arrays, each of the lenses of the micro lens array is associated and aligned with a plurality of light emitting pixels within a respective light emitting pixel group of the respective emissive micro emitter array device, with each micro lens optically mapping the light emitted from the plurality of light emitting pixels into a corresponding discrete set of directions within a numerical aperture of the lens to enable the individual control of color and intensity of the light emitted in each individual direction of the discrete set of directions, thereby enabling the light modulator to generate light that is modulated in color, intensity and direction across an aperture spanning the collective set of light modulators.
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Specification