Optical display systems and methods

• US 20050127375A1
• Filed: 06/18/2004
• Published: 06/16/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Luminus Devices Incorporated (Sanan Optoelectronics Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Luminus Devices Incorporated (Sanan Optoelectronics Company Limited)
• Inventors: Erchak, Alexei A., Lidorikis, Eleftrios, Graff, John W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,450,311 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 257/79
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 21/204 using secondary light emission, e.g. luminescence or fluorescence using different colours G03B33/00; if related to video signals H04N9/3197
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48091 Arched
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00014 the subject-matter covered by the group, the symbol of which is combined with the symbol of this group, being disclosed without further technical details
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01004 Beryllium [Be]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01012 Magnesium [Mg]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01019 Potassium [K]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0102 Calcium [Ca]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01021 Scandium [Sc]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01025 Manganese [Mn]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01063 Europium [Eu]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01078 Platinum [Pt]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01079 Gold [Au]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/01322 Eutectic Alloys, i.e. obtained by a liquid transforming into two solid phases
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/12041 LED
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2933/0083 Periodic patterns for optical field-shaping in or on the semiconductor body or semiconductor body package, e.g. photonic bandgap structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/10 with a light reflecting structure, e.g. semiconductor Bragg reflector
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/20 with a particular shape, e.g. curved or truncated substrate
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/315 Modulator illumination systems general applications of lighting devices F21V; general optical systems G02B; lamp houses for projectors not peculiar to the presence of an electronic spatial light modulator G03B21/20
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 362/80 Light emitting diode

Abstract

Optical display systems and methods are disclosed.

Claims

1. An optical display system, comprising:

a microdisplay having a surface; and

a light emitting device, the light emitting device including;

a multi-layer stack of materials including a light generating region, and a first layer supported by the light generating region, a surface of the first layer being configured so that the light generated by the light generating region can emerge from the light emitting device via the surface of the first layer;

wherein a ratio of an aspect ratio of the surface of the microdisplay and an aspect ratio of the surface of the first layer is from about 0.5 to about two.

2. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the ratio of the aspect ratio of the surface of the microdisplay and the aspect ratio of the surface of the first layer is from about 9/16 to about 16/9.

3. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the ratio of the aspect ratio of the surface of the microdisplay and the aspect ratio of the surface of the first layer is from about 3/4 to about 4/3.

4. The optical display system of claim 1, further comprising at least one optical component disposed between the light emitting device and the microdisplay.

5. The optical display system of claim 4, wherein the at least one optical component is a lens.

6. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the aspect ratio of the microdisplay is selected from a group consisting of 640×

480, 800×

600, 1024×

700, 1024×

768, 1024×

720, 1280×

720, 1280×

768, 1280×

960, 1920×

1080 and 1280×

1064.

7. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein a shape of the surface of the microdisplay is rectangular, circular, trapezoidal, triangular, square, elliptical, or hexagonal.

8. The optical display system of claim 7, wherein a shape of the surface of the first layer is rectangular, circular, trapezoidal, triangular, square, elliptical, or hexagonal.

9. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein a shape of the surface of the first layer is rectangular, circular, trapezoidal, triangular, square, elliptical, or hexagonal.

10. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein a shape of the surface of the microdisplay is rectangular and a shape of the surface of the first layer is rectangular.

11. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein a shape of the surface of the microdisplay is square and a shape of the surface of the first layer is square.

12. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the light emitting device is a non-lambertian light emitting device.

13. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the light emitting device is a photonic lattice light emitting device.

14. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the surface of the first layer has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a pattern, and the pattern has an ideal lattice constant and a detuning parameter with a value greater than zero.

15. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the surface of the first layer has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a nonperiodic pattern.

16. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the surface of the first layer has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a complex periodic pattern.

17. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the light emitting device is selected from the group consisting of light emitting diodes, lasers, optical amplifiers, and combinations thereof.

18. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the light emitting device comprises a light emitting diode.

19. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the light emitting device is selected from the group consisting of OLEDs, flat surface-emitting LEDs, HBLEDs, and combinations thereof.

20. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein a shape of the light emerging from the light emitting device is substantially the same as a shape of the microdisplay.

21. The optical display system of claim 1, further comprising a contact disposed on an area around a perimeter of the surface of the first layer.

22. The optical display system of claim 21, wherein the contact area is matched to an area outside an area imaged on the microdisplay by the light emitting device.

23. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the ratio of the aspect ratio of the surface of the microdisplay and the aspect ratio of the surface of the first layer is about one.

24. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a rear projector.

25. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a rear projection television.

26. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a front projector.

27. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a home theatre system.

28. The optical display system of claim 1, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a portable projector.

29. An optical display system, comprising:

a microdisplay;

a light emitting device; and

at least one optical component disposed along an optical path from the microdisplay to the light emitting device,

wherein the microdisplay, the light emitting device and the optical component are positioned so that, during use, an image plane of the system does not coincide with a surface of the microdisplay illuminated by light emitted by the light emitting device.

30. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the light emitting device is a non-lambertian light emitting device.

31. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the light emitting device is a photonic lattice light emitting device.

32. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the light emitting device includes a multi-layer stack of materials including a light generating region, and a first layer supported by the light generating region, a surface of the first layer being configured so that the light generated by the light generating region can emerge from the light emitting device via the surface of the first layer.

33. The optical display system of claim 32, wherein the surface of the first layer has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a pattern, and the pattern has an ideal lattice constant and a detuning parameter with a value greater than zero.

34. The optical display system of claim 32, wherein the surface of the first layer has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a nonperiodic pattern.

35. The optical display system of claim 32, wherein the surface of the first layer has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a complex periodic pattern.

36. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein, during use, a distribution of light intensity at the image plane is less uniform than a distribution of light intensity at the surface of the microdisplay illuminated by light emitted by the light emitting device.

37. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein there is a first distance between a image plane of the lens and a surface of the microdisplay upon which light emitted by the light emitting device impinges during use, a second distance between a surface of the light emitting device that emits light during use and the image plane of the lens, and an absolute value of a ratio of the first distance to the second distance is from about 0.00001 to about 1.

38. The optical display system of claim 29 wherein the at least one optical component is a lens.

39. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the light emitting device is selected from the group consisting of light emitting diodes, lasers, optical amplifiers, and combinations thereof.

40. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the light emitting device comprises a light emitting diode.

41. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the light emitting device is selected from the group consisting of OLEDs, flat surface-emitting LEDs, HBLEDs, and combinations thereof.

42. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a rear projector.

43. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a rear projection television.

44. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a front projector.

45. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a home theatre system.

46. The optical display system of claim 29, wherein the optical display system is configured to be used in a portable projector.

47. A method of illuminating a microdisplay using a plurality of light emitting devices, the method comprising:

activating the plurality of light emitting devices so that at least one of the plurality of light emitting devices has an activation time that is different from an activation time of at least one of the other light emitting devices in the plurality of light emitting devices.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein activating the plurality of light emitting devices includes sequentially activating the plurality of light emitting devices.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein an activation time for a given light emitting device is based on an efficiency of the light emitting device.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein at least one of the light emitting devices is an LED.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the LED is a green LED.

52. The method of claim 47, wherein each of the plurality of light emitting devices is an LED.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein the LED having the longest activation time is a green LED.

54. The method of claim 47, wherein the plurality of light emitting devices includes a red light emitting device, a green light emitting device, and a blue light emitting device.

55. The method of claim 47, wherein at least one of the light emitting devices is a photonic lattice light emitting device.

56. The method of claim 47, wherein a surface of at least one of the plurality of light emitting devices has a surface with a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a pattern, the pattern having an ideal lattice constant and a detuning parameter with a value greater than zero.

57. The method of claim 47, wherein a surface of at least one of the light emitting devices has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a nonperiodic pattern.

58. The method of claim 47, wherein a surface of at least one of the light emitting devices has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a complex periodic pattern.

59. The method of claim 47, wherein the activation time of the least efficient light emitting device is at least about 1.25 times the activation time of another of the plurality of light emitting devices.

60. The method of claim 47 further comprising decreasing the refresh rate for the microdisplay.

61. The method of claim 47, further comprising compressing a time to display at least one of the more efficient light emitting devices.

62. The method of claim 61, wherein compressing the time includes increasing the size of the corresponding LED.

63. The method of claim 61, further comprising increasing a rate of data transmission to the microdisplay.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein increasing the rate of data transmission to the microdisplay includes using an interlacing scheme.

65. The method of claim 61, wherein the method includes using a compression algorithm that updates only a difference from a previous image.

66. The method of claim 47, wherein at least one of the light emitting devices is selected from the group consisting of light emitting diodes, lasers, optical amplifiers, and combinations thereof.

67. The method of claim 47, wherein at least one of the light emitting devices is selected from the group consisting of OLEDs, flat surface-emitting LEDs, HBLEDs, and combinations thereof.

68. The method of claim 47, wherein the microdisplay is configured within a front projector.

69. The method of claim 47, wherein the microdisplay is configured within a rear projector.

70. The method of claim 47, wherein the microdisplay is configured within a rear projection television.

71. The method of claim 47, wherein the microdisplay is configured within a home theatre system.

72. The method of claim 47, wherein the microdisplay is configured within a portable projector.

90. The light emitting device of claim 71, wherein the light emitting device is configured to be used in a portable projector.

73. A light emitting device, comprising:

a multi-layer stack of materials including a light generating region, a first layer supported by the light generating region, a surface of the first layer being configured so that the light generated by the light generating region can emerge from the light emitting device via the surface of the first layer, the surface of the first layer having a contact region configured so that, during use, at most about 20% an area of a microdisplay illuminated by the light emitting diode comprises dark spots formed due to the con tact region.

74. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein at most about 10% the area of the microdisplay illuminated by the light emitting diode comprises dark spots formed due to the contact region.

75. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein at most about 5% the area of the microdisplay illuminated by the light emitting diode comprises dark spots formed due to the contact region.

76. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the contact region of the light emitting device is disposed so that dark spots formed due to the contact region do not correspond to the area of the microdisplay illuminated by the light emitting device during use.

77. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the surface of the first layer has a perimeter, and the contact region is disposed around the perimeter.

78. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the light emitting device is a non-lambertian light emitting device.

79. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the light emitting device is a photonic lattice light emitting device.

80. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the surface of the first layer has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a pattern, and the pattern has an ideal lattice constant and a detuning parameter with a value greater than zero.

81. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the surface of the first layer has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a nonperiodic pattern.

82. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the surface of the first layer has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a complex periodic pattern.

83. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the light emitting device is selected from the group consisting of light emitting diodes, lasers, optical amplifiers, and combinations thereof.

84. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the light emitting device comprises a light emitting diode.

85. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the light emitting device is selected from the group consisting of OLEDs, flat surface-emitting LEDs, HBLEDs, and combinations thereof.

86. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the light emitting device is configured to be used in a rear projector.

87. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the light emitting device is configured to be used in a rear projection television.

88. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the light emitting device is configured to be used in a front projector.

89. The light emitting device of claim 73, wherein the light emitting device is configured to be used in a home theatre system.

91. An optical display system, comprising:

a plurality of light emitting diodes;

a microdisplay;

at least one optical component disposed along an optical path from the microdisplay to the light emitting diode; and

a beam aggregation device configured to combine light generated by the plurality of light emitting diodes.

92. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the beam aggregation device is an x-cube.

93. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the beam aggregation device is selected from the group consisting of prisms, dichroic mirrors, and x-cubes.

94. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the plurality of light emitting diodes includes at least one light emitting diode selected from the group consisting of red light emitting diodes, blue light emitting diodes, and green light emitting diodes.

95. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the a plurality of light emitting diodes include a red light emitting diode, a blue light emitting diode, and a green light emitting diode.

96. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the light emitting diodes are photonic lattice light emitting diodes.

97. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the light emitting diodes are rectangular in shape.

98. The system of claim 91, wherein an aspect ratio of a surface of the light emitting diodes is 4×

3.

99. The system of claim 91, wherein an aspect ratio of a surface of the light emitting diodes is 16×

9.

100. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein light emerging from the light emitting diodes is substantially the same in shape as the microdisplay.

101. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein at least on of the plurality of light emitting diodes is a non-lambertian light emitting diode.

102. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein at least on of the plurality of the light emitting diodes is more collimated in the forward emitting direction than a lambertian light emitting diode.

103. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the light emitting diode is a photonic lattice light emitting diode.

104. The optical display system of claim 103, wherein a surface of a top layer of the photonic lattice light emitting diode has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a pattern, and the pattern has an ideal lattice constant and a detuning parameter with a value greater than zero.

105. The optical display system of claim 103, wherein a surface of a top layer of the photonic lattice light emitting diode has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a nonperiodic pattern.

106. The optical display system of claim 103, wherein a surface of a top layer of the photonic lattice light emitting diode has a dielectric function that varies spatially according to a complex periodic pattern.

107. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the optical display system includes at least one liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) panel.

108. The optical display system of claim 107, wherein the LCOS panel is included in a high definition light engine.

109. The optical display system of claim 108, wherein the high definition light engine is included in a television system.

110. The optical display system of claim 108, wherein the television system is a rear projection television system.

111. The optical display system of claim 107, wherein each light emitting diode of the plurality of light emitting diodes has a corresponding LCOS panel.

112. The optical display system of claim 107, wherein the at least one optical component includes a device for filtering the polarization of the light emitted from the light emitting diodes.

113. The optical display system of claim 108, wherein the device for filtering the polarization includes a polarizing beam splitter.

114. The optical display system of claim 108, wherein the optical display system includes a device for changing the polarization of light emitted by at least one of the plurality of LEDs.

115. The optical display system of claim 109, wherein the device for changing the polarization is a half-wave plate.

116. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the optical display system includes at least one digital light processor (DLP) panel.

117. The optical display system of claim 116, wherein the DLP panel is included in a high definition light engine.

118. The optical display system of claim 117, wherein the high definition light engine is included in a television system.

119. The optical display system of claim 117, wherein the television system is a rear projection television system.

120. The optical display system of claim 116, wherein the at least one optical component includes a lens.

121. The optical display system of claim 116, further comprising a total internal reflection prism.

122. The optical display system of claim 118, wherein the total internal reflection prism is disposed along an optical path from the beam aggregation device to the DLP panel.

123. The optical display system of claim 119, wherein the system is configured such that light generated by the plurality of light emitting diodes is aggregated by the beam aggregation device, reflected by the total internal reflection prism, and modulated by the DLP panel.

124. The optical display system of claim 91, wherein the optical display system includes at least one liquid crystal display (LCD) panel.

125. The optical display system of claim 124, wherein the LCD panel is included in a high definition light engine.

126. The optical display system of claim 125, wherein the high definition light engine is included in a television system.

127. The optical display system of claim 124, wherein the television system is a rear projection television system.

128. The optical display system of claim 124, wherein the at least one optical component includes a lens.

129. The optical display system of claim 124, wherein each light emitting diode of the plurality of light emitting diodes has a corresponding LCD panel.

130. The optical display system of claim 124, wherein the at least one optical component includes a device for changing the polarization of the light emitted from the light emitting diodes.

131. The optical display system of claim 130, wherein the device for changing the polarization of the light emitted from the light emitting diodes is a half-wave plate.