Optical waveguide display system
First Claim
1. A display system comprising:
- a plurality of optical waveguides,a light source positioned in a light coupling relationship to said plurality of optical waveguides,and an acoustic light exiting means for causing a portion of light traveling through said plurality of optical waveguides to exit selectively so light can be viewed at selected locations oriented along the lengths of the waveguides in said plurality of waveguides.
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Abstract
A thin, large, high definition television screen (2) employs optical waveguides (22). Light continually flows through waveguides closely arranged, in parallel (86), across a substrate. Light is prematurely made to exit (32) the waveguide cores by intensity modulators (66) and taps (64) placed along the length of the waveguides. The intensity modulators control the brightness of light in the waveguides. Taps direct intensity-modulated light out of the waveguides to the viewer (68). Systematically modulating the intensity of light and tapping light out of a system of parallel waveguides allows still and moving images to be formed. The preferred embodiment employs acoustic intensity modulators and taps. Sound waves (34) propagate perpendicularly (3) to the direction of light flow (5) causing changes in the index of refraction in the waveguides via the acousto-optic effect. Electro-optic modulators (42) and thin-film (86) waveguides can also be used in place of acousto-optic modulators and discrete fibers. This display can be economically produced using a flexible waveguide ribbon (130) which integrates multiple waveguides (94), intensity modulators ( 147) and taps (148) into a single unit.
156 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A display system comprising:
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a plurality of optical waveguides, a light source positioned in a light coupling relationship to said plurality of optical waveguides, and an acoustic light exiting means for causing a portion of light traveling through said plurality of optical waveguides to exit selectively so light can be viewed at selected locations oriented along the lengths of the waveguides in said plurality of waveguides. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A display system comprising:
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a plurality of optical waveguides, a light source positioned in a light coupling relationship to said plurality of optical waveguides, and a controllable light exiting means for causing a portion of light traveling through said plurality of optical waveguides to exit selectively so light can be viewed at selected locations oriented along the lengths of the waveguides in said plurality of waveguides. said plurality of optical waveguides having a ribbon-like structure wherein a plurality of said ribbon-like structures are stacked on top of each other. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A display system comprising:
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a plurality of optical waveguides, a light source positioned in a light coupling relationship to said plurality of optical waveguides, and a controllable light exiting means for causing a portion of light traveling through said plurality of optical waveguides to exit selectively so light can be viewed at selected locations oriented along the lengths of the waveguides in said plurality of waveguides. and a visible light absorbing material layer placed in proximity to said plurality of optical waveguides in order to darken and improve the appearance of images formed by said plurality of optical waveguides and said controllable light exiting means. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A display system comprising:
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a plurality of optical waveguides, a light source positioned in a light coupling relationship to said plurality of optical waveguides, and a controllable light exiting means for causing a portion of light traveling through said plurality of optical waveguides to exit selectively so light can be viewed at selected locations oriented along the lengths of the waveguides in said plurality of waveguides. and filter means positioned in a light coupling relationship to one or both of said broad-spectrum light source and said plurality of optical waveguides. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification