Enhanced LCD backlight
First Claim
1. A light guide comprising:
- a) at least one input surface and output surface wherein incident light exits the light guide when the total internal reflection condition is not satisfied; and
b) a first scattering region disposed to receive light from the input surface and direct light to the output surface, comprising a continuous phase material of refractive index nx1 and a first dispersed phase material of refractive index nx2 wherein |nx1−
nx2|>
0.001 and one or more of the first dispersed phase domains are non-spherical in shape and have a domain dimension in the x, y, or z direction in the range of about 0.005 to 1 cm.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A light guide containing substantially aligned non-spherical particles provides more efficient control of light scattering. One or more regions containing ellipsoidal particles may be used and the particle sizes may vary between 2 and 100 microns in the smaller dimension. The light scattering regions may be substantially orthogonal in their axis of alignment. Alternatively, one or more asymmetrically scattering films can be used in combination with a backlight light guide and a reflector to produce an efficient backlight system. The light guides may be manufactured by embossing, stamping, or compression molding a light guide in a suitable light guide material containing asymmetric particles substantially aligned in one direction. The light scattering light guide or non-scattering light guide may be used with one or more light sources, collimating films or symmetric or asymmetric scattering films.
69 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A light guide comprising:
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a) at least one input surface and output surface wherein incident light exits the light guide when the total internal reflection condition is not satisfied; and b) a first scattering region disposed to receive light from the input surface and direct light to the output surface, comprising a continuous phase material of refractive index nx1 and a first dispersed phase material of refractive index nx2 wherein |nx1−
nx2|>
0.001 and one or more of the first dispersed phase domains are non-spherical in shape and have a domain dimension in the x, y, or z direction in the range of about 0.005 to 1 cm. - 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, 24)
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25. A backlight assembly comprising:
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a) a housing; b) a light emitting source; c) a light guide comprising; i. at least one input surface and output surface wherein incident light exits the light guide when the total internal reflection condition is not satisfied; and ii. a first scattering region disposed to receive light from the input surface and direct light to the output surface, comprising a continuous phase material of refractive index nx1 and a first dispersed phase material of refractive index nx2 wherein |nx1−
nx2|>
0.001 and one or more of the first dispersed phase domains are non-spherical in shape; andd) wherein the backlight has a speckle contrast is below 80%.
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Specification