Spatio-temporal directional light modulator
First Claim
1. A directional light modulator comprising:
- a two dimensional emissive micro emitter array device having an array of individually addressable emissive pixels;
a micro lens array of micro lens elements;
the two dimensional emissive micro emitter array device and the micro lens array being assembled together and angularly articulated as a single assembly in an angular motion having a periodicity selected to enable temporal coverage of the maximum articulation angle within an image frame duration to emit light around two axes within a plane of an emissive surface of the emissive micro emitter array and within a range of plus and minus a maximum angular articulation in each respective axis.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A spatio-temporal directional light modulator is introduced. This directional light modulator can be used to create 3D displays, ultra-high resolution 2D displays or 2D/3D switchable displays with extended viewing angle. The spatio-temporal aspects of this novel light modulator allow it to modulate the intensity, color and direction of the light it emits within an wide viewing angle. The inherently fast modulation and wide angular coverage capabilities of this directional light modulator increase the achievable viewing angle, and directional resolution making the 3D images created by the display be more realistic or alternatively the 2D images created by the display having ultra high resolution.
109 Citations
62 Claims
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1. A directional light modulator comprising:
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a two dimensional emissive micro emitter array device having an array of individually addressable emissive pixels; a micro lens array of micro lens elements; the two dimensional emissive micro emitter array device and the micro lens array being assembled together and angularly articulated as a single assembly in an angular motion having a periodicity selected to enable temporal coverage of the maximum articulation angle within an image frame duration to emit light around two axes within a plane of an emissive surface of the emissive micro emitter array and within a range of plus and minus a maximum angular articulation in each respective axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A directional light modulator comprising:
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an emissive micro emitter array device comprising a multiplicity of individually addressable emissive pixels; a micro lens array aligned and physically bonded to the emissive micro emitter array device; and
,a two axis gimbal having a bonding pad upon which the emissive micro emitter array device and the micro lens array assembly is physically and electrically bonded; the two axis gimbal having two sets of electromagnetic actuators aligned with the two axes of the gimbal to affect temporal angular articulation of said bonding pad around the two axes of the gimbal in an angular motion having a periodicity selected to enable temporal coverage of the maximum articulation angle within an image frame duration, and a set of electrical contacts connecting said bonding pad to a set of device interface contacts. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A directional light modulator comprising:
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a two dimensional emissive micro emitter array device; a micro lens array of micro lens elements; the two dimensional emissive micro emitter array device and the micro lens array being assembled together and angularly articulated as a single assembly to emit light around two axes within a plane of an emissive surface of the emissive micro emitter array and within a range of plus and minus a maximum angular articulation in each respective axis; the angular articulation being provided by a gimbal support for the assembly of the two dimensional emissive micro emitter array device and the micro lens array for temporally expanding the angular extent in each of the two axes by the angular articulation of the gimbal support, thereby temporally expanding the set of light directions along each of the two axes. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A directional light modulator comprising:
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an emissive micro emitter array device comprising a multiplicity of pixels; a micro lens array aligned and physically bonded to the emissive micro emitter array device; and
,a two axis gimbal having a bonding pad upon which the emissive micro emitter array device and the micro lens array assembly is physically and electrically bonded; the two axis gimbal having two sets of electromagnetic actuators aligned with the two axes of the gimbal to affect temporal angular articulation of said bonding pad around the two axes of the gimbal, and a set of electrical contacts connecting said bonding pad to a set of device interface contacts; wherein in the micro lens array, each of its constituent lenses is associated and precisely aligned with a respective plurality of pixels within a two dimensional array of pixel groups, with each constituent lens optically mapping the light emitted from the respective plurality of pixels into a corresponding discrete set of directions within an angular extent defined by a numerical aperture of the respective constituent lens; and wherein the temporal angular articulation causes the directional light modulator to have an expanded angular extent that includes the angular extent of each pixel group plus twice the maximum angular articulation, with a corresponding number of expanded directions that is equal to the number of directions of each pixel group multiplied by the ratio of the expanded angular extent to the angular extent of each pixel group along each of the two articulation axes. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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Specification