Multibeam diffraction grating-based color backlighting
AssigneeLeia Inc.
InventorDavid A. Fattal
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Multibeam diffraction grating-based color backlighting includes a plate light guide, a multibeam diffraction grating at a surface of the plate light guide, and light sources laterally displaced from one another in a direction corresponding to a propagation axis of the plate light guide. The light sources produce light of different colors. The plate light guide is to guide light from the light sources. The multibeam diffraction grating is to couple out a portion of the guided light using diffractive coupling as a plurality of light beams of different colors in a plurality of different principal angular directions.
Claims20
A multibeam diffraction grating-based color backlight comprising:
- a plurality of light sources of different colors;
- a plate light guide to guide light of the different colors produced by the light sources, the light sources being laterally displaced from one another in a direction of a propagation axis of the guided light within the plate light guide;
- and
- a multibeam diffraction grating at a surface of the plate light guide to diffractively couple out a portion of the guided light from the plate light guide as a plurality of light beams having the different colors, a light beam of the light beam plurality having a principal angular direction different from principal angular directions of other light beams of the light beam plurality,
- wherein a principal angular direction of a light beam of a color corresponding to a respective light source is a function of the lateral displacement of the respective light source.
A three-dimensional (3-D) color electronic display comprising:
- a light source comprising a plurality of optical emitters of different colors;
- a plate light guide to guide light of the different colors produced by the light source at a non-zero tilt angle as guided light, the different color optical emitters being laterally displaced from one another in a direction of a propagation axis of the guided light within the plate light guide;
- an array of multibeam diffraction gratings at a surface of the plate light guide to couple out a portion of the guided light as a plurality of light beams representing the different colors and to direct the light beams in a plurality of different principal angular directions away from the plate light guide;
- and
- a light valve array to modulate the differently directed light beams, the modulated differently directed light beams representing pixels of the 3-D color electronic display,
- wherein the different principal angular directions of the plurality of light beams are a function of the lateral displacements of the different color optical emitters.
A method of color electronic display operation, the method comprising:
- producing light using a plurality of light sources laterally displaced from one another, a light source of the light source plurality producing light of a color different from colors produced by other light sources of the light source plurality;
- guiding the produced light in a plate light guide;
- and
- diffractively coupling out a portion of the guided light using a multibeam diffraction grating at a surface of the plate light guide to produce a plurality of light beams having different colors directed away from the plate light guide in a plurality of different principal angular directions,
- wherein the light sources are laterally displaced in a direction of a propagation axis of the guided light within the plate light guide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.