Optical system
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsAndrew J. Ouderkirk, Erin A. McDowell, Timothy L. Wong, Zhisheng Yun, Jo Anne Etter
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Abstract
Light emitting systems and optical systems including a light emitting system and a lens system are described. The light emitting system includes a pixelated light source having a plurality of discrete spaced apart pixels, and includes a plurality of light redirecting elements, each light redirecting element corresponding to a different pixel in the plurality of pixels. The light redirecting elements may be adapted to alter one or both of a central ray direction and a divergence angle of light received from the corresponding pixel. A lens system disposed to receive light from the light emitting system may include a reflective polarizer and a partial reflector.
Claims21
An optical system comprising:
- a light emitting system comprising:
- a pixelated light source comprising a plurality of discrete spaced apart pixels;
- and
- a plurality of light redirecting elements, each light redirecting element corresponding to a different pixel in the plurality of pixels and receiving a first diverging light emitted by the pixel having a first cone angle and transmitting the received light as a second diverging light having a second cone angle greater than 15 degrees and less than the first cone angle;
- and
- an optical lens system adapted to receive light from the light emitting system and transmit at least a portion of the received light, the optical lens system comprising a partial reflector facing the light emitting system and a reflective polarizer facing away from the light emitting system, the reflective polarizer being adjacent to and spaced apart from the partial reflector, the partial reflector having an average optical reflectance of at least 30% in a desired plurality of wavelengths.
An optical system comprising:
- a light emitting system comprising:
- a pixelated light source comprising a plurality of groups of discrete spaced apart pixels;
- and
- a concave light redirecting surface concave toward the light source, each different portion of the light redirecting surface corresponding to a different group of pixels in the plurality of pixels and receiving a first diverging light emitted by a pixel in the group of pixels having a first cone angle and transmitting the received light as a second diverging light having a second cone angle less than the first cone angle wherein no two different groups of pixels contain a common pixel;
- and
- an optical lens system adapted to receive light from the light emitting system and transmit at least a portion of the received light, the optical lens system comprising a partial reflector facing the light emitting system and a reflective polarizer facing away from the light emitting system, the reflective polarizer being adjacent to and spaced apart from the partial reflector, the partial reflector having an average optical reflectance of at least 30% in a desired plurality of wavelengths.
An optical system comprising:
- a display system comprising:
- a pixelated display comprising a plurality of discrete spaced apart pixels;
- and
- a plurality of light redirecting elements disposed in front of the plurality of pixels, each light redirecting element corresponding to a different group of pixels in the plurality of pixels and forming a virtual image of the pixel behind the pixel, each group of pixels comprising at least one pixel;
- and
- an optical lens system adapted to receive light from the display system and transmit at least a portion of the received light, the optical lens system comprising a partial reflector facing the display system and a reflective polarizer facing away from the display system, the reflective polarizer adjacent to and spaced apart from the partial reflector, the partial reflector having an average optical reflectance of at least 30% in a desired plurality of wavelengths.
A display system, comprising:
- a pixelated display comprising a plurality of discrete spaced apart pixels;
- an optical lens system adapted to receive light from the pixelated display and comprising:
- a partial reflector having an average optical reflectance of at least 30% in a desired plurality of wavelengths;
- and
- a reflective polarizer substantially transmitting light having a first polarization state and substantially reflecting light having an orthogonal second polarization state;
- a light redirecting layer disposed between the pixelated display and the optical lens system;
- and an exit pupil,
- wherein a brightness of the display system at the exit pupil is at least 30 percent higher than that of an otherwise equivalent display system not including the light redirecting layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.