Miniature video display system

A miniature display system having a size suitable for hand-held and headgear-mounted use for displaying a substantially planar, magnified image comprised of a plurality of illuminated picture elements viewable by a viewer's eye, said display system comprising:

• a plurality of light-emitting elements each of which can be independently illuminated, said light-emitting elements being aligned in a predetermined fashion;
• first imaging optics for creating an enlarged virtual image of said light-emitting elements;
• a mirror in which the reflection of said enlarged virtual image can be observed;
• means for repetitively moving said mirror through a predetermined range of movement;
• means for selectively illuminating said light-emitting elements as said mirror moves, to create a substantially planar, two-dimensional, enlarged virtual image;
• and
• means for mounting said first imaging optics relative to said mirror and said light-emitting elements and for mounting said mirror to bring said mirror close enough to said viewer's eye so that substantially all of said virtual image can be simultaneously observed without moving said display system relative to said viewer's eye and without the use of telescopic optics between said mirror and said viewer's eye and so that said imaging optics and said mirror are small enough for use in a hand-held and a headgear-mounted device.

A miniature display system for displaying a substantially planar, magnified image comprised of a plurality of illuminated picture elements viewable by a viewer's eye, said display system being of an overall size suitable for hand-held use and comprising:

• a plurality of light-emitting elements each of which can be independently illuminated to generate an illuminated pixel dot, said light-emitting elements being linearly aligned in at least one row;
• first imaging optics for creating an enlarged virtual image of said at least one row of light-emitting elements, said imaging optics including a lens system having a maximum dimension for imaging the light generated by said light-emitting elements;
• a planar mirror having a maximum dimension in which the reflection of said enlarged virtual image can be observed;
• means for resonantly oscillating said mirror about a fixed axis through a predetermined range of movement;
• and
• means responsive to the motion of said mirror for selectively illuminating the light-emitting elements so that a plurality of images of said light-emitting elements of said at least one row are generated at physically displaced points and a substantially planar, two-dimensional, enlarged virtual image is created, said light-emitting elements, said first imaging optics and said mirror being mounted relative to one another so that when said viewer's eye is positioned near said mirror, substantially all of said enlarged virtual image can be directly and simultaneously observed without moving said display system relative to said viewer's eye and so that said lens system maximum dimension and mirror maximum dimension are small enough to incorporate said lens system and said mirror in a held held and a headgear-mounted device.

A method for displaying an image, in a display system, directly viewable by a viewer's eye, said method comprising the steps of:

• A. selectively illuminating a plurality of light-emitting elements, said light-emitting elements being aligned in a predetermined fashion;
• B. projecting light emitted from said plurality of light-emitting elements through imaging optics having a focal length to create an enlarged virtual image of said light-emitting elements;
• C. reflecting said virtual image from a mirror;
• D. repetitively moving said mirror through a predetermined range of movement to create a two-dimensional display;
• and
• E. positioning said display system near enough to said viewer's eye so that substantially all of said two-dimensional display can be simultaneously observed without moving said display system relative to said viewer's eye.

A method for displaying an image directly viewable by a viewer's eye with sufficient resolution that a full page of alphanumeric text can be viewed in a display system having a size small enough for a held-held and headgear-mounted devices, said method comprising the steps of:

• A. selectively illuminating an array of light-emitting elements, said light-emitting elements being aligned in a predetermined fashion, said array having sufficient length that an entire width of said image can be simultaneously displayed;
• B. projecting light emitted from said array of light-emitting elements through imaging optics having a maximum dimension and a focal length to create an enlarged virtual image of said light-emitting elements;
• C. reflecting said virtual image from a mirror having a maximum dimension;
• D. repetitively moving said mirror through a predetermined range of movement to create a two-dimensional display;
• E. positioning said mirror near said viewer's eye;
• and
• F. adjusting the ratio of said focal length to said light-emitting elements array length so that substantially all of said two-dimensional display can be directly and simultaneously observed without moving said display system relative to said viewer's eye.