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AssigneeU.S. Philips Corporation
InventorsGrietje N. Mol, Dirk J. Broer, Christianne R.M. De Witz
Estimating the term…
An illumination system (3) comprises an optical waveguide (9) of an optically transparent material having an exit surface (19) and four end faces (13, 14, 15, 16). The light from a light source (11) is coupled into the optical waveguide (9) via at least one of the end faces (13). The illumination system, for an LCD, further has a reflective polarizer (21) in combination with a diffuser (23) for polarizing the light supplied by the light source (11). The reflective polarizer (21) is integrated with the optical waveguide and constitutes the surface (25) of the optical waveguide (9) which is located opposite the exit surface (19). The diffuser (23) is present on a surface of the polarizer (21) remote from the optical waveguide (9).
An illumination system comprising an optical waveguide of an optically transparent material having an exit surface and a plurality of end faces, opposite at least one of which a light source is situated, whose light can be coupled in at said end face of the optical waveguide, and polarizing means integrated with the optical waveguide for polarizing the light emitted by the light source, characterized in that the polarizing means are constituted by a reflective polarizer which is present on the surface of the optical waveguide located opposite the exit surface of the optical waveguide, a surface of the polarizer remote from the optical waveguide being provided with a diffuser.
A flat-panel picture display device including an illumination system provided with a picture display panel for modulating the direction of polarization of light generated by the illumination system in conformity with picture information to be displayed, and an analyzer, characterized in that the illumination system is an illumination system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.