Back lighting apparatus of liquid crystal display using optical fiber

A display apparatus, comprising:

• a liquid crystal display panel comprising a back plate, said liquid crystal display panel having pixels arranged in pixel lines;
• an optical fiber mounted behind said back plate and parallel to a first pixel line of the liquid crystal display, said optical fiber having a reflective coating over a portion of an outer surface of the optical fiber for retaining light in the optical fiber, and a first diffusion line formed lengthwise on the outer surface of the optical fiber, said first diffusion line being of a same length as, and in lengthwise position corresponding to, the first pixel line, and said first diffusion line facing away from the liquid crystal display panel;
• a support plate having a first groove, said support plate being located behind the optical fiber, said optical fiber being mounted in said first groove of the support plate;
• and
• a light source for illuminating ends of said optical fiber;
• said first diffusion line comprising one of a series of plates with each plate aligned with a corresponding pixel of said first pixel line, a series of crosswise stripes with each stripe aligned with a corresponding pixel of said first pixel line, and a flat region polished onto a surface of the optical fiber.

A display apparatus, comprising:

• a liquid crystal display panel comprising a back plate, said liquid crystal display panel having pixels arranged in pixel lines;
• an optical fiber mounted behind said back plate and parallel to a first pixel line of the liquid crystal display, said optical fiber having a reflective coating over a portion of an outer surface of the optical fiber for retaining light in the optical fiber, and a first diffusion line formed lengthwise on the outer surface of the optical fiber, said first diffusion line being of a same length as, and in lengthwise position corresponding to, the first pixel line, and said first diffusion line facing away from the liquid crystal display panel;
• a support plate having a first groove, said support plate being located behind the optical fiber, said optical fiber being mounted in said first groove of the support plate;
• and
• a light source for illuminating ends of said optical fiber;
• said optical fiber having a second diffusion line parallel to the first diffusion line.

A display apparatus, comprising:

• a liquid crystal display panel comprising a back plate, said liquid crystal display panel having pixels arranged in pixel lines;
• an optical fiber mounted behind said back plate and parallel to a first pixel line of the liquid crystal display, said optical fiber having a reflective coating over a portion of an outer surface of the optical fiber for retaining light in the optical fiber, and a first diffusion line formed lengthwise on the outer surface of the optical fiber, said first diffusion line being of a same length as, and in lengthwise position corresponding to, the first pixel line, and said first diffusion line facing away from the liquid crystal display panel;
• a support plate having a first groove, said support plate being located behind the optical fiber, said optical fiber being mounted in said first groove of the support plate;
• and
• a light source for illuminating ends of said optical fiber;
• said support plate having a plurality of additional grooves parallel to said first groove and aligned with pixel lines of the liquid crystal display panel, a total number of the grooves being no greater than a number of the pixel lines of the liquid crystal display panel;
• and
• said display apparatus further comprising a plurality of additional optical fibers, each having a diffusion line, said additional optical fibers being mounted in the additional grooves of the support plate.

A display apparatus, comprising:

• a liquid crystal display panel comprising aback plate, said liquid crystal display panel having pixels arranged in pixel lines;
• an optical fiber mounted behind said back plate and parallel to a first pixel line of the liquid crystal display, said optical fiber having a reflective coating over a portion of an outer surface of the optical fiber for retaining light in the optical fiber, and a first diffusion line formed lengthwise on the outer surface of the optical fiber, said first diffusion line being of a same length as, and in lengthwise position corresponding to, the first pixel line, and said first diffusion line facing away from the liquid crystal display panel;
• a support plate having a first groove, said support plate being located behind the optical fiber, said optical fiber being mounted in said first groove of the support plate;
• and
• a light source for illuminating ends of said optical fiber;
• said first diffusion line having a width approximately in a range of {fraction (1/15)} to {fraction (2/15)} of a diameter of the optical fiber, and a refractive index of the optical fiber being approximately in a range of 1.19 to 1.73.

A display apparatus, comprising:

• a liquid crystal display panel comprising a back plate, said liquid crystal display panel having pixels arranged in pixel lines;
• an optical fiber mounted behind said back plate and parallel to a first pixel line of the liquid crystal display, said optical fiber having a reflective coating over a portion of an outer surface of the optical fiber for retaining light in the optical fiber, and a first diffusion line formed lengthwise on the outer surface of the optical fiber, said first diffusion line being of a same length as, and in lengthwise position corresponding to, the first pixel line, and said first diffusion line facing away from the liquid crystal display panel;
• a support plate having a first groove, said support plate being located behind the optical fiber, said optical fiber being mounted in said first groove of the support plate;
• and
• a light source for illuminating ends of said optical fiber;
• wherein:
• said support plate has a second groove parallel to said first groove and aligned with a second pixel line of the liquid crystal display panel;
• said optical fiber further comprises a bend in a region of the optical fiber where the optical fiber emerges from said first groove, a portion of said optical fiber past said bend being mounted into the second groove of the support plate;
• and
• said portion of the optical fiber in said second groove comprising an additional diffusion line formed lengthwise on the outer surface of the optical fiber.

A display apparatus, comprising:

• a liquid crystal display panel comprising a back plate, said liquid crystal display panel having pixels arranged in pixel lines;
• a Fresnel lens disposed on a front side of the liquid crystal display panel;
• a plurality of optical fibers equal in number to one-half of a number of the pixel lines of the liquid crystal display panel, said optical fibers being mounted behind said back plate and parallel to the pixel lines of the liquid crystal display panel, each of said optical fibers being mounted in a position centered with respect to a pair of the pixel lines, and each optical fiber comprising a reflective coating disposed over a portion of an outer surface of said each optical fiber for retaining light in said each optical fiber, and two parallel diffusion lines formed lengthwise on the outer surface of said each optical fiber, said diffusion lines being of a same length as, and in lengthwise position corresponding to, the pixel lines, and said diffusion lines facing away from the liquid crystal display panel;
• a support plate having a same number of parallel grooves as a number of the optical fibers, said support plate being located behind the optical fibers, said optical fibers being mounted in said grooves of the support plate;
• and
• a light source for illuminating both ends of said each optical fiber.

A method of manufacturing a display apparatus, comprising the steps of:

• coating a predetermined portion of an optical fiber with a reflective coating;
• coating a photoresist material on a longitudinal portion of the optical fiber;
• mounting the optical fiber in a groove of a support plate with the longitudinal portion of the optical fiber and the photoresist material oriented into the groove;
• positioning a substrate parallel to the support plate and over the portion of the optical fiber oriented into the groove, and positioning a mask over said substrate, said mask having slit-shaped openings corresponding to pixel positions of a liquid crystal display;
• and
• shining light through said mask onto said optical fiber to photoetch a diffusion line in the optical fiber.