Optical display system
AssigneeSharp Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsKanehiro Tominaga, Takashi Shibatani
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Abstract
An optical shifter includes at least one liquid crystal cell and a birefringent element. The liquid crystal cell has a first surface to receive light thereon and a second surface to pass the light therethrough and selectively changes polarization states of the light according to a voltage applied thereto. The birefringent element receives the light that has gone out of the liquid crystal cell through the second surface thereof, and selectively shifts the optical path of the light depending on the polarization state of the light. The optical shifter controls the temperature of the liquid crystal cell by way of at least one heat transfer member, through which heat can be transferred to/from the first surface and/or the second surface of the liquid crystal cell.
Claims23
An optical shifter comprising:
- at least one liquid crystal cell, which has a first surface to receive light thereon and a second surface to pass the light therethrough and which selectively changes polarization states of the light according to a voltage applied thereto;
- and
- a birefringent element, which receives the light that has gone out of the liquid crystal cell through the second surface thereof and which selectively shifts the optical path of the light depending on the polarization state of the light,
- wherein the optical shifter controls the temperature of the liquid crystal cell by way of at least one heat transfer member, through which heat is transferable to/from the first surface and/or the second surface of the liquid crystal cell.
An optical shifter comprising:
- a plurality of liquid crystal cells including at least a first liquid crystal cell and a second liquid crystal cell, each of the first and second liquid crystal cells having a first surface to receive light thereon and a second surface to pass the light therethrough and selectively changing polarization states of the light with a voltage applied thereto;
- a first birefringent element, which receives the light that has gone out of the first liquid crystal cell through the second surface thereof and which selectively shifts the optical path of the light depending on the polarization state of the light;
- and
- a second birefringent element, which receives the light that has gone out of the second liquid crystal cell through the second surface thereof and which selectively shifts the optical path of the light depending on the polarization state of the light,
- wherein the optical shifter controls the temperatures of the first and second liquid crystal cells by way of at least one heat transfer member, through which heat is transferable to/from the second surface of the first liquid crystal cell and the first surface of the second liquid crystal cell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.