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US 7,118,225 B2Granted
Illumination system
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorSteven M. Penn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The addition of DMD illumination modulator(s) 702 in series with projection SLM(s) 706/709 to produce high-performance projection displays with improved optical efficiency, reliability, and lower maintenance requirements. This approach eliminates the vibration, audible noise, and safety problems associated with high speed rotating color filter wheels 203 commonly used in SLM projectors and controls the light applied to individual areas of the projection SLM(s).
Claims17
A display, comprising:
- at least one illumination modulator comprising an array of elements operable in a first state directing incident light along a first path, and a second state directing incident light along a second path;
- a first color filter on said first path for directing a first filtered light beam to at least one spatial light modulator;
- a second color filter on said second path for directing a second filtered light beam to said at least one spatial light modulator;
- and
- said at least one spatial light modulator for spatially modulating said first and second filtered light beams to form an image-bearing light beam.
2 more elements
A display, comprising:
- at least one illumination modulator on a first light path, said at least one illumination modulator comprising an array of elements operable in a first state directing incident light along a first path, and a second state directing incident light along a second path;
- a first color filter on said first path for directing a first filtered light beam to at least one spatial light modulator;
- a second color filter on said second path for directing a second filtered light beam to said at least one spatial light modulator;
- said at least one spatial light modulator spatially modulating said first and second filtered light beams to form an image-bearing light beam;
- and
- wherein at least one of said first color filter and said second color filter is a diffraction grating filter.
3 more elements
A display, comprising:
- a light source for producing a beam of light along an illumination path;
- at least one illumination modulator on said illumination path, said at least one illumination modulator comprising an array of elements operable in a first state directing incident light along a first path, and a second state directing incident light along a second path;
- a first color filter on said first path for directing a first filtered light beam to at least one spatial light modulator;
- a second color filter on said second path for directing a second filtered light beam to said at least one spatial light modulator;
- a third color filter on at least one of said illumination path, said first path, and said second path for directing a portion of light along a separate color light path;
- a separate color spatial light modulator on said separate color light path for spatially modulating said portion of light;
- and
- said at least one spatial light modulator for spatially modulating said first and second filtered light beams to form an image-bearing light beam.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.