Image projecting device and method

An image projecting device comprising:

• a spatial light modulating (SLM) pixel arrangement defining an active surface;
• first and second lens arrays respectively located at opposite surfaces of said SLM pixel arrangement and being integral with said SLM pixel arrangement, forming together with said SLM pixel arrangement a common SLM unit, such that each lens in the first array and a respective opposite lens in the second array are associated with a corresponding one of the pixels, each of said first and second lens arrays being implemented in a polymer spacer and each being either spaced from the respective surface of the opposite surfaces of the pixel arrangement a distance substantially not exceeding 50 μm or being in physical contact with said respective surface;
• a light source system (LSS) operable to produce an incident light beam of a predetermined cross section corresponding to the size of said active surface;
• and
• a magnification optics accommodated at the output side of the SLM pixel arrangement.

A computer system operable to generate data to be imaged, the system comprising an image projecting device connected to a data generating utility of the computer system and operating to project the image onto at least one external projecting surface, said image projecting device comprising:

• a spatial light modulating (SLM) pixel arrangement defining an active surface;
• first and second lens arrays respectively located at opposite surfaces of said SLM pixel arrangement and being integral with said SLM pixel arrangement forming together with said SLM pixel arrangement a common SLM unit, such that each lens in the first array and a respective opposite lens in the second array are associated with a corresponding one of the pixels, each of said first and second lens arrays being implemented in a polymer spacer and each being either spaced from the respective surface of the opposite surfaces of the pixel arrangement a predetermined distance or being in physical contact with said respective surface;
• a light source system (LSS) operable to produce an incident light beam of a predetermined cross section corresponding to the size of said active surface;
• a magnification optics accommodated at the output side of the SLM pixel arrangement.

A method for projecting an image comprising:

• (i) providing a spatial light modulator (SLM) unit comprising an SLM pixel arrangement having a pixel pitch substantially not exceeding 50 μm and defining an active surface;
• and first and second lens arrays located at opposite surfaces of said SLM pixel arrangement and being integral with said SLM pixel arrangement, such that each lens in the first array and a respective opposite lens in the second array are associated with a corresponding one of the pixels, each of said first and second lens arrays being implemented in a polymer spacer and being either spaced from the respective surface of the pixel arrangement a predetermined distance or being in physical contact with said respective surface;
• (ii) creating an incident light beam having a predetermined cross section corresponding to a size of said active surface defined by the SLM pixel arrangement;
• (iii) passing said light through the SLM unit and concurrently operating the SLM pixel arrangement with an imaging signal representative of an image to be projected to thereby produce modulated light;
• (iv) passing the modulated light emerging from the SLM unit through a magnifying optics to be projected onto a projecting surface.

A method for projecting an image comprising:

• (i) providing a spatial light modulator (SLM) unit comprising:
• a spatial light modulating (SLM) pixel arrangement defining an active surface;
• and first and second lens arrays located at opposite surfaces of said SLM pixel arrangement and being integral with said SLM pixel arrangement, such that each lens in the first array and a respective opposite lens in the second array are associated with a corresponding one of the pixels, each of said first and second lens arrays being implemented in a polymer spacer and each being either spaced from the respective surface of the opposite surfaces of the SLM pixel arrangement a predetermined distance substantially not exceeding 50 μm or being in physical contact with said respective surface;
• (ii) creating an incident light beam having a predetermined cross section corresponding to a size of said active surface defined by the SLM pixel arrangement;
• (iii) passing said light through the SLM unit and concurrently operating the SLM pixel arrangement with an imaging signal representative of an image to be projected to thereby produce modulated light;
• (iv) passing the modulated light emerging from the SLM unit through a magnifying optics to be projected onto a projecting surface.

A method for projecting an image comprising:

• (i) providing a spatial light modulator (SLM) unit comprising:
• a spatial light modulating (SLM) pixel arrangement defining an active surface;
• and first and second lens arrays respectively located at opposite surfaces of said SLM pixel arrangement and being integral with said SLM pixel arrangement, such that each lens in the first array and a respective opposite lens in the second array are associated with a corresponding one of the pixels, each of said first and second lens arrays being implemented in a polymer spacer and each being either spaced from the respective surface of the opposite surfaces of the SLM pixel arrangement a predetermined distance or being in physical contact with said respective surface;
• (ii) creating an incident light beam having a predetermined cross section corresponding to a size of said active surface defined by the SLM pixel arrangement;
• (iii) passing said light through the SLM unit and concurrently operating the SLM pixel arrangement with an imaging signal representative of an image to be projected to thereby produce modulated light;
• (iv) passing the modulated light emerging from the SLM unit through a magnifying optics to be projected onto a projecting surface;
• (v) processing said imaging signal prior to operating thereby the SLM pixel arrangement, to apply digital jittering and gray level processing of pixels, thereby enabling reduction of speckles' effects in the projected image.

A method for projecting an image comprising:

• (i) providing a spatial light modulator (SLM) unit comprising:
• a spatial light modulating (SLM) pixel arrangement defining an active surface;
• and first and second lens arrays respectively located at opposite surfaces of said SLM pixel arrangement and being integral with said SLM pixel arrangement, such that each lens in the first array and a respective opposite lens in the second array are associated with a corresponding one of the pixels, each of said first and second lens arrays being implemented in a polymer spacer and each being either spaced from the respective surface of the opposite surfaces of the SLM pixel arrangement a predetermined distance or being in physical contact with said respective surface;
• (ii) creating an incident light beam having a predetermined cross section corresponding to a size of said active surface defined by the SLM pixel arrangement;
• (iii) passing said light through the SLM unit and concurrently operating the SLM pixel arrangement with an imaging signal representative of an image to be projected to thereby produce modulated light;
• (iv) passing the modulated light emerging from the SLM unit through a magnifying optics to be projected onto a projecting surface;
• (v) obtaining data indicative of the projected image, analyzing said data and processing said imaging signal prior to operating thereby the SLM pixel arrangement, to thereby provide substantially uniform intensity within the projected image.

A method for projecting an image comprising:

• (i) providing a spatial light modulator (SLM) unit comprising:
• a spatial light modulating (SLM) pixel arrangement defining an active surface;
• and first and second lens arrays respectively located at opposite surfaces of said SLM pixel arrangement and being integral with said SLM pixel arrangement, such that each lens in the first array and a respective opposite lens in the second array are associated with a corresponding one of the pixels, each of said first and second lens arrays being implemented in a polymer spacer and each being either spaced from the respective surface of the opposite surfaces of the SLM pixel arrangement a predetermined distance or being in physical contact with said respective surface;
• (ii) creating an incident light beam having a predetermined cross section corresponding to a size of said active surface defined by the SLM pixel arrangement;
• (iii) passing said light through the SLM unit and concurrently operating the SLM pixel arrangement with an imaging signal representative of an image to be projected to thereby produce modulated light;
• (iv) passing the modulated light emerging from the SLM unit through a magnifying optics to be projected onto a projecting surface;
• (v) obtaining data indicative of an environment condition, analyzing said data, and processing said imaging signal prior to operating thereby the SLM pixel arrangement, to thereby adjust at least one of the intensity and color mixture of the modulated light forming the projected image.