Abstract: An illumination system is providing comprising a first waveguide having a plurality of light-directing surfaces on its lower surface. These surfaces direct light through an output surface of the waveguide into at least one angular range while directing substantially no light into a different angular range. Each surface comprises a plurality of portions having different angles of inclination to a normal to the waveguide.

Abstract: A parallax barrier comprises evenly spaced groups of slits. Each group comprises two or more slits which are evenly spaced and the groups are spaced with a period which is greater than the product of the number of slits in each group and the slit period in each group. Such a barrier may be used with a spatial light modulator having columns of pixels whose structure cooperates with the barrier structure to provide a wider angle between views in a multiple view display, such as an autostereoscopic 3D display or a display providing two or more different views to two or more observers.

Abstract: A display comprises: a transmissive pixellated spatial light modulator (21); and a backlight (22). The backlight has a light-transmissive waveguide (26), with a first face of the waveguide being opposed to the spatial light modulator (21). The first face of the waveguide comprises a plurality of regions that are not totally internally reflective for at least one polarisation of light propagating within the waveguide, and the remainder of the first face of the waveguide is totally internally reflective for light propagating within the waveguide. Light is extracted from the waveguide at the regions where first face of the waveguide is not totally internally reflective. The pitch of the regions where first face of the waveguide is not totally internally reflective is substantially an integer multiple of the pitch of the pixels of the spatial light modulator.

Abstract: A multiple view display comprises a display device which displays first and second images in a spatially multiplexed fashion across the display surface. The device cooperates with a parallax optic such as a lenticular screen so as to act as a directional display sub-system directing light from the first and second images in different viewing directions. An optical system, for example comprising a lenticular screen of diverging elements, changes the angular separation of the viewing angle directions, for example so as to increase the angular separation.

Abstract: A parallax barrier comprises evenly spaced groups of slits. Each group comprises two or more slits which are evenly spaced and the groups are spaced with a period which is greater than the product of the number of slits in each group and the slit period in each group. Such a barrier may be used with a spatial light modulator having columns of pixels whose structure cooperates with the barrier structure to provide a wider angle between views in a multiple view display, such as an autostereoscopic 3D display or a display providing two or more different views to two or more observers.

Abstract: A multiple view display comprises a display device such as a liquid crystal device, a parallax optic such as a parallax barrier, and a controller. The device comprises rows and columns of pixels and the controller supplies image data for a first view to first ones of the pixels and second ones of the pixels such that the first and second pixels alternate in the rows and in the columns. The parallax optic comprises rows and columns of parallax elements with the arrangement of pixels and parallax elements being such that each element co-operates with a respective pair of first and second pixels adjacent each other in the same row to form first and second viewing regions. Each row of parallax elements is off-set in the row direction by half the horizontal barrier pitch. Such an arrangement allows wider angles between the viewing regions to be achieved.