Laser illuminated backlight for flat panel displays
Laser lit flat panel displays are disclosed including edge-lit and direct lit backlights. In certain embodiments, laser assemblies are selected to obtain bandwidth distributions to reduce speckle.
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This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/259,000 filed Oct. 27, 2008 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/000,475, filed Oct. 26, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
More than one reissue application has been filed for the reissue of U.S. Pat. No. 8,152,351. The reissue applications are U.S. application Ser. No. 15/335,261, filed on Oct. 26, 2016, which is a continuation reissue of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/789,569 (the present application), filed on Mar. 7, 2013, which is a continuation reissue of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/717,072 filed on Dec. 17, 2012, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 44,949.
The present application is a broadening continuation reissue application of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/717,072, which was filed on Dec. 17, 2012 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 44,949, and is a reissue of U.S. Pat. No. 8,152,351, U.S. application Ser. No. 13/717,072 is a broadening reissue application of Ser. No. 12/959,008 filed on Dec. 2, 2010, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,152,351, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/259,000 filed Oct. 27, 2008, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,869, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/000,475, filed Oct. 26, 2007. The entire contents of each of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONRed, green, and blue (RGB) lasers offer demonstrable benefits over fluorescent lamps and light emitting diodes for high-performance imaging applications. Greater color saturation, contrast, sharpness, and color-gamut are among the most compelling attributes distinguishing laser displays from conventional imaging systems.
To compare laser illumination technology with conventional technologies, it is instructive to examine two fundamental parameters which relate to their ultimate practicality. The first parameter can be defined as optical efficiency—in this case, the lumens of output per watt of input to the light source. The second is cost compatibility, that is, the extent to which the technology in question yields a cost effective solution to the requirements of a specific application.
Based on these parameters, a red/green/blue (RGB) semiconductor/microlaser system, consisting of three lasers or laser arrays, each operating at a fundamental color, appears to be the most efficient, high brightness, white light source for display applications to date. Semiconductor laser operation has been achieved from the UV to the IR range of the spectrum, using device structures based on InGaAlN, InGaAlP and InGaAlAs material systems. Desirable center wavelength ranges are 610-635 nm for red, 525-540 nm for green, and 445-470 nm for blue.
Laser radiation is inherently narrow band and gives rise to the perception of fully-saturated colors. Unfortunately, narrow band light incident on random rough surfaces also introduces an unacceptable image artifact known as “speckle”. The visual effects of speckle detract from the aesthetic quality of an image and also result in a reduction of image resolution. Consequently, in the context of high resolution display systems, it is generally deemed essential that speckle be eliminated. A variety of “de-speckling” techniques can be used to reduce this artifact to “acceptable levels”, but only at the expense of a further loss in efficiency, which negatively impacts cost, reliability, package size, and power consumption.
Known speckle reduction techniques tend to disturb the spatial or temporal coherence of laser beams through optical path randomization and/or spectral broadening. However, most of these solutions are expensive and technically complex, relying, for example, on mode-locking techniques to produce very short pulses in the order of 1 ps to increase the optical bandwidth. Ideally, the spectral bandwidth for a display light source should be on the order of several nanometers (i.e., 5-15 nm). Such a light source could be considered quasi-monochromatic—sufficiently broadband for the cancellation of speckle yet sufficiently narrow band for color purity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe invention is directed to a laser-lit display system which uses a bandwidth-enhancing technique for reducing speckle.
According to one aspect of the invention, a laser-lit flat panel display includes a backlight with a plurality of lasing elements of at least two primary colors arranged in a plurality of laser assemblies. The plurality of lasing elements of at least one of the three primary colors are selected such that each lasing element emits a laser beam with a center wavelength λ0i, and a spectral bandwidth Δλi. The center wavelength of at least one of the lasing elements is wavelength-shifted with respect to the center wavelength of at least one other lasing element. When combined, the laser beams have an ensemble spectrum Λ with an overlap parameter γ=
In one embodiment, each laser assembly in the flat panel display includes at least one lasing element of each primary color. At least one laser assembly includes a plurality of lasing elements of at least one primary color. A light guide in the backlight substantially distributes the light output by the laser assemblies across the flat panel display, aided by diffusion optics corresponding to the laser assemblies. Light emitted by the backlight is modulated by a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel.
The plurality of lasers in the flat panel display are positioned about an exterior edge of the light guide. For example, the plurality of lasers can be positioned about each exterior edge of the light guide or at corners of the light guide.
In one embodiment of the invention, the plurality of laser assemblies are arranged about the light guide in a plurality of rows. Each row of laser assemblies is configured for independent control with respect to laser assemblies in at least one other row. The laser assemblies are also configured such that the brightness of at least one color within at least one laser assembly can be controlled independently of other colors in the laser assembly. The flat panel display has a plurality of additional light guides, each of which corresponds to a row of laser assemblies and is separated from adjacent light guides by a reflective separator.
In another embodiment, the plurality of laser assemblies of the backlight are configured to directly illuminate the array of light modulators from behind with the aid of diffusion optics corresponding to the plurality of laser assemblies. The laser assemblies are arranged in an array behind the array of light modulators, and each laser assembly is configured to be controlled independently of at least one laser assembly in the same row and at least one laser assembly in the same column as the laser assembly. Each laser assembly includes at least one lasing element of each of the at least two primary colors. At least one laser assembly is configured such that the brightness of one color of laser is controllable independently of lasers of other colors in the assembly.
According to another aspect of the invention, a flat panel display includes a backlight with a plurality of lasing elements of at least two primary colors arranged in an array of laser assemblies. The display also includes an array of light modulators directly illuminated from behind by the plurality of laser assemblies and a plurality of optical elements for diffusing light from the laser assemblies across corresponding regions of the array of light modulators.
In one embodiment, each laser assembly in the display includes at least one lasing element of each of the at least two primary colors. Each laser assembly is configured to be controlled independently of at least one laser assembly in the same row and at least one laser assembly in the same column as the laser assembly. The laser assemblies are also configured such that the brightness of at least one color within each laser assembly can be controlled independently of other colors in the laser assembly.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments and from the claims.
The following figures depict certain illustrative embodiments of the invention in which like reference numerals refer to like elements. These depicted embodiments are to be understood as illustrative of the invention and not as limiting in any way.
To provide an overall understanding of the invention, certain illustrative embodiments will now be described, including a bandwidth-enhanced laser light source for flat-panel displays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs). However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the apparatus described herein may be adapted and modified as is appropriate for the application being addressed and that the systems and methods described herein may be employed in other suitable applications, and that such other additions and modifications will not depart from the scope hereof.
As mentioned above, laser illumination typically results in image speckle. However, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,975,294, entitled Systems and Methods for Speckle Reduction through Bandwidth Enhancement, laser light sources formed from multiple lasers with certain frequency and bandwidth characteristics reduce if not eliminate speckle. The critical parameters for designing a bandwidth-enhanced laser array (BELA) include the number n of emitters in the array, the center wavelength λ0i of each emitter, time spectral separation Si between the center wavelength λ0i, of an emitter i and the center wavelength λ0j of an emitter j being closest in wavelength, the respective bandwidth Δλi of time individual emitters, and the relative output power Ai of each emitter.
For γ=1, as depicted in
The light source of the invention has a few advantages over the existing technologies used for the backlight for a liquid crystal flat panel display:
Compared to traditional cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) or recently available light emitting diodes (LEDs), the lasers, generally speaking, can provide more saturated and expanded color gamut which is fully compatible with xvYCC standard for extended color space for moving pictures. The lasers can also provide highly-polarized and well-collimated beams which aid to increase the transmission efficiency and/or image contrast.
However, the traditional lasers used as a light source also generate unacceptable image artifact known as speckle, and often used de-speckling techniques or methods tend to reduce the aforementioned merits.
The laser light source design of the invention, on the other hand, relies on the aforementioned increased spectral bandwidth of the array of laser emitters to reduce speckle directly at the laser source. This is particularly beneficial when used in combination with the liquid crystal flat panels because these flat panel displays usually do not have enough space (i.e. depth) to adopt the additional de-speckling optics or devices.
In addition, the entire system's reliability, as measured in its mean time between failure (MTBF), can be improved by operating the array of laser emitters at less than their maximum rated output power, while still providing the cumulative laser power required to produce needed brightness. Accordingly, the array of lasers is expected, over time, to exhibit an inherently slower rate of performance degradation than a single, high power laser.
Therefore, the multiple array of laser emitters design described in the invention has an enormous advantage when used as a backlight unit for a liquid crystal flat panel display.
The backlight 300 includes a polarizing film 308 to polarize light emitted from the backlight to enable proper light modulation by the liquid crystal display to which the laser illuminated backlight 300 is coupled. Optionally, the backlight 300 also includes a diffuser sheet 310 between the light guide and the polarizing film 308 to diffuse the light emitted from the backlight 300.
The backlight 300 can be integrated with the remainder of a standard liquid crystal flat panel display module to form a complete flat panel display. For example, the backlight 300 can be coupled with an array of liquid crystal cells controlled by an active or passive matrix backplane disposed on a transparent substrate. The backplane and the laser assemblies are coupled to driver circuits governed by one or more controller circuits for controlling the intensity of the lasers and for addressing the individual liquid crystal cells, as described further below in
Referring now to
The laser assembly 500 also includes a heat sink 502 for dissipating heat generated by the lasers incorporated into the assembly. In one embodiment, to promote diffusion of the laser light and proper color mixing within the light guide 302, the laser assembly includes an optical element, such as a concave lens 504, positioned between the lasers and the light guide.
The laser assembly 550 also includes a heat sink 552 for dissipating heat generated by the lasers incorporated into the assembly. In one embodiment, to promote diffusion of the laser light and proper color mixing within the light guide 302, the laser assembly 550 includes an optical element, such as an equilateral prism 554, positioned between the lasers and the light guide 302.
The backlight 700 includes a polarizing film 704 to polarize light emitted from the backlight to enable proper light modulation by the liquid crystal display to which the laser illuminated backlight 700 is coupled. Optionally, the backlight 700 also includes a diffuser sheet 706 between the light guide and the polarizing film 704 to diffuse the light emitted from the backlight 700.
The backlight 700 can be integrated with the remainder of a standard liquid crystal flat panel display module to form a complete flat panel display. For example, the backlight 700 can be coupled with an array of liquid crystal cells controlled by an active or passive matrix backplane disposed on a transparent substrate. The backplane and the laser assemblies are coupled to driver circuits governed by one or more controller circuits for controlling the intensity of the lasers in different regions of the display and for addressing the individual liquid crystal cells. Each laser assembly can be controlled independently of other assemblies in the same row and column, and the intensity of a color within a laser assembly can be controlled independently of the other colors in the assembly, similar to the description above in relation to
While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the following claims.
Claims
1. A flat panel display, comprising:
- an array of light modulators arranged across the flat panel display; and
- a backlight comprising a plurality of laser assemblies distributed across a surface positioned behind the array of light modulators, such that the plurality of laser assemblies directly illuminate the array of light modulators from behind and the array of light modulators modulates light emitted by the backlight, wherein: each laser assembly comprises a plurality of lasing elements of at least one primary color, at least two of the plurality of laser assemblies include lasing elements of the same primary color, the plurality of lasing elements of at least one of the three primary colors are selected such that each lasing element emits a laser beam with a center wavelength λ0i and a spectral bandwidth Δλi, the center wavelength of at least one of the lasing elements is wavelength-shifted with respect to the center wavelength of at least one other lasing element, and said laser beams, when combined, have an ensemble spectrum Λ with an overlap parameter γ=Δλi/Si, with Δλi being a mean spectral bandwidth of the lasing elements and Si being a mean wavelength shift between the center wavelengths λ0i of the at least one and the at least one other lasing elements, with Δλi and Si selected such that γ≧1.
2. The flat panel display of claim 1, wherein each laser assembly includes at least one lasing element of each primary color.
3. The flat panel display of claim 1, wherein the laser assemblies are arranged in an array behind the array of light modulators.
4. The flat panel display of claim 3, wherein each laser assembly comprises at least one lasing element of each of the at least one primary color.
5. The flat panel display of claim 3, comprising diffusion optics corresponding to the plurality of laser assemblies.
6. The flat panel display of claim 5, wherein the respective diffusion optics for each laser assembly are selected based on a desired size of a region for which the respective laser assembly provides light.
7. The flat panel display of claim 3, wherein the plurality of laser assemblies are arranged in rows and columns, and wherein each laser assembly is configured to be controlled independently of at least one laser assembly in the same row and at least one laser assembly in the same column as the laser assembly.
8. The flat panel display of claim 7, wherein at least one laser assembly is configured such that the brightness of one color of laser is controllable independently of lasers of other colors in the assembly.
9. The flat panel display of claim 1, the flat panel display having an illuminated area, wherein each of the plurality of laser assemblies provides light for a region of the flat panel display that is smaller than the entire illuminated area of the flat panel display.
10. The flat panel display of claim 1, wherein the light modulators comprise a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel.
11. A flat panel display, comprising:
- an array of light modulators arranged across the flat panel display;
- a backlight comprising a plurality of laser assemblies distributed across a surface positioned behind the array of light modulators, such that the plurality of laser assemblies directly illuminate the array of light modulators from behind and the array of light modulators modulates light emitted by the backlight, wherein: each laser assembly comprises a plurality of lasing elements of at least one primary color, and at least two of the plurality of laser assemblies include lasing elements of the same primary color; and
- a plurality of optical elements for diffusing light from the laser assemblies across corresponding regions of the array of light modulators.
12. The flat panel display of claim 11, wherein each laser assembly comprises at least one lasing element of each of the at least one primary color.
13. The flat panel display of claim 11, wherein each laser assembly is configured to be controlled independently of at least one laser assembly in the same row and at least one laser assembly in the same column as the laser assembly.
14. The flat panel display of claim 13, wherein the laser assemblies are configured such that the brightness of at least one color within each laser assembly can be controlled independently of other colors in the laser assembly.
15. The flat panel display of claim 11, the flat panel display having an illuminated area, wherein each corresponding region is smaller than the entire illuminated area of the flat panel display.
16. A flat panel display, comprising:
- a backlight including a plurality of semiconductor diode lasing elements of at least one primary color arranged in a plurality of laser assemblies, wherein:
- the backlight comprises a light guide for substantially distributing light output by the plurality of laser assemblies across the flat panel display,
- the plurality of laser assemblies are positioned about an exterior edge of the light guide,
- the plurality of lasing elements of the at least one primary color are selected such that each lasing element emits a laser beam with a center wavelength λ0i and a spectral bandwidth Δλi,
- the center wavelength of at least one of the lasing elements is wavelength-shifted with respect to the center wavelength of at least one other lasing element, and
- said laser beams, when combined, have an ensemble spectrum Λ with an overlap parameter γ=Δλi/Si with Δλi being a mean spectral bandwidth of the lasing elements and Si being a mean wavelength shift between the center wavelengths λ0i of the at least one and the at least one other lasing elements, with Δλi and Si selected such that γ≧1; and
- an array of light modulators arranged across the flat panel display for modulating light emitted by the backlight.
17. The flat panel display of claim 16, wherein each laser assembly includes at least one lasing element of each of three primary colors.
18. The flat panel display of claim 16, wherein at least one laser assembly includes a plurality of lasing elements of each of three primary colors.
19. The flat panel display of claim 16, wherein the light modulators comprise a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel.
20. The flat panel display of claim 16, comprising diffusion optics corresponding to the plurality of laser assemblies.
21. The flat panel display of claim 16, wherein the plurality of laser assemblies are positioned about each exterior edge of the light guide.
22. The flat panel display of claim 16, wherein the plurality of laser assemblies are positioned at comers of the light guide.
23. The flat panel display of claim 16, wherein the plurality of laser assemblies are arranged about the light guide in a plurality of rows.
24. The flat panel display of claim 23, wherein each row of laser assemblies is configured for independent control with respect to laser assemblies in at least one other row.
25. The flat panel display of claim 24, wherein the laser assemblies are configured such that the brightness of at least one color within at least one laser assembly can be controlled independently of other colors in the laser assembly.
26. The flat panel display of claim 23, comprising a plurality of additional light guides, wherein each light guide corresponds to a row of laser assemblies.
27. The flat panel display of claim 26, comprising reflective separators positioned between the plurality of light guides.
28. The flat panel display of claim 16, wherein the backlight comprises at least one light emitting diode to illuminate the light modulators.
29. The flat panel display of claim 16, comprising:
- a polarizing film positioned behind the array of light modulators; and
- a diffuser positioned between the backlight and the polarizing film.
30. The flat panel display of claim 16, wherein the backlight includes lasing elements corresponding to at least first and second primary colors, and wherein the backlight includes more lasing elements of the first primary color than of the second primary color.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Mar 7, 2013
Date of Patent: Jan 9, 2018
Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (San Francisco, CA)
Inventor: Masayuki Karakawa (Newmarket, NH)
Primary Examiner: James Menefee
Application Number: 13/789,569
International Classification: F21V 7/04 (20060101); F21V 8/00 (20060101);