862results about How to "Improve optical quality" patented technology

An electronic camera includes a plurality of three or more image sensors for generating three or more sensor outputs; a plurality of three or more fixed focal length lenses for forming a corresponding three or more images of the scene on the corresponding three or more image sensors, each of the lenses providing a different field of view of the scene; a control element for selecting one of the sensor outputs from one of the image sensors; and a processing section for producing the output image from the selected sensor output.

An improved touch screen provides enhanced electrical performance and optical quality. The electrodes on the touch screen are made of a mesh of conductors to reduce the overall electrode resistance thereby increasing the electrical performance without sacrificing optical quality. The mesh electrodes comprise a mesh pattern of conductive material with each conductor comprising the mesh having a very small width such that the conductors are essentially invisible to the user of the touch screen.

A digital camera includes a first image sensor, a first wide angle lens for forming a first image of a scene on the first image sensor; a second image sensor, a zoom lens for forming a second image of the same scene on the second image sensor, a control element for selecting either a first sensor output from the first image sensor or a second sensor output from the second image sensor, and a processing section for producing the output image from the selected sensor output. In one variation of this embodiment, the first lens is also a zoom lens, where the maximum focal length of the first lens is less than or equal to the minimum focal length of the second zoom lens.

A system for capturing super wide-angle panoramic images. In particular, a two-reflector system is disclosed which is substantially self-correcting in which optical aberrations are substantially eliminated, such as field curvature, astigmatism and the like. Moreover, the super wide-angle panoramic imaging apparatus of the invention captures a super-wide field of view from a substantially single reference viewpoint. The invention provides a substantially compact viewpoint, while also having a substantially flat and stigmatic image plane, in the context of a super wide-angle panoramic system. Devices and methods for capturing panoramic images of super wide-angle scenes are provided. In a particular embodiment of the invention, two reflectors are provided (e.g., one a hyperboloidal mirror, the other a concave ellipsoidal or spherical mirror), a relay system (e.g., optics such as a mirror, a lens, a pinhole and the like) and an image sensor (e.g., an electronic photo-sensor, a film and the like).

A refractive projection objective for use in microlithography with lenses made exclusively of one and the same material has an image-side numerical aperture larger than 0.7. A light bundle defined by the image-side numerical aperture and by the image field has within the objective a variable light-bundle diameter smaller than or equal to a maximum light-bundle diameter. In a length interval measured on the optical axis from the system diaphragm towards the object field and at least equaling the maximum light-bundle diameter, the variable light-bundle diameter exceeds 85% of the maximum light-bundle diameter.

Described herein are the materials, mechanisms and procedures for optimizing various performance parameters of HPDLC optical devices in order to meet differing performance requirements. These optimization tailoring techniques include control and independent optimization of switchable HPDLC optical devices to meet the demanding requirements of anticipated applications for, inter alia, the telecommunications and display industries. These techniques include optimization of diffraction efficiency, i.e., index modulation, polarization dependence control, haze, cosmetic quality, control of response and relaxation time, voltage driving for on and off switching, and material uniformity. This control and independent optimization tailors properties of switchable HPDLC optical devices according to the specific requirements of the application of the switchable HPDLC optical device. The invention disclosed herein retains the desirable attributes of the multi-functional acrylate system for forming HPDLC optical devices, but adds new materials to the acrylate system and / or new process control to the recording to optimize performance parameters as may be needed for specific applications. This results in high optical quality switchable holograms with good diffraction efficiency and low, stable switching voltage.

This invention relates to a novel prescription lens (58), mainly suited for ophthalmic applications. The lens designer defines the macroscopic surfaces of the lens (59, 60) as desired. The design process assumes that the location of the object (50), the lens (51), and the required image (53) are known. By using Ray-tracing technique we calculate the microscopic normals to the lens that will form the required image. From those microscopic normals we calculate microscopic surface by a process of summation the slopes with geometric pattern conditions. The final surface is not smooth but contains plenty of dense microscopic shapes that look like saw-teeth. That rough surface enables the lens to have almost any desired shape and thickness.

A hard coating composition for use as a stain repellent single layer on an optical display. The coating composition adds a monomer of a mono or multi(methyl)acrylate bearing at least one monovalent hexafluoropolypropylene oxide derivative and a free radically reactive compatibilizer consisting of either a fluoroalkyl-group containing acrylate compatibilizer or a fluoroalkylene-group containing acrylate compatibilizer to a conventional hydrocarbon-based hard coat formulation. The resultant coating is substantially smooth and forms a durable surface layer that has low surface energy that is stain and ink repellent.

A heat resistant separation fabric including stainless steel fibers. The stainless steel fibers are made out of an alloy comprising more than 12% by weight of chromium. The stainless steel fibers include an oxide skin. The atomic percentage of Cr at 5 nm depth of the oxide skin divided by the sum of the atomic percentages of Cr and Fe at 5 nm depth of the oxide skin, and multiplied with 100 to express as a percentage, is higher than 30%.

A method and apparatus are provided for aligning optical elements or microbeads 8, wherein each microbead has an elongated body with a code embedded therein along a longitudinal axis thereof to be read by a code reading device. The microbeads 8 are aligned with a positioning device (or cell) 500 having a plate or platform 200, 1252 with grooves 205, 1258 so the longitudinal axis of the microbeads is positioned in a fixed orientation relative to the code reading device. The microbeads 8 are typically cylindrically shaped glass beads having a diffraction grating-based code embedded in the bead 8 disposed along an axis, which requires a predetermined alignment between the incident code readout laser beam and the code readout detector in two of three rotational axes. The geometry of the grooves 205 are designed to allow for easy loading and unloading of beads from a cell, and the grooves 205 may be straight or curved. Also, the cell may be segmented into regions each associated with a different reaction or used for a different identification process / application, and may have many different geometries depending on the application.

The present invention provides a light source having an improved output optical quality. In general, the light source comprises one or more light-emitting elements in each of at least a first, a second and a third colour. The combined spectral power distribution of these light-emitting elements generally defines a spectral concavity. The light source further comprises a light-excitable medium configured and disposed to absorb a portion of the light emitted by one or more of the light-emitting elements and emit light defined by a complementary spectral power distribution having a peak located within the concavity. By combining the spectral output of the light-emitting elements with the spectral output of the light-excitable medium, an optical quality of the light source is improved.

A digital camera includes a first image sensor, a first wide angle lens for forming a first image of a scene on the first image sensor; a second image sensor, a zoom lens for forming a second image of the same scene on the second image sensor, a control element for selecting either a first sensor output from the first image sensor or a second sensor output from the second image sensor, and a processing section for producing the output image from the selected sensor output. In one variation of this embodiment, the first lens is also a zoom lens, where the maximum focal length of the first lens is less than or equal to the minimum focal length of the second zoom lens.

An electronic device on a plastic substrate, at least one side of the device being protected from reaction with or incorporation of moisture by a composite barrier. The composite barrier may contain, for example, multiple layers of transparent conductive oxide separated by one or more vacuum-evaporated in-situ polymerized organic layers, or may contain multiple barrier layers of transparent conductive oxide, transparent metal, or transparent conductive metal nitride, separated by at least one layer of organic dielectric polymer.

An accommodating intraocular lens (IOL) can be implanted either alone or as part of a two-part lens assembly. The IOL comprises an optic, a flexible membrane and a peripheral edge coupling the optic and the flexible membrane. The peripheral edge comprises an external circumferential surface having a height and a force transmitting area defined along a portion of the height of the external circumferential surface. A closed volume spaces apart the optic and the flexible membrane. The optic is axially displaced and the flexible membrane changes in curvature about a central axis when a radial compressive force is applied to the force transmitting area. A volume defined by the closed volume remains fixed when the optic is axially displaced and the flexible membrane changes in curvature and / or when the radial compressive force is applied to the force transmitting area.

The present invention provides a system which integrates unique lighting technologies, switching systems, mounting systems, information delivery systems and power supply systems within a support such as vehicular wheel to provide an advanced, high quality visual display apparatus in various surfaces of rotation. A displayed image may be three dimensional. These technologies, and their many unique applications, provide for a novel and useful series of video display devices that are small, lightweight, efficient and can have the capability of producing a clear, bright, high definition image that is equivalent to that of a modern day TV or high quality computer monitor.

Laminated automotive glazing including plastic layers and glass having an obscuration area produced by printing on the plastic layers of the laminate rather than printing and firing a black enamel frit onto the glass. This results in an obscuration having superior optical quality, higher strength and a lower probability of breakage as compared to a black enamel frit obscuration.

Described herein are the materials, mechanisms and procedures for optimizing various performance parameters of HPDLC optical devices in order to meet differing performance requirements. These optimization tailoring techniques include control and independent optimization of switchable HPDLC optical devices to meet the demanding requirements of anticipated applications for, inter alia, the telecommunications and display industries. These techniques include optimization of diffraction efficiency, i.e., index modulation, polarization dependence control, haze, cosmetic quality, control of response and relaxation time, voltage driving for on and off switching, and material uniformity. This control and independent optimization tailors properties of switchable HPDLC optical devices according to the specific requirements of the application of the switchable HPDLC optical device. The invention disclosed herein retains the desirable attributes of the multi-functional acrylate system for forming HPDLC optical devices, but adds new materials to the acrylate system and / or new process control to the recording to optimize performance parameters as may be needed for specific applications. This results in high optical quality switchable holograms with good diffraction efficiency and low, stable switching voltage.

Described herein are the materials, mechanisms and procedures for optimizing various performance parameters of HPDLC optical devices in order to meet differing performance requirements. These optimization tailoring techniques include control and independent optimization of switchable HPDLC optical devices to meet the demanding requirements of anticipated applications for, inter alia, the telecommunications and display industries. These techniques include optimization of diffraction efficiency, i.e., index modulation, polarization dependence control, haze, cosmetic quality, control of response and relaxation time, voltage driving for on and off switching, and material uniformity. This control and independent optimization tailors properties of switchable HPDLC optical devices according to the specific requirements of the application of the switchable HPDLC optical device. The invention disclosed herein retains the desirable attributes of the multi-functional acrylate system for forming HPDLC optical devices, but adds new materials to the acrylate system and / or new process control to the recording to optimize performance parameters as may be needed for specific applications. This results in high optical quality switchable holograms with good diffraction efficiency and low, stable switching voltage.

A treatment apparatus for operatively correcting myopia or hyperopia in an eye includes a laser device controlled by a control device and that separates the corneal tissue by applying a laser beam. The control device controls the laser device to emit the laser beam into the cornea such that a lenticule-shaped volume is isolated in the cornea. The control device, when controlling the laser device, predefines the lenticule-shaped volume such that the volume has a minimum thickness of between 5 and 50 μm. For myopia correction, the minimum thickness occurs on the edge of the volume, and for hyperopia correction the minimum thickness occurs in the region of the visual axis.

Microstructured optical fibre is fabricated using extrusion. The main design of optical fibre has a core suspended in an outer wall by a plurality of struts. A specially designed extruder die is used which comprises a central feed channel, flow diversion channels arranged to divert material radially outwards into a welding chamber formed within the die, a core forming conduit arranged to receive material by direct onward passage from the central feed channel, and a nozzle having an outer part in flow communication with the welding chamber and an inner part in flow communication with the core forming conduit, to respectively define an outer wall and core of the preform. With this design a relatively thick outer wall can be combined with thin struts (to ensure extinction of the optical mode field) and a core of any desired diameter or other thickness dimension in the case of non-circular cores. As well as glass, the extrusion process is suitable for use with polymers. The microstructured optical fibre is considered to have many potential device applications, in particular for non-linear devices, lasers and amplifiers.

A method is described for fabricating an optical device that includes a light waves-transmitting substrate having at least two major surfaces and edges and a plurality of partially reflecting surfaces carried by the substrate, wherein the partially reflecting surfaces are parallel to each other and not parallel to any of the edges of the substrate. The method includes providing at least one transparent flat plate and plates having partially reflecting surfaces and optically attaching together the flat plates so as to create a stacked, staggered form. From the stacked, staggered form, at least one segment is sliced off by cutting across several plates and the segment is ground and polished to produce the light waves-transmitting substrate. The plates are optically attached to each other by an optically adhesive-free process.

The invention relates to a method of preventing the induction of aberrations in laser refractive surgery systems. Standard laser refractive surgery systems successfully correct low-order refractive errors (myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism), but induce spherical aberration and, by extension, other high-order aberrations, which result in a worsening of vision quality. Said increase in spherical aberration is due to the shape of the cornea, and not inherent in the theoretical ablation profile, and, as a result, the problem is, in principle, common to all laser systems. The invention relates to a systematic method which can be used with any system and ablation profile in order to obtain a profile correction factor. The correction factor, which is specific to each system, can be applied in order to prevent the induction of spherical aberration and, in this way, improve the optical and visual quality of patients following surgery compared to surgery performed with standard systems. Moreover, the inventive method can be used to improve the production of lenses with controlled high-order aberrations using laser systems.

Eyewear is provided that can comprise a frame, a lens, and at least one lens retention mechanism that can secure the lens relative to the frame. The frame can support at least one lens in a field of view of a wearer. The frame can include a first ear stem and a second ear stem that allows the frame to be worn on the wearer's head. The retention mechanism can be supported by the frame and / or the lens and can be movable or fixed relative to the frame and / or the lens. In some embodiments, the retention mechanism comprises a latch device having an engagement structure that moves along a path of motion that intersects the lens. The retention component can engage an engagement portion of the lens to securing the lens relative to the frame.

An optical system for eye tracking is disclosed. The system includes a light guiding prism that guides light from an ocular object to an imaging system through multiple internal reflections. The light guiding prism may include one or more freeform surfaces having optical power.

An optical structure and corresponding process of manufacture for light guide optical elements (LOEs) which guide light by reflection at major surfaces. The structure further includes light directing surfaces for coupling light out of the LOE, obliquely inclined with respect to the major surfaces. The optical structure is formed from a stack of multiple optically transparent layers each of which has a surface pattern of regions configured as light directing surfaces which are arranged in an X-Z plane in a spaced-apart relationship along at least the X-axis with optically transparent regions between them. The layers are stacked along a Y-axis so that each of the surface patterns is located at an interface between two adjacent layers and the patterns of the layers are aligned with a shift of a predetermined value along one or both of the X-axis and Z-axis.

Optical-quality polarized parts and methods for manufacturing the optical parts are disclosed. The optical-quality polarized parts comprise a high impact, lightweight, high optical quality polyurethane construct and a polarizer bonded to the construct. The construct may be a lens substrate wherein the polarizer is integrally bonded at or near the front surface of the lens substrate. A sidefill gasket may be used to support and position the polarizer within a mold cavity for reproducibly forming the optical part. The polarizer may comprise a polyethylene terephthalate film or a laminated polyvinyl alcohol film or wafer. The polarized optical part has improved impact resistance over conventional thermoset resin parts, as well as better optical properties than similarly impact-resistant polycarbonate constructs.

A method and apparatus are provided for aligning optical elements or microbeads, wherein each microbead has an elongated body with a code embedded therein along a longitudinal axis thereof to be read by a code reading device. The microbeads are aligned with a positioning device so the longitudinal axis of the microbeads is positioned in a fixed orientation relative to the code reading device. The microbeads are typically cylindrically shaped glass beads between 25 and 250 microns (μm) in diameter and between 100 and 500 μm long, and have a holographic code embedded in the central region of the bead, which is used to identify it from the rest of the beads in a batch of beads with many different chemical probes. A cross reference is used to determine which probe is attached to which bead, thus allowing the researcher to correlate the chemical content on each bead with the measured fluorescence signal. Because the code consists of a diffraction grating typically disposed along an axis, there is a particular alignment required between the incident readout laser beam and the readout detector in two of the three rotational axes. The third axis, rotation about the center axis of the cylinder, is azimuthally symmetric and therefore does not require alignment.