Multi-view display with shifted color sub-pixels and method

Abstract

A multi-view display includes a light valve array having a repeating row of a plurality of color sub-pixels and arranged as a plurality of multi-view pixels configured to modulate a directional light beam into color pixels of views of a multi-view image. A first row of the repeating plurality of color sub-pixels is offset in a row direction from a second row of the repeating plurality of color sub-pixels by an integer multiple of a width of the color sub-pixel. The offset of the first row and the second row is configured to provide corresponding color sub-pixels in adjacent multi-view pixels with different colors to mitigate color fringing associated with color pixels of the multi-view image.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] N / A

[0003] STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0004] N / A Background Art

[0005] Electronic displays are almost ubiquitous media for conveying information to users of a wide variety of devices and products. The most commonly used electronic displays include cathode ray tubes (CRTs), plasma display panels (PDPs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electroluminescent displays (ELs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), and active matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays, electrophoretic displays (EPs), and various displays that employ electromechanical or electrofluidic light modulation (e.g., digital micromirror devices, electrowetting displays, etc.). Typically, electronic displays can be divided into active displays (i.e., displays that emit light) or passive displays (i.e., displays that modulate light provided by another source). The most obvious examples of active displays are CRTs, PDPs, and OLED / AMOLEDs. When considering emitted light, LCD and EP displays are typically classified as passive displays. Although passive displays often exhibit compelling performance characteristics including, but not limited to, inherent low power consumption, they are subject to some limitations in many practical applications due to the lack of the ability to emit light.

[0006] To overcome the limitations of passive displays associated with emitted light, many passive displays are coupled to external light sources. The coupled light source can allow these originally passive displays to emit light and essentially act as active displays. An example of such a coupled light source is a backlight. The backlight can be used as a light source (usually a panel backlight) that is placed behind the original passive display to illuminate the passive display. For example, the backlight can be coupled to an LCD or EP display. The backlight emits light that passes through the LCD or EP display. The emitted light is modulated by the LCD or EP display, and then the modulated light is then emitted from the LCD or EP display. The backlight is typically configured to emit white light. A color filter is then used to convert the white light into various colors used in the display. The color filter can, for example, be placed at the output of the LCD or EP display (less common) or between the backlight and the LCD or EP display. Alternatively, various colors can be achieved by field sequential illumination of a display using different colors (such as primary colors). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The various features of examples and embodiments according to the principles described herein may be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like structural elements, and in which:

[0008] Figure 1A A perspective view of a multi-view display is shown in an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein.

[0009] Figure 1B A graphical representation of angular components of light beams having a particular principal angle direction corresponding to a view direction of a multi-view display is shown, according to an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein.

[0010] Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of a multi-view display is shown in an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein.

[0011] Figure 3 Shown is a detailed view of a portion of a light valve array for a multi-view display in an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein.

[0012] Figure 4 Shown is a detailed view of a portion of a light valve array for a multi-view display in an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein.

[0013] Figure 5 A cross-sectional view of a multi-view display including a wide-angle backlight is shown, in an example of an embodiment according to principles described herein.

[0014] Figure 6 A block diagram of a multi-view display system is shown in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles herein.

[0015] Figure 7 A flow chart is shown of a method of operating a multi-view display system in an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein.

[0016] Certain examples and embodiments have other features in addition to and instead of one of the features shown in the above-referenced drawings. These and other features are described in detail below with reference to the above-referenced drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Examples and embodiments according to the principles described herein provide a backlight using a light valve array having a plurality of color sub-pixels repeated and arranged in offset rows. In various embodiments consistent with the principles herein, a multi-view display is provided. The multi-view display includes a light valve array having a plurality of color sub-pixels repeated and arranged as a plurality of multi-view pixels, which are configured to modulate a directional light beam into color pixels of views of a multi-view image. A first row of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels is offset or shifted in a row direction from a second row of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels. The offset or shift is configured to mitigate color fringing associated with a multi-view image.

[0018] In this document, a "multi-view display" is defined as an electronic display or display system configured to provide different views of a multi-view image in different view directions. Figure 1A 1 shows a perspective view of a multi-view display 10 in an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein. Figure 1A As shown, the multi-view display 10 includes a screen 12 for displaying a multi-view image to be viewed. The multi-view display 10 provides different views 14 of the multi-view image in different view directions 16 relative to the screen 12. The view directions 16 are shown as arrows extending from the screen 12 in various different principal directions; the different views 14 are shown as shaded polygonal boxes at the end points of the arrows (i.e., depicting the view directions 16); and only four views 14 and four view directions 16 are shown, all by way of example and not limitation. It should be noted that although in Figure 1A 10, the different views 14 are shown as being located above the screen, but when the multi-view images are displayed on the multi-view display 10, the views 14 actually appear on or near the screen 12. Depicting the views 14 above the screen 12 is only for simplicity of explanation and is intended to represent viewing the multi-view display 10 from a corresponding one of the view directions 16 corresponding to the particular view 14.

[0019] According to the definitions herein, a view direction or equivalent light beam having a direction corresponding to the view direction of a multi-view display generally has a principal angle direction given by an angular component {θ, φ}. The angular component θ is referred to herein as the "elevation component" or "elevation angle" of the light beam. The angular component φ is referred to as the "azimuth component" or "azimuth angle" of the light beam. According to the definitions, the elevation angle θ is an angle in a vertical plane (e.g., perpendicular to the plane of the multi-view display screen), while the azimuth angle φ is an angle in a horizontal plane (e.g., parallel to the plane of the multi-view display screen).

[0020] Figure 1B FIG. 1 shows a plurality of view directions (eg, a plurality of view directions) associated with a multi-view display according to an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein. Figure 1A16 in the multi-view display). In addition, the light beam 20 is emitted or radiated from a specific point according to the definition herein. That is, the light beam 20 has a central ray associated with a specific origin within the multi-view display according to the definition. Figure 1B The origin O of the light beam (or view direction) is also shown.

[0021] Furthermore, as used herein, the term "multi-view" as used in the terms "multi-view image" and "multi-view display" is defined as a plurality of views representing different viewing angles or angular differences between views including a plurality of views. Additionally, the term "multi-view" herein explicitly includes more than two different views (i.e., at least three views and typically more than three views), as defined herein. Thus, the "multi-view display" as used herein is explicitly distinguished from a stereoscopic display that includes only two different views to represent a scene or image. It should be noted, however, that although a multi-view image and a multi-view display include more than two views, as defined herein, a multi-view image may be viewed as a stereoscopic image pair (e.g., on a multi-view display) by selecting only two of the multi-view views for simultaneous viewing (e.g., one view for each eye).

[0022] "Multi-view pixels" are defined herein as a group of pixels representing "view" pixels in each of a plurality of different views of a multi-view display. Specifically, a multi-view pixel may have individual pixels or groups of pixels corresponding to or representing view pixels in each different view of a multi-view image. In addition, according to the definition herein, a "view pixel" is a pixel or group of pixels corresponding to a view in a multi-view pixel of a multi-view display. In some embodiments, a view pixel may include one or more color sub-pixels. In addition, according to the definition herein, a view pixel in a multi-view pixel is a so-called "directional pixel", where each view pixel is associated with a predetermined view direction of a corresponding one of the different views. In addition, according to various examples and embodiments, different view pixels of a multi-view pixel may have equivalent or at least substantially similar positions or coordinates in each different view. For example, a first multi-view pixel may have individual view pixels located at {x1, y1} in each of the different views of a multi-view image, and a second multi-view pixel may have individual view pixels located at {x2, y2} in each of the different views, and so on.

[0023] In some embodiments, the number of view pixels in the multi-view pixel array may be equal to the number of views of the multi-view display. For example, the multi-view pixel array may provide sixty-four (64) view pixels associated with a multi-view display having 64 different views. In another example, the multi-view display may provide an 8×4 view array (i.e., 32 views), and the multi-view pixel array may include thirty-two (32) view pixels (i.e., one for each view). In addition, each different view pixel may have an associated direction (e.g., a beam principal direction) corresponding to one of the different view directions, for example, corresponding to the 64 different views in the above example. In addition, according to some embodiments, the number of multi-view pixels of the multi-view display may be substantially equal to the number of view pixels in the multi-view display view (i.e., the pixels constituting the selected view). For example, if the view includes six hundred and forty by four hundred and eighty view pixels (i.e., a view resolution of 640×480), the multi-view display may have three hundred seven thousand two hundred (307200) multi-view pixels. In another example, when a view includes one hundred by one hundred pixels, the multi-view display may include a total of ten thousand (ie, 100×100=10,000) multi-view pixels.

[0024] As defined herein, a "multi-beam emitter" is a structure or element of a backlight or display that generates light including multiple beams. In some embodiments, the multi-beam emitter may be optically coupled to a light guide of the backlight to provide a beam by coupling out a portion of the light guided in the light guide. In this class of embodiments, the multi-beam emitter may include a "multi-beam element". In other embodiments, the multi-beam emitter may generate light that is emitted as a beam (i.e., may include a light source). In addition, as defined herein, the beams in the multiple beams generated by the multi-beam emitter have different principal angular directions from each other. Specifically, according to the definition, one of the multiple beams has a predetermined principal angular direction different from another beam in the multiple beams. In addition, the multiple beams may represent a light field. For example, the multiple beams may be confined to a substantially conical region of space, or have a predetermined angular spread including different principal angular directions of the beams in the multiple beams. Therefore, the predetermined angular spread of the beams combined (i.e., multiple beams) may represent a light field. According to various embodiments, the principal angular directions of the various beams are determined by characteristics including, but not limited to, the size (e.g., length, width, area, etc.) of the multi-beam emitter. In some embodiments, the multi-beam emitter may be considered as an "extended point light source" according to the definition herein, i.e., multiple point light sources distributed within the range of the multi-beam emitter. In addition, according to the definition herein, as described above with respect to Figure 1B As described, the light beams generated by the multi-beam emitter have principal angular directions given by the angular components {θ, φ}.

[0025] In this document, a "multi-beam column" is defined as an elongated structure that includes a plurality of multi-beam elements arranged in a line or a column. Specifically, a multi-beam column consists of a plurality of multi-beam elements arranged in a line or a column. In addition, by definition, a multi-beam column is configured to provide or emit light including a plurality of directional beams. Therefore, in terms of light scattering properties, a multi-beam column may be functionally similar to a multi-beam element. That is, according to the definition herein, the directional beams in the plurality of directional beams generated by the multi-beam elements of the multi-beam column have different principal directions from each other. In some embodiments, a multi-beam column may be an elongated structure that substantially spans the width of a backlight or a similar component of a multi-view display. Specifically, for example, a multi-beam column may consist of a plurality of discrete multi-beam elements arranged in a line spanning the width of the backlight. An exception to the above definition is that, in some embodiments, a multi-beam column includes a single continuous diffraction grating structure, rather than a plurality of discrete multi-beam elements. In this exception, a portion of the continuous diffraction grating actually works in a manner substantially similar to the discrete multi-beam elements of the multi-beam column described above.

[0026] According to various embodiments, the width of a multi-beam column may be defined by the size of a multi-beam element of a plurality of multi-beam elements of the multi-beam column. Thus, the width of the multi-beam column may be comparable to the width of a light valve associated with the multi-beam column used in a multi-view display. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the width of the multi-beam column may be between about half and about twice the size of the light valve.

[0027] As used herein, an "active emitter" or equivalently an "active optical emitter" is defined as an optical emitter configured to generate or emit light when activated or turned on. An active emitter does not receive light from another light source. Instead, an active emitter generates its own light when activated. In some examples, the active emitter may include a light emitting diode (LED), a micro light emitting diode (μLED), or an organic light emitting diode (OLED). The light generated by the active emitter may have a color (i.e., may include light of a specific wavelength), or may be a range of wavelengths (e.g., white light). As defined herein, a "color emitter" is an active emitter that provides light with color. In some embodiments, an active emitter may include multiple optical emitters. In some embodiments, at least one of the active optical emitters may generate light with a color, or equivalently a wavelength, that is different from the color or wavelength of light generated by at least one other optical emitter of the multiple optical emitters.

[0028] In this article, "lightguide" is defined as a structure that uses total internal reflection to guide light within the structure. Specifically, the lightguide may include a core that is substantially transparent at the operating wavelength of the lightguide. The term "lightguide" generally refers to a dielectric optical waveguide that uses total internal reflection to guide light at the interface between the dielectric material of the lightguide and the material or medium surrounding the lightguide. By definition, the condition for total internal reflection is that the refractive index of the lightguide is greater than the refractive index of the surrounding medium adjacent to the surface of the lightguide material. In some embodiments, in addition to or in place of the above-mentioned refractive index difference, the lightguide may include a coating to further promote total internal reflection. For example, the coating may be a reflective coating. The lightguide may be any of several lightguides, including but not limited to one or two of a plate or slab lightguide and a strip lightguide.

[0029] By definition, "wide-angle" emitted light is defined as light having a cone angle greater than the cone angle of the view of the multi-view image or multi-view display. Specifically, in some embodiments, the wide-angle emitted light can have a cone angle greater than about twenty degrees (e.g., >±20°). In other embodiments, the cone angle of the wide-angle emitted light can be greater than about thirty degrees (e.g., >±30°), or greater than about forty degrees (e.g., >±40°), or greater than fifty degrees (e.g., >±50°). For example, the cone angle of the wide-angle emitted light can be about sixty degrees (e.g., >±60°).

[0030] In some embodiments, the cone angle of the wide-angle emitted light can be defined as being approximately the same as the viewing angle of an LCD computer monitor, LCD tablet, LCD television, or similar digital display device for wide-angle viewing (e.g., approximately ±40-65°). In other embodiments, the wide-angle emitted light can also be characterized or described as diffuse light, substantially diffuse light, non-directional light (i.e., without any particular or defined directionality), or as light having a single direction or substantially uniform direction.

[0031] As used herein, a "light source" is defined as a source of light (e.g., a light emitter configured to generate and emit light). For example, a light source may include a light emitter such as a light emitting diode (LED) that emits light when activated or turned on. Specifically, as used herein, a light source may be substantially any source of light or substantially include any light emitter, including but not limited to one or more of a light emitting diode (LED), a laser, an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a polymer light emitting diode, a plasma-based light emitter, a fluorescent lamp, an incandescent lamp, and virtually any other light source. The light generated by the light source may have a color (i.e., may include light of a specific wavelength), or may be a range of wavelengths (e.g., white light). In some embodiments, a light source may include multiple light emitters. For example, a light source may include a set or group of light emitters, wherein at least one light emitter generates light having a color or an equivalent wavelength different from the color or wavelength of light generated by at least one other light emitter in the set or group. For example, the different colors may include primary colors (e.g., red, green, blue).

[0032] In addition, as used herein, the article "a" is intended to have its ordinary meaning in the patent literature, namely "one or more". For example, "a color sub-pixel" means one or more color sub-pixels, and similarly, "the color sub-pixel" means "(one or more) color sub-pixels" in this article. In addition, any reference to "top", "bottom", "above", "below", "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "first", "second", "left" or "right" in this article is not intended to be limiting. In this article, the term "approximately" when applied to a value generally means within the tolerance range of the device used to generate the value, or plus or minus 10%, or plus or minus 5%, or plus or minus 1%, unless otherwise expressly specified. In addition, as used herein, the term "substantially" means most, or almost all, or all, or an amount in the range of about 51% to about 100%. In addition, the examples in this article are intended to be illustrative only and are presented for the purpose of discussion and not as limitations.

[0033] According to some embodiments of the principles described herein, there is provided a multi-view display. Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of a multi-view display 100 is shown in an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein.

[0034] The multi-view display 100 includes an array of light valves 110. In various embodiments, different types of light valves can be used as the light valves 110 of the light valve array, including but not limited to one or more of liquid crystal light valves, electrophoretic light valves, and electrowetting-based light valves. The array of light valves 110 includes a repeating plurality of color sub-pixels 112 configured to modulate directional light beams as color pixels of views of a multi-view image.

[0035] Figure 3 A detailed view of a portion of an array of light valves 110 of a multi-view display 100 is shown in an example of an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein. The array of light valves 110 includes a repeating plurality of color sub-pixels 112. In some embodiments, each color sub-pixel 112 in the repeating plurality of color sub-pixels has a different color. In the illustrated embodiment, the repeating plurality of color sub-pixels 112 includes a repeating set of red, green, and blue (RGB) color sub-pixels arranged in the order of red, blue, and green along the rows of the array of light valves 110 (each color of the color sub-pixel in the repeating plurality of color sub-pixels is represented in the figure by a corresponding initial value). In other embodiments, the repeating plurality of color sub-pixels 112 may include a repeating set of red, blue, green, and yellow (RGBY) color sub-pixels. In yet another embodiment, the repeating set may include red, blue, green, and white (RGBW) pixels.

[0036] like Figure 3 As shown, the repeated multiple color sub-pixels are arranged as multiple multi-view pixels 120 of the multi-view display 100. Each multi-view pixel 120 in the multiple multi-view pixels includes a different subset of the repeated multiple color sub-pixels 112. Each multi-view pixel 120 is configured to modulate a directional light beam into a color pixel of a view of the multi-view display 100. The modulated light beam represents the respective different colors of the color sub-pixels 112 in the multiple color sub-pixels within the color pixel of the multi-view display 100. In the embodiment shown, the multi-view display 100 is a 4x4 display (i.e., 16 views are provided in full parallax mode). Therefore, each multi-view pixel 120 in the multiple multi-view pixels provides sixteen color view pixels corresponding to sixteen color pixels of sixteen different views of the multi-view image. Each color view pixel includes a set of three consecutive color sub-pixels 112, which includes a red sub-pixel 112, a green sub-pixel 112, and a blue sub-pixel 112. The multiple multi-view pixels 120 can be arranged in rows and columns of the multi-view pixels 120.

[0037] A first row of repeating plurality of color sub-pixels 112 is offset or shifted from a second row of repeating plurality of color sub-pixels 112 . Figure 3A first row I of a repeating plurality of color sub-pixels 112 is shown offset from a second row II of the repeating plurality of color sub-pixels 112. The first row I and the second row II are offset in the row direction so that within a column of the color sub-pixels 112, the color sub-pixels 112 of the first row I have a different color than the color sub-pixels 112 of the second row II. In the illustrated embodiment, the first row I and the second row II are adjacent. In addition, the offset (or equivalently, the offset distance) between the first row I and the second row II of the repeating plurality of color sub-pixels 112 is equal to an integer multiple of the width of the color sub-pixel 112. Figure 3 In the illustrated embodiment, the first row I of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels 112 and the second row II of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels 112 are offset or shifted in the direction of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels 112 by a distance of one width of the color sub-pixel 112. In other embodiments, for example, the offset distance or shift distance between the first row I and the second row II may be up to two widths of the color sub-pixel 112.

[0038] The offset or shift between the first row I and the second row II is configured to provide corresponding color sub-pixels 112 in adjacent multi-view pixels 120 with different colors. Figure 3 Corresponding color sub-pixels 112 in a set of adjacent multi-view pixels 120a, 120b are shown having different colors due to an offset between a first row I and a second row II of a repeated plurality of color sub-pixels 112. For example, a first color sub-pixel 112a in the illustrated multi-view pixel 120a may have a green color that is different from a blue color resulting from an offset in a corresponding color sub-pixel 112b in an adjacent multi-view pixel 120b. Similarly, the offset results in corresponding color sub-pixels 112b, 112c having different colors, namely blue and red, respectively. According to some embodiments, the different colors of corresponding color sub-pixels 112 provided by the offset of rows in adjacent multi-view pixels may be used to mitigate color fringing associated with color pixels of the multi-view display 100.

[0039] In some embodiments (e.g., Figure 2 and Figure 3 ), the multi-view display 100 may further include an array of multi-beam emitters 130. The multi-beam emitters 130 are configured to provide directional light beams modulated by a plurality of color sub-pixels 112. The directional light beams may have a principal direction corresponding to each different view direction of the multi-view display 100. Specifically, Figure 2 Directed light beams 102 are shown as a plurality of diverging arrows depicted as being directed away from a multi-beam emitter 130 of a multi-beam emitter array.

[0040] In some embodiments, Figure 2As shown, the multi-beam emitters 130 of the array may be located at or adjacent to a first (top) surface of a substrate supporting the multi-beam emitters 130 or equivalently a "multi-beam backlight." In other embodiments (not shown), the plurality of multi-beam emitters 130 may be located on a second (or bottom) surface of the multi-beam backlight, opposite the first surface. In other embodiments (not shown), the multi-beam emitters 130 of the multi-beam emitter array may be located inside the multi-beam backlight between the first surface and the second surface.

[0041] In some embodiments, the size of the multi-beam emitter 130 is comparable to the size of the light valve 110 of the multi-view display 100. As used herein, "size" may be defined in any of a variety of ways, including but not limited to length, width, or area. For example, the size of the light valve 110 may be its length, and the comparable size of the multi-beam emitter 130 may also be the length of the multi-beam emitter 130. In another example, the size may refer to the area, i.e., the area of ​​the multi-beam emitter 130 may be comparable to the area of ​​the light valve 110. In some embodiments, the size of the multi-beam emitter is comparable to the size of the light valve, such that the multi-beam emitter size is between about fifty percent (50%) and about two hundred percent (200%) of the size of the light valve.

[0042] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, different subsets of the color sub-pixels 112 of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels 112 of the light valve 110 array correspond to different multi-beam emitters 130 of the multi-beam emitter array. In addition, as shown, each of the different subsets of the color sub-pixels 112 can represent a multi-view pixel 120 of the multi-view display 100. Therefore, in some embodiments, the relationship between the multi-beam emitters 130 of the multi-beam emitter array and the corresponding multi-view pixels 120 (e.g., a set of light valves 110) can be a one-to-one relationship. That is, the multi-view pixels 120 and the multi-beam emitters 130 can have an equal number. Figure 2 and Figure 3 A one-to-one relationship is shown by way of example and not limitation, where each multi-view pixel 120 that includes a different set of light valves 110 is shown surrounded by a thicker line.

[0043] Figure 4A plan view of another multi-view display 100 in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein is shown. The multi-view display 100 shown may represent a horizontal parallax multi-view display. For example, the multi-view display 100 shown may be an 8x1 horizontal parallax multi-view display. In the illustrated embodiment, the multi-view display 100 as a horizontal parallax multi-view display includes a plurality of multi-beam columns 135 spaced apart along the length of the multi-view display 100. The multi-beam columns 135 in the plurality of multi-beam columns are configured to provide directional beams in a horizontal direction-only mode. For example, as above, the directional beams provided by the plurality of multi-beam columns 135 are modulated by an array of light valves 110 having a repeated offset row of a plurality of color sub-pixels 112. The directional beams may have a principal direction corresponding to each different view direction of the multi-view display 100, and the views corresponding to the different view directions are arranged as a horizontal arrangement corresponding to a horizontal direction-only mode.

[0044] and Figure 3 Like the multi-view display 100, Figure 4 The illustrated multi-view display 100 has a first row I of repeated multiple color sub-pixels 112 offset or shifted from a second row II of repeated multiple color sub-pixels 112. Furthermore, the first row I and the second row II are offset in the row direction such that within a column of color sub-pixels 112, the color sub-pixels 112 of the first row I have a different color than the color sub-pixels 112 of the second row II. According to various embodiments, the offset distance or shift distance between rows may be equal to an integer multiple of the width of the color sub-pixel 112, for example, the width of a single color sub-pixel 112. The offset distance may cause the color sub-pixels 112 in the repeated multiple color sub-pixels 112 to be arranged in parallel, tilted longitudinal stripes for each of the multiple colors. Figure 2 and Figure 3 As in the embodiment of the present invention, in some embodiments, the color sub-pixels 112 are arranged in oblique longitudinal stripes to reduce color fringing associated with the color pixels of the multi-view display 100. In addition, the oblique stripe arrangement of the color sub-pixels 112 can prevent the view from moving in the horizontal direction when the viewer's head moves in the vertical direction or along the multi-beam column.

[0045] In some embodiments, the plurality of multi-beam columns 135 are arrays of multi-beam emitters 130. That is, the multi-beam columns 135 of the plurality of multi-beam columns may include a plurality of multi-beam emitters 130 in an array of multi-beam emitters arranged in columns. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the multi-beam emitters 130 of each multi-beam column may be separated by a distance that is less than the width of the size of the multi-beam emitters 130. In some embodiments, the multi-beam emitters 130 of the multi-beam columns 135 may be separated by a distance comparable to the distance separating adjacent light valves 110 of an array of light valves. In some embodiments, the multi-beam columns 135 may include a continuous multi-beam emitter 130 or a single elongated multi-beam emitter 130.

[0046] Return to reference Figure 2 In some embodiments, the multi-view display 100 further includes a light guide 140. The light guide 140 is configured to guide light as guided light 104 (i.e., guided light beam 104) along the length of the light guide. For example, the light guide 140 may include a dielectric material configured as an optical waveguide. The dielectric material may have a first refractive index that is greater than a second refractive index of a medium surrounding the dielectric optical waveguide. For example, the difference in refractive index is configured to promote total internal reflection of the guided light 104 according to one or more guided modes of the light guide 140.

[0047] In some embodiments, the light guide 140 may be a plate or sheet optical waveguide (i.e., a sheet light guide) comprising an extended, substantially flat sheet of optically transparent dielectric material. The substantially flat sheet of dielectric material is configured to guide the guided light 104 using total internal reflection. According to various examples, the optically transparent material of the light guide 140 may include or be composed of any of a variety of dielectric materials, including, but not limited to, one or more of various types of glass (e.g., quartz glass, alkali-aluminosilicate glass, borosilicate glass, etc.), and substantially optically transparent plastics or polymers (e.g., poly(methyl methacrylate) or "acrylic glass", polycarbonate, etc.). In some examples, the light guide 140 may also include a coating layer (not shown) at at least a portion of a surface of the light guide 140 (e.g., one or both of the top and bottom surfaces). According to some embodiments, the coating layer may be used to further promote total internal reflection.

[0048] According to various embodiments, the light guide 140 is configured to guide the guided light 104 at a non-zero propagation angle between a first surface 140' (e.g., a front surface or top surface or side surface) and a second surface 140" (e.g., a rear surface or bottom surface or side surface) of the light guide 140 according to total internal reflection. Specifically, the guided light 104 propagates by reflecting or "bouncing" between the first surface 140' and the second surface 140" of the light guide 140 at a non-zero propagation angle. In some embodiments, a plurality of guided light beams 104 including light of different colors may be guided by the light guide 140 at respective non-zero propagation angles specific to the different colors. It should be noted that, for simplicity of description, Figure 2 The non-zero propagation angles are not shown in Figure 2 , the bold arrow depicting the propagation direction 103 shows the general propagation direction of the guided light 104 along the length of the light guide.

[0049] According to some embodiments, the multi-beam emitter 130 may include multi-beam elements 130'. Specifically, the multi-view display 100 including the light guide 140 may also include an array of multi-beam elements 130' corresponding to the array of multi-beam emitters 130. Therefore, in some embodiments, the array of multi-beam elements is an array of multi-beam emitters, and each multi-beam element 130' of the array of multi-beam elements may correspond to a different multi-beam emitter 130 of the array of multi-beam emitters. According to various embodiments, the multi-beam elements 130' of the array are spaced apart from each other along the length of the light guide 140. For example, as Figure 2 As shown, the array of multi-beam elements 130' can be located on or adjacent to the first (or "top") surface 140' of the light guide 140. In other embodiments, the array of multi-beam elements 130' can be located on the second (or "bottom") surface 140" of the light guide 140, or located within the light guide 140 between the first and second surfaces 140' and 140".

[0050] According to various embodiments, the multi-beam elements 130' of the multi-beam element array are configured to scatter light from the light guide 140 as a plurality of directional beams having principal direction corresponding to the view directions of the different views of the multi-view image or equivalently the multi-view display 100. According to various embodiments, the multi-beam elements 130' may include any one of a plurality of different structures configured to scatter a portion of the guided light 104 as directional beams. For example, the different structures may include, but are not limited to, diffraction gratings, micro-reflective elements, micro-refractive elements, or various combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the multi-beam elements 130' including the diffraction gratings are configured to diffractively scatter out a portion of the guided light as a plurality of directional beams having different principal directions. In other embodiments, the multi-beam elements 130' including the micro-reflective elements are configured to reflectively scatter out a portion of the guided light as a plurality of directional beams, or the multi-beam elements 130' including the micro-refractive elements are configured to scatter out a portion of the guided light as a plurality of directional beams by refraction or using refraction (i.e., refractively scatter out a portion of the guided light).

[0051] In other embodiments (not shown), the multi-beam emitter 130 may include active optical emitters, such as, but not limited to, light emitting diodes (LEDs), micro light emitting diodes (μLEDs), and micro organic light emitting diodes (μOLEDs). In these embodiments, the light guide 140 and the light source configured to provide guided light as guided light within the light guide 140 may be omitted. Alternatively, as above, a substrate may be used in place of the light guide 140 to support and power the multi-beam emitter 130.

[0052] In some embodiments, the multi-view display 100 also includes a wide-angle backlight 150 adjacent to the light guide 140 . Figure 5 A cross-sectional view of a multi-view display 100 including a wide-angle backlight 150 is shown in an example of an embodiment according to the principles herein. According to various embodiments, the wide-angle backlight 150 is opposite to a side of the light guide 140 proximate to the light valve array. Specifically, as shown, the wide-angle backlight 150 is adjacent to a bottom surface (i.e., second surface 140") of the light guide 140. The wide-angle backlight 150 is configured to provide wide-angle light 152 as wide-angle emitted light.

[0053] According to some embodiments, the light guide 140 and the array of multi-beam elements 130' may be configured to be optically transparent to light propagating substantially perpendicular to the surfaces of the light guide 140 (e.g., the first and second surfaces 140', 140") to facilitate the passage of light through the thickness of the light guide 140. Specifically, as Figure 5As shown, the array of light guides 140 and multi-beam elements 130' can be configured to be optically transparent to wide-angle light 152 emitted from adjacent wide-angle backlights 150. Therefore, the wide-angle light 152 can be emitted by the wide-angle backlight 150 and pass through the thickness of the light guide 140. Therefore, the wide-angle light 152 from the wide-angle backlight 150 can be received through the bottom or second surface 140" of the light guide 140, pass through the thickness of the light guide 140, and be emitted from the top surface (i.e., first surface 140') of the light guide 140 toward the array of light valves 110. Since the light guide 140 is optically transparent to the wide-angle light 152, the wide-angle light 152 is substantially unaffected by the light guide 140.

[0054] According to various embodiments, Figure 5 The illustrated multi-view display 100 can selectively operate in a two-dimensional (2D) mode or a multi-view mode. In the 2D mode, the multi-view display 100 is configured to emit wide-angle light 152 provided by a wide-angle backlight 150. In the multi-view mode, as previously described, the multi-view display 100 is configured to emit directional light beams 102 provided by a light guide 140. For example, in a dual-mode (2D / 3D) display, a combination of a light guide 140 and a wide-angle backlight 150 can be used.

[0055] According to some embodiments of the principles described herein, a multi-view display 200 is provided. Figure 6 A block diagram of a multi-view display 200 in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention is shown. The multi-view display 200 includes an array of light valves 210 having a plurality of color sub-pixels arranged in offset rows. According to various embodiments, the light valves 210 of the light valve array are arranged as multi-view pixels, and the multi-view pixels are configured to modulate directional light beams into color pixels of a multi-view image. In some embodiments, the light valves 210 of the array are substantially similar to the light valves 110 of the multi-view display 100 described above. Therefore, different types of light valves can be used as the light valves 110 of the light valve array, including but not limited to one or more of liquid crystal light valves, electrophoretic light valves, and light valves based on electrowetting. In some embodiments, each color sub-pixel in the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels has a different color. For example, the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels may include a repeated set of red, green, and blue (RGB) color sub-pixels arranged in the order of red, blue, and green along a row of the light valve 210 array. In other embodiments, the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels may include a repeated set of red, blue, green, and yellow (RGBY) color sub-pixels. In yet another embodiment, the repeated color sub-pixel combination may include red, blue, green, and white (RGBW) pixels.

[0056] The multi-view display 200 also includes an array of multi-beam emitters 220 configured to illuminate different multi-view pixels using different sets of directional light beams. In some embodiments, there may be a one-to-one relationship between the multi-beam emitters 220 of the array of multi-beam emitters 220 and the multi-view pixels of the light valve array. According to some embodiments, the multi-beam emitters 220 of the array may be substantially similar to the multi-beam emitters 130 of the multi-view display 100 described above. For example, the multi-beam emitters 220 of the plurality of multi-beam emitters are configured to provide directional light beams modulated by the array of light valves 210. According to various embodiments, the directional light beams have a principal direction corresponding to each different view direction of the multi-view display 200. In addition, the plurality of multi-beam emitters 220 may be located on a surface or inside a substrate (e.g., a light guide hereinafter) for supporting the multi-beam emitters 220.

[0057] According to various embodiments, adjacent rows of the plurality of color sub-pixels are offset from one another in or along the row direction by an integer multiple of the color sub-pixel width. According to various embodiments, the offset or shift between adjacent rows is configured to provide a color sub-pixel of a first multi-view pixel that is a different color than a corresponding color sub-pixel of a second multi-view pixel. In some embodiments, the offset rows may be substantially similar to the rows having an offset between a first row of the color sub-pixel array and a second row of the color sub-pixel array as described above with respect to multi-view display 100. Furthermore, according to the offset of adjacent offset rows of the plurality of color sub-pixels being an integer multiple of the color sub-pixel width, the adjacent rows may be offset or shifted by a distance of one color sub-pixel width (e.g., as described above). Figure 3 and Figure 4 ) or a distance that is twice the width of a color sub-pixel, or a distance that is three times the width of a color sub-pixel, and so on.

[0058] In some embodiments, the multi-beam emitters 220 in the multi-beam emitter array include active optical emitters. The active optical emitters are configured to emit light as directional beams. The directional beams emitted by the active optical emitters have a principal direction corresponding to the various different view directions of the multi-view display 200. The active optical emitters may include any number of different structures configured to emit light in the form of multiple directional beams. In some embodiments, the active optical emitters include, but are not limited to, micro light emitting diodes (μLEDs) or organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). In some embodiments, the active optical emitters are configured to emit white light, while in other embodiments, the active optical emitters may emit light containing a specific color (e.g., may be monochromatic active optical emitters).

[0059] In addition, the size of the active optical emitter is comparable to the size of the light valve 210 of the light valve array. In this document, "size" can be defined in any of a variety of ways, including but not limited to length, width, or area. For example, the size of the light valve 210 of the light valve array can be its length, and the comparable size of the active optical emitter can also be the length of the active optical emitter. In another example, the size can refer to the area, that is, the area of ​​the active optical emitter can be comparable to the area of ​​the light valve 210 in the light valve array.

[0060] In other embodiments, the multi-beam emitters 220 of the multi-beam emitter array may be substantially passive. Figure 6 ), the multi-view display 200 also includes a light guide 230. The light guide 230 is configured to guide light as guided light in a propagation direction along the length of the light guide. In some embodiments, the light guide 230 may be substantially similar to the light guide 140 of the multi-view display 100 described above. According to various embodiments, the light guide 230 is configured to guide the guided light using total internal reflection. In addition, the light guide 230 may guide the guided light at a non-zero propagation angle. In some embodiments, the guided light may be a collimated or collimated light beam. Specifically, in various embodiments, the guided light may be collimated according to a collimation factor σ, or the guided light may have a collimation factor.

[0061] In some embodiments (e.g., when the multi-beam emitter 220 is passive), the multi-view display 200 may further include an array of multi-beam elements spaced apart from one another along the length of the light guide. The multi-beam elements are configured to scatter a portion of the guided light within the light guide 230 as directional beams. Furthermore, according to these embodiments, the multi-beam elements of the array of multi-beam elements may correspond to the multi-beam emitters of the array of multi-beam emitters.

[0062] In some embodiments, the multi-beam elements of the multi-beam element array may be substantially similar to the multi-beam elements 130' of the multi-view display 100 above. As such, the multi-beam elements are configured to illuminate different multi-view pixels with different sets of directional beams. Specifically, there may be a one-to-one relationship between the multi-beam elements of the multi-beam element array and the multi-view pixels of the multi-view pixel array. The multi-beam elements may be located on the surface of the light guide 230 or within it.

[0063] In some embodiments, the size of the multi-beam element is comparable to the size of the light valve 210 of the light valve array. In some embodiments, the size of the multi-beam element is comparable to the size of the light valve, and the size of the multi-beam element is between about fifty percent (50%) and about two hundred percent (200%) of the size of the light valve.

[0064] In some embodiments, the multi-beam element may include any of a variety of different structures configured to scatter a portion of the guided light. For example, the different structures may include, but are not limited to, diffraction gratings, micro-reflection elements, micro-refractive elements, or various combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the multi-beam element including the diffraction grating is configured to diffractively scatter a portion of the guided light as a plurality of directional beams having different principal directions. In other embodiments, the multi-beam element including the micro-reflection element is configured to reflectively scatter a portion of the guided light as a plurality of directional beams, or the multi-beam element including the micro-refractive element is configured to scatter a portion of the guided light by or using refraction (i.e., refractively scatter a portion of the guided light) as a plurality of directional beams.

[0065] In some embodiments, the multi-view display 200 may further include a light source 240. According to various embodiments, the light source 240 is configured to provide light guided within the light guide 230. Specifically, the light source 240 may be located near an entrance surface or end (input end) of the light guide 230. In various embodiments, the light source 240 may include substantially any light source (e.g., an optical emitter), including but not limited to one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) or lasers (e.g., laser diodes). In some embodiments, the light source 240 may include an optical emitter configured to generate substantially monochromatic light having a narrow-band spectrum represented by a specific color. Specifically, the color of the monochromatic light may be a primary color of a specific color space or color model (e.g., a red-green-blue (RGB) color model). In other examples, the light source 240 may be a substantially broadband light source configured to provide substantially broadband or polychromatic light. For example, the light source 240 may provide white light. In some embodiments, the light source 240 may include a plurality of different optical emitters configured to provide light of different colors. The different light emitters may be configured to provide light having different, color-specific, non-zero propagation angles of the guided light corresponding to each of the different colors of light.

[0066] In some embodiments, the guided light can be collimated, or equivalently can be a collimated beam (e.g., provided by a collimator as described below). In this document, "collimated light" or "collimated beam" is generally defined as a beam in which the rays of the beam are substantially confined to a predetermined or defined angular spread within the beam (e.g., guided light). In addition, according to the definitions herein, rays that diverge or scatter from a collimated beam are not considered to be part of the collimated beam. In addition, in various embodiments, the guided light can be collimated according to a collimation factor σ, or the guided light can have a collimation factor.

[0067] According to some embodiments of the present principles, a method of operating a multi-view display is provided. Figure 7A flow chart of a method 300 of operating a multi-view display according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein is shown. As shown, the method 300 of operating a multi-view display includes emitting 310 directional light beams using a multi-beam emitter array. In some embodiments, the multi-beam emitters of the multi-beam emitter array can be substantially similar to the multi-beam emitters 130 of the multi-view display 100 described above. In particular, the multi-beam emitters of the multi-beam emitter array can be arranged into rows and columns of multi-beam emitters. The directional light beams have directions corresponding to different view directions of the multi-view display.

[0068] The method 300 of operating a multi-view display also includes modulating 320 the directional light beam using a light valve array. The light valve array includes a plurality of color sub-pixels arranged as a repetition of a plurality of multi-view pixels, and the modulated directional light beam provides color pixels of different views of a multi-view image displayed by the multi-view display. According to some embodiments, the light valve array may be substantially similar to the light valve array 110 of the previous multi-view display 100. Thus, different types of light valves may be used as light valves of the light valve array, including but not limited to one or more of liquid crystal light valves, electrophoretic light valves, and light valves based on electrowetting.

[0069] In some embodiments, each color sub-pixel of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels has a different color. Figure 3 and Figure 4 In the illustrated multi-view display 100, the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels may include a repeated set of red, green, and blue (RGB) color sub-pixels arranged in the order of red, blue, and green along a row of the light valve array. In other embodiments, the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels may include a repeated set of red, blue, green, and yellow (RGBY) color sub-pixels. In yet another embodiment, the repeated group of color sub-pixels may include pixels of red, blue, green, and white (RGBW). The color sub-pixels of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels are arranged along the rows of the light valve array. In addition, the multi-beam emitters in the multi-beam emitter array are arranged in rows having a row direction corresponding to the row direction of the light valve array.

[0070] According to various embodiments, the rows of repeated multiple color sub-pixels of the light valve array are offset or shifted from each other. Specifically, the first row of repeated multiple color sub-pixels is offset relative to the second row of repeated multiple color sub-pixels, thereby providing corresponding color sub-pixels in adjacent multi-view pixels with different colors. The offset of the row is configured to mitigate color fringes associated with color pixels of the multi-view image displayed by the multi-view display. In some embodiments, the offset between the first row and the second row is substantially similar to the offset between the first row and the second row in the description of the multi-view display 100. For example, the offset or shift between the first row and the second row of repeated multiple color sub-pixels can be equal to an integer multiple of the width of the color sub-pixel in the direction of the repeated multiple color sub-pixels. In some embodiments, emitting 310 directional light beams includes emitting directional light beams using multiple multi-beam columns spaced apart from each other along the length of the multi-view display. Specifically, the multi-beam columns in the multiple multi-beam columns are configured to emit multiple directional light beams. The directional light beam has a main direction corresponding to the view direction of the multi-view display. In some embodiments, the multiple multi-beam columns are arrays of multi-beam emitters. That is, a multi-beam column in the plurality of multi-beam columns includes a column of multi-beam emitters in the array of multi-beam emitters, wherein the multi-beam emitters are offset from each other in the row direction to form an oblique column of multi-beam emitters. In some embodiments, the multi-beam column may include a continuous multi-beam element or a single elongated multi-beam element. The multi-beam column may be used in a horizontal parallax-only display in which the views are arranged in a horizontal parallax manner, such as Figure 4 A horizontal parallax-only arrangement of the multi-view display 100 is shown.

[0071] In some embodiments, emitting 310 directional light beams using an array of multi-beam emitters includes guiding light in a light guide as guided light. In some embodiments, the light guide can be substantially similar to the light guide 140 of the multi-view display 100, and can guide light at a non-zero propagation angle between opposing inner surfaces of the light guide. Emitting 310 directional light beams using an array of multi-beam emitters can also include scattering a portion of the guided light using multi-beam elements of an array of multi-beam elements to provide a directional light beam. The multi-beam elements can be substantially similar to the multi-beam elements 130' of the multi-view display 100. In addition, the size of the multi-beam elements can be comparable to the size of the light valves of the light valve array. For example, the size of the multi-beam elements can be comparable to the size of the light valves, such that the size of the multi-beam elements is between about fifty percent (50%) and about two hundred percent (200%) of the size of the light valves. In addition, the multi-beam element can be an array of multi-beam emitters, such that each multi-beam element of the array of multi-beam elements corresponds to a different multi-beam emitter of the array of multi-beam emitters.

[0072] Thus, examples and embodiments of multi-view displays and methods have been described that include a plurality of color sub-pixels arranged in rows and having an offset or shift configured to mitigate color fringing associated with multi-view images. It should be understood that the above examples illustrate only some of the many specific examples of the principles described herein. Clearly, many other arrangements can be readily devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multi-view display, comprising: a light valve array having a repeated plurality of rows of color sub-pixels arranged as a plurality of multi-view pixels, configured to modulate the directional light beams into color pixels of views of a multi-view image, wherein a first row of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels is offset from a second row of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels in a row direction by an integer multiple of a width of the color sub-pixels, Each row and each column in the light valve array is a repetition of the same plurality of color sub-pixels in the same order, Wherein, each of the plurality of multi-view pixels comprises a plurality of rows of color sub-pixels, and the offset of the first row and the second row is configured to provide corresponding color sub-pixels in corresponding rows of a plurality of rows of adjacent multi-view pixels having different colors to mitigate color fringing associated with color pixels of the multi-view image.

2. The multi-view display of claim 1, wherein each color sub-pixel of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels has a different color, and the modulated light beam represents the respective different colors within the color pixel of the multi-view image.

3. The multi-view display of claim 2, wherein the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels comprises a red sub-pixel, a green sub-pixel, and a blue sub-pixel.

4. The multi-view display according to claim 1 further includes an array of multi-beam emitters spaced apart from each other and configured to provide the directional light beams, wherein the size of the multi-beam emitters in the multi-beam emitter array is between half and twice the size of the light valves in the light valve array.

5. A multi-view display according to claim 4, wherein different subsets of color sub-pixels of the repeated multiple color sub-pixels of the light valve array correspond to each multi-beam emitter of the multi-beam emitter array, and the different subsets represent multi-view pixels among the multiple multi-view pixels of the multi-view display.

6. The multi-view display of claim 4, further comprising a plurality of multi-beam columns spaced apart from one another along a length of the multi-view display, the multi-beam columns of the plurality of multi-beam columns being configured to provide directional beams in a horizontal-only mode, in, The plurality of multi-beam columns is the multi-beam emitter array and the multi-view display is a horizontal-only parallax display.

7. A multi-view display according to claim 6, wherein the multi-beam column comprises a continuous multi-beam element.

8. The multi-view display according to claim 4, further comprising: a light guide configured to guide light along a length of the light guide; as well as an array of multi-beam elements spaced apart from one another along the length of the light guide, the multi-beam elements of the array of multi-beam elements being configured to scatter a portion of the guided light from the light guide as the directional light beam, Wherein, the multi-beam element array is the multi-beam emitter array, and each multi-beam element of the multi-beam element array corresponds to a different multi-beam emitter of the multi-beam emitter array.

9. A multi-view display according to claim 8, wherein the multi-beam element includes one or more of a diffraction grating configured to diffractively scatter a portion of the guided light as the directional light beam, a micro-reflective structure configured to reflectively scatter a portion of the guided light as the directional light beam, and a micro-refractive structure configured to refractively scatter a portion of the guided light as the directional light beam.

10. The multi-view display of claim 8, further comprising a wide angle backlight adjacent to a side of the light guide opposite a side of the light guide adjacent to the light valve array, the wide angle backlight being configured to provide wide angle emitted light during a two-dimensional (2D) mode of the multi-view display, the light valve array being configured to modulate the wide angle emitted light into a 2D image, in, The light guide and the array of multi-beam elements are configured to be transparent to the wide-angle emitted light, and the multi-view display is configured to display the multi-view images in the multi-view mode and to display the 2D images in the 2D mode.

11. A multi-view display comprising: a light valve array having a repeating plurality of color sub-pixels arranged in offset rows, the light valves of the light valve array being arranged as multi-view pixels and configured to modulate the directional light beams into color pixels of a multi-view image, wherein each row and each column in the light valve array is a repeat of the same plurality of color sub-pixels in the same order; as well as a multi-beam emitter array configured to illuminate different multi-view pixels with different sets of said directional light beams, wherein adjacent offset rows are offset from each other by an integer multiple of a width of a color sub-pixel, each of the plurality of multi-view pixels comprises a plurality of rows of color sub-pixels, and the offset between adjacent rows is configured to provide color sub-pixels in rows of first multi-view pixels having colors different from corresponding color sub-pixels in corresponding rows of a plurality of rows of second multi-view pixels.

12. The multi-view display of claim 11, wherein each color sub-pixel of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels has a different color, and the modulated light beam represents the respective different color within the color pixel of the multi-view image.

13. A multi-view display according to claim 11, wherein the multi-beam emitters of the multi-beam emitter array include active optical emitters, which are configured to emit light as the directional light beams, and the active optical emitters have a size comparable to the size of the light valves of the light valve array.

14. The multi-view display according to claim 11, further comprising: a light guide configured to guide light in a propagation direction along a length of the light guide; as well as An array of multi-beam elements spaced apart from each other along the length of the optical waveguide, the multi-beam elements of the multi-beam element array corresponding to the multi-beam emitters of the multi-beam emitter array and having a size comparable to the size of the light valves of the light valve array, and configured to scatter a portion of the guided light from the optical waveguide as the directional light beam.

15. The multi-view display of claim 14, wherein the multi-beam element comprises one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-reflective element, and a micro-refractive element optically connected to the light guide to scatter out a portion of the guided light.

16. The multi-view display of claim 14, further comprising a light source optically coupled to the light guide input end, the light source being configured to provide guided light to be guided in the light guide as one or both of having a non-zero propagation angle and being collimated according to a predetermined collimation factor.

17. A method for operating a multi-view display, comprising: emitting directional light beams using a multi-beam emitter array; as well as modulating the directional light beam using a light valve array having repeating rows of a plurality of color sub-pixels arranged as a plurality of multi-view pixels, Each row and each column in the light valve array is a repetition of the same plurality of color sub-pixels in the same order, Wherein, each of the plurality of multi-view pixels comprises a plurality of rows of color sub-pixels, and a first row of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels is offset from a second row of the repeated plurality of color sub-pixels to provide corresponding color sub-pixels in corresponding rows of the plurality of rows of adjacent multi-view pixels having different colors to mitigate color fringing associated with color pixels of a multi-view image displayed by the multi-view display.

18. The method for operating a multi-view display according to claim 17, wherein: Each color sub-pixel of the repeated multiple color sub-pixels has a different color, the modulated light beam represents the different colors within the color pixel of the multi-view image, and wherein the second row is offset from the first row in the row direction by an integer multiple of the width of the color sub-pixel in the multiple color sub-pixels.

19. The method for operating a multi-view display according to claim 17, wherein: emitting the directional light beams comprises emitting the directional light beams using a plurality of multi-beam columns spaced apart from one another along a length of the multi-view display, and each of the plurality of multi-beam columns being configured to emit a plurality of directional light beams having a direction corresponding to a view direction of the multi-view display, Wherein, the plurality of multi-beam columns are the multi-beam emitter array, the multi-view display is a horizontal parallax-only display, and the view directions are arranged in a horizontal parallax arrangement.

20. The method of operating a multi-view display according to claim 17, wherein emitting the directional light beam using the multi-beam emitter array comprises: guiding light in a light guide as guided light; as well as using a multi-beam element in a multi-beam element array to scatter a portion of the guided light to provide the directional light beam, wherein the size of the multi-beam element is comparable to the size of the light valve in the light valve array, Wherein, the multi-beam element array is the multi-beam emitter array, and each multi-beam element of the multi-beam element array corresponds to a different multi-beam emitter of the multi-beam emitter array.

Images