Multibeam Diffraction Grating Color Backlighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Passive electronic displays, such as LCDs and EP displays, lack the ability to emit light independently, limiting their applicability due to reliance on external light sources, which can be inefficient and restrictive in various applications.
Innovation Solution
A multibeam diffraction grating-based color backlight system that uses laterally displaced light sources of different colors and a plate light guide to produce and direct light beams with distinct principal angular directions, enabling the creation of a 'glasses-free' 3D electronic display by modulating these light beams as pixels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If passive displays are coupled to external light sources to enable light emission, then the display can function as an active display, but the device complexity and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the backlight system and display into a single integrated structure where the light guide plate serves dual purposes: guiding light from LEDs and serving as the display substrate. This integration eliminates separate backlight components and reduces overall device complexity while maintaining active display functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The light guide plate performs multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a light guide, a display substrate, and a structural support element. This multi-functionality reduces the number of components needed and simplifies the overall device structure while enabling light emission capability
2Illumination intensity
If traditional backlights emit white light with color filters to create colors, then color display is achieved, but light efficiency is reduced due to filter absorption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of light generation by using LEDs that emit different colors directly (red, green, blue) instead of using white light with color filters. This parameter change from wavelength filtering to direct color emission eliminates filter absorption losses and significantly improves light efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes the color filter components from the traditional backlight system. By eliminating the filtering stage entirely and using direct-color LEDs, the system avoids the energy loss associated with filter absorption while maintaining full color display capability
3Illumination intensity
If multiple light sources of different colors are used to improve color gamut, then color quality increases, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple color LED sources (red, green, blue) into a single integrated LED array on the light guide plate, eliminating the need for separate color filter assemblies and their complex alignment processes. This merging simplifies manufacturing while achieving wide color gamut
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses standard, commercially available red, green, and blue LED components that can be manufactured using established processes. By copying proven LED technologies and integrating them into the light guide plate, the system achieves wide color gamut without introducing significant manufacturing complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for the efficient emission of modulated, differently directed light beams of various colors, enhancing the display capabilities of passive displays by providing a 3D viewing experience without the need for glasses, thereby expanding their practical applications.
Implementation Method 1
A multibeam diffraction grating is used to couple out and direct light of different colors produced by the light sources
Implementation Method 2
The multibeam diffraction grating is used to couple light of different colors produced by the light sources out of a light guide and to direct the coupled-out light of different colors in a viewing direction
Implementation Method 3
a plate light guide configured to guide light that enters the plate light guide
Data Source
AI summary
Multibeam diffraction grating-based color backlighting includes a plate light guide, a multibeam diffraction grating at a surface of the plate light guide, and light sources laterally displaced from one another in a direction corresponding to a propagation axis of the plate light guide. The light sources produce light of different colors. The plate light guide is to guide light from the light sources. The multibeam diffraction grating is to couple out a portion of the guided light using diffractive coupling as a plurality of light beams of different colors in a plurality of different principal angular directions.