OLED Display Structured Light Projection via Diffraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in projecting high-contrast structured light patterns efficiently from portable devices with OLED display screens for applications like 3D mapping and user authentication, as they require precise alignment and arrangement of light emitting elements with OLED pixels to achieve optimal interference patterns.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves a light projector with VCSELs or other light emitting elements arranged in a parallel plane to the OLED display screen, with a specific pitch and orientation, producing light that passes through the OLED pixels to create a structured light pattern with high contrast, using the OLED screen as a diffraction grating to achieve interference patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If light emitting elements are arranged with specific pitch and alignment to OLED pixels, then interference pattern contrast is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The OLED display screen itself serves as the alignment reference for positioning the light emitting elements. By using the existing OLED pixel pitch and arrangement as the guiding structure, the system eliminates the need for separate alignment mechanisms or complex positioning systems, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining high interference pattern contrast
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the display function and light projection function into a single integrated structure. The OLED screen serves both as the display medium and as the reference grid for light emitting element placement, merging two functions into one component system to reduce overall device complexity
2Productivity
If microlens array is used to enhance light projection, then light efficiency is improved, but manufacturing cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the microlens array component from the system entirely. By using the OLED pixel structure itself as the diffraction grating and alignment reference, the system achieves light projection efficiency without requiring the additional microlens array component, thereby reducing manufacturing cost and simplifying the bill of materials
Solution Approach 2:
The OLED pixels serve as an intermediary structure that performs the function previously requiring separate microlens elements. The periodic arrangement of OLED pixels acts as a natural diffraction grating that shapes and directs the light from the light emitting elements, replacing the need for microlens arrays while maintaining optical efficiency
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 approach enables the production of high-contrast structured light patterns suitable for applications like 3D mapping and facial recognition, maintaining consistent contrast over a wide range of distances and eliminating the need for a microlens array, thus reducing costs and enhancing the functionality of portable devices.
Implementation Method 1
using the OLED screen as a diffraction grating to achieve interference patterns
Implementation Method 2
using the OLED screen as a diffraction grating to achieve interference patterns
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a display screen that includes OLED pixels disposed at a particular pitch in a first plane. A light projector includes light emitting elements disposed in a second plane parallel to the first plane. The light emitting elements are disposed at the same pitch as the OLED pixels or at an integer multiple of the pitch of the plurality of OLED pixels. The light emitting elements are operable to produce light at a wavelength for transmission through the display screen, and the first and second planes are separated from one another by a distance D such that d2=2*(λ)*(D)/(N), where d is the pitch of the OLED pixels, λ is the wavelength, and N is a positive integer.