Optical Coupling Layer Distortion Control for Borderless Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic devices with displays face challenges in achieving a borderless appearance due to the presence of inactive border regions, which can make devices larger and less aesthetically pleasing, and in ensuring accurate image display when using optical coupling layers that cause light displacement and distortion.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an optical coupling layer, such as a coherent fiber bundle or Anderson localization material, to redirect light from a two-dimensional display surface to a three-dimensional output surface, while using image distortion control circuitry to modify image data based on distortion maps to account for light displacement and maintain a desired image appearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If an optical coupling layer is used to redirect light to a three-dimensional output surface, then the display can achieve a borderless appearance with compound curvature, but light displacement and distortion occur that degrade image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary distortion correction by modifying the image data before it is displayed. Image distortion control circuitry applies distortion maps to pre-correct the image, compensating for the light displacement that will occur when light is redirected through the optical coupling layer. This ensures the final perceived image is accurate despite the optical transformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses distortion maps that characterize the actual light displacement behavior of the optical coupling layer. By measuring or modeling the distortion and feeding this information back into the image processing pipeline, the system can dynamically adjust the displayed image to compensate for the optical effects, maintaining image accuracy.
2Shape
If the output surface has curved profiles to eliminate inactive borders, then device aesthetics are improved, but the location where light is emitted from pixels differs from where light is visible on the output surface
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-compensates for light position displacement by modifying image data before display. Distortion control circuitry uses distortion maps to calculate and apply position corrections, ensuring that light emitted from each pixel location is perceived at the correct position on the curved output surface, eliminating visible border regions while maintaining position accuracy.
3Manufacturing precision
If image data is modified to account for distortion, then accurate image display is achieved, but additional processing complexity is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs distortion correction as a preliminary processing step before image display. By pre-calculating distortion maps and applying corrections in advance, the system maintains image accuracy while organizing the processing complexity in a manageable, systematic manner that can be efficiently implemented in display driver circuitry.
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 aesthetically pleasing, borderless displays with compound curvature, ensuring accurate image display and appearance by addressing light displacement and distortion issues, enabling the display of images on arbitrary shaped surfaces without visible inactive areas.
Implementation Method 1
An optical coupling layer may be included in the electronic device. The optical coupling layer may have an input surface that receives light from the array of pixels. The light from the array of pixels may be conveyed from the input surface to an output surface.
Implementation Method 2
The optical coupling layer may be formed from a coherent fiber bundle or a layer of Anderson localization material.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic device may have a display layer for displaying images. An optical coupling layer having an input surface that receives light from the display panel may convey the light from the input surface to an output surface. The output surface may have different dimensions than the display layer and may have any desired shape. To account for the displacement of light between the active area and the outer surface of the optical coupling layer and to ensure the output image is perceived with the desired distortion, image data may be rendered for the output surface then modified to account for the distortion and displacement that will occur later when the image is transported by the optical coupling layer from the display active area to the output surface of the optical coupling layer. Image distortion control circuitry may modify the rendered image data based on a distortion map.