Transparent Display Panel Light Guide Plate Total Internal Reflection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional transparent display panels suffer from low light transmittance, brightness uniformity issues, and high costs, making them unsuitable for small-sized applications due to large pixel sizes, high material costs, and limited service life.
Innovation Solution
A display panel design incorporating a liquid crystal cell with a light guide plate and light source, where the light guide plate is attached to the liquid crystal cell in the thickness direction, allowing for total reflection and improved light distribution, reducing light loss and enhancing brightness uniformity, and using a Lambertian light source with pulse control for color emission without additional color filters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If conventional transparent display panels use traditional light guide structures, then light transmittance is maintained, but brightness uniformity deteriorates and light loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the refractive index parameter of the light guide plate to a specific range (1.4-1.6) to optimize light distribution. By adjusting this physical parameter, the system achieves improved brightness uniformity while reducing light loss through the light guide plate, resolving the contradiction between maintaining transmittance and improving uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different structural characteristics to different regions of the light guide plate. The light guide plate has a first surface closer to the liquid crystal cell and a second surface farther away, with light sources disposed on side faces. This local structural differentiation enables optimized light distribution across different zones, improving overall brightness uniformity while minimizing light loss.
2Volume of moving object
If transparent display panels use small-sized designs, then device size is reduced, but manufacturing cost increases and service life is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the color filter layer from the display structure, using instead a liquid crystal cell with controlled molecular alignment and a light guide plate with integrated light sources. This extraction of the color filter component reduces manufacturing complexity and cost for small-sized panels while maintaining color display capability through alternative optical control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The light guide plate serves multiple functions: it guides light from the side-mounted light sources, provides structural support, and enables color display through the interaction of white light with the liquid crystal layer. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, lowering manufacturing cost and improving reliability for small-sized displays.
3Illumination intensity
If conventional displays use color filters for color emission, then color accuracy is maintained, but light loss increases and manufacturing cost rises
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the traditional approach of using color filters (which block most light) into a beneficial system where white light from the light guide plate interacts with the liquid crystal layer. The liquid crystal molecules, when aligned in specific patterns, selectively modulate the white light to produce colors without absorbing and blocking light, thus converting the potential harm of color filtering into a beneficial light-efficient color generation mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/color-filter-based color selection system with an optical field-based system using liquid crystal molecular alignment. Instead of physically filtering light through colored layers, the system uses electrically controlled liquid crystal orientations to modulate light polarization and interference, achieving color emission with minimal light loss.
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
The solution improves brightness uniformity and contrast, reduces panel size, and extends the display panel's suitability for small-sized applications while lowering costs by minimizing light loss and eliminating the need for color filters.
Implementation Method 1
The light guide plate is configured such that light incident on the second surface in light from the light source is totally reflected, and then exits from the first surface
Data Source
AI summary
A display panel includes a liquid crystal cell, a light guide plate, and at least one light source. The light guide plate is attached to a surface of the liquid crystal cell in a thickness direction of the liquid crystal. The light guide plate includes a first surface, a second surface and side surfaces. In a thickness direction of the light guide plate, the first surface is opposite to the second surface, and the side faces are located between the first surface and the second surface. The first surface is closer to the liquid crystal cell than the second surface. A light source is disposed on at least a partial region in at least one side face. The light guide plate is configured such that light incident on the second surface in light from the light source is totally reflected, and then exits from the first surface.