Uniform Light Directing Film Grid Microstructures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional light directing films in flat panel displays often suffer from non-uniform optical coupling, which can lead to reduced display brightness and image quality due to the lack of control over optical interactions between film layers.
Innovation Solution
The development of light directing films with structured surfaces featuring a plurality of microstructures that include elevated and non-elevated portions, arranged in a grid pattern to confine optical coupling primarily to the elevated portions, maintaining a uniform appearance and minimizing moiré effects while ensuring sufficient optical gain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional light directing films use simple microstructure arrangements, then manufacturing is easier, but optical coupling becomes non-uniform leading to reduced display brightness and image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The light directing film is segmented into multiple zones with different microstructure characteristics. Each zone has microstructures with specific orientations and densities, creating a multi-zone pattern that achieves uniform optical coupling across the entire film surface while maintaining manufacturability through systematic zonation rather than random complexity
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the film are given locally optimized microstructure properties. The microstructures in different zones have tailored orientations, densities, and geometric parameters to compensate for position-dependent optical effects, ensuring that each local region contributes appropriately to overall uniform optical coupling without requiring the entire film to have maximum complexity
2Illumination intensity
If light directing films use higher density microstructures to increase optical gain, then display brightness improves, but moiré effects become more pronounced
Solution Approach 1:
The microstructure patterns intentionally incorporate asymmetric elements and non-uniform spacing arrangements. By breaking the perfect periodicity that causes moiré effects, the film maintains high optical gain through increased microstructure density while suppressing moiré interference through deliberate asymmetric design in the microstructure distribution
Solution Approach 2:
The solution addresses moiré effects by introducing variations in multiple dimensions simultaneously - not just increasing density in one direction, but creating complex three-dimensional microstructure arrangements with variations in orientation, depth, and spacing that disrupt the two-dimensional periodic patterns responsible for moiré interference while maintaining optical gain
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 results in bright and uniform displayed images by controlling optical interactions and reducing moiré interference, enhancing the overall display performance.
Implementation Method 1
optical coupling primarily to the elevated portions
Implementation Method 2
enhance display brightness along a pre-determined viewing direction
Implementation Method 3
minimizing moiré effects
Data Source
AI summary
Light directing film (100) is disclosed. The light directing film includes a structured major surface (110) that includes a plurality of microstructures (150) extending along a first direction (142) and a plurality of elevated portions (160) disposed on the plurality of microstructures. The number density of the elevated portions across the light directing film is D. Each elevated portion includes a leading edge (162) and a trailing edge (164) along the first direction. The light directing film can be divided into a plurality of same size and shape grid cells that form a continuous two-dimensional grid. The area of each grid cell is approximately 1/D. Each of at least 70% of the grid cells includes a single leading edge (162) of an elevated portion (160).