CN117280411A - Light valve surface image and light beam projector - Google Patents

Abstract

A lighting system and method that controls light to prioritize different elements of a beam of light output by a luminaire. The LCD surface acts as a color blocking filter that provides pixel-level control of the light beam transmitted by the layer. The internal LED light source is projected perpendicular to a concave reflector that can be moved in one axis to zoom to widen or narrow the light emitted forward as a beam. The system also includes certain cooling features.

Description

Light valve surface image and light beam projector

Background

Solid state light sources have introduced a series of new options for the designer, but since the mid-2000, the basic form of the lamp itself has not changed much. There is a soft light defined by the plane of the LED source, which may be diffusely covered. One of the problems with these soft lamps is that diffusion is required to avoid artifacts created by multiple light sources arranged across the front of the luminaire (fixture). These create stepped shadows visible on a flat surface.

Despite the integration of mappable LED fixtures like ari Skypanel, the illumination of movies and television was hardly changed compared to 1970. Although mappable LED fixtures have existed since the mid 2000 s, they have not been managed to overcome the limitation of multiplicity of sources that rely on scattering to avoid creating multiple shadows. The ability to map these fixtures has exceeded its disadvantages. Both Arri SkyPanel and LED video displays are commonly used to animate light and they are effective in near field environments.

However, the light from these fixtures may be absent. They are not easily masked because they are almost Lambertian sources that radiate uniformly in a hemispherical fashion. Is beneficial for soft lamps but less beneficial for producing structured light. For this reason, large video projectors are sometimes used. Video projectors may be limited because they are point sources that produce a single bright spot, thereby producing unnatural reflections. Technicians sometimes work against optical engineering to produce softer outputs. But these do solve the problem.

Many products use large LED displays to digitally create scenes that can be perspectively mapped to the output of a virtual camera in the game engine. These environments are referred to as "digital twinning" because they are typically associated with physical locations or real collections. This phrase has been in use for some time, but has recently become more widely known due to the fabrication of Mandalorian (Mandalorian). In such products, an unrealistic engine is used to create a digital background that can be maintained at an appropriate viewing angle while camera movements create motion parallax that adds a layer of realism to digital entertainment. And in case an illumination map is used, the light sources should remain fixed with respect to their position in the digital twinning. When the actor moves relative to the sun or an artificial light source or an object obscuring the light source, the illumination on the actor should change, but this is only possible if the production team performs a lot of work. This approach is complex in order to manufacture a lamp array that can be mapped in this way, and the illumination typically requires physical adjustment from lens to lens.

There are also wash (wash) lamps that may have LED light sources but still be soft, scalable light sources. There are contours that can project light and integrate gobo illumination with slides to produce textures and still images.

Advances in computing and light sources, and new demands in design and fabrication, require new types of lamps. These new lamps may utilize various prior art techniques to provide a new type of dynamic control for the designer. However, in order to achieve this, core technologies need to be different from the way they are currently used.

Video projection is a good example. When optimizing for typical video applications, the key requirements relate to the performance of the screen surface. The level of control required encourages the use of very small imagers. The history of video projection depends in part on the steady decrease in imager size and increase in optical efficiency and advances in optics and light sources, which is advantageous. Some early rear projection systems used large LCD panels due to the lack of alternatives.

Early LCD rear projection displays were sometimes manufactured using large LCD panels designed for laptop or other large volume (volume) commercial displays. Projection systems can be manufactured from these LCDs by using a large single light source and fresnel lenses. This is today survived via amateurs and also by using low cost video projectors made from the LCD display of a smartphone handset.

LCD displays, as well as brands such as Epson and Sony (Sony) that build on LCD display operations beginning late in the 1960 s, are well established. The first LCD-based light valve was made even earlier by Marconi (Marconi), a part of the company that continued to survive by being purchased as an english electric valve company, made an LCD-based product called Starvision.

LCD displays are based on the ability of liquid crystals to modulate light by switching between two states. By using polarizers in front of and behind the liquid crystal, light can be switched on and off. When the liquid crystal is oriented in one position, the screen appears black because the front polarizer blocks light of that polarity. When the liquid crystal cell is rotated 90 degrees, the polarization of the front polarizer is aligned with the light and the display passes the light.

Recently, LCD panels have been considered for use in the automotive industry to create steerable headlights.

Summary of the embodiments

Other things the entertainment industry needs from LCD driven light sources, including large emissive surfaces. The ideal surface may be a spherical array of light field emitters, each perfectly reproducing the light output, which may originate from that point in space, both in form and polarization. Such a computer controlled mapped wavefront may immerse the scene in light that replicates the real space or, alternatively, in light that is required in a digital representation of the space reconstructed in the camera for the scene in the movie.

Some key elements of stage lighting may be driven by the abstract target. The system described herein is capable of generating light at different angles and controlling the output such that only light at a desired angle can be output at any given time.

Currently, stages can be illuminated with soft lights, wash lights, and video projectors. None of these lamps, alone or in combination, illuminate the stage in a manner that enables active control of the light. These stages do not make much use of a large video display surface driven by a real-time game engine that generates a background scene on a display panel for camera shooting. Thus, the content now captured in the camera may be a separate special effect backplate. But these shots are reduced because the illumination cannot faithfully represent the environment of the digital scene.

By using new variations of LCD lighting systems that are not designed around the video image but around the quality of the light produced by the light projector, the inventors have generated a variety of virtual light sources (the generic term for a light source herein may be a light source, but other terms for a light source are also used). Such light sources with the ability to change the beam angle and soften or sharpen the light may be used in large arrays to create dynamic virtual light sources. Examples of these may include the sun moving behind a building. The sun moves behind hills or trees. A headlamp for moving across a building in the path of solar radiation through an open window in an aircraft.

This may be created virtually in a display with a game engine like an unrealistic or global (Unity), although referred to as a game engine, the content generation engine may create only video output that is not relevant to the game. Digital illumination of a scene may be used to create the output of a large virtual light source. This may be integrated with ray tracing by determining what light may come from the location of the luminaire. It can then be output as a composite 4K frame as a video signal along with video signals for all other luminaires. Since each light may have a specific position and orientation in 3D space, the output of each luminaire may be different. Rather than being a subset of a large image, each luminaire presents light that can be reconstructed from the position of the lamp. In some ways, this is a light field display.

The light field array may be part of the system herein and work with these displays and game engines. The individual light units within the light source of the overall system have many interesting capabilities, but the ability to integrate them into a three-dimensional array and render complex illumination from inside a digital 3D scene using existing technology in the same way as volume capture is challenging.

To achieve this, the interactive world wide web (web) needs to be managed within the system.

First, some lighting information is available within the game engine, meaning that the game engine itself may have a program to set lighting and effects.

Second, the lighting information may be supplemented by multiple components in the game engine that also exist in physical space.

Third, the lighting units in the physical space may be part of an overall mapping system that includes not only the virtual space, but also other physical elements in the scene, including display walls, physical attributes of the environment, and actors living in the environment. This may be integrated across multiple computer servers and may include elements of the system in the cloud. The timing between all of these elements may be accurate and synchronized with any camera used to capture the scene.

The system in doing so is able to properly illuminate the actor in the volume while removing unnecessary stray light that compromises the performance of the large display, which already incorporates digital components that illuminate the actor's lights.

The arrays of lighting fixtures described herein may become virtual sources of natural and artificial lighting elements that replicate an environment. In a simplified description, a light array may represent a light source as the light array moves relative to an object being illuminated.

These system components can support multi-focal output by integrating different groups of LEDs within the center of the reflector. The different sets of movements may be unified or segmented such that one half of the lighting fixtures are at one beam angle and the other half of the fixtures are at another beam angle.

In this way, the system may illuminate a natural scene and match computer-generated illumination in a digital scene. This may be applied to other aspects that allow for the illumination of dynamic backdrop and footlights. The ability of the light source to be motorized and moved to adjust the position of the light source relative to the reflector allows for control of the beam angle and focus, which is also noticeable in a backdrop (cyc) lamp or foot lamp.

An additional feature may be the ability of the system to track the performers in the scene. This is important for two reasons. The camera (or audience) is typically focused on the performer. And the illumination of the scene may be determined based on how the performer is illuminated. The total amount of resolution available for this function may always be limited. In order to focus on a performer, it may be desirable to attenuate the illumination in the scene that is not focused on the performer. Thus, a single 4K (3840 x 2160) output may dedicate 1920x1920 to a performer while using the remaining resolution to drive illumination of the rest of the illumination scene. And this 1920x1920 region of interest may want to track the performer, which means that the lights that obtain high resolution information and the lights that obtain low resolution information may change dynamically during the scene.

In addition, a digital mask (mask) that prevents light from striking a large display used in virtual production may be synthesized in the high resolution area of interest, while the area outside the mask may typically be low resolution information of the light to but not striking the performer. To smooth the tracking, the lights need to operate in the range of 240-480Hz, but it is possible that masking may follow the performer at 240-480Hz, while the high resolution content on the performer is only presented at 60-120 Hz. This may improve the appearance of tracking and masking of light leaving the display screen.

The mask may be created locally at the stationary luminaire using sensors integrated into the lamps (also sometimes referred to herein as light sources). The system can fabricate a 2D mask defining active and inactive areas of the projection light source. Using the same sensor data or other available data generated in the second content engine, an illumination texture map representing the projected light field is generated. The latency and frame rate of the two layers may not be locked, meaning that the 2D mask may be updated at a higher refresh rate at a lower latency, while the texture map is updated at a slightly more latency at a lower frame rate. The output of the luminaire may be a composite of these two feeds, where the mask tracks the object with low delay and the projected content is slightly lagging. The resulting illumination effect is superior to the current choice because it minimizes the light on the LED walls while reproducing the light more accurately in the scene so that the camera captures the vision of the director that more overall represents the movie producer/creativity.

The sensor for this may be external, however the sensor may also be integrated in the center of the lamp, in front of or behind the light modulating surface in front of the lamp.

The lamp may also include a polarizing filter, and when used with various specular materials and polarizing filters, the filter may be tuned to improve the performance of the lamp.

To use lamps in a planar mapping array, it may be necessary to match colors between the luminaires. This is possible for calibration, since both the color temperature of the light source and the color characteristics of the front light modulator may be theoretically known, and they may be determined during manufacture in a closed loop calibration system and as part of the service and maintenance of the lamp.

The system can be applied to existing lights by creating an accessory module that can be placed in the focal plane of the existing fixture to create a dynamic gobo and provide some, but not all, features of a purpose built light fixture.

In some cases, thermal management of the luminaire may be integrated directly into the accessory, as the light modulator may be thermally sensitive. In this case, the polarization recovery prism may be used as a thermal break to isolate the light source from the light modulator while improving optical efficiency. The prism may create a thermal break between the light source and the LCD and allow closed loop or ambient convection cooling to keep the liquid crystal within the necessary operating range.

As previously mentioned, it may be desirable to replicate these capabilities in a flat light fixture (such as current soft lights). These lamps are often ideal for near field applications where the light source is near the object of the light. Finally, the light field display can perform this task, but until then the user can evaluate the ability to dynamically control the beam angle of each ray output from the system. This can be achieved using wedge optics and diffractive or holographic light guides.

Such a system may integrate the anamorphic lens of the imager to increase resolution along one axis. Such a system may combine smaller imagers with distributed laser fluorescent sources to produce such an array.

Such lamps may require an internal, complete network connection so that the sensor data and distributed processing required to deliver the high frame rate lighting solution may be unimpeded by the limitations of the local controller. In each lamp there is a network switch with separate paths for controlling the lamp, sensor integration and any local processing, which allows for asynchronous integration of all these elements.

The lamp may also include a GPU to locally calculate the mask requirements. The local GPU system may ingest the distributed video graph from the media server and synthesize it into output so that the mask is optimized by the highest frame rate possible by the light modulator, while the content may be limited only by the highest frequency output from the source. The source may be a generic game engine or a specially developed media server. In each case, the limitation of the data path between the source and the lamp may be more constrained than the limitation between the local computing system and the light modulation panel. The system can be optimized around this to support tracking that is as smooth as possible.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a typical LCD display.

Fig. 2 shows an LCD as a light modulator.

Fig. 3 shows an emerging LCD application.

Fig. 4 shows a lighting method.

Fig. 5 shows a virtual fabrication volume with a projector.

Fig. 6 shows a virtual fabrication volume with an LCD system.

Fig. 7 shows an LCD as a light source.

Fig. 8 shows a variable resolution in an LCD array.

Fig. 9 shows a system topology.

Fig. 10 shows a front view of the proposed design.

Fig. 11 shows a side view of the proposed design.

Fig. 12 shows a perspective view of the proposed design with a yoke.

Fig. 13 shows a perspective view of the rear part of the proposed design.

Fig. 14 shows a perspective view of the front part of the proposed design.

Fig. 15 shows a front perspective view of an array of luminaires.

Fig. 16 shows a rear perspective view of the luminaire array.

Fig. 17 shows a front perspective view of the mobile lamp.

Fig. 18 shows a suspended (suspended) perspective view of the moving lamp.

Fig. 19 shows a cutaway perspective view of a mobile lamp.

Fig. 20 shows a cutaway perspective view of a mobile lamp with an exposed reflector.

Fig. 21 shows a section through an optical system.

Fig. 22 shows a perspective view of an LED light source.

Fig. 23 shows a cross section of a light source.

Fig. 24 shows the treatment of the front surface of the light source.

Fig. 25 shows a cross-sectional view of a mobile lamp showing a cooling system.

Fig. 26 shows a cross-sectional view of the mobile lamp showing the rear of the cooling system.

Fig. 27 illustrates a thermal management system.

Fig. 28 shows a block diagram of an electronic device.

Fig. 29 shows a representation of content management.

FIG. 30 illustrates components of a dynamic mask.

Fig. 31 shows a process for dynamic masking.

Fig. 32 shows the calibration details.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT (S) OF INVENTION

Introduction to the invention

Light valve surface image and light beam projector

It is an object of the present invention to provide a visual animated surface image and a projected light beam so as to produce a final visual image that appears good to the user. The element of the system that achieves this objective may be a light source with one face in a fixed position or a motorized mobile cube, equipped with a concave mechanical frame around the emitting surface that acts as a protective cover. The rear in the frame may be an LCD panel. The panel may comprise a matrix of pixels. The 960 x 960 pixel surfaces collectively produce a suitably high contrast ratio 2D surface of no less than 3500:1 ratio. The Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), by way of its physical embodiment, acts as a light source with a light value. With the present system, light projected from within the light source can travel forward as a computer-controlled beam.

Mechanical construction of a pivoting universal joint

It is another object of the present invention to move the projected beam within the confines of the mechanical light source cube of the pivoting gimbal. The motion properties may be remotely controlled by external computer control to achieve proportional motion in the two axes. I.e. a translational (pan) motion with a total rotation of 540 ° and 250 ° not exceeding the tilt axis, which when combined effectively provides a triaxial motion.

-an optical system

It is also advantageous to control the emitted light beam by influencing the width. Remote proportional motor control with such a zoom attribute. The beam width can be quickly adjusted from 140 deg. down to a narrow 4 deg.. The beam may also be reversed to provide up to minus 90 °. Within the mobile body (i.e. the gimbal cube), the LED light source may project back into the moving square parabolic or spherical or concave reflector. The high mirror collimates or concentrates the light emitted from the diode through the LCD barrier layer. The resulting light may be projected forward. In addition, since the entire surface of the LCD substrate may be blocked by the central light emitting source, and the second forward facing LED light source may replace the blocked or lost surface light at the center of the LCD panel, to maintain full light uniformity across the LCD substrate when viewed directly or indirectly.

Air cooling system

The LCD substrate may have an optimal operating temperature that is suitable for continuous use at high ambient temperatures under normal backlight conditions. Another feature of the present system relates to abnormally high backlight conditions. This embodiment continuously reduces the accumulation of heat because photons of light are generated internally in the sealed environment and emitted and partially absorbed or reflected by the characteristics of the LCD substrate design. The internal radiant heat exchange system may capture the accumulation of radiant heat generated by the LED light source. While up to 30% of the total heat generated during light generation is emitted forward within the beam. A plurality of fans attached heat sinks push and pull air within the moving cube. This creates a moving thin layer of air that moves back and forth over the inner surface of the LCD substrate through an internal air duct that is formed by the creation of an internal metal box structure that directs air from the bottom to the top of the inner surface of the LCD substrate and follows the same direction of travel as gravity.

-a liquid cooling system

Another embodiment of the present system may include the following features: the moving cube is substantially sealed to prevent ingress of particulates and moisture from the outside. With high power and high density LED lighting arrays, the light source can be cooled via a liquid cooled integrated system. The liquid cooling system may function well below the normal freezing point. The liquid is pumped via a dual redundancy vane pump system. The cooling system functions to shunt the liquid through the LED assembly. The manifold is mounted to a shaft and is connected to the single inner and outer tubes immediately behind the reflector. This may be located in the centre of the optical reflector element. The liquid cooling system extracts radiant heat by including an air-cooled radiator within the system in the motorized mobile design. Furthermore, the liquid coolant enters both sides to the tilt pivot point and is directed to the mechanical static base through a single translational pivot point. The heat sink in the base forces air cooling directly to atmosphere, thereby removing heat from the system. The closed loop liquid cooling system may be passed through a common orientation liquid reservoir prior to recirculation and repetition.

Electronic real-time internal sensing and remote monitoring

Another embodiment relates to the deployment of a series of electronic sensors. These sensors provide accurate real-time status of internal functions. The sensed information can be analyzed remotely via a duplex data connection with a local external computer located at the manufacturer's headquarters, a remote application, or a remote monitoring station. The system may provide remote analysis and suggest possible technical problems that may be caused by difficult operating conditions.

System critical sensing includes LED temperature monitoring. The rise may be indicative of a defect in the integrated liquid cooling system, such as a pump failure, a fan failure. Within the stationary base, an anemometer measures airflow through a plurality of heat sinks located within the stationary base. The weakness of the system may be related to the accumulation of lint (lint) and particulates that are bound together on the radiator surface due to condensation of the smoke liquid, due to appropriate considerations. This is common for stage lamps close to such a smoke emitting device. This undesirable particle accumulation impairs normal air flow due to the forced air movement allowed by the radiator, which in turn reduces the liquid cooling system, which may lead to an increase in core temperature. Under normal conditions, this may become apparent only when the system is overheated. With our sensor array, there are several reference points, the environment and the screen surface temperature, warning us of slow degradation of optimal performance. Another sensing function includes battery state of charge for a universal battery backup installed within the present invention.

Asset monitoring system

In the case where a large number of electronic sensors are located in the system, these sensors can propagate this information in several forms. Localization to the current environment, while engineers in the art or creative personnel controlling the product via a remote computer may alert of the problem via the remote device management form of DMX (RDM DMX). When the system is connected to a data network, the device may "ping" or send sensor information back to the manufacturer as well as the asset owner to provide a detailed real-time picture of the product's performance.

-electronic standby power supply

Another feature of this embodiment may provide a universal backup battery in the event of a power failure under certain harsh environmental operating conditions, such as outdoor stage. If unexpected power loss occurs, the time loss of restarting or powering up the system can be eliminated by providing a universal backup battery. When used, this maintains the internal power of the system critical electronic processes. If the primary power source fails to connect to the device, rather than a complete catastrophic failure, the present invention signals the local operator of the power failure via a flashing visible warning triangle on the touch screen graphical user interface that provides local control located on the device. In addition, the system can alert the user to a power failure at an external computer used in the remote control through several different data protocols.

Modular fixed base electronic device structure

The system may be equipped with different electronic components to allow maximum versatility, especially for image processing of LCD substrates. In general, it may be desirable to have several different data inputs suitable for different applications. Similar to the standard rack-mount system setup, the 1U mini-width rack space provides a fiber optic high data transmission profile.

In addition, control of video images transmitted to the LCD substrate may be controlled externally from a video source such as SDI data protocol, or internally run from an internal DMX controlled graphics engine. The engine may also act as a localized video scaler. With the ability to adjust pixel resolution to accommodate different applications, DMX controlled internal graphics engine video and lighting signals can be sent to neighboring luminaires that act as master devices, while neighboring luminaires act as slave devices.

The internal graphics engine may eliminate the need for external video signals and subsequent skills by those of skill in the art of video content production. By internally making the video content in a regenerative manner, the video content is directly delivered to the LCD screen. These internal video attributes are controlled entirely directly by DMX illumination signals received from an external computer. The above-described electronic demand options may be installed or removed due to the modular mechanical structure of the stationary base embodying the system.

Description of the embodiments

A display system using a liquid crystal display as a light source may include a liquid crystal matrix sandwiched between a front polarizer and a rear polarizer, as shown in fig. 1. The light source 100 may be solid state or conventional. The light source 100 passes through a first linear polarizer 101 placed between the light source 100 and the liquid crystal display 102. Light having predominantly one polarization then passes through LCD 102. The light is directed through a second linear polarizer 103 rotated ninety degrees from the first linear polarizer 101. This allows the display to switch the light on and off.

Liquid crystals are an established light modulator with a long history in segmented displays, flat panel displays and video projection. Many early projectors used typical LCD panels and one established community of amateurs used 15-20 "diagonal LCD displays to make a home projection system built similar to that shown in fig. 2. In some cases, this is as simple as placing a standard light bulb 200 behind the liquid crystal display 201.

Liquid crystal displays are being considered for new applications where dynamic manipulation of light is critical. One such application is the VoLiFi program of the European Union as shown in FIG. 3, where a liquid crystal matrix 302 is used to control the output of an automotive headlamp (head lamp). Such a headlamp uses an array of light emitting diodes 300 to project light through a polarizer 301 before the light passes through a liquid crystal display 302 and a second polarizer 305. The lens 305 is then used to control the output of the headlamp.

Despite the integration of mappable LED fixtures like ari Skypanel, the illumination of movies and television was hardly changed compared to 1970. Although mappable LED fixtures have existed since the mid 2000 s, they have not been managed to overcome the limitation of relying on multiple sources of diffusion to avoid creating multiple shadows. The ability to map these fixtures has exceeded its disadvantages. Both Arri SkyPanel and LED video displays are commonly used to animate light and they are effective in near field environments.

A typical LED luminaire as shown in fig. 4 may comprise a grid of light emitting diode packages 410. These packages may be surface mount packages or DIP packages. They may also be high power packages. Each of these LED packages outputs light across a particular beam angle 411, 412, 413 and across an array of these beam angle overlaps 420. There is also a color shift because the LED dies have different beam angles. The effect of these overlapping light sources A, B, C striking the object 415 is a plurality of shadows 421, 422, 423.

The problem is that light from these fixtures is everywhere. They are not easily masked because they are almost lambertian sources that radiate uniformly in a hemispherical fashion. This may be advantageous for soft lamps, but may not be as advantageous for producing structured light. For this reason, a projector is sometimes used. Video projectors may be limited because they are point sources that produce a single bright spot, thereby producing unnatural reflections. Technicians sometimes work against optical engineering to produce softer outputs.

Many products use large LED displays to digitally create scenes that can be perspectively mapped to the output of a virtual camera in the game engine. This approach has been used for some time, but has recently become more widely known due to Mandalorian fabrication. In this product, an unrealistic engine is used to create a digital background that can be maintained at an appropriate viewing angle as the camera moves to create motion parallax that adds a layer of realism to the digital entertainment. And a map of the illumination is used, since the light sources should remain fixed, but this is actually only possible if a lot of work is done on the part of the manufacturing team. This approach is complex in order to manufacture a lamp array that can be mapped in this way, and the illumination typically requires physical adjustment from lens to lens.

Fig. 5 shows an overview of a mapped illumination system 500 in which certain virtual fabrication volumes have different illumination requirements than typical phases. The lighting design may be fully integrated with the content output from the computer source 515 driving the LED video display 511. These displays 511 are fed with perspective mapped content that tracks the movement of the camera 520. There have been some experiments with video projectors as light sources in LED volumes for virtual fabrication. Video projectors are point sources with directed beams and therefore they are not ideal for such applications. Video projectors have a long history in movie and television production where they have been used to process shots where the reflected output of the projector is used.

The virtual fabrication volume 510 may include a display panel 511 based on a large array of light emitting diodes, such that the camera 520 is capable of moving within the LED display space, the display panel 511 may be curved or some form of truncated cone. The image may be expanded beyond the edges of the LED display 512 and the set expansion used to generate content 513 in the completed job. The content is generated by a computer 515 that tracks the movement of the camera 520 and relays the data to the computer. The computer 515 may output video and graphical content composed based on the movement data to any type of display or system that may be managed as an output of a display or data port in the computer 515. Thus, as described below, computer 515 serves as a real-time data source within the present invention, monitoring camera and object movements, controlling illumination output in the light source, and content delivered to the display panel. All of them are kept synchronized to generate an output visualization of the camera that the viewer perceives as "normal".

Very high frame rate systems between 240 and 960 hertz can be controlled directly from the data bus of the motherboard. The system may also utilize a dynamic refresh rate that may vary depending on the content in each pixel. Projector 516 may be used as a light source in this manner, much the same way that projectors are used in projecting maps. But since the light from the video projector is a hard-edge point source, it may not be ideal for most film and television applications.

Light sources for film and television production are capable of reproducing different beam angles as shown in fig. 6, and such systems are capable of reproducing light from a range of environments. This may be driven by the same real-time content engine computer 515 that generates the content for the LED wall 511. However, in this example in fig. 6, virtual lighting array 616 may output various ambient lighting appropriate to the environment (in the example shown, a forest environment). This illumination changes as the camera 520 moves, which maintains the correct perspective mapping illumination for the lens. In this way, the illumination coincides with the background video content on the LED wall 511. Such a system may also be used with a green screen or with a series of accessories designed to further control the light distribution. The virtual lighting array 616 may also include a free-form array of luminaires surrounding a volume, although this may have limitations.

By using the luminaire array of the described system, a virtual lighting array light source as shown in fig. 7 can be created, which can represent different types of light sources in the lens. Three different beam angles are shown, but a series of symmetrical and asymmetrical patterns may be implemented. The figure shows the light sources 2 meters behind the front plane of lamp array 732, 3 meters behind the front plane of lamp array 731, and 4 meters behind the front plane of lamp array 730. This can be dynamically adjusted so that the source moves closer to or farther from the front emission plane of the virtual array.

Another feature of the system is the ability to change the resolution on the array shown in fig. 8, thereby saving real-time computing power and network bandwidth for the area that is now in focus. When the actor 830 in the set volume moves from the back of the volume 831 to the middle of the volume 832 and out to the front of the volume 833, the area of high resolution content moves from the left side of the virtual lighting array a 841 to the lower center of the virtual lighting array B842 and to the lower right side of the virtual lighting array C843.

The virtual fabrication system shown in fig. 9 includes a mix of sources, sensors, and processors in addition to the display, lights, and cameras. These systems may also track the exact position of actors in the volume for motion capture and additional special effects. The light described in the system easily enters these systems. The light may also include a sensor, a processor, and a real-time content engine. The need to manage timing and reduce delay is critical in movie and television production. Both the display and illumination systems may be refreshed at a rate that works with the camera. The color may also be controlled in the system. The color temperature and spectral distribution of the light source are critical and can be checked to avoid the fact that metameric-reflected light differs based on the spectral components of the light source.

The virtual fabrication system 900 includes a light emitting diode display 911, which may include walls, ceilings, and floors. The display system is driven by one or more computers 930 capable of generating content 931 required by the client. The system may have a separate control system 929 and a separate means of integrating the sensor data 921. Sensor inputs range from tracking device 918 in the volume to a system that tracks lens movement and camera position 919 to a sensor 917 integrated into a mapped illumination system. Some sensor data may be used locally 932 to reduce latency and generate all or part of the content of the lighting system light source 916 driving the map.

The lighting fixtures as light sources may be integrated into the installation in various ways. The design may need to accommodate different types of physical connections as shown in fig. 10. The fixed fitting point 1000 may be provided by a 12mm/1/2 "hole to which a scaffold clamp/gas tube component (shown) may be fitted to achieve a swivel/translation point. The stationary suspension frame/yoke 1001 may be provided with a tubular frame of 25mm/1'2 ". The frame 1001 may be fitted to the main chassis of the device and the yoke 1001 may be removable to enable the device to be used in different settings (shown below).

When used as a lighting fixture, commonly referred to as a wash lamp, it may be desirable to equip the device with an anti-glare radial baffle 1002. The baffle 1002 reduces off-axis illumination glare common to such devices that emit light forward in a beam. Radial lines 1003 are positioned in a circular radiation pattern to provide as much masking of unwanted light as possible. Assuming that the device has a variable beam from about 4 deg. to over +60 deg., the surrounding frame 1002 is at an angle of 30 deg. so as not to interrupt the beam at its widest possible angle.

Located in the center of the antiglare shield 1002 may be a radar sensor 1004. The sensor 1004 provides a machine vision perspective that is fed back to the image processing electronics and computer to sense the volume within the illumination field of the device.

In fig. 11, a positive locking knob 1005 is shown that is capable of securely fixing the vertical tilt function. Fig. 12 shows two horizontal mating tubes 1006 within the yoke frame that provide a carrying handle for the user. Furthermore, a second yoke main pivot point 1007 is provided which can be used when the ceiling height is limited. The second pivot point 1007 reduces the gap between the device and the yoke 1001, which can rotate all the way under normal operation, so the device can be positioned on the floor and pointed upwards.

Due to the increased versatility of use, it is sometimes desirable to use the device in a non-singular form, as shown in fig. 13 and 14. A rigging frame 1008 can be fitted to the device. The frame 1008 provides a positively adjustable pivot mounting point 1009 in four orientations that is designed to be able to be stacked 1011 side by side and top to bottom starting from the construction of a floor mount 1012 or ceiling mount 1013. The pivot point 1009 may be adjustable with a screw for precise alignment. The harness frame provides a structural form that carries the weight of a plurality of light fixtures (e.g., up to twenty-four (or more/less) devices). The frame is interconnected with other devices that have been discussed and shown in fig. 15 and 6 and may be secured to the master device by a quarter-turn quick release connection 1010 known as a cam.

The present system may also be adapted to be integrated as a pan and tilt movement cube as shown in fig. 17 and 18, while the two axes of movement of the cube 1700 may be controlled via a digitally controlled stepper motor in the yoke 1702. The position of these stepper motors 1703 (exposed in fig. 26) can be controlled and monitored by an optical encoder wheel 1704 (exposed in fig. 26) and an infrared light switch, which essentially sends feedback of the exact position of the motors. The limit switches are fitted to the maximum extent of the electric machine 1705 (exposed in fig. 26) so that upon electric power start, the motors can position themselves to their "home" position.

Two tilt axis mechanisms may be located inside 1706 within the moving cube 1700. The cube 1700 may be substantially an aluminum design with a nominal 2mm thick housing 1707 and a 3mm thick internal chassis frame 1708.

On the light emitting side of the moving cube 1700, the frame 1709 provides mechanical protection from potential hazards. The 4mm UV stabilized polycarbonate optically transparent protective substrate 1710 may also be reinforced with a UV stabilized scratch resistant coating.

Disposed immediately behind the transparent polycarbonate substrate is a liquid crystal display substrate 1711. The display has a high contrast ratio of at least 3500:1. The polarizing filter of the outer (visible) face has been adapted to not provide an anti-glare haze coating, thereby improving the light transmission of the LCD barrier layer.

The LCD panel is a high density of not less than 960RGB pixels by another plurality of pixels in order to achieve what is commonly called high definition video reproduction.

The variation of the moving yoke shown in fig. 19 provides a gimbal for pan and tilt remote control properties, which can be equipped with a hidden lock 1712. These locks 1712 secure the display in a locked position to aid storage for shipping. During normal operation, the lock 1712 is recessed and therefore unobtrusive to bystanders.

To aid in the aesthetics of the invention, the carrying handle 1713 may be located outside of the main chassis and, for a fixed installation, may be removed as a carrying bracket 1714. The quarter turn quick release cam connection 1715 allows omega (omega) stents to be assembled for hanging purposes. A secondary suspension protection bracket 1716 is fitted to the center of the metal bracket.

Both the pan and tilt mechanism has a helically combined cable and water cooled tube and cable bundle assembly, which is thus designed to provide excellent strain protection for the combined tube and cable assembly 1717. The combined tube and cable bundle assembly is designed to pass through the pivot point of the yoke and through the stationary base of the present invention.

The LCD panel can have an enhanced cooling method by an internal closed loop air flow designed to flow from the base 1719 to the top 1720 of the internal air volume of the moving cube 1700.

A set of internal aluminum panels 1721 are installed to direct forced air from the rear of the fixture through the air gap. Air is directed through the rear interior facing surface of the LCD substrate. The warmer air is then extracted through upper air gap 1720 and recirculated through fan 1722 and radiator combination 1723 [ shown in detail in fig. 26 ], where radiant heat is extracted before being sent back through. The inner wall is machined with non-light reflecting surfaces so that no indirect light is sent forward but is absorbed within the confines of the internal cube.

The high reflectivity reflector 1745, which is parabolic or spherical or concave with a reflectivity of greater than 85% in fig. 20, is designed as a square factor that is mounted to two slide mechanisms 2146 that are directly opposite each other. These are coupled to a synchronization (timing) belt and a stepper motor arrangement. The reflector is designed to move rapidly toward or away from the 2147 light source.

This movement of reflector 1745 provides the beam scaling effect of fig. 21. The scaling may be from its widest > 60 deg. down to a nearly parallel beam, which is then inverted up to > 60 deg.. The emitted light is collimated perpendicular to the light source, the resulting variable width beam is projected substantially forward and essentially continues to produce a beam through the LCD substrate 1748, which beam can be widened or narrowed remotely by an external computer.

The light source is contained in a center post as shown in fig. 22 that integrates LEDs and a thermal management system to remove heat from the LEDs and expel heat from the enclosure between the reflector and the LCD.

LEDs 2324 are mounted on wedge-shaped PCB 2325 on the inner surface of the head (head) block in a radial pattern 2326 and essentially appear as a cohesive light source 2320. Each segment of the light source contains a plurality of LED packages.

The primary LED assembly may be equipped with a surface mount thermistor proximate to the LED heat source 2340 that provides electronic temperature sensing of each of six radial segments 2326 positioned in a radial pattern around the tube assembly mount. The machined lip 2341 around the head assembly captures unwanted scattered light, making it invisible when viewed from the front of the assembly. Further light masking provides additional light control or "zoning.

The light emitting assembly is connected to a post 2321 that is connected to the rest of the luminaire by a manifold 2342. The manifold handles mechanical, electrical and thermal management connections for the luminaire.

The light source from the plurality of LEDs may be intensity controlled via a remote computer. LEDs that turn on concentric ring patterns can also provide wide to narrow beam tuning. When fewer LEDs are energized, the beam becomes sharper and sharper. The more LEDs are energized, the softer, more diffuse or defocused the beam gives the impression of a beam.

The thermal management system of the light source is embedded in the mechanical design of the system in fig. 23. Light is emitted forward from the small center mounted LED set 2334 to LCD 2301 and back toward the reflector 2302 through the segmented array of LEDs 2324. Thermal management is handled via a material interlayer between the two LED groups. This section illustrates the manner in which LED PCBS2325 for the reflector-facing array is mounted to a machined copper component referred to as pre-head block 2327. The copper component 2327 at the rear or inside is machined into radial fins 2328, and the head intermediate block 2329 ensures that coolant flows in the most efficient manner. Thus, the fins are arranged to provide suitable space 2379 for the cable tube to pass through. The back of head block 2330 is a copper component designed to seal the coolant system and acts as a heat sink for the forward facing LEDs.

Such liquid cooling systems, by their design, draw heat build-up directly from the LED by direct heat conduction via copper components. This entire arrangement is welded together at joint 2331 to provide a watertight seal.

A3/8' BSP steel tube 2332 is screwed into the copper header assembly structure and fitted within this tube is a second 10mm diameter copper connecting tube 2333. The cable tube serves as a conduit through which the power cable is fed from the rear of the mobile cube along the tube. Four high power white LEDs 2334 are mounted to the back of head block copper part.

The LED head assembly may be fitted to an inner tube 2333 and an outer tube 2332, both of which are mounted to a manifold 2342 that is mounted directly behind the center of the mechanically moving reflector. Manifold 2342 directs coolant in a send (center) return (outer tube) relationship.

A second cone reflector 2335 may be mounted to the main head assembly, as also shown in fig. 24, and essentially provides a diffusely reflective light surface to which a holographic filter 2336, which acts as a light diffuser, is mounted. The second smaller but substantially wider reflector 2337 continues the conical shape of the combined reflector to provide even more diffuse white light.

In front of the reflector device, a second opalescent plastic disc 2338 may be glued into a circular recessed lip 2339, as shown in fig. 23. The entire assembly provides a diffuse backlight that compensates for light lost from the head assembly blocking the primary beam. This produces a complete visual image on the surface of the LCD substrate without any loss of light intensity.

In fig. 25, the light source assembly is connected to the light fixture at a rear 1743 of the cavity holding the reflector and LCD.

The LCD panel 1711 shown in fig. 26 is connected to a dedicated video driver 1718 that manages external video signals and distributes data locally and provides dc power to the LCD display.

Where it is desired to reduce radiant heat accumulation from an led array sealed within a cube mechanical design, fans 1722 are used to pass coolant through multiple heat sinks 1723.

The closed loop cooling system/thermal management system 2700 in fig. 27 is based on a liquid coolant design that removes heat from an enclosed volume 2701 that exists around the LCD display 2702, LED light source 2703, and optical reflector 2705. The liquid cooling system is assisted by an internal radiator and fan 2706. The system is connected at a manifold 2704 and includes an expansion tank 2707 and is designed to work in any rig.

The system includes a thermal sensor 2708, a hall effect flow sensor 2710, and a pump 2709. The system may also include a visual flow indicator 2711. A quick release connector 2712 is included for charging the system.

The system includes an arrangement of heat sinks 2713 needed to remove heat 2716 from the system and includes openings 2714 needed to draw cool air 2715 into the system.

The coolant may have additives that lower the freezing point of the coolant below freezing point. In this embodiment we use ethanol with a freezing point of-20 deg., the ratio between water and coolant additive is 5:1. Colder temperatures are achieved by using different coolant additives and water to coolant ratios.

The electronic system in fig. 28 is designed with remote monitoring and sensing within the core of the system. Coolant flow 2856, coolant temperature 2857, LCD display temperature 2880. Power supply sensing 2858, ambient temperature 2859, internal ambient temperature 2860.led temperature sensor 2881, base box airflow speed 2861, signal presence 2862, optical encoder 2863 for all stepper motor attributes including pan tilt and zoom. Physical partition 2882, battery sense 2879, impact sense 2883, and other useful operational runtime and portable device test data logs are switched to aid in preventative maintenance. All sensors are processed by the internal CPU 2864.

All internal parameters are adjusted from the graphical user interface along with error logging and power failure alarms.

In the event of a primary power failure, a universal backup battery designed to provide uninterrupted power for 15 minutes or more/less may be provided. Such a universal backup battery keeps the internal CPU powered on with the ethernet and DMX data streams so that internal fault codes can be sent to remote computers and remote applications operating on Android and iOS operating systems. All of this information is also sent remotely back to the manufacturer headquarters where a more detailed analysis of the normal operation of the invention can be monitored.

Each luminaire may have an internal computing system for content management, as shown in fig. 29, that manages a mix of internally and externally generated sources. The external source may be a media server 2901 connected to the display processor 2902. The display processor acts as a primary video connection to the overall system, which appears to the server as a single display area. The system may be configured locally on the processor or by an external computer 2903 such as a laptop or iPad. The connection from the processor to the lighting system may be a network cable that terminates at the light fixture 2910 in an RJ45 connector. The system may then allow the network cable to daisy chain to the next luminaire so that multiple lamps may be configured as part of a single display area. This information is unpacked by the receiving card 2904 in the light fixture. The card occupies a portion of the display area and outputs it to the lamp control system 2905. The control system may be a computer optimized for machine vision and computation, such as NVIDIA Jetson. The system may obtain sensor data 2906 from a radar or other suitable mapping system to create locally generated effects with low latency. This output may be combined with the data from the receiving card 2904 in the final output to the LCD panel 2920. A servo system and light source may also be controlled from the computing system 2907.

Remotely generated content 2930 is fed to the mapped light via the receiving card 2904 for ingestion into a locally hosted computer 2905. Content is typically fed at a rate of 24 to 60 frames per second. The receiving card 2904 passes the clock signal 2931 to the computer system 2905, with the clock signal 2931 synchronized with the rest of the system to map the output of the lights.

FIG. 30 illustrates components of a dynamic mask. It may be desirable for the mapped luminaire in the dynamic environment 3001, including the LED wall 3011 and actor 3002, to separate the lights for actor from the lights for the LED wall or floor 3005.

To this end, from the perspective of mapping luminaire 3020, the lamp would need to generate a real-time mask for the actor. The mask will enable creation of content to be mapped onto actor 3021 and content to be mapped around actor 3022. This may include additional spacing between the wall and floor, or between the floor and a physical scene element on the stage. These elements are then combined 3030 and output from the map lamp.

LED wall 3011 may include content 3006 that includes interlaced blue or green frames for use in post-production. The reflector lamp may be synchronized with these displays.

Fig. 31 shows a process for dynamic masking. Content mapped to a moving person is desirably processed at a substantially higher frame rate than the camera. The output of the light may be synchronized with the camera if the camera is operating at a multiple of one of the popular camera frame rates including 24, 29.97, 30 frames per second. Fig. 31 uses 480hz 3010 and shows a simplified version of the workflow, where an object 3002 is mapped by a sensor 3040 mounted on a mapping light 3041. Sensor data 3042 is used to generate mask 3020 and is combined with texture map 3021 to create final output 3043 comprising combined mask 3030. By locally synthesizing this, the dynamically changing mask can track the object at 480Hz 3010, while the data inserted into and out of the mask can be updated at a lower frame rate.

The output of the synthetic system map is synchronized with the rest of the system 2931.

Fig. 32 shows calibration details, where each cell 3200 may be calibrated by knowing the characteristics of the light source 3201 and the color mask 3211. A sensor may be included in each mapped light fixture 3250 to track the color temperature of the light source. And the color characteristics of the filter are fixed at the time of manufacture. The unit may also be calibrated via a closed loop system in order to minimize natural deviations in the components and processes used to manufacture the illumination system.

The closed loop system will place the mapped illumination system 3200 at a fixed distance 3205 to the neutral diffusing screen surface 3232 such that the beam angle 3206 fills the screen surface in a consistent manner for all fixtures manufactured.

Light from the mapping illumination system 3212 will be diffused by the screen material and continue into the dark non-reflective volume 3213. The light is measured by a colorimeter 3252 and a luminance meter 3251. DSLR may also be used as part of such a system. This information is sent to the processing computer, which creates a profile 3241 stored on the mapped lighting system.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims (15)

1. A mapped lighting system, the system comprising:

a liquid crystal display 102 comprising a first controlled light source 100, 516, 616 and a second controlled light source 100, 516, 616;

a reflector that moves along axis 2147 to widen or scale light from the controlled light source;

a thermal management system 2700, each of the light sources being mounted in the thermal management system 2700, wherein the thermal management system manages heat within the light sources; and

A real-time data source 515 configured to generate an illumination output of each of the controlled light sources and movement of the reflector along the axis.

2. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 1, further comprising a display panel, and the real-time data source 515 controls the illumination and the graphical content based on each other.

3. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 2, wherein said real-time data source 515 receives camera input from a camera 520 and further controls said illumination and graphical content based on said camera input.

4. The mapped illumination system 500 according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the controlled light sources 516 comprises a sensor 1004 located in the center of at least one of the controlled light sources.

5. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 4, wherein said sensor 1004 generates sensor data corresponding to said illumination output from at least one of said controlled light sources.

6. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 1, wherein at least one of the controlled light sources 516 comprises a sensor 1004 that is positioned, wherein the sensor 1004 is located just behind the center of the primary light modulator.

7. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 6, wherein said sensor 1004 generates sensor data corresponding to said illumination output from at least one of said controlled light sources.

8. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 1, wherein at least one of the controlled light sources is controllably polarized using a polarizer 101, wherein the polarizer 101 is rotatable to change the output of the light sources.

9. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 1, the output to the digital source presented in the real-time data system is replicable by a lamp array.

10. The mapped illumination system 500 according to claim 1, wherein said sensor data can be used to generate higher density real-time data in an active area while illuminated areas outside the area receive less data.

11. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 1, wherein the illuminated object is tracked by the sensor at one frequency and the data received by the real-time data source 515 is generated at two or more frequencies, wherein the real-time data source generates a mask at a high frequency and the content inside the mask is generated at a lower frequency.

12. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 1, wherein said color of said light is controlled by said color of said light source and a color filter in said light modulator, and said color of said light source and said color of said color filter are established by closed loop calibration such that said color of said output can be quantized and cloned into other light sources.

13. The mapped illumination system 500 of claim 1, wherein the real-time data source uses high frequency modulation of light to control the light source, wherein the output of the light source comprises at least two different data streams that are interleaved such that the two interleaved outputs are synchronized with a sensor and another display system.

14. A mapped lighting system, the system comprising:

a sealed housing accommodating the liquid crystal display 102;

a controlled light source 100, 516, 616;

a reflector that moves along axis 2147 to widen or scale light from the controlled light source

A thermal management system 2700 that passes air across the back of the liquid crystal display, wherein the thermal management system has a heat exchanger to remove heat from the sealed enclosure; and

A real-time data source 515 configured to generate an illumination output of each of the controlled light sources and movement of the reflector along the axis.

15. A mapped lighting system, the system comprising:

a first controlled light source 100, 516, 616;

a second controlled light source 100, 516, 616; and

a real-time data source 515 configured to generate an output of each of the controlled light sources 516 and graphical content to the display panel 511;

wherein the output is illumination, and wherein the real-time data source 515 controls the illumination and the graphical content based on each other.