TW202419931A - Active emitter multiview backlight, display, and method having an aperture mask - Google Patents

Abstract

A multiview backlight, multiview display, and method employ an array of active emitters and an aperture mask having apertures aligned with active emitters of the active emitter array to provide effective emitters from light emitted by each active emitter. The multiview backlight includes an array of active emitters and an aperture mask configured to provide the effective emitters having a predetermined size that is between one quarter and two times a size of a light valve of the multiview display. The multiview display includes an array of light valves configured to modulate emitted light output by the multiview backlight to provide a displayed image. A spacing between effective emitters may be an integer multiple of a spacing between light valves of the multiview display.

Description

Active emitter multi-view backlight with light-transmitting hole mask, display and method

The present invention relates to an active emitter multi-vision backlight, a display and a method, and in particular to an active emitter multi-vision backlight with a light-transmitting hole mask, a display and a method.

Electronic displays are an almost ubiquitous medium for conveying information to users of a wide variety of devices and products. The most commonly used electronic displays include cathode ray tubes (CRTs), plasma display panels (PDPs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electroluminescent displays (ELs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and active matrix OLEDs (AMOLEDs) displays, electrophoretic displays (EPs), and various displays that employ electromechanical or electrofluidic light modulation (e.g., digital micromirror devices, electrowetting displays, etc.). Generally speaking, electronic displays can be classified as either active displays (i.e., displays that emit light) or passive displays (i.e., displays that modulate light provided by another light source). In the category of active displays, the most obvious examples are CRTs, PDPs, and OLEDs/AMOLEDs. In the case of the above classification based on emitted light, LCD displays and EP displays are generally classified as passive displays. Although passive displays often exhibit attractive performance characteristics including but not limited to inherent low power consumption, their lack of ability to emit light may limit their use in many practical applications.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a multi-vision backlight comprising: an active emitter array disposed across a substrate and configured to emit light; and an aperture mask comprising a plurality of apertures spaced apart at a spacing corresponding to a spacing between a plurality of multi-vision pixels of a multi-vision display, each of the apertures of the aperture mask being aligned with one of the active emitter arrays. The active emitter array is aligned with a corresponding active emitter and is configured to limit the light emitted by the corresponding active emitter in the active emitter array, so as to define an effective emitter at the light-transmitting hole, the size of the effective emitter is between one-fourth and two times the size of a light valve of the multi-video display, wherein the light emitted by the effective emitter includes a plurality of directional light beams, and the plurality of directional light beams have directions corresponding to the video directions of the multi-video display.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the multi-video backlight, an active emitter in the active emitter array comprises a mini light emitting diode (miniLED).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the multi-vision backlight, the size of the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask is smaller than the size of the corresponding active emitter in the active emitter array.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the multi-image backlight, the light-transmitting hole mask comprises a layer of light-blocking material configured to block light other than the light within the boundary of the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the multi-image backlight, the light blocking material includes a light absorber, and the light-transmitting hole mask is an absorption-type light-transmitting hole mask.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the multi-image backlight, the light blocking material includes a reflective light blocking material, and the light-transmitting hole mask is a reflective light-transmitting hole mask.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the multi-image backlight, the active emitters in the active emitter array are arranged in multiple parallel rows across the substrate, and the size of the effective emitter provided by the light-transmitting holes of the light-transmitting hole mask is in a width direction across the multiple parallel rows.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the multi-image backlight, the light-transmitting holes or the light-transmitting hole mask includes grooves extending in a direction along the multiple parallel rows.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-vision backlight further comprises: a plurality of active emitters disposed between the active emitters in the active emitter array, wherein the active emitters in the active emitter array are configured to provide emitted light during a multi-vision mode of the multi-vision backlight, and the active emitters in both the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters are configured to provide emitted light during a two-dimensional (2D) mode of the multi-vision backlight.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the multi-vision backlight, adjacent active emitters among the plurality of active emitters are spaced apart from each other by a distance corresponding to a spacing of light valves of the multi-vision display.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-image backlight further includes: a diffuser configured to diffuse the light emitted by the active emitters, the diffuser being disposed within the light-transmitting hole mask, between the light-transmitting hole mask and the active emitter array, and at one of an output of the light-transmitting hole mask.

In another aspect of the present invention, a multi-video display including the multi-video backlight is provided, the multi-video display further including a light valve array, the light valves in the light valve array being configured to modulate the directional light beams of the plurality of directional light beams from the effective emitter to provide a multi-video image.

In another aspect of the present invention, a multi-video display is provided, comprising: an effective emitter array, each effective emitter in the effective emitter array comprising an active emitter and a light-transmitting hole mask having a light-transmitting hole, the light-transmitting hole being configured to define the size of the effective emitter by limiting the light emitted by the active emitter; and a light valve array, configured to modulate the light emitted by the effective emitter array and provide a multi-video image, wherein the light-transmitting hole defines the size of the effective emitter to be between one quarter and two times the size of a light valve in the light valve array, wherein the light emitted by each effective emitter in the effective emitter array comprises directional light beams having directions corresponding to the video of the multi-video image.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-video display further comprises: an active emitter set distributed among the effective emitters in the effective emitter array, and a display image of the multi-video display provided by modulating an emitted light provided by a combination of the effective emitter array and the active emitter set distributed among the effective emitters in the effective emitter array is a two-dimensional (2D) image.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the multi-video display, the active emitters in the active emitter set are separated from each other by a distance corresponding to a light valve distance, and are separated from adjacent active emitters in the active emitter array by the distance.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the multi-video display, the effective emitters in the effective emitter array are arranged in multiple parallel rows, the light-transmitting hole includes grooves aligned with and along the multiple parallel rows, and the size of the effective emitters defined by the light-transmitting hole is in a width direction across the multiple parallel rows.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the multi-video display, the active emitter in the effective emitter array includes a mini light emitting diode (miniLED) having a size larger than the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the multi-video display, the effective emitter further includes a diffuser configured to diffuse the light emitted by the active emitter, and the diffuser is arranged in the light-transmitting hole, between the light-transmitting hole and the active emitter, and at one of the outputs of the light-transmitting hole.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for operating a multi-vision backlight is provided, the method comprising: using an array of active emitters disposed across a planar substrate to emit light; using a light-transmitting hole mask having a light-transmitting hole aligned with each active emitter to limit the emitted light from each active emitter in the array of active emitters, thereby defining an effective emitter corresponding to each active emitter; and emitting the emitted light from the effective emitter, wherein the active emitters in the array of active emitters are spaced apart from each other at a spacing corresponding to a spacing between multi-vision pixels of a multi-vision display, and the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask provides the effective emitter with a size between one-quarter and two times the size of a light valve of the multi-vision display.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the operating method of the multi-image backlight, the active emitters in the active emitter array are arranged in multiple parallel rows across the planar substrate, and the size of an effective emitter provided by the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask is in a width direction across the multiple parallel rows.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method for operating the multi-video backlight further includes: using a plurality of active emitters disposed between the active emitters in the active emitter array to emit light.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, regarding the operating method of the multi-vision backlight, the active emitters in the active emitter array emit light during a multi-vision mode of the multi-vision backlight, and the active emitters of both the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters arranged between the active emitters in the active emitter array emit light during a two-dimensional (2D) mode of the multi-vision backlight.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for operating a multi-video display is provided, including the method for operating the multi-video backlight, the method for operating the multi-video display further comprising: modulating the emitted light from each of the effective emitters to provide a multi-video image, the multi-video image having different videos in a plurality of different video directions, the emitted light comprising a plurality of directional light beams having directions corresponding to the video directions of the multi-video image.

According to examples and embodiments of the principles described in the present invention, the present invention provides a multi-vision backlight and a multi-vision display using the multi-vision backlight, which adopts a light-transmitting hole mask with light-transmitting holes to selectively control or limit the light emitted by the active emitter array. Specifically, an embodiment consistent with the principles described in the present invention provides a multi-vision backlight, which adopts an active emitter array and a light-transmitting hole mask with light-transmitting holes, which is configured to limit the light emitted from the corresponding active emitters in the active emitter array. The holes of the light-transmitting hole mask are configured to limit the size of the effective emitter represented by the light passing through the light-transmitting holes. Therefore, the effective emitter provided by the light-transmitting holes of the light-transmitting hole mask has a predetermined size and provides a plurality of directional light beams. According to various embodiments, different main angular directions of the directional light beam provided by the effective emitter correspond to the directions of different respective videos of the multi-video display (or equivalently the multi-video images displayed by the multi-video display).

According to various embodiments, the predetermined size provided by the size of the light-transmitting aperture can be selected based on the actual size of the active emitter and the distance between the active emitter and the location of the effective emitter. In addition, in some embodiments, the selective activation of the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters disposed between the active emitter arrays can cause the reconfiguration of the multi-vision backlight to provide a directional beam associated with a multi-vision display or emitted light consistent with a two-dimensional (2D) display. Therefore, a multi-vision display using a multi-vision backlight can switch between a multi-vision mode and a 2D mode by selectively activating the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters disposed between the active emitters of the active emitter array.

As used herein, a "two-dimensional display" or "2D display" is defined as a display configured to provide a view of an image that is substantially the same regardless of the direction from which the image is viewed (i.e., within a predetermined viewing angle or within a predetermined range of the 2D display). Conventional liquid crystal displays (LCDs) found in many smart phones and computer screens are examples of 2D displays. In contrast, a "multiview display" is defined as an electronic display or display system configured to provide different views of a multiview image in or from different view directions. Specifically, the different views may represent different stereoscopic views of a scene or object in the multiview image. Suitable uses for the multi-video backlights and multi-video displays for displaying multi-video images as described herein include, but are not limited to, applications and devices for mobile phones (e.g., smart phones), watches, tablet computers, mobile computers (e.g., laptops), personal computers and computer monitors, automobile display consoles, camera displays, and various other mobile displays and essentially non-mobile displays.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a multi-view display 10 in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1A , the multi-view display 10 includes a screen 12 configured to display a multi-view image to be viewed. For example, the screen 12 may be a computer display of a phone (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, etc.), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a camera display, or a display screen of an electronic display of substantially any other device.

The multi-view display 10 provides different videos 14 of the multi-view image in different video directions 16 relative to the screen 12. The video directions 16 extend from the screen 12 in various main angular directions as indicated by arrows; the different videos 14 are displayed as darker multiple polygonal boxes at the end of the arrows (i.e., arrows representing the video directions 16); and only four videos 14 and four video directions 16 are shown, which are all examples and not limitations. It should be noted that although the different videos 14 are shown as being above the screen in FIG. 1A, when the multi-view image is displayed on the multi-view display 10, the videos 14 actually appear on or near the screen 12. The videos 14 are depicted above the screen 12 only for simplicity of illustration and are intended to represent the multi-view display 10 as viewed from a corresponding viewing direction 16 corresponding to the particular video 14. A 2D display may be substantially similar to the multi-view display 10, except that a 2D display is typically configured to provide a single view of the displayed image (e.g., a view similar to the video 14), whereas the multi-view display 10 provides multiple different views 14 of a multi-view image.

According to the definition of the present invention, a view direction or equivalently a light beam having a direction corresponding to the view direction of a multi-view display generally has a main angular direction given by the angle components {θ, ϕ}. The angle component θ is referred to as the "elevation component" or "elevation angle" of the light beam in the present invention. The angle component ϕ is referred to as the "azimuth component" or "azimuth angle" of the light beam. According to the definition, the elevation angle θ is an angle in a vertical plane (e.g., a plane perpendicular to the multi-view display screen), and the azimuth angle ϕ is an angle in a horizontal plane (e.g., a plane parallel to the multi-view display screen).

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram showing angular components {θ, ϕ} of a light beam 20 having a particular primary angular direction corresponding to a viewing direction of a multi-view display (e.g., viewing direction 16 in FIG. 1A ) in accordance with an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention. Furthermore, the light beam 20 is defined as emanating or emanating from a particular point in accordance with the present invention. That is, the light beam 20 is defined as having a central ray associated with a particular origin within the multi-view display. FIG. 1B further shows the light beam (or viewing direction) at origin O.

The term "multiview" used in the terms "multi-view image" and "multi-view display" is defined as a plurality of views, which represent different stereoscopic images or include angular disparity between the views among the plurality of views. In addition, according to the definition of the present invention, the term "multi-view" in the present invention explicitly includes two or more different views (for example, at least three views and usually more than three views). In some embodiments, the "multi-view display" used in the present invention can be clearly distinguished from a stereo display that only includes two different views representing a scene or image. It should be noted, however, that although multi-view images and multi-view displays may include more than two views, according to the definition of the present invention, the multi-view images can be viewed as a stereoscopic pair of images (e.g., viewed on a multi-view display) by selecting to view only two of the multi-view images simultaneously (e.g., one view for each eye).

In the present invention, "multi-video pixels" are defined as a collection of video pixels that represent pixels of each of a plurality of similar different videos in a multi-video display. Specifically, the multi-video pixels may have individual video pixels that correspond to or represent specific video pixels in each different video of the multi-video image. In addition, according to the definition of the present invention, the video pixels of the multi-video pixels are so-called "directional pixels", wherein each video pixel is associated with a predetermined video direction of a corresponding one of the different videos. In addition, according to various examples and embodiments, different video pixels of the multi-video pixels may have the same or at least substantially similar positions or coordinates in each different video. For example, a first multi-view pixel may have a single video pixel corresponding to a pixel at {x ₁ , y ₁ } in each different video of the multi-view image, and a second multi-view pixel may have a single video pixel corresponding to a pixel at {x ₂ , y ₂ } in each different video, and so on. According to the definition of the present invention, a video pixel is equivalent to a light valve in a light valve array of a multi-view display. Therefore, unless necessary for correct understanding, the terms "video pixel" and "light valve" can be used interchangeably.

In the present invention, an "active emitter" is defined as an active light source (e.g., an optical emitter configured to generate light and emit light when activated). Therefore, by definition, an active emitter does not receive light from another light source. In contrast, an active emitter directly generates light when activated. According to the definition of the present invention, an active emitter can be activated by applying a power source (e.g., a voltage or a current). For example, an active emitter can include an optical emitter (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED)) that emits light when activated or turned on. For example, an LED can be activated by applying a voltage to the terminals of the LED. Specifically, in the present invention, the light source can be substantially any active light source or include substantially any active optical emitter, including but not limited to one or more of a light emitting diode (LED), a laser, an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a polymer light emitting diode, a plasma-based optical emitter, a mini light emitting diode (mLED), and a micro light emitting diode (μLED). The light generated by the active emitter can have a color (i.e., can include light of a specific wavelength), or can have a plurality of ranges of wavelengths (e.g., polychromatic light or white light). For example, the different colors of light provided or generated by the active emitter can include but are not limited to primary colors (e.g., red, green, blue). According to the definition of the present invention, a "color emitter" is an active emitter that provides light with a color. In some embodiments, the active emitter may include a plurality of active emitters. For example, the active emitter may include a set or group of active emitters. In some embodiments, at least one active emitter in the set or group of active emitters may generate light having a color or equivalent wavelength that is different from the color or wavelength of light generated by at least one other optical emitter in the plurality of optical emitters.

Furthermore, according to the definition of the present invention, the term "wide angle" in "wide-angle emitted light" is defined as light having a cone angle that is greater than the cone angle of the multi-vision image or the video of the multi-vision display. Specifically, in some embodiments, the wide-angle emitted light may have a cone angle greater than about sixty degrees (60°). In other embodiments, the cone angle of the wide-angle emitted light may be greater than about fifty degrees (50°), or greater than about forty degrees (40°). For example, the cone angle of the wide-angle emitted light may be about one hundred and twenty degrees (120°). In addition, the wide-angle emitted light may have an angle range greater than positive and negative forty-five degrees (e.g., >±45°) relative to the normal direction of the display. In other embodiments, the angular range of the wide-angle emitted light may be greater than positive or negative fifty degrees (e.g., >±50°), or greater than positive or negative sixty degrees (e.g., >±60°), or greater than positive or negative sixty-five degrees (e.g., >±65°). For example, the angular range of the wide-angle emitted light may be greater than approximately seventy degrees (e.g., >±70°) on either side of the normal direction of the display. According to the present invention, a "wide-angle backlight" is a backlight configured to provide wide-angle emitted light.

In some embodiments, the light cone angle of the wide-angle emission can be defined as being approximately the same as the viewing angle of an LCD computer screen, LCD flat-panel computer, LCD television, or similar digital display device for wide-angle viewing (e.g., approximately ±40°-65°). In other embodiments, the wide-angle emitted light can also be characterized or described as diffuse light, substantially diffuse light, non-directional light (i.e., lacking any particular or defined directionality), or light having a single or substantially uniform direction.

In addition, as used in the present invention, the articles "a" and "an" are intended to have their ordinary meanings in the patent art, that is, "one or more." For example, "an active transmitter" refers to one or more active transmitters, and thus "the active transmitter" refers to "the active transmitter(s)" in the present invention. In addition, any "top," "bottom," "up," "down," "upward," "downward," "front," "back," "first," "second," "left," or "right" described in the present invention are not intended to be limiting. In the present invention, when the word "about" is applied to a numerical value, unless otherwise expressly stated, it means that the numerical value is generally within the tolerance range of the equipment that produces the numerical value, or it can represent plus or minus 10% or plus or minus 5% or plus or minus 1%. In addition, the term "substantially" used in the present invention refers to a majority, or nearly all, or all, or a quantity in the range of about 51% to about 100%. Furthermore, the examples of the present invention are only illustrative examples, and the purpose of presenting the examples is for discussion rather than limitation.

According to some embodiments of the principles described in the present invention, the present invention provides a multi-vision backlight. Fig. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a multi-vision backlight 100 in a display example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described in the present invention. Fig. 2B is a plan view of a multi-vision backlight 100 in a display example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described in the present invention. Fig. 2C is a plan view of a multi-vision backlight 100 in a display example according to another embodiment consistent with the principles described in the present invention. According to various embodiments, the multi-vision backlight 100 is configured to emit or provide a directional light beam 102 having a direction corresponding to a video direction of a multi-vision display using the multi-vision backlight 100 (or equivalently, a video direction of a multi-vision image displayed by the multi-vision display). Specifically, in some embodiments, the directional light beam 102 can be or represent a light field. The cross-sectional view of FIG. 2A also shows an array of shutters 104 that may be part of a multi-view display employing the multi-view backlight 100, by way of example and not limitation.

The multi-vision backlight 100 shown in Figures 2A to 2C includes an array of active emitters 110 disposed on a substrate 101. The active emitters 110 are configured to provide emitted light 102'. In some embodiments (as shown in the figures), the substrate 101 can be a planar substrate. According to various embodiments, the active emitters 110 in the array of active emitters 110 are spaced apart from each other on the substrate 101. Specifically, the active emitters 110 in the array of active emitters can be spaced apart, and their spacing corresponds to the spacing between multi-vision pixels of a multi-vision display adopting the multi-vision backlight 100 or the spacing between sets of light valves in an array of light valves representing multi-vision pixels, as described in more detail below. For example, FIG. 2A shows a spacing d between adjacent active emitters 110 , which corresponds to a spacing D between multiple video pixels 106 (or equivalently, a set of shutters 104 in an array of shutters 104 ).

In some embodiments, the active emitters 110 may be arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) array (e.g., a rectangular array) having columns and rows. For example, FIG. 2B shows an array of active emitters arranged in a two-dimensional array, wherein the active emitters 110 are disposed on a planar substrate as a rectangular array of spaced active emitters 110. FIG. 2B also shows a spacing d between active emitters 110, which corresponds to a spacing of multi-view pixels 106. In some embodiments, the active emitter spacing and the multi-view pixel spacing may be in each of two orthogonal directions of the two-dimensional array, for example, as shown in FIG. 2B.

In another example, as shown in FIG. 2C , the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array may be arranged in a plurality of parallel rows distributed over the entire substrate 101. As shown in FIG. 2C , when arranged in parallel rows, the spacing d may be between adjacent rows. In some embodiments (e.g., as shown in FIG. 2C ), the rows may be “oblique rows,” that is, rows oblique to one or both of the edges of the substrate 101 or to the arrangement of the light valves (not shown in FIG. 2C ) in the light valve array. In other embodiments (not shown in the figure), the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array may be arranged in one dimension (1D), such as in a linear array.

As shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C , the multi-vision backlight 100 further includes a light-transmitting aperture mask 120. The light-transmitting aperture mask 120 includes a plurality of light-transmitting apertures 122 spaced apart from one another by distances or spacings corresponding to the spacings between sets of multi-vision pixels 106 of a multi-vision display or equivalently, light valves 104 representing multi-vision pixels 106. According to various embodiments, each light-transmitting aperture 122 of the light-transmitting aperture mask 120 is aligned with light emitted by a corresponding active emitter 110 in the active emitter array and is configured to limit light emitted by a corresponding active emitter 110 in the active emitter array to define an effective emitter 110' at the light-transmitting aperture 122. In FIG. 2A , the effective emitter 110' is shown as a dotted line across the light-transmitting aperture 122. According to various embodiments, the effective emitter 110' (and the light-transmitting hole 122) has a size s between one quarter and two times the size S of the light valve 104 of the multi-vision display. For example, the size s of the light-transmitting hole 122 and the effective emitter 110' can be about 50 micrometers (μm). According to various embodiments, the light emitted by the effective emitter 110' at the light-transmitting hole 122 includes a plurality of directional light beams 102, whose directions correspond to the video directions of the multi-vision display.

Specifically, the light-transmitting hole 122 is configured to provide an effective emitter 110' from or using the emitted light 102' provided by the corresponding active emitter 110 in the array of active emitters 110. That is, the light-transmitting hole 122 is configured to receive the emitted light 102' and limit the range of the emitted light 102' passing through the light-transmitting hole 122 to provide light in or as the form of an effective emitter 110'. Subsequently, the effective emitter 110' provided by the light-transmitting hole 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120 is configured to provide light or emit light that simulates the light emitted by the active emitter having the size of each effective emitter 110'. For example, the effective emitter 110' can be disposed on or near the surface of the light-transmitting hole mask 120. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2A , according to various embodiments, each effective emitter 110′ on the surface of the light-transmitting hole mask is configured to emit light including a directional light beam 102 whose direction corresponds to the video direction of the multi-video display using the multi-video backlight 100.

As described above, the light-transmitting holes 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120 are each configured to provide an effective emitter 110' having a predetermined size. Specifically, as described above, the light-transmitting holes 122 are configured to limit the appearance area of the corresponding active emitter 110 in the array of active emitters 110 so that the effective emitter 110' has a predetermined size between one-quarter and two times the size of the light valve 104. In an embodiment where the active emitters 110 are arranged in parallel rows, the predetermined size of the effective emitter 110' provided by the light-transmitting holes 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120 is in a width direction across the parallel rows. For example, as shown in FIG. 2C , the predetermined size may be in the X direction, where the parallel rows are substantially in the Y direction. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG2C , the light-transmitting holes 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120 can be configured to provide another size of the effective emitters 110′ along the length of the multiple rows, which is equivalent to the spacing between the active emitters 110 along the length of the multiple rows. In some embodiments, the size of the light-transmitting holes 122 in the plurality of light-transmitting holes 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120 is smaller than the size of the corresponding active emitter 110 in the active emitter array, such as shown in FIG2A .

In some embodiments, the light-transmitting hole 122 may have a two-dimensional (2D) shape. For example, the shape of the light-transmitting hole 122 may be a square or a rectangle. For example, FIG. 2B shows a square light-transmitting hole 122. In an embodiment where the active emitters 110 are arranged in parallel rows, the light-transmitting hole 122 may include a groove extending in a direction along the parallel rows. FIG. 2C shows the light-transmitting hole 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120, which includes a groove, for example.

According to some embodiments, the light-transmitting hole mask 120 may include a material sheet or material layer having a light-transmitting hole 122, wherein the hole 122 is formed in the layer and penetrates the layer. For example, the material layer may be a continuous layer. FIG. 2A shows the light-transmitting hole mask 120 as a continuous material layer by way of example and not limitation. In some embodiments, the light-transmitting hole mask 120 may include a light-blocking material layer configured to block light outside the boundaries of the light-transmitting hole 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120. In some embodiments, the light-blocking material may include a light absorber so that the light-transmitting hole mask 120 is an absorptive light-transmitting hole mask. In other embodiments, the light blocking material may include a reflective light blocking material (i.e., a reflector), and the aperture mask 120 may be a reflective aperture mask 120 configured to reflect light that does not pass through the aperture 122. The reflective aperture mask 120 may increase the brightness of the multi-vision backlight by effectively recycling light removed by the aperture 122. In other embodiments, the aperture mask 120 may be absorptive and reflective, e.g., partially absorptive and partially reflective.

In other embodiments, the aperture mask 120 may include a plurality of discrete segments or sections having the aperture 122 formed therein. In some embodiments, the plurality of discrete segments or sections may be aligned in a layer to provide the aperture mask 120, for example. Specifically, there may be a discrete segment or section of the aperture mask 120 corresponding to each active emitter 110 in the active emitter array, the discrete segment or section providing the aperture 122 aligned with the corresponding active emitter 110. Other areas between the discrete segments or sections may be light transmissive. That is, the light blocking material of the aperture mask 120 in these embodiments may not be present or at least substantially present in the areas between the discrete segments or sections. Thus, in these embodiments, the regions between discrete segments or sections can be configured to allow light to pass without substantial restriction. In some embodiments, the segments or sections can include light blocking materials as described above, including light absorbers or reflective light blocking materials.

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a multi-view backlight 100 in another example, according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein. FIG. 3B is a plan view of a multi-view backlight 100 in another example, according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein. As shown in FIGS. 3A-3B , the multi-view backlight 100 includes an array of active emitters and an aperture mask 120. In addition, the aperture mask 120 shown in FIGS. 3A-3B includes discrete segments or portions of light blocking material that are aligned with the active emitters 110 of the array of active emitters, i.e., as opposed to a continuous or substantially continuous light blocking layer, as shown in FIGS. 2A-2C . 3A-3B also show an array of shutters 104 , for example, shutters 104 shown as part of a multi-video display employing the multi-video backlight 100 .

3A to 3B , in some embodiments, the multi-vision backlight 100 may further include a plurality of active emitters 130 disposed between the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array. Like the active emitter array, the active emitters 130 of the plurality of active emitters 130 are also configured to emit light as the emitted light. According to some embodiments, the emitted light provided by the active emitter array and the emitted light provided by the plurality of active emitters 130 in combination may be or represent wide-angle light. In some embodiments, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A , the plurality of active emitters 130 may be disposed on the substrate 101 between the active emitters 110 of the active emitter array.

In some embodiments, active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 are disposed approximately halfway between active emitters 110 in the array of active emitters. In other embodiments, the spacing between active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 and the spacing between active emitters 130 and active emitters 110 in the array of active emitters are integer multiples of the spacing of light valves in the array of light valves of the multi-video display, such as light valves 104. For example, active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 may be spaced apart from each other and from active emitters 110 in the array of active emitters by a distance equal to the spacing or pitch between light valves 104 in the array of light valves 104. When the active emitters 110 and the active emitters 130 in the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters 130 are arranged in a plurality of rows, the plurality of rows of the plurality of active emitters 130 are disposed between the plurality of rows of the active emitter array and may alternate therewith. In various embodiments, the plurality of rows of the active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 may have different spacings, such as but not limited to, half of the spacing between the plurality of rows of the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array and the spacing corresponding to the light valve spacing.

3A shows an active transmitter 130a in the plurality of active transmitters 130 located approximately halfway between the active transmitters 110 in the array of active transmitters. FIG3A also shows that the active transmitters 130 in the plurality of active transmitters 130 have a pitch or spacing that corresponds to the pitch or spacing of the light valves 104 in the array of light valves 104, which is an example and not a limitation.

FIG3B shows that the active emitters 130 in the array of the plurality of active emitters 130 are disposed between the active emitters 110 in the array of active emitters in both the column direction and the row direction on the substrate 101. In FIG3B, some of the active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 are disposed between the active emitters 110 in the array of active emitters along both the columns and the rows of the array of active emitters, as shown. In addition, FIG3B shows additional active emitters 130 of the plurality of active emitters 130 distributed on the substrate 101, for example, so that the combined active emitters 110, 130 have a pitch corresponding to the pitch of the light valves (at least in the X direction as shown). It should be noted that, although not explicitly shown, the active emitters 110 may be arranged in multiple rows, and the aperture mask 120 comprising segments or sections of light blocking material may include apertures 122 that are or form grooves that span the segments or sections aligned with the active emitters 110, such as the grooves shown in FIG. 2C .

It should be noted that, although not explicitly shown in the figure, the active emitters 110 and 130 may be arranged in a plurality of rows, wherein the active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 in the substrate 101 are disposed between the plurality of rows of active emitters 110 in the active emitter array, for example, as shown in FIG. 2C . In addition, as also shown in FIG. 2C , the plurality of rows of active emitters 110 and 130 are diagonal columns. In addition, as with the active emitters 130 in FIG. 3B , the active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 may have a pitch corresponding to the pitch of the light valves. In some embodiments, when both active emitters 110 and active emitters 130 in the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters 130 are activated to emit light, the active emitters 110 and active emitters 130 having a spacing corresponding to the spacing of the light valves can provide a substantially uniform illumination source. Furthermore, when the active emitters 110 and active emitters 130 are arranged in a plurality of rows, the light-transmitting holes 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120 can be slots.

According to some embodiments, active emitters 110 in the active emitter array are configured to provide emitted light during a first mode or "multi-view" mode of the multi-view backlight 100. Specifically, during the multi-view mode, active emitters 110 are activated or turned on and emit light as shown by the diagonal shading, while active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130, if present, are deactivated or turned off and do not emit light. Thus, the effective emitters 110' provided by light emitted from the active emitter array by the aperture mask 120 provide a directional light beam 102 during the multi-view mode, for example, modulated by the shutter 104 into a multi-view image.

In some embodiments, during a second mode or "two-dimensional (2D)" mode of the multi-vision backlight 100, the active emitters 110, active emitters 130 of both the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters 130 are configured to provide emitted light as combined emitted light 108. Specifically, during the 2D mode, both the active emitters 110 and active emitters 130 are activated and emit light. As shown in FIGS. 3A-3B using diagonal shading, the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array and the active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters are activated and provide combined emitted light 108 during the 2D mode. The emitted light provided by the active emitter 110 can pass through the light-transmitting aperture 122 of the light-transmitting aperture mask 120, and the emitted light from the active emitter 130 can pass through the light-transmitting areas between the interval segments or segments of the light-transmitting aperture mask 120 to provide the combined emitted light 108. Therefore, according to various embodiments, during the 2D mode, the combined emitted light 108 can be modulated by the shutters 104 in the shutter array 104 to provide a 2D image. In general, compared to the directional light beam 102, the combined emitted light 108 is non-directional.

As described above, both FIG. 2A and FIG. 3A show an array of shutters 104 and multi-vision pixels 106 for ease of discussion. For example, the displayed shutter array may be part of a multi-vision display employing a multi-vision backlight 100. As shown, the shutters 104 in the array of shutters 104 are configured to modulate directional light beams 102, for example, as shown in FIG. 2A. In addition, as shown, different directional light beams 102 in the directional light beams 102 having different primary angular directions pass through different shutters 104 in the array of shutters 104 and may be modulated by them. When activated in a combined manner, such as in a 2D mode of the multi-vision backlight 100, the shutters 104 are also configured to modulate the combined emitted light 108 shown in FIG. 3A provided by the active emitters 110 and the active emitters 130.

According to the definition of the present invention, the light valves 104 in the array of light valves 104 can correspond to the video pixels of the multi-video display, and the sets of light valves 104 or the sets of video pixels can correspond to the multi-video pixels 106. Specifically, different sets of light valves 104 in the array of light valves 104 can be configured to receive and modulate the directional light beams 102 from different active emitters 110 in the array of active emitters. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 2A, relative to the active emitter 110, each active emitter 110 can have a single set of light valves 104 (or multi-video pixels 106). In various embodiments, different types of light valves may be used as the light valve 104 in the array of light valves 104, including but not limited to, one or more of a liquid crystal light valve, an electrophoretic light valve, and a plurality of light valves based on electroresorption.

In addition, in FIG. 2A , the size S of the light valve 104 may correspond to the light-transmitting aperture size of the light valve 104 in the array of light valves 104, as shown. In other examples, the light valve size may be defined as the distance between adjacent light valves 104 in the array of light valves 104 (e.g., the center-to-center distance). For example, the aperture of the light valve 104 may be smaller than the center-to-center distance between multiple light valves 104 in the array of light valves 104. Therefore, in other definitions, the light valve size may be defined as the size of the light valve 104 or the size corresponding to the center-to-center distance between multiple light valves 104. In addition, in FIG. 2A , the size s of the effective emitter 110 ′ provided by the light-transmitting hole 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120 for emitting light from the active emitter array is shown to be equal to the size S of the light valve.

In some embodiments (as shown in FIG. 2A ), the inter-emission distance (e.g., center-to-center distance) between a pair of adjacent active emitters 110 is approximately equal to the inter-pixel distance (e.g., center-to-center distance) between a corresponding pair of adjacent multi-vision pixels 106, such as represented by a light valve set. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A , the center-to-center distance d between an active emitter 110 a in the active emitter array and another active emitter 110 b in the active emitter array is substantially equal to the center-to-center distance D between the first light valve set 104 a and the second light valve set 104 b, wherein each light valve set 104 a, light valve set 104 b represents a multi-vision pixel 106. In another embodiment (not shown), the relative center-to-center distances of the paired columns of active emitters 110a, 110b and the corresponding light valve sets 104a, 104b may be different, for example, the paired rows of active emitters 110a, 110b may have an inter-element spacing (i.e., center-to-center distance d) that is greater or less than the spacing between light valve sets representing the multi-vision pixels 106 (i.e., center-to-center distance D). In addition, when multiple rows of active emitters 110 are used, the multi-vision image provided by the multi-vision display using the multi-vision backlight 100 may be a so-called "pure horizontal parallax" (HPO) multi-vision image, which has multiple videos in one direction (i.e., in a direction perpendicular to or intersecting the multiple rows).

According to some embodiments, the active emitter array and one or both of the active emitters 110 and 130 of the plurality of active emitters 130 may include a mini light emitting diode (OLED). Among them, a mini LED is defined as a light emitting diode having a size less than about 1.0 millimeter (mm). For example, the size of a mini LED may be in the range of about 75 micrometers (μm) to about 500 μm or about 100 μm to about 300 μm. In contrast, a micro-LED (μLED) may be defined as a microscopic light emitting diode (LED) having a microscopic size less than 100 μm. For example, a μLED may have a size of about 10-50 μm. In some embodiments, a mini-LED may include a plurality of mini-LEDs or μLEDs, which when combined together operate as a unit and serve as an active emitter 110 and an active emitter 130.

In some embodiments, the micro-LED may include a plurality of different regions (or equivalently a plurality of micro-LEDs or μLEDs), each of which is configured to provide a different light color. For example, the mini-LED may include three regions: a first region configured to provide red light, a second region configured to provide green light, and a third region configured to provide blue light. Thus, the mini-LED may be configured to selectively provide red light, green light, or blue light, or any combination thereof (e.g., white light).

According to some embodiments, the active emitter array and one or both of the active emitters 110, 130 of the plurality of active emitters 130 may include an organic light emitting diode (OLED). As defined herein, an OLED is an emitter having a light emitting electroluminescent film (or layer), which contains organic compounds configured to emit light in response to an electric current or similar electrical stimulus. Like a mini-LED, an OLED may include a plurality of OLEDs that, when combined, operate together as a unit and serve as an active emitter 110, 130. In addition, in some embodiments, an OLED may include a plurality of different regions, each of which is configured to provide a different light color. For example, an OLED may include three regions: a first region configured to provide red light, a second region configured to provide green light, and a third region configured to provide blue light. Therefore, the OLED as active emitter 110, active emitter 130 can be configured to provide red light, green light or blue light or any combination thereof (e.g., white light) by selecting. In other embodiments, another type of active optical emitter can be used as active emitter 110, such as but not limited to high-intensity LEDs and quantum dot LEDs.

In some embodiments, the active emitter 110, 130 may be configured to provide substantially monochromatic light having a specific color (i.e., the light may include light of a specific wavelength). In other embodiments, the active emitter 110, 130 may be configured to provide polychromatic light, such as, but not limited to, white light including a plurality of wavelengths or a range of wavelengths. For example, the active emitter 110, 130 may be configured to provide one or more of red light, green light, blue light, or a combination thereof. In another example, the active emitter 110 is configured to provide substantially white light (i.e., the active emitter 110, 130 may be a white LED or a white OLED). In some embodiments, the active emitters 110, 130 may include a combination of blue or ultraviolet (UV) emitters (e.g., LEDs or OLEDs) and phosphor elements aligned with each emitter. In another embodiment, a phosphor plate spanning multiple active emitters 110, 130 may be employed. In other embodiments, white light may be provided by active emitters 110, 130 that include a set of red, green, and blue LEDs that combine to provide white light.

In some embodiments, the active emitters 110, 130 may include a microlens, a diffraction grating, or another optical film or optical component configured to provide one or both of collimation (e.g., according to a collimation factor) and polarization control of the emitted light or equivalent directional light beam 102. The microlens, diffraction grating, or other optical film or component may also or alternatively be configured to control the direction of the directional light beam 102. Alternatively, for example, one or both of collimation and polarization control may be provided by an optical layer or film between the active emitter array and the light valve array.

According to some embodiments, the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array and the active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 can be independently controlled, activated or powered to provide local dimming and can switch between a directional light beam generated by the active emitter 100' using light emitted by the active emitter array and a wide angle light provided by the combination of the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array and the active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130. Specifically, in some embodiments, the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array can be configured to selectively activate the directional light beam 102 to provide, for example, during a multi-vision mode of a multi-vision backlight. Likewise, both the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array and the active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 can be configured to provide emitted light by selective activation, such as during a 2D mode of the multi-vision backlight 100. In some embodiments, the selective activation of the active emitters 110, 130 can be used in different regions or zones of the multi-vision backlight 100 to provide a 2D mode in a first region (e.g., a 2D region) or zone and simultaneously provide a multi-vision mode in a second region (multi-vision region) or zone.

Referring again to FIG. 2A and FIG. 3A , in some embodiments, the multi-view backlight 100 may further include a planar substrate, such as a substrate 101. Specifically, as described above, the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array and the active emitters 130 in the plurality of active emitters 130 may be disposed on the entire surface of the substrate 101 and spaced apart. The substrate 101 may further include an electrical interconnect to provide power to the active emitters 110 and the active emitters 130. In some embodiments, the substrate 101 is configured to be optically transparent or at least substantially optically transparent (i.e., it may be a planar transparent substrate). For example, the substrate 101 may include an optically transparent material that can transmit light from a first side to a second side of the substrate 101. In addition, in some embodiments, the electrical interconnect may be optically transparent. Additionally, in some embodiments, if there is a combination of an active transmitter array and a plurality of active transmitters 130, the substrate 101 (eg, and electrical interconnects) may be configured to be optically transparent.

In some embodiments, the multi-vision backlight 100 may further include a diffuser configured to diffuse light emitted by one or both of the active emitters 110 and the active emitters 130. In some embodiments, for example, the diffuser may be disposed in the light aperture 122 of the light aperture mask 120 or adjacent to the light aperture 122 of the light aperture mask 120. The diffuser disposed in the light aperture 122 or adjacent to the light aperture 122 may be used to diffuse the light of the effective emitter 110'. For example, diffusing the light of the effective emitter 110' may improve the intensity uniformity of the directional light beam 102. In another embodiment, the diffuser may include a diffuser layer extending across the range of the multi-vision backlight 100. In some embodiments, when present, a diffuser as a diffuser layer may be disposed between the aperture mask 120 and the active emitters 110 in the active emitter array and between the aperture mask 120 and the active emitters 130 of the plurality of active emitters 130. In other embodiments, the diffuser layer may be disposed at the output of the aperture mask 120 or at the output of an adjacent aperture mask 120. In these embodiments, the diffuser may be disposed to diffuse or even out the light emitted by the active emitters 110, 130. For example, the diffuser can improve both the intensity uniformity of the directional light beam 102 (e.g., during multi-view mode) and the intensity uniformity of the emitted light provided by the combined active emitters 110, 130 (e.g., during 2D mode). In addition to providing intensity uniformity through equalization, the diffuser can also help position the light-transmitting aperture mask 120 farther away from the active emitters 110, 130 without causing possible moiré effects.

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight 100 with a diffuser 140 in an example, according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein. FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight 100 with a diffuser 140 in another example, according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, a portion of the multi-view backlight 100 includes an active emitter 110 of an array of active emitters disposed on a portion of a substrate 101, a portion of a light-transmitting aperture mask 120, and a portion of an array of light valves 104, for example, as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C. The multi-view backlight 100 shown in FIGS. 4A to 4B further includes a diffuser 140. As shown in Fig. 4A, the diffuser 140 is disposed in the light-transmitting hole 122 of the light-transmitting hole mask 120, while Fig. 4B shows the diffuser 140 as a diffusion layer disposed between the active emitter 110 and the light-transmitting hole mask 120. In other embodiments (not shown in the figures), the diffuser 140 as a diffusion layer can be disposed between the light-transmitting hole mask 120 and the light valve array.

In some embodiments, the active emitter 110 is driven in a manner that ensures a fixed brightness or substantially fixed brightness of the light emitted during each of the multi-view mode and the 2D mode. For example, the active emitter 110 may be driven with a relatively higher drive current or voltage during the multi-view mode (or in the multi-view region) than the drive current or voltage used to drive the active emitter 110, the active emitter 130. The relatively higher drive current or voltage may be selected to provide a fixed brightness of the light emitted during each of the multi-view mode and the 2D mode.

According to some embodiments of the principles of the present invention, the present invention provides a multi-view display. According to various embodiments, the multi-view display is configured to display multiple video images. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a multi-view display 200 in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention.

As shown, the multi-view display 200 includes an array of effective emitters 210. Each effective emitter 210 in the array of effective emitters includes an active emitter 212 and a light-transmitting hole mask 214. According to various embodiments, the active emitter 212 is configured to emit light and can be disposed on a planar substrate of the multi-view display 200. The light-transmitting hole mask 214 has a light-transmitting hole configured to define the size of the effective emitter 210 by limiting the light emitted by the active emitter 212. That is, the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask 214 defines the size of the effective emitter 210 by limiting the range of light emitted by the active emitter 212 that passes through the light-transmitting hole, and thus becomes or functions as the effective emitter 210. According to some embodiments, the active emitter 212 of the active emitter 210 can be substantially similar to the active emitter 110 in the active emitter array described above with respect to the multi-vision backlight 100. For example, the active emitter 212 can include, but is not limited to, a mini light emitting diode (miniLED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), and another active optical emitter. In some embodiments, the miniLED, OLED, or other active optical emitter can have a larger size than the light aperture of the light aperture mask 214 of the active emitter 210. In some embodiments, the light aperture of the light aperture mask 214 can be substantially similar to the light aperture 122 of the light aperture mask 120 of the multi-vision backlight described above. Specifically, each active emitter 210 of the active emitter array is configured to use light emitted by the active emitter 212 and passing through a light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask 214 to provide the emitted light 202.

As shown in FIG5 , the multi-view display 200 further includes an array of light valves 220 configured to modulate the emitted light 202 from the array of effective emitters and provide a display image. Specifically, in some embodiments, when the light valve 220 modulates the directional light beam provided by the effective emitter 210, the displayed image can be a multi-view image. In some embodiments, the light valve 220 can be substantially similar to the light valve 104 described above. According to various embodiments, the size of the effective emitter 210 defined by the light aperture of the light aperture mask 214 is between one quarter and two times the size of the light valve 220 of the light valve array. In addition, the emitted light 202 provided by each effective emitter 210 of the array of effective emitters includes a directional light beam corresponding to the video of the multi-view image. In some embodiments, the spacing between the effective emitters 210 is an integer multiple of the spacing between the light valves 220 in the light valve array. Specifically, the effective emitter array may include effective emitters 210 spaced apart from each other by a distance corresponding to the spacing between multi-vision pixels of a multi-vision display. In these embodiments, the emitted light 202 including a plurality of directional light beams from each effective emitter 210 may be or represent a light field. Also in these embodiments, the display image provided by modulating the emitted light 202 from the effective emitters 210 may be a multi-vision image.

According to some embodiments, the multi-vision display 200 further includes a set of active emitters 230 distributed between active emitters 212 of the active emitters 210 of the active emitter array. In some embodiments, the display image of the multi-vision display 200 provided by modulating the light emitted by the combination of the active emitter array and the set of active emitters 230 distributed between the active emitters 210 of the active emitter array can be a two-dimensional (2D) image. In some embodiments, according to some embodiments, the active emitters 210 of the set of active emitters 230 can be spaced apart from each other and spaced apart from adjacent active emitters 210 of the active emitter array at a spacing corresponding to the light valve spacing. In some embodiments, as described above, the set of active emitters 230 can be substantially similar to the plurality of active emitters 130 of the multi-vision backlight.

Specifically, the active emitter 212 of the effective emitter 210 can be activated during the multi-view mode of the multi-view display 200. The multi-view mode is shown on the left side of FIG. 5, and the activated active emitter 212 is shown using oblique shading. During the multi-view mode, the multi-view display 200 can provide a multi-view image. Alternatively, the active emitter 212 of the effective emitter 210 and the active emitter 230 set dispersed between the effective emitters 210 of the effective emitter array can be activated during the two-dimensional (2D) mode of the multi-view display 200 to provide a 2D image. The 2D mode is shown on the right side of FIG. 5. The arrows with dashed lines in FIG. 5 show the modulated emitted light 202 (multi-view mode) and the modulated combined emitted light 202' (2D mode). 5 uses cross-hatching to show active emitters 210 being activated during multi-view mode and 2D mode and a set of active emitters 230 dispersed among active emitters 210 being activated during 2D mode but not during multi-view mode (ie, no diagonal shading).

According to some embodiments, the active emitters 210 in the active emitter array are arranged in a plurality of parallel rows (e.g., across a planar substrate). In these embodiments, the apertures of the aperture mask 214 may include grooves aligned with and along the plurality of rows. Additionally, in these embodiments, the size of the active emitters defined by the apertures of the aperture mask 214 may be in a width direction across the plurality of parallel rows. In some embodiments, the apertures of the aperture mask 214 may be configured to determine another size of the active emitters 210 along the length of the plurality of rows that is equivalent to the spacing between active emitters along the length of the plurality of rows.

According to some embodiments of the principles described herein, the present invention provides a method for operating a multi-vision backlight. FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method 300 for operating a multi-vision backlight in a display example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described herein. The method 300 for operating a multi-vision backlight shown in FIG. 6 includes emitting light (310) using an active emitter array disposed on a planar substrate. In some embodiments, the active emitter array can be substantially similar to the active emitter array described above with respect to the multi-vision backlight 100. For example, the active emitters in the active emitter array can be spaced apart at intervals corresponding to the spacing between multi-vision pixels of the multi-vision display.

The method 300 shown in FIG6 further includes using a light-transmitting hole mask having a light-transmitting hole aligned with each active emitter to define an effective emitter corresponding to each active emitter to limit the light (320) emitted from each active emitter of the array of active emitters. In some embodiments, the light-transmitting hole mask and the light-transmitting hole for limiting the emitted light (320) can be substantially similar to the light-transmitting hole mask 120 and the light-transmitting hole 122 described above with respect to the multi-vision backlight 100, respectively. Specifically, the light-transmitting hole mask and the light-transmitting hole can provide an effective emitter having a size between one-quarter and two times the size of a light valve of a multi-vision display by limiting the emitted light (320). In other embodiments, the effective emitter size can be between fifty percent and one hundred and fifty percent of the light valve size. In other embodiments, the effective emitter size can be comparable or even approximately the same as the shutter size.

In some embodiments, the active emitters of the active emitter array can be arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) array on a planar substrate. For example, the active emitters in the active emitter array can be arranged in a two-dimensional array having columns and rows of active emitters spaced apart as shown in FIG. 2B and described above. In other embodiments, the active emitters in the active emitter array are arranged in parallel rows across the planar substrate, for example, as shown in FIG. 2C and described above. In these embodiments, the size of the effective emitters provided by the light-transmitting holes of the light-transmitting hole mask is the size in the width direction across the parallel multiple rows. In some embodiments, the light-transmitting holes of the light-transmitting hole mask can provide another size of the effective emitters along the length of the multiple rows, which is equivalent to the spacing between the active emitters along the length of the multiple rows.

The method 300 of operating a multi-view backlight shown in FIG6 further includes emitting light (330) from the effective emitter. In some embodiments, the light (330) emitted by the effective emitter may include a plurality of directional light beams whose directions correspond to the viewing directions of the multi-view image (or equivalently, a multi-view display providing the multi-view image). For example, the plurality of directional light beams may be or represent a light field.

In some embodiments (not shown), the method of operating a multi-vision backlight further includes emitting light using a plurality of active emitters disposed between active emitters in an active emitter array. The plurality of active emitters may be substantially similar to the plurality of active emitters 130 of the multi-vision backlight 100 described above. Specifically, in some embodiments, the active emitters in the active emitter array may emit light during a multi-vision mode of the multi-vision backlight, and the active emitters of both the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters disposed between the active emitters in the active emitter array may emit light during a two-dimensional (2D) mode of the multi-vision backlight.

In some embodiments (not shown), a method for operating a multi-view display is provided. The method for operating a multi-view display includes a method 300 for operating a multi-view backlight. The method 300 for operating a multi-view display further includes modulating light emitted from each effective emitter of an active emitter array to provide a multi-view image having different views in a plurality of different view directions. According to various embodiments, the light emitted from each effective emitter may include a plurality of directional light beams whose directions correspond to the view directions of the multi-view display.

In some embodiments (not shown), the method 300 of operating the display further includes modulating the emitted light from the active emitters and the combination of light emitted from both the active emitters and the active emitters in the set of active emitters. For example, the modulation of the combined emitted light may be performed during a two-dimensional (2D) mode of the multi-vision display, while the modulation of only the light emitted by the active emitters may be performed during a multi-vision mode of the multi-vision display. According to various embodiments, modulating the combined emitted light may provide a two-dimensional image.

Thus, the present invention has described examples and embodiments of multi-vision backlights, multi-vision displays, and methods of operating multi-vision backlights that employ a light-transmitting aperture mask having light-transmitting apertures to provide an effective emitter using light emitted by an array of active emitters. It should be understood that the above examples are only some of many specific examples of the principles described in the present invention. Obviously, a person of ordinary skill in the art can easily design a variety of other configurations, but these configurations will not exceed the scope defined by the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

This invention application claims priority to International Patent Application No. PCT/US22/36609 filed on July 9, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

10: Multi-image display 12: Screen 14: Image 16: Image direction 20: Light beam 100: Multi-image backlight 101: Substrate 102: Directional light beam 102': Emitted light 104: Light valve 104a: First light valve set, light valve set 104b: Second light valve set, light valve set 106: Multi-image pixel 108: Combined emitted light 110: Active emitter 110': Effective emitter 110a: Active emitter 110b: Active emitter 120: Light-transmitting hole mask 122: Light-transmitting hole 130: Active emitter 130a: Active emitter 140: Diffuser 200: Multi-view display 202: Emitted light 202': Combined emitted light 210: Effective emitter 212: Active emitter 214: Light-transmitting hole mask 220: Light valve 230: Active emitter 300: Method 310: Step 320: Step 330: Step D: Center-to-center distance, spacing d: Center-to-center distance, spacing O: Origin S: Dimension s: Dimension θ: Angular component, elevation ϕ: Angular component, azimuth

Various features of examples and embodiments according to the principles described in the present invention may be more easily understood with reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the same element symbols represent the same structural elements, and wherein: FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a multi-vision display in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described in the present invention. FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of the angular components of a light beam having a specific primary angular direction corresponding to the video direction of the multi-vision display in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described in the present invention. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a multi-vision backlight in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described in the present invention. FIG. 2B is a plan view of a multi-vision backlight in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles described in the present invention. FIG. 2C is a plan view of a multi-vision backlight in an example according to another embodiment consistent with the principles described in the present invention. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a multi-vision backlight in another example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention. FIG. 3B is a plan view of a multi-vision backlight in another example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of a multi-vision backlight with a diffuser in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention. FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of a multi-vision backlight with a diffuser in another example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a multi-vision display in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an operation method of a multi-vision backlight in an example according to an embodiment consistent with the principles of the present invention. Certain examples and embodiments have other features in addition to or in place of the features shown in the above-mentioned reference drawings. These and other features will be described in detail below with reference to the above-mentioned reference drawings.

100: Multi-view backlight

101: Substrate

102: Directional beam

102’: Emitted light

104: Light valve

104a: First light valve assembly, light valve assembly

104b: Second light valve assembly, light valve assembly

106:Multiple video pixels

110: Active launcher

110’: effective transmitter

110a: Active launcher

110b: Active launcher

120: Light-transmitting hole mask

122: Light-transmitting hole

D: Center-to-center distance, spacing

d: Center-to-center distance, spacing

S: Size

s: size

Claims (23)

A multi-image backlight comprises: an active emitter array disposed across a substrate and configured to emit light; and a light-transmitting hole mask comprising a plurality of light-transmitting holes spaced apart at intervals corresponding to the intervals between a plurality of multi-image pixels of a multi-image display, each of the light-transmitting holes of the light-transmitting hole mask being aligned with a corresponding active emitter in the active emitter array and configured to limit the light emitted by the corresponding active emitter in the active emitter array, thereby defining an effective emitter at the light-transmitting hole, the size of the effective emitter being between one quarter and two times the size of a light valve of the multi-image display, wherein the light emitted by the effective emitter comprises a plurality of directional light beams having directions corresponding to the video directions of the multi-image display. A multi-video backlight as claimed in claim 1, wherein the active emitter in the active emitter array comprises a mini light emitting diode (miniLED). A multi-vision backlight as claimed in claim 1, wherein the size of the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask is smaller than the size of the corresponding active emitter in the active emitter array. A multi-vision backlight as claimed in claim 1, wherein the light-transmitting hole mask comprises a layer of light-blocking material configured to block light except within the boundary of the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask. A multi-view backlight as claimed in claim 4, wherein the light blocking material comprises a light absorber and the light-transmitting hole mask is an absorbing light-transmitting hole mask. A multi-view backlight as claimed in claim 4, wherein the light blocking material comprises a reflective light blocking material, and the light-transmitting hole mask is a reflective light-transmitting hole mask. A multi-vision backlight as claimed in claim 1, wherein the active emitters in the active emitter array are arranged in multiple parallel rows across the substrate, and the size of the effective emitter provided by the light-transmitting holes of the light-transmitting hole mask is in a width direction across the multiple parallel rows. A multi-view backlight as claimed in claim 7, wherein the light-transmitting holes of the light-transmitting hole mask include grooves extending in a direction along the multiple parallel rows. The multi-vision backlight of claim 1 further comprises: a plurality of active emitters disposed between the active emitters in the active emitter array, wherein the active emitters in the active emitter array are configured to provide emitted light during a multi-vision mode of the multi-vision backlight, and the active emitters in both the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters are configured to provide emitted light during a two-dimensional (2D) mode of the multi-vision backlight. A multi-vision backlight as claimed in claim 9, wherein adjacent active emitters among the plurality of active emitters are separated from each other by a distance corresponding to a spacing of light valves of the multi-vision display. The multi-vision backlight of claim 1 further comprises: a diffuser configured to diffuse light emitted by the active emitters, the diffuser being disposed within the light-transmitting hole mask, between the light-transmitting hole mask and the active emitter array, and at one of an output of the light-transmitting hole mask. A multi-video display comprising the multi-video backlight of claim 1, the multi-video display further comprising a light valve array, the light valves in the light valve array being configured to modulate the directional light beams among the plurality of directional light beams from the effective emitter to provide a multi-video image. A multi-video display, comprising: an array of effective emitters, each effective emitter in the array of effective emitters comprising an active emitter and a light-transmitting hole mask having a light-transmitting hole, the light-transmitting hole being configured to define the size of the effective emitter by limiting the light emitted by the active emitter; and a light valve array, configured to modulate the light emitted by the array of effective emitters and provide a multi-video image, wherein the light-transmitting hole defines the size of the effective emitter to be between one quarter and two times the size of a light valve in the light valve array, and wherein the light emitted by each effective emitter in the array of effective emitters comprises directional light beams having directions corresponding to the video of the multi-video image. The multi-video display of claim 13 further comprises: an active emitter set distributed among the effective emitters in the effective emitter array, wherein a display image of the multi-video display is a two-dimensional (2D) image provided by modulating an emitted light provided by the effective emitter array and a combination of the active emitter set distributed among the effective emitters in the effective emitter array. A multi-video display as claimed in claim 14, wherein the active transmitters in the active transmitter set are separated from each other by a spacing corresponding to a light valve spacing, and are separated from adjacent active transmitters in the active transmitter array by the spacing. A multi-image display as claimed in claim 13, wherein the effective emitters in the array of effective emitters are arranged in a plurality of parallel rows, the light-transmitting aperture comprises grooves aligned with and along the plurality of parallel rows, and wherein the size of the effective emitters defined by the light-transmitting aperture is in a width direction across the plurality of parallel rows. A multi-video display as claimed in claim 13, wherein the active emitter in the effective emitter array comprises a mini light emitting diode (miniLED) having a size larger than the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask. A multi-video display as claimed in claim 13, wherein the effective emitter further includes a diffuser configured to diffuse the light emitted by the active emitter, and the diffuser is disposed within the light-transmitting hole, between the light-transmitting hole and the active emitter, and at one of an output of the light-transmitting hole. A method for operating a multi-vision backlight, the method comprising: using an array of active emitters disposed across a planar substrate to emit light; using a light-transmitting aperture mask having a light-transmitting aperture aligned with each active emitter to limit the emitted light from each active emitter in the array of active emitters, thereby defining an effective emitter corresponding to each active emitter; and emitting the limited emitted light from the effective emitter, wherein the active emitters in the array of active emitters are spaced apart from each other at a spacing corresponding to a spacing between multi-vision pixels of a multi-vision display, and the light-transmitting aperture of the light-transmitting aperture mask provides the effective emitter with a size between one-quarter and two times the size of a light valve of the multi-vision display. An operating method for a multi-vision backlight as claimed in claim 19, wherein the active emitters in the active emitter array are arranged in a plurality of parallel rows across the planar substrate, and the size of the effective emitter provided by the light-transmitting hole of the light-transmitting hole mask is in a width direction across the plurality of parallel rows. The operating method of the multi-video backlight of claim 19 further includes: using a plurality of active emitters arranged between the active emitters in the active emitter array to emit light. An operating method for a multi-video backlight as claimed in claim 21, wherein the active emitters in the active emitter array emit light during a multi-video mode of the multi-video backlight, and the active emitters of both the active emitter array and the plurality of active emitters arranged between the active emitters in the active emitter array emit light during a two-dimensional (2D) mode of the multi-video backlight. A method for operating a multi-video display, including the method for operating a multi-video backlight of claim 19, the method for operating the multi-video display further comprising: modulating the emitted light from each of the effective emitters to provide a multi-video image, the multi-video image having different videos in a plurality of different video directions, the emitted light comprising a plurality of directional light beams having directions corresponding to the video directions of the multi-video image.