WO2023060381A1

WO2023060381A1 - Hybrid backlight, hybrid display, and operation method of hybrid backlight

Info

Publication number: WO2023060381A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/123026
Authority: WO
Inventors: 张龙旺; 巫岚
Original assignee: 镭亚股份有限公司; 镭亚电子(苏州)有限公司
Priority date: 2021-10-11
Filing date: 2021-10-11
Publication date: 2023-04-20
Also published as: TW202332971A

Abstract

The present application provides a hybrid backlight, a hybrid display, and an operation method of the hybrid backlight. The hybrid backlight comprises: a first backlight, having a plurality of dimming cell regions, one or more dimming cell regions of the plurality of dimming cell regions being configured to be selectively driven to provide, independently of each other, wide-angle emission light; and a second backlight, configured to provide a plurality of directional light beams, the directions of the plurality of directional light beams corresponding to different view directions of a multi-view image, wherein the second backlight is disposed on a light exit surface of the first backlight and transparent to the wide-angle emission light; and the one or more dimming cell regions driven in the first backlight correspond to one or more regions where the specific content in the multi-view image is located.

Description

How to operate hybrid backlights, hybrid displays, and hybrid backlights

technical field

The present application relates to hybrid backlights, hybrid displays and methods of operation thereof.

Background technique

Electronic displays are an almost ubiquitous medium for conveying information to users of various 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 (EP), and various displays using electromechanical or electrohydrodynamic light modulation (eg, digital micromirror devices, electrowetting displays, etc.). In general, electronic displays can be classified as active displays (ie, displays that emit light) or passive displays (ie, displays that modulate light provided by another source). The most obvious examples of active displays are CRTs, PDPs and OLED/AMOLEDs. Displays that are generally classified as passive include LCD and EP displays when light emitted is considered.

Electronic displays can be divided into two-dimensional displays and three-dimensional displays in terms of display methods. Two-dimensional displays are used to display two-dimensional image content, and three-dimensional displays are used to display three-dimensional image content. In some cases, we need to display some content in 2D while displaying other content in 3D for the same image. The current switchable two-dimensional/three-dimensional display can only display the entire image content in one mode (ie two-dimensional or three-dimensional) at the same time, and cannot display two-dimensional content in two-dimensional mode in the same image, and at the same time In addition, three-dimensional content can be displayed in three dimensions.

Contents of the invention

In order to achieve mixed display of two-dimensional content and three-dimensional content in the same image, one aspect of the present application provides a hybrid backlight body, including: a first backlight body, which has a plurality of dimming unit areas, and the plurality of dimming one or more of the dimming cell areas in the cell area configured to be selectively driven to provide wide-angle emitted light independently of each other; and a second backlight configured to provide a plurality of directional light beams, the plurality of directional The direction of the light beam corresponds to the different view directions of the multi-view image, wherein the second backlight is arranged on the light exit surface of the first backlight and is transparent to the wide-angle emitted light, and the first backlight The one or more areas of the dimming unit driven in the volume correspond to the one or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located.

In some embodiments, the remaining dimming unit areas in the first backlight not corresponding to one or more areas in the multi-view image where the specific content is located are not driven and do not provide wide-angle emitted light .

In some embodiments, the plurality of directional light beams provided by the second backlight and the wide-angle emission light provided by the one or more dimming unit areas driven in the first backlight are jointly provided to all One or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located.

In some embodiments, the hybrid backlight further includes: a dimming controller configured to determine one or more areas where the specific content is located based on the display content of the multi-view image, and according to the determined The one or more regions determine one or more regions of the dimming unit to be driven in the first backlight.

In some embodiments, the multi-view image changes dynamically with time, and the dimming controller dynamically updates one or more areas where the specific content is located based on the changed display content of the multi-view image.

In some embodiments, the second backlight comprises: a light guide configured to guide light as guided light; an array of multi-beam elements, each multi-beam element in the array of multi-beam elements being configured to output from The light guide scatters a portion of the directed light as beams of the plurality of directional beams.

In some embodiments, the light guide is configured to guide the directed light with a predetermined collimation factor as collimated directed light.

In some embodiments, the multi-beam elements in the array of multi-beam elements include one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-reflective element, and a micro-refractive element, the diffraction grating being configured to diffractively scatter the directed the portion of light, the microreflective element configured to reflectively scatter out of the portion of the guided light, and the microrefractive element configured to refractively scatter out of the portion of the guided light .

One aspect of the present application provides a hybrid display, including: a first backlight body, which has a plurality of dimming unit areas, and one or more dimming unit areas in the plurality of dimming unit areas are configured to select driven to provide wide-angle emission light independently of each other; a second backlight configured to provide a plurality of directional light beams whose directions correspond to different view directions of the multi-view image; and a light valve an array configured to modulate the wide-angle emitted light and the plurality of directional light beams to provide the multi-view image including a two-dimensional display area and a three-dimensional display area, wherein the second backlight is disposed at The light emitting surface of the first backlight body is transparent to the wide-angle emitted light, and one or more dimming unit areas driven in the first backlight body are in the same position as the specific content in the multi-view image The one or more areas correspond, and the one or more areas where the specific content is located correspond to the two-dimensional display area.

In some embodiments, areas other than the one or more areas where the specific content is located in the multi-view image correspond to the three-dimensional display area, and the first backlight is not related to the multi-view image. The remaining dimming unit areas corresponding to the three-dimensional display area in the image are not driven and do not provide wide-angle emitted light.

In some embodiments, the plurality of directional light beams provided by the second backlight and the wide-angle emission light provided by the one or more dimming unit areas driven in the first backlight are jointly provided to all The two-dimensional display area in the multi-view image.

In some embodiments, the hybrid display further includes: a dimming controller configured to determine the two-dimensional display area based on the display content of the multi-view image, and determine the two-dimensional display area according to the determined two-dimensional display area One or more regions of the dimming unit to be driven in the first backlight are determined.

In some embodiments, the multi-view image changes dynamically over time, and the dimming controller dynamically updates the two-dimensional display area and the three-dimensional display area based on the display content of the changed multi-view image .

In some embodiments, the second backlight includes: a light guide configured to guide light as guided light; and an array of multi-beam elements, each multi-beam element in the array of multi-beam elements configured to A portion of the directed light is scattered from the light guide as beams of the plurality of directional beams.

In some embodiments, the hybrid display further includes: a first light source, which includes a plurality of light emitting units, and the plurality of light emitting units correspond to a plurality of dimming unit areas in the first backlight; a dimming driver , which is configured to drive the one or more light emitting units to be driven to illuminate the one or more dimming unit areas in the first backlight; and a second light source, which is configured to Light is emitted to be guided by the light guide.

Yet another aspect of the present application provides a hybrid backlight operation method, including: using a first backlight to provide wide-angle emitted light, the first backlight has a plurality of dimming unit areas, and the plurality of dimming units One or more dimming unit areas in the area are selectively driven to provide wide-angle emission light independently of each other; Different viewing directions of view images, wherein the second backlight is disposed on the light exit surface of the first backlight and is transparent to the wide-angle emitted light, and one or the other of the first backlights is driven The multiple dimming unit areas correspond to one or more areas where specific content in the multi-view image is located.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: based on the display content of the multi-view image, using a dimming controller to determine one or more areas where the specific content is located; and according to the determined one or more areas, area, using the dimming controller to determine one or more areas of the dimming unit to be driven in the first backlight.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: guiding light in the light guide as guided light;

A portion of the directed light is scattered from the light guide as beams of the plurality of directional beams by use of each of the multi-beam element arrays.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: modulating the wide-angle emitted light and the plurality of directional light beams using a light valve array to provide the multi-view image comprising a two-dimensional display area and a three-dimensional display area, wherein , one or more areas where the specific content is located corresponds to the two-dimensional display area, and areas in the multi-view image other than the two-dimensional display area correspond to the three-dimensional display area.

Description of drawings

The various features of examples and embodiments in accordance with principles described herein can be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like structural elements, and wherein:

Figure 1A shows a perspective view of a multi-view display, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

FIG. 1B shows a schematic diagram of the angular components of a light beam with a particular principal axis direction, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a diffraction grating according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

Figure 3A shows a plan view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

Figure 3B illustrates a plan view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

3C illustrates a perspective view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

Figure 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

Figure 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

Figure 6 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a wide-angle backlight according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

8 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight including multi-beam elements, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

9 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight including multi-beam elements, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

10 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight including multi-beam elements, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

Fig. 11 shows a block diagram of a hybrid display, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

Fig. 12 shows a flowchart of a method of operating a hybrid backlight according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

These and other features are described in detail below with reference to the aforementioned figures.

Detailed ways

According to examples and embodiments of the principles described herein, the present invention provides a hybrid backlight applied to a hybrid display and a method of operating the same. Specifically, according to the principles described herein, the hybrid backlight is configured to provide wide-angle emitted light to an area of the hybrid backlight corresponding to two-dimensional display content, and to provide a directional beam to the entire area of the hybrid backlight. In addition, the wide-angle emitted light may be selectively provided on a region-by-region basis to regions corresponding to specific display content. For example, wide-angle emitted light can be used to display 2D content (eg, 2D graphics or text), while directional beams can be used to display 3D information (eg, multi-view images). For example, by using a hybrid display, it is possible to display 2D content in 2D and 3D content in 3D for the same image.

Figure 1A shows a perspective view of a multi-view display 10, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1A, a multi-view display 10 includes a screen 12 for displaying multi-view images to be viewed. The multi-view display 10 provides different views 14 of the multi-view image in different viewing directions 16 relative to the screen 12 . Viewing directions 16 extend from screen 12 in various principal directions, as indicated by the arrows. The different views 14 are shown as darker polygonal boxes at the terminations of the arrows (i.e., arrows representing view directions 16), and only four views 14 and four view directions 16 are shown, all by way of example. rather than limit. It should be noted that although the different views 14 are shown above the screen 12 in FIG. 1A , the views 14 actually appear on or near the screen 12 when the multi-view image is displayed on the multi-view display 10 . The depiction of views 14 above screen 12 is for simplicity of illustration only and is intended to represent viewing of multi-view display 10 from a respective one of view directions 16 corresponding to a particular view 14 .

According to the definition herein, a light beam whose view direction or equivalently has a direction corresponding to the view direction of a multi-view display generally has an angular component consisting of

The given protagonist direction. Here, the angular component Θ is referred to as the "elevation component" or "elevation angle" of the beam. The angular component is referred to as the "azimuth component" or "azimuth" of the beam. By definition, the elevation angle θ is the angle in the vertical plane (e.g., the plane perpendicular to the multi-view display screen), and the azimuth angle

is the angle in a horizontal plane (eg, a plane parallel to the multi-view display screen).

FIG. 1B shows the angular components of a light beam 20 having a particular principal direction corresponding to a view direction of a multi-view display (e.g., view direction 16 in FIG. 1A ), in an example of an embodiment in accordance with the principles of the present application.

graphical representation of . Additionally, light beam 20 is emitted or emitted from a particular point, as defined herein. That is, by definition, the light beam 20 has a central ray associated with a particular origin within the multi-view display. Figure IB also shows the origin O of the light beam (or view direction).

Also, herein, the term "multi-view" as used in the terms "multi-view image" and "multi-view display" is defined to mean a plurality of different perspectives or angle differences between views including a plurality of different views of multiple views. Also, by definition herein, the term "multi-view" here expressly includes more than two different views (ie, a minimum of three views and usually more than three views). As such, a "multi-view display" as employed herein is clearly distinguished from a stereoscopic display that includes only two different views to represent a scene or image. Note, however, that by definition here, although multi-view images and multi-view displays include more than two views, by choosing to view only two of the multi-views at a time (e.g., one view for each eye), the multi-view The images are viewed (eg, on a multi-view display) as stereoscopic image pairs.

A "multi-view pixel" is defined herein as a group of pixels representing a "view" pixel in each of a similar number of different views of a multi-view display. In particular, the multi-view pixels have individual pixels or groups of pixels corresponding to or representing view pixels in each of the different views of the multi-view image. Thus, by definition herein, a "view pixel" is a pixel or set of pixels corresponding to a view in a multi-view pixel of a multi-view display. In some embodiments, a view pixel may include one or more color sub-pixels. Furthermore, by definition here, the view pixels of the multi-view pixels are so-called "directional pixels", since each of the view pixels is associated with a predetermined view direction of a corresponding one of the different views. Furthermore, according to various examples and embodiments, different view pixels of the multi-view pixels may have equivalent or at least substantially similar positions or coordinates in each of the different views. For example, a first multi-view pixel may have an individual view pixel located at {x ₁ , y _{1 } in each of the different views of the multi-view image, while a second multi-view pixel may have an individual view pixel located at {x 1 , y 1} } in each of the different views. Individual view pixels for {x ₂ , y ₂ }.

Herein, a "light guide" is defined as a structure that guides light within the structure using total internal reflection. In particular, the light guide may comprise a core that is substantially transparent at the light guide's operating wavelength. The term "lightguide" generally refers to a dielectric lightguide that employs total internal reflection to guide light at the interface between the dielectric material of the lightguide and the material or medium surrounding the lightguide. By definition, the condition for total internal reflection is that the refractive index of the light guide is greater than the refractive index of the surrounding medium adjacent to the surface of the light guide material. In some embodiments, the light guide may include a coating in addition to or instead of the aforementioned refractive index differences to further facilitate total internal reflection. For example, the coating can be a reflective coating. The light guide may be any of several light guides including, but not limited to, a slab light guide or one or both of a thick slab light guide and a striped light guide.

In this document, the term "slab", when applied to a lightguide, is defined as a segmentally or differentially planar layer or sheet, sometimes referred to as a "slab" lightguide. In particular, a planar lightguide is defined as a lightguide that guides light in two substantially orthogonal directions bounded by the top and bottom surfaces (ie, opposing surfaces) of the lightguide. Furthermore, both the top and bottom surfaces are separated from each other, and may be substantially parallel to each other, at least in a differential sense, as defined herein. That is, within any differentially small portion of the slab lightguide, the top and bottom surfaces are substantially parallel or coplanar.

In some embodiments, a slab lightguide may be substantially planar (ie, confined to a plane), and thus a slab lightguide is a planar lightguide. In other embodiments, the planar light guide can be curved in one or two orthogonal dimensions. For example, a slab lightguide may be bent in a single dimension to form a cylindrical slab lightguide. However, any curvature should have a radius of curvature large enough to ensure that total internal reflection is maintained within the slab light guide to guide the light.

As defined herein, a "non-zero propagation angle" of guided light is the angle relative to the guiding surface of the light guide. Furthermore, non-zero propagation angles are all greater than zero and less than the critical angle for total internal reflection within the lightguide, as defined herein. Furthermore, for a particular embodiment, a particular non-zero propagation angle may be selected so long as the particular non-zero propagation angle is less than the critical angle for total internal reflection within the light guide. In various embodiments, light may be introduced or coupled into the light guide at a non-zero propagation angle.

According to various embodiments, the guided light or equivalently guided "beam" produced by coupling light into the light guide may be a collimated beam. As used herein, "collimated light" or "collimated light beam" is generally defined as a plurality of light beams within a light beam that are substantially parallel to each other. Furthermore, rays that diverge or scatter from a collimated beam are not considered part of the collimated beam by definition herein.

A "diffraction grating" is generally defined herein as a plurality of features (ie, diffractive features) arranged to provide diffraction of light incident on the diffraction grating. In some examples, multiple features may be set in a periodic or quasi-periodic manner. For example, a diffraction grating may comprise a plurality of features (eg, a plurality of grooves or ridges in a surface of a material) arranged in a one-dimensional (1D) array. In other examples, the diffraction grating may be a feature of a two-dimensional (2D) array. For example, a diffraction grating may be a two-dimensional array of protrusions on a material surface or holes in a material surface.

Thus, according to the definition herein, a "diffraction grating" is a structure that provides for the diffraction of light incident on the diffraction grating. If light is incident on a diffraction grating from the light guide, the provided diffractive or diffractive scattering can result and is therefore referred to as "diffractively coupled", since the diffraction grating can couple light out of the light guide by diffraction. Diffraction gratings also redirect or change the angle of light by diffraction (ie, at diffraction angles). In particular, due to diffraction, light exiting the diffraction grating typically has a different direction of propagation than that of light incident on the diffraction grating (ie, incident light). The change in direction of travel of light by diffraction is referred to herein as "diffractive redirection." Thus, a diffraction grating can be understood as a structure comprising diffractive features that diffractively redirect light incident on the diffraction grating and, if light is emitted from a light guide, also diffractively couple light from the light guide out.

Furthermore, the features of a diffraction grating are referred to as "diffractive features" as defined herein, and may be one or more of them at, in, and on a material surface (i.e., a boundary between two materials). . For example, the surface may be the surface of a light guide. Diffractive features may include any of a variety of structures that diffract light, including but not limited to one or more of grooves, ridges, holes, and protrusions at, in, or on a surface. For example, a diffraction grating may comprise a plurality of substantially parallel grooves in the surface of the material. In another example, the diffraction grating may include a plurality of parallel ridges protruding from the surface of the material. Diffractive features (e.g., grooves, ridges, holes, protrusions, etc.) can have any of a variety of cross-sectional shapes or profiles that provide diffraction, including but not limited to sinusoidal profiles, rectangular profiles (e.g., two meta-diffraction gratings), triangular profiles, and sawtooth profiles (eg, blazed gratings).

According to various examples described herein, light may be diffractively scattered or coupled into beams from a light guide (eg, a slab light guide) using a diffraction grating (eg, that of a multi-beam element, described below). Specifically, the diffraction angle θ _m of the local periodic diffraction grating or the diffraction angle provided by the local periodic diffraction grating can be given by equation (1):

where λ is the wavelength of the light, m is the diffraction order, n is the index of refraction of the light guide, d is the spacing or spacing between features of the diffraction grating, and _θi is the angle of incidence of light on the diffraction grating. For simplicity, equation (1) assumes that the diffraction grating adjoins the surface of the light guide and that the refractive index of the material outside the light guide is equal to 1 (ie, n _out =1). Usually, the diffraction order m is given as an integer. The diffraction angle _θm of the light beam produced by the diffraction grating can be given by equation (1) where the diffraction order is positive (eg, m>0). For example, the first order of diffraction is provided when the diffraction order m is equal to 1 (ie, m=1).

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a diffraction grating 30 according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application. For example, diffraction grating 30 may be located on the surface of light guide 40 . In addition, FIG. 2 shows an incident light beam 50 incident on the diffraction grating 30 at an incident angle θ _i . Incident light beam 50 may be a guided beam of light (ie, a guided light beam) within light guide 40 . Also shown in FIG. 2 is that the diffraction grating 30 diffractively generates and couples out a directional beam 60 due to the diffraction of the incident beam 50 . The directional light beam 60 has a diffraction angle θ _m (or, in this text, the "main axis direction") as shown in equation (1). The diffraction angle θ _m may correspond to the diffraction order "m" of the diffraction grating 30, for example, the diffraction order m=1 (ie, the first diffraction order).

As defined herein, a "multi-beam element" is a structure or element of a backlight or display that produces light comprising multiple beams. In some embodiments, a multi-beam element may be optically coupled to the light guide of the backlight to provide multiple beams by coupling out or scattering out a portion of the light guided in the light guide. Further, according to the definition herein, the beams of the plurality of beams generated by the multi-beam element have a plurality of principal axis directions which are different from each other. In particular, by definition, a light beam of the plurality of light beams has a different predetermined principal axis direction than another light beam of said plurality of light beams. Accordingly, a beam of light is referred to as a "directional beam" as defined herein, and multiple beams may be referred to as multiple directional beams.

Additionally, multiple directional beams can represent a light field. For example, the plurality of directional beams may be confined within a substantially conical region of space, or have a predetermined angular spread including different principal angular directions of the beams of the plurality of beams. Thus, a combination of predetermined angular spreads of said plurality of light beams (ie said plurality of light beams) may represent a light field.

According to various embodiments, the different principal directions of the various directional beams in the plurality of directional beams are determined according to characteristics, which may include, but are not limited to, dimensions (e.g., length, width, area, etc.) of the multi-beam element. Decide. In some embodiments, a multi-beam element may be considered an "extended point source" as defined herein, ie, a plurality of point sources are distributed within the confines of the multi-beam element. Furthermore, the directional beams produced by the multi-beam element have principal axis directions given by the angular components {θ, φ}, as defined herein, and as described above with respect to FIG. 1B .

As used herein, a "collimator" is defined as essentially any optical device or device for collimating light. For example, the collimator may include, but not limited to, collimating mirrors or reflectors, collimating lenses, diffraction gratings, tapered light guides, and combinations of the above collimators. According to various embodiments, the amount of collimation provided by the collimator may vary by a predetermined angle or amount from one embodiment to another. Further, the collimator may be configured to provide collimation in one or both of two orthogonal directions (eg, vertical and horizontal). In other words, according to some embodiments of the invention, a collimator may include a shape or similar collimating features for providing one or both of two orthogonal directions of light collimation.

Herein, "collimation factor" is defined as the degree to which light is collimated. Specifically, the collimation factor defines the angular spread of the rays in the collimated beam. For example, a collimation factor σ may specify that the majority of rays in a beam of collimated light are within a certain angular spread (eg, +/- σ degrees relative to the center or principal direction of the collimated beam). According to some examples, the rays of the collimated beam may have a Gaussian distribution in angle, and the angular spread may be an angle determined by half the peak intensity of the collimated beam.

Herein, a "light source" is defined as a source that emits light (eg, an optical emitter configured to generate and emit light). For example, a light source may include an optical emitter, such as a light emitting diode (LED), that emits light when activated or turned on. Specifically, a light source herein may be substantially any source of light or optical emitter including, but not limited to, one or more LEDs, lasers, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), polymer light emitting diodes, plasma Optical emitters, fluorescent lamps, incandescent lamps, and any other source of visually visible light. The light produced by the light source may have a color (ie, may include light of a particular wavelength), or may be a range of wavelengths (eg, white light). In some embodiments, the light source may include multiple optical emitters. For example, the light source may comprise a group or group of optical emitters, wherein at least one optical emitter produces light having a color or equivalent wavelength different from that emitted by at least one other optical emitter of the group or group. The color or wavelength of light produced by the device. Different colors may include, for example, primary colors (eg, red, green, blue). A "polarized" light source is defined herein as substantially any light source that generates or provides light with a predetermined polarization. For example, a polarized light source may include a polarizer at the output of the light source's optical emitter.

In this paper, a "multi-view image" is defined as a plurality of images (i.e., two or more images), where each image in the plurality of images represents a different view corresponding to a different view direction of the multi-view image. view. Thus, for example, a multi-view image is a collection of images (e.g., two-dimensional images) that, when displayed on a multi-view display, facilitate the perception of depth and thus appear to the viewer as images of a 3D scene . For example, in some embodiments, where the multi-view image comprises two images, this can be achieved by viewing the two images as a stereoscopic image pair (e.g., one view for each eye) on the multi-view display. Binocular stereo display.

By definition, "wide-angle" emitted light is defined as having a cone angle that is larger than the cone angle of the views of the multi-view image or multi-view display. Specifically, in some embodiments, the wide-angle emission may have a cone angle greater than about twenty degrees (eg, >±20°). In other embodiments, the cone angle of the wide-angle emitted light may be greater than approximately thirty degrees (e.g., >±30°), or approximately greater than forty degrees (e.g., >±40°), or approximately greater than fifty degrees (e.g., ,>±50°). For example, the cone angle of wide-angle emitted light may be approximately sixty degrees (eg, >±60°). It should be noted that when the "wide-angle" emitted light and the "directional" emitted light are mentioned together, it means that the cone angle of the "wide-angle" emitted light is greater than the cone angles of each directional light beam in the "directional" emitted light. That is to say, the directional light beam can be regarded as a light beam facing a certain direction with a very small cone angle (for example, <10°, or <5°, etc.).

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

Furthermore, as used herein, the article "a" is intended to have its ordinary meaning in the patent field, namely "one or more". For example, "a multi-view pixel" means one or more multi-view pixels, therefore, "multi-view pixel" here means "one or more multi-view pixels". In addition, references to "top", "bottom", "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "front", "rear", "first", "second", "left" or Any reference to "right" is not intended to be limiting. Here, the term "about" when applied to a value generally means within the tolerance range of the equipment used to produce the value, or may mean plus or minus 10%, or plus or minus 5%, or plus or minus 1 %, unless expressly stated otherwise. In addition, the term "substantially" as used herein refers to most, or almost all, or all, or an amount ranging from about 51% to about 100%. Furthermore, the examples herein are intended to be illustrative only and are presented for discussion purposes and not by way of limitation.

According to some embodiments of the principles described herein, the present invention provides a hybrid backlight. Figure 3A shows a plan view of a hybrid backlight 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application. Figure 3B shows a plan view of a hybrid backlight 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application. Figure 3C shows a perspective view of a hybrid backlight 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application. Specifically, the perspective view shown in FIG. 3C is an exploded perspective view.

As shown in FIG. 3A , hybrid backlight 100 has a plurality of different display regions, which are depicted in FIG. 3A as two-dimensional display regions 101a-1, 101a-2 and three-dimensional display region 101b.

Herein, the term "two-dimensional display area" refers to a display area for displaying two-dimensional image content, or displaying image content in a two-dimensional manner. In addition, it should be understood that although two fixed-position areas 101a-1 and 101a-2 are shown in FIG. 3A as the two-dimensional display area of the hybrid backlight 100, this is only exemplary. It should be understood that the position of the two-dimensional display area in the hybrid backlight 100 is not fixed, but changes dynamically based on the content of the displayed image, and the number of the two-dimensional display area is not fixed, but It can change dynamically with the content of the image to be displayed. For example, the number of two-dimensional display areas can be one, two, or even more. In addition, in some cases where two-dimensional display is not required, the number of two-dimensional display areas can also be zero.

In some embodiments of the present application, the two-dimensional display area in the hybrid backlight 100 corresponds to one or more areas where specific content in the multi-view image to be displayed is located. For example, if the multi-view image to be displayed includes both image content and text content, we hope that the image content can be displayed in a three-dimensional display mode, making it appear to have a certain depth of field, thereby producing a three-dimensional three-dimensional effect. However, for text content (such as subtitles, feature slogans in images, text in books in images, etc.), we hope that it can be clearer in a flat, two-dimensional way, rather than a three-dimensional display effect with depth of field displayed. As shown in FIG. 3B , it is assumed that the image 200-1 to be displayed includes not only image content (for example, smiling faces, clouds and hills in FIG. 3B ), but also text content (for example, the text "Hello! ”), then we want to display image content such as smiling faces, clouds, and hills in a three-dimensional manner, and at the same time display the text content in the dialog box in a two-dimensional manner. In this case, the area where the dialog box is located can be defined as the two-dimensional display area 101a, and the other image content areas in the image 200-1 except the dialog box can be defined as the three-dimensional display area 101b.

Although FIG. 3B shows an example of identifying the area where the text content is located as a two-dimensional display area, this is only exemplary, and various types of two-dimensional display content can be predefined as required. For example, special shapes (such as geometric figures such as squares, triangles, circles, etc.) existing in the display image can be preset as content to be displayed in two dimensions. In addition, specific objects such as traffic lights, traffic signs, and road signs can also be preset as content to be displayed in two dimensions. Examples of two-dimensional display contents in this application are not limited to the above examples. In addition, it should be noted that the presetting of two-dimensional display content does not require only one of the above examples to be set, for example, one or more of text, geometric shapes, and road signs can be set simultaneously as required It is determined as the content to be displayed two-dimensionally. In this case, the hybrid backlight 100 described in this application will, according to the specific content in the displayed image, determine that the area including one or more of text, geometric shape, and road signs will be displayed in a two-dimensional form. .

Herein, the term "three-dimensional display area" refers to a display area for displaying three-dimensional image content, or displaying image content in a three-dimensional manner. It should be noted that the "three-dimensional display area" is complementary to the above-mentioned "two-dimensional display area". For example, taking the image 200-1 in FIG. 3B as an example, once it is determined that the two-dimensional display area in the image 200-1 is the area 101a where the dialog box is located, it means that other areas in the image 200 except the area 101a as a three-dimensional display area. In addition, since the two-dimensional display area changes dynamically with the image to be displayed, correspondingly, the three-dimensional display area also changes adaptively with the image to be displayed.

The hybrid backlight 100 having two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas is shown above with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B . It should be understood that the two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas of the hybrid backlight 100 described above are described for the hybrid backlight 100 in the working state, not for the hybrid backlight in the non-working state. In essence, when the hybrid backlight is in a non-working state, that is, no image display is performed, the above-mentioned two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas obviously do not exist, because the two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas are based on the The content of the image is dynamically formed, and as the displayed image changes, the two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas in the hybrid backlight 100 also dynamically change following the content of the image.

The working principle of the hybrid backlight 100 will be described below in conjunction with the perspective view of the hybrid backlight 100 in FIG. 3C . It should be noted that for ease of description, other elements other than the hybrid backlight 100 are also shown in the perspective view of FIG. This displayed multi-view image 200-2.

According to various embodiments, the emitted light provided by the hybrid backlight 100 may be used to illuminate electronic displays employing the hybrid backlight 100. For example, emitted light may enter a light valve array 106 of an electronic display (as shown in FIG. 3C) for modulation. Furthermore, as described below, an electronic display using or illuminated by hybrid backlight 100 may be configured to use emitted light in a plurality of different regions of the electronic display corresponding to a plurality of dimming unit regions 101. A two-dimensional image is selectively displayed in each area of the . It may be determined to display a two-dimensional image in a specific area and display a three-dimensional image in the remaining area by selecting to emit wide-angle emission light in that area.

As shown in FIG. 3C , the hybrid backlight 100 includes a wide-angle backlight 110 and a multi-view backlight 120 . The multi-view backlight 120 is disposed on the light emitting surface (the upper surface as shown in the figure) of the wide-angle backlight 110 . The wide-angle backlight 110 has a plurality of dimming unit areas 101 . When displaying an image, one or more of the plurality of dimming cell regions 101 are configured to be selectively driven to provide wide-angle emitted light 102' independently of each other.

In some embodiments, the hybrid backlight 100 may further include a dimming controller (not shown). The dimming controller is configured to determine one or more areas where specific content is located based on the display content of the multi-view image, and determine one or more dimming areas to be driven in the wide-angle backlight 110 according to the determined one or more areas. Light unit area. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3C , the dimming controller recognizes the area 201 where the text "Hello!" in the image 200-2 is located as a two-dimensional display area, and 201 Determine the area 101 of the dimming unit to be driven in the wide-angle backlight 110 . It should be noted that area 201 in image 200 - 2 should be aligned with area 101 in wide-angle backlight 110 .

As mentioned above, the two-dimensional display area in the hybrid backlight 100 corresponds to one or more areas where specific content in the multi-view image to be displayed is located. For example, for the image 200-2, if it is determined that the area that needs to be displayed in a two-dimensional manner is the square area 201 where the word "Hello" is located, then the dimming unit corresponding to the area 201 in the wide-angle backlight can be correspondingly Area 101 (the highlighted dimming unit area 101 in the wide-angle backlight 110) is determined as the active area to be driven and emit wide-angle emission light 102′, and the rest of the remaining dimming unit areas not corresponding to area 201 are determined as unnecessary Inactive regions that are driven not to emit wide-angle emission light 102'.

It should be noted that the multi-view backlight 120 is transparent or at least substantially transparent to the wide-angle emitted light 102' That is, the wide-angle emitted light 102' can pass through the multi-view backlight 120 to enter the light valve array 106 for modulation, details of which will be discussed later.

While the dimming unit area 101 in the wide-angle backlight 110 emits wide-angle emission light 102', the multi-view backlight provides multiple directional light beams 102", and the directions of the multiple directional light beams 102" correspond to different multi-view images. Viewing direction, this detail has been described in detail in FIG. 1A , and will not be repeated here. In contrast, wide-angle emitted light 102'

In the case that the wide-angle backlight 110 and the multi-view backlight 120 emit light at the same time, the multiple directional light beams 102 ″ provided by the multi-view backlight 120 are compatible with one or more dimming unit areas driven in the wide-angle backlight 110 The provided wide-angle emitted light 102' is jointly provided to the square area 201 where the text "Hello" in the multi-view image 200-2 is located, so as to realize the two-dimensional display of the text "Hello". It should be understood that although the wide-angle emission The light 102' and the directional light beam 102" act on the square area 201 where the text "Hello" is located, but the actual display effect is still dominated by two-dimensional display, and the three-dimensional display effect produced by the directional light beam 102" is negligible. Therefore, the "two-dimensional display" mentioned in this article can also be called "quasi-two-dimensional display". Its essence is the superposition of the effects of three-dimensional display and two-dimensional display. The "quasi two-dimensional display" is collectively referred to as "two-dimensional display".

In contrast, for other areas in the multi-view image 200-2 except the square area 201 where the word "Hello" is located, since the corresponding multiple dimming unit areas in the wide-angle backlight 110 are inactive and do not emit light Therefore, only the directional light beam 102" provided by the multi-view backlight 120 acts on the other areas, and these display areas (for example, the area where the smiling face in image 200-2 is located) are displayed in a true three-dimensional manner.

In various embodiments, the wide-angle backlight 110 may include a light source (not shown), and the multi-view backlight 120 may also include a light source (not shown). Specifically, the multiple dimming unit areas of the wide-angle backlight 110 may include corresponding multiple light sources, while the multi-view backlight 120 may include a single light source. The plurality of light sources of the wide-angle backlight are configured to be selectively turned on to provide light to the plurality of dimming unit zones. In these embodiments, separate activation of the plurality of light sources may be configured to illuminate a corresponding one of the plurality of dimming unit regions.

In addition, it should also be understood that although the multiple directional light beams 102" are shown in FIG. 3C as arrows diverging in various directions, and the wide-angle emission 102' is shown as two parallel arrows, this is for illustration only. are non-representative and do not represent the true direction of light. For example, multiple diverging arrows representing multiple directional beams 102" can be viewed as individual beams pointing in different viewing directions, and each arrow can be viewed as a A cluster of beams. Similarly, although the two arrows representing the wide-angle emitted light 102' are shown as parallel arrows perpendicular to the light valve array 106, they represent wide-angle emitted light or diffuse light with a certain range of cone angles, rather than true vertical The vertical light beams on the light valve array 106, as defined above. For example, wide-angle emitted light 102'

4-6 illustrate cross-sectional views of a hybrid backlight 100 according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application. For example, the cross-sectional views shown in FIGS. 4-6 may represent a cross-section taken through the middle of hybrid backlight 100, and furthermore, by way of example and not limitation, emitted light 102 provided by hybrid backlight 100 is shown using solid arrows. , where the wide-angle emitted light 102' emitted by the wide-angle backlight 110 is shown using dashed arrows, and the directional beam 102" emitted by the multi-view backlight 120 is shown as multiple arrows representing multiple directional beams.

As shown in FIG. 4, the hybrid backlight 100 is configured to provide wide-angle emitted light 102' using multiple dimming cell regions. Specifically, FIG. 4 shows wide-angle emitted light 102' emitted from all dimming unit areas of the wide-angle backlight 110. Referring to FIG. Additionally, wide-angle emitted light 102' is shown passing through multi-view backlight 120 to be emitted from hybrid backlight 100. In this way, in FIG. 4 , as shown by the cross hatching, the lower surface of the wide-angle backlight 110 is provided with a first light source 112 , and the first light source 112 includes multiple light sources corresponding to all dimming unit regions of the wide-angle backlight 110 one-to-one. As shown in FIG. 4, all light emitting units of the first light source 112 are activated, and all dimming unit areas of the wide-angle backlight 110 are also activated.

In FIG. 4, a second light source 122 is arranged on one side of the multi-view backlight body 120. In the example shown in FIG. state, so the second light source 122 does not emit light and the multi-view backlight 120 does not emit directional light beams at this time. Note that the situation shown in FIG. 4 may correspond to a situation where all regions in the image need to be displayed in two dimensions, for example, all regions in the image are composed of text content.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the hybrid backlight 100 is configured to provide a directional light beam 102″. In FIG. The entire area of the multi-view backlight 120 provides the directional light beam 102". In FIG. 5 , the plurality of light-emitting units of the first light source 112 of the wide-angle backlight 110 are not filled with cross hatching, which means that the first light source 112 of the wide-angle backlight 110 is turned off, so the dimming unit area of the wide-angle backlight 110 Neither shines. Note that the situation shown in FIG. 5 may correspond to the situation that all regions in the image need to be displayed in three dimensions, for example, all regions in the image do not contain text content or geometric figure content, and the like.

6 shows a diagram of an example of a hybrid backlight 100 configured to provide both a directional light beam 102″ and a wide-angle emitted light 102′, i.e., a portion of the dimming unit area in the wide-angle backlight 110 combined with a multi-view backlight 120. Example of simultaneous light emission. For example, the second light source 122 of the multi-view backlight 120 is activated and the entire area of the multi-view backlight 120 provides the directional light beam 102", as shown by the cross-hatching. In FIG. 6, one light-emitting unit (for example, light-emitting unit 112-1) of the first light source 112 of the wide-angle backlight 110 is filled with hatching, which means that the light-emitting unit 112-1 is activated, and the light-emitting unit in the wide-angle backlight 110 is illuminated with light. The dimming unit area corresponding to unit 112-1 is illuminated and emits wide-angle emission light 102'. At the same time, the remaining light-emitting units in the first light source 112 are not filled with hatching, which means that the remaining light-emitting units are not activated and do not emit light. Therefore, the dimming unit area corresponding to the remaining light-emitting units in the wide-angle backlight does not emit light. . It should be understood that the dimming area unit corresponding to the light emitting unit 112-1, and the light valves in the light valve array corresponding to the dimming area unit should correspond to the two modes in the multi-view image as described above. dimension display area. In FIG. 6 , for a clearer representation, the corresponding regions are highlighted differently from other regions. Note that the situation shown in FIG. 6 may correspond to the situation that the image includes both two-dimensional display content such as text and three-dimensional display content. For example, the image 200-1 and the image 200- 2.

It should be understood that although the light source 112 separated from the wide-angle backlight body 110 is shown in FIGS. 4-6 , in practice, the light source 112 may also be integrated in the wide-angle backlight body 110 . For example, the wide-angle backlight 110 may be a flat backlight that directly emits light or directly illuminates, which will be described in detail later.

According to various embodiments, the wide-angle backlight 110 may be substantially any backlight having a plurality of separately activated areas. FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a wide-angle backlight 110 according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.

For example, the wide-angle backlight 110 may be a flat backlight that directly emits light or is directly illuminated, which is divided into separate areas that can be activated separately, referred to as dimming unit areas 101 in this application. Directly emitting or illuminating planar backlights, including but not limited to, backlight panels employing cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs), neon lights, or planar arrays of light emitting diodes (LEDs), configured to directly illuminate a planar light emitting surface 110' and provide wide-angle emitted light 102' (as shown in Figure 4). An electroluminescent panel is another non-limiting example of a planar backlight that directly emits light. In other examples, the wide-angle backlight 110 may include a backlight divided into a plurality of separate regions, each region using a separate indirect light source. Such indirectly lit backlights may include, but are not limited to, various forms of edge-coupled backlights or so-called "edge-lit" backlights.

Referring again to FIGS. 4-6 , in some embodiments, the multi-view backlight 120 may further include a light guide 124 , for example, as shown. According to various embodiments, the light guide 124 is configured to guide light as directed light 104. In some embodiments, light guide 124 may be a planar light guide.

According to various embodiments, the light guide 124 is configured to guide the guided light 104 within the light guide 124 along the length of the light guide 124 according to total internal reflection. The general direction of propagation 103 of the guided light 104 within the light guide 124 is shown by thick arrows in FIGS. 5-6 . In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 5 , directed light 104 may be directed in direction of propagation 103 at a non-zero propagation angle, and may comprise collimated light collimated according to a predetermined collimation factor σ.

Referring again to FIGS. 4-6 , for example, the multi-view backlight 120 may further include an array of multi-beam elements 126 as shown. According to various embodiments, the multi-beam elements 126 in the array of multi-beam elements 126 are spaced apart from each other on the light guide 124 . For example, in some embodiments, multi-beam elements 126 may be arranged in a one-dimensional (1D) array. In other embodiments, the multi-beam elements 126 may be arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) array. Additionally, different types of multi-beam elements 126 may be used in the multi-view backlight 120, including but not limited to active emitters and various scattering elements. According to various embodiments, each multi-beam element 126 of the array of multi-beam elements 126 is configured to provide a beam of the directional light beam 102", having directions corresponding to different view directions of the multi-view image.

According to various embodiments, as shown in FIG. 5 , each multi-beam element 126 in the array of multi-beam elements is configured to scatter a portion of the guided light 104 from the light guide 124 and direct the scattered portion away from the light guide. 124 of the first surface 124' to provide the directional light beam 102". For example, a portion of the directed light may be scattered by the multi-beam element 126 out of the first surface 124'. In addition, according to various embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 4-6 As shown, a second surface 124 ″ of the multi-view backlight 120 opposite the first surface may be adjacent to the light-emitting surface 110 ′ of the wide-angle backlight 110 .

It should be noted that, as described above, as shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of beams of directional beams 102" are multiple directional beams having different principal directions. Furthermore, the multi-view backlight 120 may be substantially transparent , to allow the wide-angle emitted light 102' from the wide-angle backlight 110 to pass through or transmit the thickness of the multi-view backlight 120, as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 120. In other words, the wide-angle emitted light 102' provided by the wide-angle backlight 110 is configured to be transmitted through the multi-view backlight 120, eg, based on the transparency of the multi-view backlight 120.

For example, light guide 124 and spaced apart plurality of multi-beam elements 126 may allow wide-angle emitted light 102' to pass through both second surface 124" and first surface 124' and through light guide 124. Due to the relatively small size of multi-beam elements 126 The size and the spacing between the relatively large elements of the multi-beam element 126, so that the transparency can be enhanced.In addition, when the multi-beam element 126 includes a diffraction grating as described below, in some embodiments, the multi-beam element 126 is compatible with the light guide Surface 124' and lightguide surface 124" may also be substantially transparent to orthogonally conducting light. Thus, for example, light from the wide-angle backlight 110 may pass in an orthogonal direction through the light guide 124 of the multi-view backlight 120 having an array of multi-beam elements, according to various embodiments.

As mentioned above, the multi-view backlight 120 includes the second light source 122 . For example, the multi-view backlight 120 may be an edge-lit backlight. According to various embodiments, light source 122 is configured to provide light guided within light guide 124 as guided light 104 . Specifically, light source 122 may be located adjacent to an entrance surface or entrance end (input end) of light guide 124 . In various embodiments, light source 122 may include substantially any kind of light source (eg, an optical emitter) including, but is not limited to, one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) or lasers (eg, laser diodes). In some embodiments, light source 122 may include an optical emitter configured to generate substantially monochromatic light having a narrow-band spectrum representing a particular color. Specifically, the color of the monochromatic light may be a primary color of a specific color space or a specific color model (eg, a red-green-blue (RGB) color model). In other examples, light source 122 may be a substantially broadband light source configured to provide substantially broadband or polychromatic light. For example, light source 122 may provide white light. In some embodiments, light source 122 may include a plurality of different optical emitters configured to provide different colors of light. Different optical emitters can be configured to provide light having different, color-specific, non-zero angles of propagation corresponding to each of the different colors of light. Activation of the multi-view backlight 120 may include activation of the light sources 122 as shown using cross-hatching in FIG. 5 .

In some embodiments, the light source 122 may further include a collimator (not shown). The collimator may be configured to receive substantially uncollimated light from one or more optical emitters of light source 122 . The collimator is further configured to convert the substantially uncollimated light into collimated light. Specifically, according to some embodiments, a collimator may provide collimated light having a non-zero propagation angle and collimated according to a predetermined collimation factor. Furthermore, when employing different colored optical emitters, the collimator can be configured to provide collimated light with different, color-specific, non-zero propagation angles. The collimator is further configured to emit collimated light into light guide 124 to be directed as guided light 104, as described above.

As noted above, according to various embodiments, multi-view backlight 120 includes an array of multi-beam elements 126 . According to some embodiments (eg, as shown in FIGS. 4-6 ), the multi-beam elements 126 of the array of multi-beam elements 126 may be located at the first surface 124' of the light guide 124 (eg, at the same level as the multi-view backlight 120). first surface 124' adjacent). In other embodiments (not shown), the multi-beam element 126 may be located within the light guide 124 . In other embodiments (not shown), the multi-beam element 126 may be located at or on the second surface 124" of the light guide 124 (e.g., adjacent to the second surface of the multi-view backlight 120). Additionally, The size of the multi-beam elements 126 is comparable to the size of the light valves of a multi-view display configured to display multi-view images. For example, each multi-beam element in the array of multi-beam elements may be sized between the light valves in the array of light valves. between a quarter and twice the size of the

By way of example and not limitation, FIGS. 4-6 also show an array of light valves 106 (eg, an array of a multi-view display). In various embodiments, any of different types of light valves may be used as the light valve 106 in the array of light valves 106, including but not limited to liquid crystal light valves, electrophoretic light valves, and electrophoretic light valves. Wet the light valve. Furthermore, as shown, there may be a unique set of light valves 106 for each multi-beam element 126 in the array of multi-beam elements 126 . For example, the unique set of light valves 106 may correspond to a multi-view pixel 106' of a multi-view display.

Herein, "dimension" may include, but is not limited to, any of length, width, or area. For example, the dimension of the light valve may be its length, and the dimension of the multi-beam element 126 may also be the length of the multi-beam element 126 . In another example, the size may be its area, such that the area of the multi-beam element 126 may be comparable to the area of the light valve. In some embodiments, the size of the multi-beam element 126 can be comparable to the size of the light valve, and the size of the multi-beam element is between twenty-five percent (25%) and two hundred ( 200%). For example, if the multibeam element size is denoted "s" as shown in Figures 5-6 and the light valve dimension is denoted "S", then the multibeam element size s can be given by equation (2), Equation (2) is:

In other examples, the multi-beam element size is greater than about fifty percent (50%) of the size of the light valve, or greater than about sixty percent (60%) of the size of the light valve, or about one percent of the size of the light valve seventy (70%), or greater than about eighty (80%), or greater than about ninety (90%) of the light valve size, and the multibeam element is smaller than the light valve size about one hundred and eighty percent (180%) of the light valve size, or less than about one hundred and sixty percent (160%) of the light valve size, or less than about one hundred and forty percent (140%) of the light valve size ), or less than about one hundred twenty percent (120%) of the light valve size. According to some embodiments, the considerable size of the multi-beam element 126 and the light valves may be chosen with the aim of minimizing the dark areas between views of the multi-view display in some embodiments, and at the same time, the multiple of the multi-view display may be reduced. Overlap between views or equivalent multi-view images, or in some examples minimize it.

According to various embodiments, the multi-beam element 126 of the multi-view backlight 120 may comprise any of a number of different structures configured to scatter out a portion of the directed light 104 . For example, different structures may include, but are not limited to, diffraction gratings, micro-reflective elements, micro-refractive elements, or various combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the multi-beam element 126 comprising a diffraction grating is configured to diffractively couple out or diffractively scatter a portion of the directed light as directionally emitted light comprising multiple directional beams having different principal axis directions . In some embodiments, the diffraction grating of a multi-beam element may comprise a plurality of individual sub-gratings. In other embodiments, the multi-beam element 126 includes microreflective elements configured to reflectively couple or scatter out a portion of the directed light as multiple directional beams. Alternatively, multi-beam element 126 includes a micro-refractive element configured to couple or scatter a portion of the directed light by or using refraction as multiple directional beams (i.e., refractionally scatter out a portion of the directed light). part).

8 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight 120 including a multi-beam element 126, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application. Specifically, FIG. 8 shows a multi-view backlight 120 including a diffraction grating 126a. Diffraction grating 126a is configured to diffractively couple or scatter a portion of directed light 104 out as a plurality of directional light beams 102". Diffraction grating 126a includes a plurality of diffractive features spaced by diffractive feature spacing (or grating pitch) Spaced apart from each other, it is configured to diffractively couple out a portion of the guided light. According to various embodiments, the diffraction feature spacing or inter-grating distance of the diffraction grating 126a may be sub-wavelength (i.e., smaller than the wavelength of the guided light 104) In various embodiments, the diffraction grating 126a of the multi-beam element 126 may be located at or near the surface of the light guide 124, while in other embodiments, the diffraction grating 126a may be disposed between the guiding surfaces of the light guide 124. For example, as shown in 8, the diffraction grating 126a may be at or near the second surface 124″ of the light guide 124.

In some embodiments, the diffraction grating 126a of the multi-beam element 126 is a uniform diffraction grating, wherein the diffractive feature spacing is substantially constant or constant throughout the diffraction grating 126a. In other embodiments, the diffraction grating 126a may be a chirped diffraction grating. By definition, a "chirped" diffraction grating is one that has a diffraction spacing (ie, inter-grating distance) of diffractive features that varies over the extent or length of the chirped diffraction grating. In some embodiments (not shown), the diffraction grating 126a may include a plurality of diffraction gratings or an array of diffraction gratings or equivalently a plurality of sub-gratings or an array of sub-gratings. Furthermore, according to some embodiments, the density difference of the sub-gratings within the diffraction grating 126a may be configured to control the relative intensity of the directional light beam 102".

9 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight 120 including a multi-beam element 126, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application. Specifically, FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a multi-beam element 126 including micro-reflective elements 126b. The plurality of microreflective elements in the multi-beam element 126 may include, but is not limited to, reflectors employing reflective materials (eg, reflective metals) or films thereof, or total internal reflection (TIR) reflectors.

10 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight 120 including a multi-beam element 126, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application. Specifically, FIG. 10 shows a multi-beam element 126 including micro-refractive elements 126c. According to various embodiments, the micro-refractive elements 126c are configured to refractively couple or scatter a portion of the guided light 104 out of the light guide 124 . As shown in FIG. 10, the micro-refractive element 126c is configured to use refraction to couple or scatter a portion of the guided light from the light guide 124 as a directional light beam 102″ including a plurality of light beams. The micro-refractive element 126c may have various The shape includes, but is not limited to, a semicircular shape, a rectangular shape, or a prismatic shape. According to various embodiments, the micro-refractive elements 126c may extend from a surface of the light guide 124 (eg, as shown, the first surface 124') Or protrude, as shown in the figure, or may be a cavity (not shown in the figure) in the surface. Further, in some embodiments, the micro-refractive element 126c may comprise the material of the light guide 124. In other embodiments , the micro-refractive elements 126c may comprise another material adjacent to the surface of the light guide. And in some examples, the micro-refractive elements 126c may comprise another material in contact with the surface of the light guide.

According to some embodiments of the principles described herein, the present invention provides a hybrid display. A hybrid display has a plurality of different display regions configured to respectively emit modulated light on a region basis. The hybrid display in this application divides the display area into multiple different areas for different contents in the same display image, for example, a two-dimensional display area that displays images in a two-dimensional manner, and a three-dimensional display area that displays images in a three-dimensional manner area. For example, the three-dimensional display area can display image content in a stereoscopic or multi-view manner. The two-dimensional display area can display image content two-dimensionally in a manner exhibiting a higher resolution, which is more suitable for displaying text and other 2D information, which may or may cause blurring in three-dimensional display. Additionally, the hybrid display can be configured to selectively display image content in two dimensions in each of a plurality of different regions. According to various embodiments, the display mode in a specific area may be determined by selecting to emit a wide-angle emission light or a directional beam in that area.

Fig. 11 shows a block diagram of a hybrid display 2000, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application. According to various embodiments, the hybrid display 2000 shown in FIG. 11 can be used to selectively present part of the content in the displayed image in a two-dimensional manner, and present the rest of the content in the displayed image in a three-dimensional manner. For example, the hybrid display 2000 can present content such as characters and special geometric shapes in the displayed image in a two-dimensional manner, and at the same time present other image contents in a three-dimensional manner. For the convenience of description, FIG. 11 shows a 2D area that presents graphic content in a two-dimensional manner, and simultaneously shows a 3D area that presents content in a three-dimensional manner. However, it should be understood that the positions of the 2D regions in the hybrid display 2000 are not fixed, but dynamically change based on the displayed image content, and the number of 2D regions is not fixed, but can vary with The content of the image to be displayed changes dynamically. For example, the number of 2D regions can be one, two, or even more. This feature has been described in detail above in conjunction with FIGS. 3A-3B , and will not be repeated here.

As shown in FIG. 11 , hybrid display 2000 is configured to emit modulated emitted light 202 including modulated wide-angle emitted light 202' representing 2D pixels of 2D image content and including modulated wide-angle emitted light 202' representing 3D pixels of 3D image content. modulated directional light beam 202″. Furthermore, according to various embodiments, hybrid display 2000 may selectively emit modulated wide-angle emission light 202′ in a 2D region as shown, along with modulated directional sex beam 202" both. Meanwhile, the hybrid display 2000 may emit only the modulated directional light beam 202" in the 3D area except the 2D area.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the hybrid display 2000 includes a wide-angle backlight 210 . Part of the dimming unit area in the wide-angle backlight 210 (for example, the area indicated by the dashed box in the wide-angle backlight) uses the wide-angle emitted light 204 to selectively brighten the 2D display area of the hybrid display 2000 . In some embodiments, wide angle backlight 210 may be substantially similar to wide angle backlight 110 of hybrid backlight 100 as described above, as described above. For example, it may emit wide angle emission light 204 to illuminate one or more 2D regions of hybrid display 2000 depending on the content of the image to be displayed. Although a 2D display area with a fixed position is shown in FIG. 11 , it should be understood that the hybrid display 2000 may include more 2D display areas, and the position of the 2D display area changes dynamically according to the content of the displayed image.

The hybrid display 2000 shown in FIG. 11 also includes a multi-view backlight 220 . Multi-view backlight 220 is configured to illuminate the entire area of hybrid display 2000 with directional light beam 206 comprising multiple light beams. Therefore, the 3D area shown in FIG. 11 is only illuminated by the modulated directional light beam 202″ emitted by the multi-view backlight 220. In contrast, the 2D area shown in FIG. 11 is illuminated by the modulated directional light beam 202" and modulated wide-angle emitted light 202' are jointly illuminated. It should be understood that the 3D area shown in FIG. 11 is all other areas of the hybrid display 2000 except the 2D area. In some embodiments, multi-view backlight 220 may be substantially similar to multi-view backlight 120 of hybrid backlight 100 described above. For example, multi-view backlight 220 may emit directional light beam 206 to illuminate the entire area of hybrid display 2000 .

In some embodiments, as shown in the example in FIG. 11 , a multi-view backlight 220 includes a light guide 222 and an array of spaced apart multi-beam elements 224 . The array of multi-beam elements 224 is configured to scatter the directed light from the light guide 222 into the directional beams 206 . According to various embodiments, when displaying a multi-view image, the directional beam 206 provided by a single multi-beam element 224 in the array of multi-beam elements 224, the directional beam 206 comprising a plurality of directional beams having the same 2000 shows the view directions of the multi-view images corresponding to the different protagonist directions. In some embodiments, light guide 222 and multi-beam element 224 may be substantially similar to light guide 124 and multi-beam element 126, respectively, described above.

Furthermore, according to various embodiments, the multi-beam elements 224 of the array of multi-beam elements 224 may include diffraction gratings, micro-reflective elements, and micro-refractive elements optically connected to the light guide 222 to scatter the directed light into the directional beams 206. one or more of .

As shown in FIG. 11 , the hybrid display 2000 also includes a light valve array 230 . The light valve array 230 is configured to modulate the wide-angle emitted light 204 using a set of light valves corresponding to the 2D area to enable two-dimensional display of content. The light valve array 230 is also generally configured to modulate the directional light beams 206 to enable three-dimensional display of content. Specifically, the set of light valves in the light valve array 230 corresponding to the 2D region is configured to receive and modulate the wide-angle emission light 204 to provide the modulated wide-angle emission light 202'. Similarly, light valve array 230 is also generally configured to receive and modulate directional light beam 206 to provide modulated directional light beam 202". In some embodiments, light valve array 230 may be substantially similar to that described above with respect to mixing Backlight 100 depicts an array of light valves 106. For example, the light valves in the light valve array can include liquid crystal light valves. Additionally, in some embodiments, the size of the multi-beam elements 224 in the array of multi-beam elements 224 can be Comparable to the light valve size of the light valve array 230 (eg, between one quarter and twice the light valve size).

According to some embodiments (not shown), the hybrid display 2000 further includes a plurality of light sources. According to some embodiments, the plurality of light sources is configured to provide light to be guided as guided light within the light guide of the wide-angle backlight 210 or the multi-view backlight 220 . For example, each of the plurality of light sources may be optically connected to provide light to the light guide 222 of the multi-view backlight 220 , or equivalently to the light guide of the wide-angle backlight 210 . In some embodiments, the light sources of the plurality of light sources of the hybrid display may be substantially similar to first light source 112 and second light source 122 described above with respect to hybrid backlight 100 .

According to some embodiments (not shown in the figure), the hybrid display 2000 further includes a dimming driver (not shown), which is configured to drive one or more light emitting units to be driven in the first light source to illuminate the wide-angle backlight One or more dimming unit regions in body 210.

According to other embodiments of the principles described herein, the present invention provides a method of operating a hybrid backlight. FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of a method 3000 of operating a hybrid backlight according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application. As shown in FIG. 12 , the operation method of the hybrid backlight includes: using one or more dimming unit areas in the wide-angle backlight to provide wide-angle emitted light ( S310 ). According to various embodiments, when activated, each dimming cell area provides a wide-angle emission of light, respectively. In some embodiments, the wide-angle backlight may be substantially similar to wide-angle backlight 110 of hybrid backlight 100, as described above.

The operation method 3000 of the hybrid backlight further includes: using the multi-view backlight to provide multiple directional light beams (S320). The directional light beams have principal directions corresponding to different view directions of the multi-view image. According to some embodiments, the directional light beam comprises a plurality of directional light beams, which may be provided by each multi-beam element in the array of multi-beam elements. Specifically, according to various embodiments, the directions of the directional light beams among the plurality of directional light beams correspond to different viewing directions of the multi-view image. In some embodiments, the multi-view backlight can be substantially similar to multi-view backlight 120 of hybrid backlight 100 described above.

In some embodiments, the step of providing a plurality of directional light beams further includes directing the light in the light guide as directed light, and scattering out a portion of the directed light using a multi-beam element in an array of multi-beam elements (not shown). ). Furthermore, in some embodiments, each multi-beam element of the multi-beam element array may include one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-refractive element, and a micro-reflective element. In some embodiments, the multi-beam elements in the array of multi-beam elements may be substantially similar to the multi-beam elements 126 described above with respect to the multi-view backlight 120 . Additionally, the light guide may also be substantially similar to light guide 124 as described above. In some embodiments, the method 3000 of operating a hybrid backlight may further include a step (not shown) of providing light to a light guide within which the guided light is collimated according to a predetermined collimation factor as described above.

According to some embodiments, the operation method 3000 of the hybrid backlight may further include: a step of modulating wide-angle emitted light and multiple directional light beams by using a light valve array ( S330 ). In some other embodiments, the size of the multi-beam elements in the array of multi-beam elements may be configured to be between one quarter and twice the size of the light valves in the array of light valves. In some embodiments, the array of light valves may be substantially similar to the array of light valves 106 described above with respect to hybrid backlight 100 .

So far, the present invention has described examples and embodiments of a hybrid backlight, a hybrid display, and an operating method of the hybrid backlight that display image content in a two-dimensional plus three-dimensional manner according to the content of the displayed image. It should be understood that the above examples and embodiments describe but a few of many specific examples that represent the principles described herein. Obviously, those skilled in the art can easily design many other arrangements without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application, which also fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

A hybrid backlight comprising:

A first backlight having a plurality of dimming unit areas, one or more of the plurality of dimming unit areas configured to be selectively driven to provide wide-angle emitted light independently of each other; and

a second backlight configured to provide a plurality of directional light beams whose directions correspond to different viewing directions of the multi-view image,

Wherein, the second backlight body is arranged on the light-emitting surface of the first backlight body and is transparent to the wide-angle emitted light, and the one or more dimming unit areas driven in the first backlight body are connected with the Corresponding to one or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located.
The hybrid backlight according to claim 1, wherein the remaining dimming unit areas in the first backlight that do not correspond to one or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located are not dimmed. drive and does not provide wide-angle emitted light.
The hybrid backlight according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of directional light beams provided by the second backlight and the one or more dimming unit areas driven in the first backlight provide The wide-angle emitted light is jointly provided to one or more regions in the multi-view image where the specific content is located.
The hybrid backlight according to claim 1, further comprising:

A dimming controller configured to determine one or more areas where the specific content is located based on the display content of the multi-view image, and determine the first backlight according to the determined one or more areas One or more dimming unit zones to be driven in the
The hybrid backlight according to claim 4, wherein the multi-view image changes dynamically with time, and the dimming controller dynamically updates the location of the specific content based on the changed display content of the multi-view image. one or more regions of .
The hybrid backlight according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the second backlight comprises:

a light guide configured to guide light as guided light; and

An array of multiple beam elements each configured to scatter a portion of the directed light from the light guide as beams of the plurality of directional beams.
The hybrid backlight of claim 6, wherein the light guide is configured to direct the directed light with a predetermined collimation factor as collimated directed light.
The hybrid backlight according to claim 6, wherein the multi-beam elements in the array of multi-beam elements comprise one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-reflective element, and a micro-refractive element, and the diffraction grating is configured to diffractive The portion of the guided light is scattered out, the microreflective element is configured to reflectively scatter the portion of the guided light, and the microrefractive element is configured to refractively scatter out of the The portion of the light that is guided.
A hybrid display comprising:

A first backlight having a plurality of dimming unit areas, one or more of the plurality of dimming unit areas configured to be selectively driven to provide wide-angle emitted light independently of each other;

a second backlight configured to provide a plurality of directional light beams whose directions correspond to different viewing directions of the multi-view image; and

a light valve array configured to modulate the wide-angle emitted light and the plurality of directional light beams to provide the multi-view image comprising a two-dimensional display area and a three-dimensional display area,

Wherein, the second backlight body is arranged on the light-emitting surface of the first backlight body and is transparent to the wide-angle emitted light, and the one or more dimming unit areas driven in the first backlight body are connected with the corresponding to one or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located, and

Wherein, one or more areas where the specific content is located correspond to the two-dimensional display area.
The hybrid display according to claim 9, wherein areas other than the one or more areas where the specific content is located in the multi-view image correspond to the three-dimensional display area, and the first backlight body The remaining dimming unit areas not corresponding to the three-dimensional display area in the multi-view image are not driven and do not provide wide-angle emitted light.
The hybrid display according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the plurality of directional light beams provided by the second backlight are identical to those provided by one or more dimming unit areas driven in the first backlight. Wide-angle emitted light is collectively provided to the two-dimensional display area in the multi-view image.
The hybrid display of claim 9, further comprising:

a dimming controller configured to determine the two-dimensional display area based on the display content of the multi-view image, and determine one of the first backlights to be driven according to the determined two-dimensional display area or multiple dimming unit areas.
The hybrid display according to claim 12, wherein the multi-view image changes dynamically over time, and the dimming controller dynamically updates the two-dimensional display area based on the display content of the changed multi-view image with the 3D display area.
A hybrid display according to any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the second backlight comprises:

a light guide configured to guide light as guided light; and

An array of multiple beam elements each configured to scatter a portion of the directed light from the light guide as beams of the plurality of directional beams.
The hybrid display of claim 14, wherein the multi-beam elements in the array of multi-beam elements comprise one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-reflective element, and a micro-refractive element, the diffraction grating being configured to diffractively scattering the portion of the guided light, the micro-reflective element configured to reflectively scatter the portion of the guided light, and the micro-refractive element configured to refractively scatter the guided light guide the portion of the light.
The hybrid display of claim 9, further comprising:

A first light source, which includes a plurality of light emitting units, the plurality of light emitting units corresponding to a plurality of dimming unit areas in the first backlight;

a dimming driver configured to drive the one or more light emitting units to be driven to illuminate the one or more dimming unit areas in the first backlight; and

a second light source configured to emit light to be guided by the light guide.
A method of operating a hybrid backlight, comprising:

Wide-angle emission is provided using a first backlight having a plurality of dimming cell regions, one or more of which are selectively driven independently of each other provide a wide angle of emitted light; and

using a second backlight to provide a plurality of directional light beams, the directions of the plurality of directional light beams correspond to different viewing directions of the multi-view image,

Wherein, the second backlight body is arranged on the light-emitting surface of the first backlight body and is transparent to the wide-angle emitted light, and the one or more dimming unit areas driven in the first backlight body are connected with the Corresponding to one or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located.
The method according to claim 17, wherein the remaining dimming unit areas in the first backlight not corresponding to one or more areas in the multi-view image where the specific content is located are not driven and Wide angle launch light not available.
The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the plurality of directional light beams provided by the second backlight are compatible with the wide-angle beams provided by one or more areas of dimming units driven in the first backlight The emitted light is collectively provided to one or more regions in the multi-view image where the specific content is located.
The method of claim 17, further comprising:

Based on the displayed content of the multi-view image, using a dimming controller to determine one or more areas where the specific content is located; and

According to the determined one or more regions, the dimming controller is used to determine one or more dimming unit regions to be driven in the first backlight.
The method according to claim 17 or 18, further comprising:

guiding light in the light guide as guided light; and

A portion of the directed light is scattered from the light guide as beams of the plurality of directional beams by use of each of the multi-beam element arrays.
The method of claim 17, further comprising:

modulating said wide-angle emitted light and said plurality of directional light beams using a light valve array to provide said multi-view image comprising a two-dimensional display area and a three-dimensional display area,

Wherein, one or more areas where the specific content is located correspond to the two-dimensional display area, and areas in the multi-view image other than the two-dimensional display area correspond to the three-dimensional display area.