Patent · US Expired

Illumination control unit for display system with spatial light modulator

US5467146A · kind A · utility

155Cited by
3References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 31, 1994
Grant dateNov 14, 1995
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 31, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N9/31
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An illumination control unit (17) for a projection display system (10) that uses a digital mirror device (DMD) (15) to generate images. The illumination control unit (17) has a first set of lenses (23) for receiving light from a source and focussing the light to a color filter (24). A second set of lenses (25) receives the colored light and directs it to a prism (28). The prism (28) bends the light toward the reflective mirrors (30) of the DMD (15), and a collimating lens (28a) provides a beam that is approximately the size of the mirror array of the DMD (15). An optical shutter (26) is interposed between the second set of lenses (25) and the prism (28a), and permits the system (10) to achieve a "black state" between image displays or to achieve modulated brightness levels of images being displayed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.