Patent ID: 11966049
Assignee: REALD SPARK, LLC
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC F  G

Claim 0:
1. A near-eye display apparatus comprising:
a directional backlight comprising:
a waveguide comprising an input end; and
an array of light sources disposed at different input positions in a lateral direction across the input end of the waveguide and arranged to input light into the waveguide,

the waveguide further comprising first and second, opposed guide surfaces for guiding the light from the light sources along the waveguide, and a reflective end facing the input end for reflecting the light from the light sources back through the waveguide, the first guide surface being arranged to guide light by total internal reflection and the second guide surface having a stepped shape comprising (a) a plurality of facets oriented to extract the light from the light sources, after reflection from the reflective end, out of the waveguide through the first guide surface, and (b) intermediate regions between the facets that are arranged to guide light through the waveguide;
a spatial light modulator arranged to modulate the light extracted from the waveguide to form an image; and
a magnifying lens having positive optical power, the magnifying lens being arranged to magnify the image formed by the spatial light modulator for the pupil of an eye of a user, and
wherein the near-eye display apparatus is arranged to direct the light from the light sources into respective, pupil optical windows distributed across an eyebox in the lateral direction in dependence on the input positions of the light sources.