Patent ID: 8154798
Filing Date: 2012-04-10
Classification: G03B

Abstract:
1. A reflective screen comprising: a plurality of strips having a first face and a second face, and first and second long edges, and first and second end edges, the strips being positioned so that the second long edge of a strip is placed adjacent the first long edge of an adjacent strip, the plurality of strips being arranged with the first and last strips each having one long edge adjacent another strip, and any additional strips having both long edges adjacent another strip; a first means for controlling the viewing angle, said first means comprising a continuous contour of smoothly varying, irregularly placed and irregularly sized laser-speckle generated microstructures on the first face of each of the plurality of strips, the microstructures having a mean feature size that both refracts and diffracts visible light; a reflective coating formed to follow the contours of the microstructures, the reflective coating of each respective strip being spaced from the second face by the microstructures; a second means for controlling the viewing angle; said second means comprising a hard coating following the contours of the microstructures, the hard coating of each respective strip being spaced from the microstructures by the reflective coating; a second plurality of seams joining the second long edge of one of the plurality of strips with the first long edge of an adjacent strip of the plurality of strips to form a screen having as opposing first and second screen edges the long edges of the first and last strips that are not seamed to another strip, and the two sets of end edges comprising opposing third and fourth screen edges that are transverse to the first and second screen edges, the distance between either the first and second screen edges or the third and fourth screen edges being the height of the screen; and wherein the strips have a thickness that maintains the dimensional stability of the assembled screen when the screen is hung vertically from one of the screen edges, the combination of the reflectively coated and hard coated microstructures being configured to provide a viewing angle of light projected onto the screen 80° to 130°, whereby the hard coating preserves the reflective properties of the reflective coating, and the seams are configured to be not noticeable by a viewer of a projected image at a distance equal to the height of the screen.