Patent Publication Number: US-11662621-B2

Title: Spatially varying polarizer for display backlight

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The present disclosure generally relates to display systems, and more particularly to backlights for display systems. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     Demand for displays with heightened performance is increasing, including with the growth of smart phones, tablets, wearable devices, high-definition televisions, as well as other electronic devices. The growing popularity of virtual reality and augmented reality systems, particularly those using head mounted displays, has further increased such demand. Virtual reality systems typically envelop a wearer&#39;s eyes completely and substitute a “virtual” reality for the actual view (or actual reality) in front of the wearer, while augmented reality systems typically provide a semi-transparent or transparent overlay of one or more screens in front of a wearer&#39;s eyes such that actual view is augmented with additional information. In many virtual reality and augmented reality systems, the movement of a wearer of such a head mounted display may be tracked in various manners, such as via sensors in the head mounted display and/or external to it, in order to enable the images being shown to reflect user movements. 
     Increasingly, there is a demand for displays that have improved performance while also being smaller or larger in size, consuming less power, and generating less heat relative to what is currently available. Accordingly, needs exist for improved display panels, and for improved techniques for manufacturing and using display panels. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     A display may be summarized as including a non-emissive display panel assembly; a backlight assembly including a light source; and a spatially varying polarizer positioned between the non-emissive display panel assembly and the backlight assembly, the spatially varying polarizer having a polarization that spatially varies as a function of propagation length away from the light source. The spatially varying polarizer may include a multi-twist retarder. The spatially varying polarizer may provide no retardation at a proximal end near the light source and quarter-wavelength retardation at a distal end opposite the proximal end. The retardation of the spatially varying polarizer may vary linearly or non-linearly between a proximal end near the light source and a distal end opposite the proximal end. 
     The display may further include a linear polarizer positioned between the spatially varying polarizer and the non-emissive display panel assembly. The linear polarizer may include dual brightness enhancement film (DBEF). 
     The display may further include control circuitry operatively coupled to the spatially varying polarizer, the control circuitry operative to selectively adjust the retardation provided by the spatially varying polarizer. The backlight assembly may include a light guide plate that includes light-scattering features. The backlight assembly may include a light guide plate that does not include any light-scattering features. The backlight assembly may include a wedge-shaped light guide plate. The non-emissive display panel assembly may include a liquid crystal display panel assembly. The light source may include an array of light emitting diodes. 
     A display may be summarized as including a non-emissive display panel assembly; a backlight assembly including a light guide plate and a light source that provides light to an edge of the light guide plate; a reflective polarizer positioned between the non-emissive display panel assembly and the light guide plate; and a spatially varying polarizer positioned between the reflective polarizer and the light guide plate, the spatially varying polarizer having a polarization that spatially varies as a function of propagation length away from the light source. The spatially varying polarizer may include a multi-twist retarder. The reflective polarizer may include a dual brightness enhancement film (DBEF). The spatially varying polarizer may provide no retardation at a proximal end near the light source and quarter-wavelength retardation at a distal end opposite the proximal end. The light guide plate may include light-scattering features. The light guide plate may not include any light-scattering features. The light source may include an array of light emitting diodes. The display may be a display of a head-mounted display device, a television, a laptop computer, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a computer monitor, or a wearable electronic device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements or acts. The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the shapes of various elements and angles are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some of these elements may be arbitrarily enlarged and positioned to improve drawing legibility. Further, the particular shapes of the elements as drawn, are not necessarily intended to convey any information regarding the actual shape of the particular elements, and may have been solely selected for ease of recognition in the drawings. 
         FIG.  1    is an example of a head-mounted display device that includes dual display panels, according to one illustrated implementation. 
         FIG.  2    is an example of a laptop that includes a display panel, according to one illustrated implementation. 
         FIG.  3    is an example of a smartphone that includes a display panel, according to one non-limiting illustrated implementation. 
         FIG.  4    is a sectional view of a display panel that includes a backlight assembly with a spatially varying polarizer, according to one non-limiting illustrated implementation. 
         FIG.  5    is a detailed sectional view of a display panel, according to one non-limiting illustrated implementation. 
         FIG.  6    is a graph that shows an example of phase retardation for a spatially varying polarizer that varies as a function of propagation length away from a light source, according to one non-limiting illustrated implementation. 
         FIG.  7    is a plan view of the spatially varying polarizer, showing that the phase retardation for the spatially varying polarizer varies as a function of propagation length away from a light source from no retardation (linear) at an edge proximate the light source to quarter-wave retardation (circular) at an edge distal to the light source, according to one non-limiting illustrated implementation. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosed implementations. However, one skilled in the relevant art will recognize that implementations may be practiced without one or more of these specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures associated with computer systems, server computers, and/or communications networks have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the implementations. 
     Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims that follow, the word “comprising” is synonymous with “including,” and is inclusive or open-ended (i.e., does not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method acts). 
     Reference throughout this specification to “one implementation” or “an implementation” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the implementation is included in at least one implementation. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one implementation” or “in an implementation” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same implementation. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more implementations. 
     As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. 
     The headings and Abstract of the Disclosure provided herein are for convenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of the implementations. 
     One or more implementations of the present disclosure are directed to displays for electronic devices, such as head-mounted display devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, televisions, smartphones, wearable computers, computer monitors, etc. Non-limiting examples of electronic devices that may include such displays are shown in  FIGS.  1 - 3   . 
     Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are a common example of non-emissive displays that require an independent light source, referred to as a backlight unit or assembly. Backlight assemblies provide such displays with homogeneous and bright light with appropriate color characteristics. Backlight technology has become more important recently due to the advent of edge-lit light emitting diode (LED) backlights which have allowed displays to be made much slimmer than previous displays while also reducing power consumption. To meet energy regulations or to satisfy other requirements, it is important for backlight assemblies to be as efficient as possible. As discussed further below, the present disclosure improves the performance of backlight assemblies by providing a spatially varying polarizer that provides phase retardation that varies as a function of propagation length away from the light source of the backlight assembly. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates a non-limiting example of an electronic device in the form of an head-mounted display device  100 , which may be coupled to a video rendering computing system via a wired or wireless connection to provide a virtual reality display to a human user. In operation, the user wears the HMD device  100  on their head, secured via one or more straps  101 , and receives displayed information at each eye via displays  102   a  and  102   b  supported by a support structure  104  of the HMD device from the computing system of a simulated environment different from the actual physical environment, with the computing system acting as an image rendering system that supplies images of the simulated environment to the HMD device for display to the user, such as images generated by a game program (not shown) and/or other software program (not shown) executing on the computing system. The user is further able to move around the actual physical environment in this example, and may further have one or more I/O (“input/output”) devices to allow the user to further interact with the simulated environment, such as hand-held controllers that are communicatively coupled to the computing system via wired or wireless connections. As the user moves location and/or changes orientation of the HMD device  100 , the position of the HMD device may be tracked, such as to allow a corresponding portion of the simulated environment to be displayed to the user on the HMD device, and the controllers may further employ similar techniques to use in tracking the positions of the controllers (and to optionally use that information to assist in determining and/or verifying the position of the HMD device). After the tracked position of the HMD device  100  is known, corresponding information is transmitted to the computing system, which uses the tracked position information to generate one or more next images of the simulated environment to display to the user via the displays  102   a  and  102   b.    
       FIG.  2    shows an example electronic device in the form of a laptop computer  200  having an upper housing  202  and a lower housing  204  coupled together via hinges  206  that allow the housings to rotate relative to each other. The lower housing  204  includes a keyboard  208  and may include other structures (e.g., touchpad, various ports). The upper housing  202  includes a display panel  210  that may be used to display content to the user. 
       FIG.  3    shows an example electronic device in the form of a smartphone  300 . The smartphone  300  includes a housing  302  that includes a display panel  304  and a plurality of input components  306  (e.g., buttons). In at least some implementations the display panel  304  may be a touchscreen display, for example. 
     More generally, the displays of the present disclosure may be implemented in any type of electronic device, such as the devices shown in  FIGS.  1 - 3   , or other devices including music players, gaming devices, navigation units, vehicle displays, wearable devices, kiosks, or other types of devices that include one or more displays. 
       FIG.  4    shows a sectional side view of an example liquid crystal display (LCD)  400  according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The display  400  may be implemented any type of electronic device, such as the devices  100 ,  200 , and  300  of  FIGS.  1 ,  2 , and  3   , respectively. 
     The display  400  includes a number of stacked layers that may each be generally similar in shape (e.g., rectangular). The display  400  may include a backlight assembly  402  that receives light  403  from a light source  404  positioned substantially adjacent an edge of the backlight assembly  402 . The display  400  also includes a display module that includes an LCD panel  406  or other display layers (e.g., any non-emissive display assembly layers), other light processing layers such as optical film(s)  408 , and a linear or reflective polarizer  410  (e.g., dual brightness enhancement film (DBEF)). 
     The display  400  also includes light retardation layer in the form of a spatially varying polarizer (SVP)  412  that varies the phase retardation of light as a function of propagation length (from left to right as shown in  FIG.  4   ). As discussed further below, the spatially varying polarizer  412  functions to increase the efficiency and uniformity of the light source  404  by increasing the amount of light that is passed upward (as shown) to the LCD panel  406 . 
     When present, the optical film(s)  408  may be formed as a portion of the backlight assembly  402  or may be formed separately therefrom. The spatially varying polarizer  412  may be positioned above the optical film  408  and below the reflective polarizer  410 , as shown. In other implementations, the display  400  may include the spatially varying polarizer  412  but may not include a separate linear polarizer  410 . It should be appreciated that the configuration shown in  FIG.  4    is merely illustrative and other configurations are contemplated which may include the same layers arranged differently, fewer or more layers, or different layers. As non-limiting examples, the spatially varying polarizer  412  may be positioned between one or more optical films  408 , between the optical films and the backlight assembly  402 , within the backlight assembly  402 , etc. 
       FIG.  5    shows a more detailed sectional view of an example display  500  that may implement the features of the present disclosure. The display  500  may be implemented any type of electronic device, such as the devices  100 ,  200 , and  300  of  FIGS.  1 ,  2 , and  3   , respectively, and may be similar or identical to the display  400  of  FIG.  4   . 
     The display  500  includes a backlight assembly that includes a light guide prism or plate (LGP)  502  and a reflector  504  that may be used for generating backlight  506 . In operation, backlight  506  travels outward (upward as shown) and passes through display pixel structures in display layers  507 , which illuminates images that are produced by the display pixels for viewing by a user  508  in the direction  510 . The display layers  507  may be positioned in a plastic or metal structure to form a display module that is mounted in a housing of an electronic device. The display layers  507  may form a liquid crystal display panel or may be used to form other types of displays. 
     In the illustrated example, the display layers  507  include a liquid crystal layer  512  that is positioned between display layers  514  and  516 , which may be positioned between a lower polarizer layer  518  and an upper polarizer layer  520 . The layers  514  and  516  may be formed from transparent substrate layers such as clear layers of plastic or glass. The layers  514  and  516  may comprise a color filter layer or a thin-film transistor layer, for example. Color filter elements, transistors, conductive traces, or other structures may be formed on the substrate of the layers  514  and  516  to form a color filter layer and/or a thin-film transistor layer. In at least some implementations, the layers  514  or  516 , or other layers, may include touch sensor electrodes that are used to implement touchscreen functionality for the display  500 . As a non-limiting example, the layer  516  may comprise a thin-film transistor layer that includes an array of transistors and display pixel electrodes that are operative to apply electric fields to the liquid crystal layer  512 . In this example, the layer  514  may be a color filter layer that includes an array of color filter elements that function to provide the display  500  with the ability to display color images. In other implementations, the layer  514  may be a thin-film transistor layer and the layer  516  may be a color filter layer. 
     During operation of the display  500 , control circuitry  522  operatively coupled to the layer  516 , which in this example comprises a thin-film transistor layer, may be used to generate information to be displayed on the display. The control circuitry  522  may include various circuitry and components, such as a display driver circuit, a flexible circuit board, various conductive traces and couplings, etc., to drive the transistors of the layer  516 . 
     The backlight assembly may include the light guide prism or plate  502 , which may be formed from a transparent material such as glass or plastic. The light guide prism  502  may be rectangular in shape or may have a wedge shape that is thicker toward a light source  524  and is tapered to be narrower in the direction away from the light source. During operation, a light source  524  generates light  526  that is directed into an edge of the light guide prism  502 . The light source  524  may be any suitable light source, such as an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) positioned along the edge of the light guide prism to couple light into the light guide prism. 
     The light  526  emitted from the light source  524  may be coupled into the edge surface of the light guide prism  502  and may be distributed throughout the prism via total internal reflection. In at least some implementations, the light guide prism  502  may include light-scattering features  528 , which may be referred to as dots, pits or bumps, for example. The light-scattering features  528  may be located on an upper surface or on a lower surface of the light guide prism  502 . 
     In other implementations, the light guide prism  502  may not include any light-scattering features  528 , which may allow for more efficient use of the light source  524  since the light-scattering features reduce efficiency and cause the loss of polarization control. In such implementations, the light  526  may be provided to the light guide prism  502  at a relatively wide angle (e.g., ±40°, ±20°), and the spatially varying polarizer  532  may be tuned to provide a uniform backlight across the length of the display  500 , as discussed further below. 
     The light  526  that scatters upward (as shown) from the light guide prism  502  may serve as backlight  506  for the display  500 . Light  526  that scatters downwards may be reflected back in the upward direction by the reflector  504 , which may be formed from any suitable reflective material such as white plastic or other reflective materials. 
     To improve the performance of the backlight assembly, implementations of the present disclosure include one or more of optical film(s)  530 , a spatially varying polarizer  532 , or a reflective polarizer  534  (e.g., DBEF). 
     The optical film layer  530  may include one or more diffuser layers (e.g., diffuser films) that reduce hotspots, compensation films for enhancing off-axis viewing, or other types of films (e.g., prism films for collimating the backlight  506 ). 
     The spatially varying polarizer  532  may be positioned between the reflective polarizer  534  and the optical film(s)  530 . More generally, the spatially varying polarizer  532  may be positioned anywhere between the reflective polarizer  534  and the light guide prism  502 . 
     In at least some implementations, the display  500  includes the spatially varying polarizer  532  and does not include a linear reflective polarizer  534 . In such implementations, the spatially varying polarizer  532  may be tuned to selectively allow light to travel therethrough in a way that the light is uniformly transmitted without significant loss. For example, the spatially varying polarizer may provide linear polarization at a proximal end that gradually varies the retardation to provide circular polarization (e.g., λ/4 retardation) at the distal end. 
     The spatially varying polarizer  532  may comprise a wave retarder that is formed of birefringent materials. Birefringence is the property of a material that has a refractive index that depends on the polarization and propagation direction of light. The wave retarder alters the polarization state or phase of light traveling through the wave retarder. The wave retarder may have a slow axis (or extraordinary axis) and a fast axis (ordinary axis). As polarized light travels through the wave retarder, the light along the fast axis travels more quickly than along the slow axis. 
     As discussed above, the spatially varying polarizer  532  may provide phase retardation that varies a function of propagation length (L) from the light source  524 , e.g., from left to right as shown in  FIG.  5   , which allows for more uniform and efficient distribution of the light from the light guide prism  502  to the display layers  507 .  FIG.  6    is a graph  600  that shows a non-limiting example of phase retardation as a function of propagation length for a spatially varying polarizer of the present disclosure, such as the spatially varying polarizers  412  and  532  of  FIGS.  4  and  5   , respectively. In this example, the spatially varying polarizer provides no retardation at a proximal end near the light source (e.g., light source  524 ), and linearly increases the retardation to provide a retardation of λ/4 at the distal end of the spatially varying polarizer furthest away from the light source. Specifically, in the illustrated example, the retardation of the spatially varying polarizer is 0λ at 0L, ( 1/16)λ at (¼)L, (⅛)λ at (½)L, ( 3/16)λ at (¾)L, and (¼)λ at L.  FIG.  7    shows a top plan view  700  of the spatially varying polarizer  532 , showing that the phase retardation for the spatially varying polarizer varies as a function of propagation length away from the light source  524  from no retardation (linear) at the left edge (as shown) proximate the light source, to quarter-wave retardation (circular) at the right edge distal from the light source. 
     Although the illustrated example shows a spatially varying polarizer with a linearly increasing retardation that varies between 0 and λ/4, it should be appreciated that numerous other configurations may be provided. Generally, the spatially varying polarizer may provide retardation that varies in any way as a function of propagation length away from the light source, and the amounts of retardation may be any value (e.g., λ/20, λ/10, λ/4, λ, 2λ). Further, the amount of retardation may increase only, decrease only, or both increase and decrease. The amount of retardation may vary continuously, or may vary in a number of steps. The amount of retardation may vary according to any type of function including, for example, linear functions, polynomial functions, exponential functions, step functions, other types of functions, or combinations thereof. 
     In at least some implementations, the spatially varying polarizer may be formed of a multi-twist retarder (MTR), which is a waveplate-like retardation film that provides precise and customized levels of broadband, narrowband or multiple band retardation in a single thin film. More specifically, MTR comprises two or more twisted liquid crystal (LC) layers on a single substrate and with a single alignment layer. Subsequent LC layers are aligned directly by prior layers, allowing simple fabrication, achieving automatic layer registration, and resulting in a monolithic film with a continuously varying optic axis. 
     Referring back to  FIG.  5   , in at least some implementations, the control circuitry  522  may be operatively coupled to the spatially varying polarizer  532  to selectively vary the spatially-dependent phase retardation of the spatially varying polarizer to any desired configuration. In such implementations, the display  500  may include additional layers, such as one or more additional thin-film transistor layers, that allow the spatially-dependent phase retardation of the spatially varying polarizer  532  to be selectively controlled. The control circuitry  522  may control the phase retardation at any desired rate, such as one time only, periodically, at a rate that is equal to a frame rate of the display  500  or a fraction thereof, etc. 
     The foregoing detailed description has set forth various implementations of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, schematics, and examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, schematics, and examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one implementation, the present subject matter may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the implementations disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in standard integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more controllers (e.g., microcontrollers) as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art in light of this disclosure. 
     Those of skill in the art will recognize that many of the methods or algorithms set out herein may employ additional acts, may omit some acts, and/or may execute acts in a different order than specified. 
     In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms taught herein are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative implementation applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of signal bearing media include, but are not limited to, the following: recordable type media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digital tape, and computer memory. 
     The various implementations described above can be combined to provide further implementations. These and other changes can be made to the implementations in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific implementations disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible implementations along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.