Patent ID: 7298940

Claim:
An illumination system for use in optical display systems, comprising: a light guide having two ends; a reflective plate mated to one end of the light guide, the reflective plate having a reflective surface with a transparent aperture formed therein for admitting input light from a light source into the light guide; and a micro-guide plate mated to the other end of the light guide, the micro-guide plate including one or more optical elements formed and positioned in a predetermined arrangement on at least one surface of the micro-guide plate for altering at least one optical characteristic of the input light, wherein the micro-guide plate includes: a first plate mated to the light guide, the first plate having a reflective surface with a plurality of transparent apertures formed therein; and a second plate including the optical elements, each of the optical elements being mated to one of the apertures in the reflective surface.