Patent ID: 7944428

Claim:
An illuminator system for a-display, comprising: a slab waveguide disposed behind a back face of the display, wherein the slab waveguide is linearly tapered along a Y-axis of the back face of the display, and wherein the slab waveguide is substantially co-extensive with the back face of the display across the Y-axis and across an X-axis of the back face of the display, wherein the Y-axis and the X-axis are perpendicular to each other, and wherein the slab waveguide comprises a thick end and an opposing thin end that are each substantially parallel to the X-axis; a triangular input wedge that is a part of and that protrudes from the thick end of the slab waveguide; an input face of the triangular input wedge that is substantially co-extensive with the back face of the display along the X-axis; a plurality of N light arrays wherein each light array is configured to provide light that is substantially co-extensive with the back face of the display along the X-axis; a linear taper of the input face of the triangular input wedge that, in combination with an angle relative to the input wedge of incoming light from an I th light array of the plurality of N light arrays, is configured to direct the incoming light from the I th light array to emerge from a face of the slab waveguide over only an I th portion of N portions of the back face of the display, wherein each of the N portions is substantially co-extensive with the back face of the display along the X-axis, and wherein each of the N portions are a different portion of the back face of the display than any other of the N portions; an illuminator system controller configured to synchronize with a controller of the display wherein the illuminator system controller turns off a previously turned-on light array of the plurality of N light arrays and turns on the I th light array of the plurality of N light arrays in response to the controller of the display writing to a corresponding I th portion of N corresponding portions of the display, and wherein the illuminator system does not utilize any display image data.