Patent ID: 7212257

Claim:
A method of forming a side backlight unit, the method comprising: providing a reflector body having a curved inner circumference surface, the lamp reflector having arm portions having arm surfaces extending from said inner circumference surface and said arm surfaces facing each other and configured to receive a light guide plate between said arm surfaces; forming a conformal light reflection layer on said curved inner circumference surface and said arm surfaces of said reflector body; forming a conformal transparent protective layer on said light reflection layer after said light reflection layer is formed on said inner circumference surface and said arm surfaces of said reflector body; and configuring said reflector body with a light guide plate including an incident surface, an emitting surface adjoining said incident surface, and a back surface adjoining said incident surface and opposing said emitting surface, such that said arm surfaces sandwich said emitting surface and said back surface of said light guide plate on said incident surface side and defines light transmission regions between said arm surfaces and said emitting surface and said back surface, wherein said light transmission regions between said arm surfaces and said emitting surface and said back surface have thicknesses sufficiently small so that periodic bright lines on said incident surface are at an inconspicuous level defined at intensity level 1 or lower, as determined by a sensory test performed with a human subject observing light emerging from said emitting surface provided by a lamp disposed along said incident surface, wherein an intensity level of said periodic bright lines is 0 if said periodic bright lines are perceived to be invisible by said subject, said intensity level is 3 if said periodic bright lines are perceived to be a little visible by said subject, and said intensity level is 5 if said periodic bright lines are perceived to be conspicuous by said subject.