Abstract:
A dual layer backlight employs a first planar backlight to emit light and a second planar backlight to provide a plurality of coupled-out light beams. The second planar backlight includes a plate light guide and a multibeam diffraction grating configured to diffractively couple out a portion of a guided light beam within the plate light guide as the plurality of coupled-out light beams. A light beam of the coupled-out light beam has a different principal angular direction from other light beams of the coupled-out light beam plurality. A two-dimensional/three-dimensional (2D/3D) mode-switchable electronic display includes the dual layer backlight and a light valve array configured to selectively modulate emitted light as 2D pixels in a first mode and the coupled-out light beams as 3D pixels corresponding to the different 3D views in a second mode of the electronic display.
Abstract:
Diffraction grating-based backlighting having controlled diffractive coupling efficiency includes a light guide and a plurality of diffraction gratings at a surface of the light guide. The light guide is to guide light and the diffraction gratings are to couple out a portion of the guided light using diffractive coupling and to direct the coupled-out portion away from the light guide surface as a plurality of light beams at a principal angular direction. Diffraction gratings of the plurality include diffractive features having a diffractive feature modulation configured to selectively control a diffractive coupling efficiency of the diffraction gratings as a function of distance along the light guide surface.