US 11,740,471 B2
Display device with transparent illuminator
Fenglin Peng, Redmond, WA (US); Ying Geng, Bellevue, WA (US); Lu Lu, Kirkland, WA (US); Yun-Han Lee, Redmond, WA (US); Alexander Koshelev, Redmond, WA (US); Giuseppe Calafiore, Redmond, WA (US); and Jacques Gollier, Sammamish, WA (US)
Assigned to META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Menlo Park, CA (US)
Filed by META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Menlo Park, CA (US)
Filed on Aug. 12, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/401,160.
Application 17/401,160 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/321,121, filed on May 14, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/121,494, filed on Dec. 4, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0179211 A1, Jun. 9, 2022
Int. Cl. G02F 1/1335 (2006.01); G02B 27/01 (2006.01); F21V 8/00 (2006.01); G02F 1/13357 (2006.01)
CPC G02B 27/0172 (2013.01) [G02B 6/005 (2013.01); G02B 6/0078 (2013.01); G02B 27/0179 (2013.01); G02F 1/133536 (2013.01); G02F 1/133553 (2013.01); G02B 2027/0178 (2013.01); G02B 2027/0187 (2013.01); G02F 1/133524 (2013.01); G02F 1/133526 (2013.01); G02F 1/133606 (2013.01); G02F 1/133621 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A display device comprising:
an illuminator comprising a light source, a transparent lightguide for spreading light emitted by the light source along a plane parallel to the transparent lightguide, and an array of gratings optically coupled to the transparent lightguide for out-coupling portions of the light propagating in the transparent lightguide;
a liquid crystal (LC) layer downstream of the illuminator, the LC layer comprising an array of polarization-tuning pixels, wherein positions of the gratings are coordinated with positions of the polarization-tuning pixels to propagate the portions of the light out-coupled from the transparent lightguide by the gratings through the corresponding polarization-tuning pixels; an eyebox downstream of the LC layer; and
an offset-to-angle element in an optical path between the LC layer and the eyebox, for
converting an image in linear domain at the LC layer into an image on angular domain at the eyebox.