Patent US5012274A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5012274A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Active matrix LCD image projection system
Assignee: Projectavision Inc
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Filing: 1988-12-23
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Granted: 1991-04-30
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Expires: 2008-12-23
Abstract
Abstract An active matrix LCD light valve between crossed polarizers, utilizing individual transistors to control each "pixel area" of the LCD and storage elements to store signal data for each pixel, with optically shielded "dead spaces" between pixels to eliminate electric field crosstalk and non-information-bearing light bleed through, is illuminated with a bright independent light source which creates a video image projected via specialized projection optics onto an internal or external screen without distortions, regardless of the angle of projection onto the screen. Use of heat sinks, IR reflective coatings, heat absorbing optics, optional fluid, and a thermistor controlled pixel transistor bias voltage injection servo circuit stabilizes image performance, maintaining accurate color and contrast levels as the LCD changes temperature. In one embodiment of the invention, use of a multi-color LCD with a stepped cavity, producing different thicknesses of LCD for the different wavelengths that pass through it, allows a linear correspondence between the wavelengths passing through the LCD to produce true black, high contrast, and CRT-like color rendition. A dichroic mirror arrangement is used to overlap differently colored pixels and a striped mirror system is used to duplicate and offset the resulting "full color" pixels or a lens system is used to expand existing pixels to fill the "dead spaces" between pixels in the projected image, creating a continuous image with no apparent stripes or dots. A special venetian-blind type of screen is also disclosed and methods for using the system to view three dimensional video are also explained.
Inventors
- 👤 Eugene Dolgoff
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 13:26
CPC Classifications
G; G09; G09G; G09G3/00; G09G3/20; G09G3/34; G09G3/36; G02; G02F; G02F1/00; G02F1/01; G02F1/13; G02F1/133; G02F1/1333; G02F1/133382; G09G3/001; G09G3/002; H; H04; H04N; H04N13/00; H04N13/30; H04N13/302; H04N13/305; H04N13/332; H04N13/337; H04N13/363; H04N9/00; H04N9/12; H04N9/31; H04N9/3102; H04N9/3105; H04N9/3108; H04N9/3197; H04N13/10; H04N13/106; H04N13/111; H04N13/189; H04N13/194; H04N13/20; H04N13/204; H04N13/239; H04N13/261; H04N13/286; H04N13/31; H04N13/324
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 55
Claim 1
Independent Claim
112 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming an image; a solid state storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; means for maintaining color registration of pixel images; and means for directly projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area while maintaining color registration such that registered pixel images are caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
112 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming an image; a solid state storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; means for maintaining color registration of pixel images; and means for directly projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area while maintaining color registration such that registered pixel images are caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
43 words
The video display system of claim 1 wherein said control means associated with each pixel includes a transistor, said transistor when turned on by a gate signal, conducts a voltage of a specific value associated with the desired brightness at its respective pixel.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
15 words
The video display system of claim 2, wherein said transistor includes a field effect transistor.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
16 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein substantially no light emanates from said dead spaces.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
15 words
The video display system of claim 4, further comprising a light-blocking covering positioned between pixels.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising a heat sink adapted to dissipate heat energy from said projecting means and/or said active matrix.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
18 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein said projection means includes lens elements coated for heat reflection.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
25 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising heat absorbing elements adapted to dissipate heat energy from said projecting means and/or said active matrix.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising a fluid means adapted to dissipate heat energy from said projecting means and/or said active matrix.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein said projecting means further comprises reflective optics constructed of a metalic substance.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
38 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising; a heat sensing device for sensing heat in proximity to the active matrix, wherein said device monitors temperature and biases the active matrix LCD to counter temperature fluctuation effects.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
30 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of LCDs to project multiple images onto the viewing area to produce a black and white or colored image.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
36 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising dichroic optics, wherein said dichroic optics overlap differently colored LCD projected images permitting said images to be focused onto a screen with a single projection lens system.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
25 words
The video display system of claim 4, further comprising a mirror system to duplicate the image of the pixels into the dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
17 words
The video display system of claim 4, further comprising lenses to fill the dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
16 words
The video display system of claim 15, wherein said lenses are arranged in a lens array.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
13 words
The video display system of claim 16, wherein said lens array is lenticular.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein said LCD is a full-color LCD, comprising pixels of a plurality of colors.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
The video display system of claim 18, wherein light emanating from one of the colored pixels overlaps light emanating from another colored pixel.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
16 words
The video display system of claim 19, wherein substantially no light emanates from said dead spaces.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
19 words
The video display system of claim 20, wherein said image is replicated to fill the dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
29 words
The video display system of claim 20, wherein light emanating from each of the plurality of colored pixels is optically expanded, individually, to fill the dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
43 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising: a liquid crystal container, wherein said container is stepped to produce different cavity lengths of liquid crystal corresponding to different wavelengths of light to be projected through different areas of the liquid crystal display.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
17 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising means for projecting the image onto a ceiling.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
33 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein said viewing area comprises a venetian blind type of screen comprising a plurality of rotatable slats wherein such slats are substantially rigid and mechanically rotatable.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
52 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising a projection lens system, wherein said lens system trapezoidally pre-distorts the image to compensate for keystone distortion resulting from projection of the image onto a surface such that the surface is not normal to a line joining the surface and the projection lens.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
55 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein said system projects onto a surface which is not normal to a line joining the surface and the projection optics, wherein the LCD and projection optics are tilted so that their planes intersect at a line which also intersects the plane of the surface being projected upon.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
31 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of projection means, wherein the projection means project polarized stereoscopically-related images onto a non-depolarizing screen to be viewed in 3-D.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
28 words
The video display system of claim 28, wherein said stereoscopically related images are optically integrated before being further projected by a single projection lens system onto a screen.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
40 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of projection means, wherein said projection means project images emanating therefrom onto a screen comprising two lenticular lenses positioned back to back, restricting angle of view of each image.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
18 words
The video display system of claim 1, further comprising a sound suppression system for eliminating cooling system noise.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
16 words
The video display system of claim 31, wherein said sound suppression system comprises sound absorbing material.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
18 words
The video display system of claim 31, wherein said sound suppression system further comprises barriers to deflect sound.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
38 words
The video display system of claim 31, wherein said sound suppression system further comprises: a microphone; a speaker; and a circuit to alter phase of a sound signal detected by the microphone before sending it to the speaker.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
20 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein the viewing area has a surface which is textured to reduce glare.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
14 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein said viewing area is darkly colored.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
18 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein electronic signals relating to formation of the image are digitized.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
21 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein high resolution data is used for the display of a high resolution image.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
32 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein the image enters one of two ends of a coherent fiber-optic bundle and is subsequently viewed at the other end of the fiber-optic bundle.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
21 words
The video display systems of claim 39, wherein lenses magnify the image emanating from the fiber-optic bundle before it is viewed.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
26 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein the means for projecting further comprises a means to expand the pixel images to eliminate said dead space.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
25 words
The video display system of claim 1, wherein the means for projecting duplicates all or part of the pixel images to eliminate said dead space.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
104 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming a black and white image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that pixel images are caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
104 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming a black and white image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that pixel images are caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
107 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming an image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that all or part of pixel image are duplicated and caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
107 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming an image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that all or part of pixel image are duplicated and caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
98 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming an image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that dead spaces between pixels are substantially eliminated.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
98 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming an image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that dead spaces between pixels are substantially eliminated.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
103 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming an image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that pixel images are expanded and caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
103 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming an image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that pixel images are expanded and caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
110 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming a black and white image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that all or part of pixel images are duplicated and caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
110 words
A video display system, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming a black and white image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that all or part of pixel images are duplicated and caused to eliminate dead spaces between pixels.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
108 words
A video display, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming a black and white image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that all or part of said pixels are expanded to eliminate dead spaces between said pixels.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
108 words
A video display, comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix for forming a black and white image; a solid state pixel storage element associated with each pixel for storing a respective pixel control signal; control means associated with said solid state pixel storage elements for controlling the operation thereof, said control means, pixel storage elements and LCD forming an active matrix LCD, said active matrix including dead spaces; and means for projecting the image formed by said LCD onto a viewing area such that all or part of said pixels are expanded to eliminate dead spaces between said pixels.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1994-04-29 | 1994-10-29 | 1995-04-30 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1998-04-29 | 1998-10-29 | 1999-04-30 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2002-04-29 | 2002-10-29 | 2003-04-30 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |