Combined display and viewing system

Claim 1

A combined display and viewing system characterized in that said combined display and viewing system comprises: an information display panel that is substantially transparent for light radiation from a scene to be viewed, and arranged on a system optical axis of said display and viewing system; an optical subsystem being substantially transparent for said light radiation and having a single optical axis defining the system optical axis, said optical subsystem comprising at least one element having a curved front surface facing the scene and a rear surface facing the display panel, said rear surface exclusively reflecting information displayed on said display panel towards an eye of a user, said at least one element having, for scene radiation, substantially zero lens power; holding means for holding the display panel and the optical subsystem at a location before the eye of the user with said display panel being disposed between the eye and said optical subsystem, wherein a distance between the rear surface of the element of the optical subsystem and the display panel is substantially equal to one-half of a radius of curvature of the rear surface, and wherein a focal length of the subsystem satisfies the condition: -0.0005≦(1/f)≦0.0005 mm.sup.-1.