Image projection system and method of using same

Claim 1

An image projection system, comprising: light source means for producing high intensity polarized projection light having a given polarization direction and directed along an input optical path, said light source means including a laser to selectively emit a polarized laser beam; spatial light modulator means disposed in said input optical path for modulating said projection light to generate output light representative of the image along an output optical path, said spatial light modulator means including a light valve having an entrance alignment layer with a polarized direction aligned with said polarization direction; means mounting said light source means in alignment with said entrance alignment layer for aligning said projection light polarization direction and said alignment layers polarized direction to permit substantially all of said projection light to pass through said alignment layer; projection lens means disposed in said output optical path for projecting said output light to reproduce the image onto a viewing surface; wherein said spatial light modulator means further includes an optical lens for focusing said polarized laser beam to produce said projection light; wherein said projection light produced by said optical lens forms a projection light beam having a cross-sectional area substantially equal to the surface area of said light valve alignment layer; wherein said light valve is reflective; wherein said light source means further includes a plurality of said lasers, each one of said lasers selectively emits a polarized laser beam having a distinctive color and a common polarization direction to generate a colored output light; wherein said spatial light modulating means further includes a plurality of said light valves; a mirror means for superimposing said colored output lights to produce a full color image; and wherein said light valve is a digital mirror device.

Claim 9

A method for projecting an image, comprising: using a light source means for producing polarized projection light having a polarization direction along an input optical path, said light source means including a plurality of lasers; using spatial light modulator means disposed in said input optical path for modulating said projection light to generate an output light representative of the image along an output optical path, said spatial light modulator means including a light valve having an entrance alignment layer with a polarized filter characteristic to filter optically said projection light, said spatial light modulating means further including a plurality of said light valves; aligning said light source means with said entrance alignment layer for enabling said projection light polarization direction to be substantially aligned with said alignment layer polarized direction to permit substantially all of said projection light to pass through said alignment layer; projecting said output light with projection lens means disposed in said output optical path to reproduce the image on a viewing surface; focusing said polarized laser beam with an optical lens to produce said projection light; wherein said projection light produced by said optical lens forms a projection light having a cross-sectional area substantially equal to the surface area of said entrance alignment layer; reflecting selectively said projection light with said light valve to help generate said output light indicative of the image, wherein said light valve is a digital mirror device; positioning said digital mirror device relative to said light source to permit said projection light to be reflected as said output light; emitting selectively a polarized laser beam having a distinctive color from each one of said lasers to generate a colored output light; and superimposing said colored output lights with a mirror means to produce a full color image.

Claim 10

A method for projecting an image, comprising: using a light source means for producing polarized projection light having a polarization direction along an input optical path, said light source means including a plurality of lasers; using spatial light modulator means disposed in said input optical path for modulating said projection light to generate an output light representative of the image along an output optical path, said spatial light modulator means including a light valve having an entrance alignment layer with a polarized filter characteristic to filter optically said projection light, said spatial light modulating means further including a plurality of said light valves; aligning said light source means with said entrance alignment layer for enabling said projection light polarization direction to be substantially aligned with said alignment layer polarized direction to permit substantially all of said projection light to pass through said alignment layer; projecting said output light with projection lens means disposed in said output optical path to reproduce the image on a viewing surface; focusing said polarized laser beam with an optical lens to produce said projection light; wherein said projection light produced by said optical lens forms a projection light having a cross-sectional area substantially equal to the surface area of said entrance alignment layer; reflecting selectively said projection light with said light valve to help generate said output light indicative of the image, wherein said light valve is a digital mirror device; positioning said digital mirror device relative to said light source to permit said projection light to be reflected as said output light; emitting selectively a polarized laser beam having a distinctive color from each one of said lasers to generate a colored output light; and superimposing said colored output lights with a mirror means to produce a full color image.