VLSI visual display

Claim 2

A visual display comprising: a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images; and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye or for recording such images such that they can be displayed or viewed by the naked eye, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein the display elements in the array are displaced by small random distances from the positions of elements in a corresponding symmetrical array in order to reduce image aliasing.

Claim 3

The visual display of claim 1 wherein the random positions of the display elements in the array are determined by the use of a silicon compiler program.

Claim 4

A visual display comprising: a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images; and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye or for recording such images such that they can be displayed or viewed by the naked eye, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein said display elements are grouped to form super-pixels, each said super-pixel comprising a central display element surrounded by a plurality of ancillary display elements, said central display elements being directly driven by said VLSI circuit and each of said ancillary display elements being driven in response to electrical signals driving neighboring central display elements.

Claim 5

A visual display comprising: a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images; and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye or for recording such images such that they can be displayed or viewed by the naked eye, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein said display elements are grouped to form super-pixels, each said super-pixel comprising a central display element surrounded by a plurality of ancillary display elements, said central display elements being directly driven by said VLSI circuit and each of said ancillary display elements being driven in response to electrical signals driving neighboring central display elements.

Claim 6

A visual display comprising: a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images; and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye or for recording such images such that they can be displayed or viewed by the naked eye, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein said optical system is characterizable by an optical distortion function and said display elements are positioned and scaled to approximate the inverse of such optical distortion function of said optical system to compensate distortion of the image displayed in said array by said optical system.

Claim 7

A visual display comprising: a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images; and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye or for recording such images such that they can be displayed or viewed by the naked eye, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein said optical system is characterizable by an optical distortion function and said display elements are positioned and scaled to approximate the inverse of such optical distortion function of said optical system to compensate distortion of the image displayed in said array by said optical system.

Claim 8

The display of claim 4 wherein said optical system is an optical magnifier, and said inverse function is approximately (r i +kr i 3 ) where k is approximately 0.32 and r i is the radial distance from a point on the magnifier to a central optical axis of said magnifier.

Claim 9

A virtual image display permitting a viewer to view images, comprising: an eye glass frame; at least one lens having a reflective or partially reflective surface mounted therein; and a visual display positioned such that images displayed thereon are reflected by said lens into the eyes of a person wearing said frame, said visual display comprising a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images, and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye. wherein said reflective surface of said at least one lens is curved in accordance with a three-dimensional elliptical surface, and the visual display and the eye of the viewer are positioned at two focal points of said elliptical surface respectively such that the images displayed by said visual display are reflected by said reflective surface into the eyes of the viewer, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein the display elements in the array are displaced by small random distances from the positions of elements in a corresponding symmetrical array.

Claim 10

A virtual image display permitting a viewer to view images, comprising: an eye glass frame; at least one lens having a reflective or partially reflective surface mounted therein; and a visual display positioned such that images displayed thereon are reflected by said lens into the eyes of a person wearing said frame, said visual display comprising a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images, and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye. wherein said reflective surface of said at least one lens is curved in accordance with a three-dimensional elliptical surface, and the visual display and the eye of the viewer are positioned at two focal points of said elliptical surface respectively such that the images displayed by said visual display are reflected by said reflective surface into the eyes of the viewer, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein the display elements in the array are displaced by small random distances from the positions of elements in a corresponding symmetrical array.

Claim 11

The virtual image display of claim 6 wherein the random positions of the display elements in the array are determined by the use of a silicon compiler program.

Claim 12

A virtual image display permitting a viewer to view images, comprising: an eye glass frame; at least one lens having a reflective or partially reflective surface mounted therein; and a visual display positioned such that images displayed thereon are reflected by said lens into the eyes of a person wearing said frame, said visual display comprising a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images, and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye, wherein said reflective surface of said at least one lens is curved in accordance with a three-dimensional elliptical surface, and the visual display and the eye of the viewer are positioned at two focal points of said elliptical surface respectively such that the images displayed by said visual display are reflected by said reflective surface into the eyes of the viewer, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein said display elements are grouped to form super-pixels, each said super-pixel comprising a central display element surrounded by a plurality of ancillary display elements, said central display elements being directly driven by said VLSI circuit and each of said ancillary display elements being driven in response to electrical signals driving neighboring central display elements.

Claim 13

A virtual image display permitting a viewer to view images, comprising: an eye glass frame; at least one lens having a reflective or partially reflective surface mounted therein; and a visual display positioned such that images displayed thereon are reflected by said lens into the eyes of a person wearing said frame, said visual display comprising a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images, and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye, wherein said reflective surface of said at least one lens is curved in accordance with a three-dimensional elliptical surface, and the visual display and the eye of the viewer are positioned at two focal points of said elliptical surface respectively such that the images displayed by said visual display are reflected by said reflective surface into the eyes of the viewer, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein said display elements are grouped to form super-pixels, each said super-pixel comprising a central display element surrounded by a plurality of ancillary display elements, said central display elements being directly driven by said VLSI circuit and each of said ancillary display elements being driven in response to electrical signals driving neighboring central display elements.

Claim 14

A virtual image display permitting a viewer to view images, comprising: an eye glass frame; at least one lens having a reflective or partially reflective surface mounted therein; and a visual display positioned such that images displayed thereon are reflected by said lens into the eyes of a person wearing said frame, said visual display comprising a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images, and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye, wherein said reflective surface of said at least one lens is curved in accordance with a three-dimensional elliptical surface, and the visual display and the eye of the viewer are positioned at two focal points of said elliptical surface respectively such that the images displayed by said visual display are reflected by said reflective surface into the eyes of the viewer, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein said optical system is characterizable by an optical distortion function and said display elements are positioned and scaled in accordance with an inverse function of such optical distortion function of said optical system to compensate distortion of the image displayed in said array by said optical system.

Claim 15

A virtual image display permitting a viewer to view images, comprising: an eye glass frame; at least one lens having a reflective or partially reflective surface mounted therein; and a visual display positioned such that images displayed thereon are reflected by said lens into the eyes of a person wearing said frame, said visual display comprising a miniature display compatible with VLSI technology and including an array of display elements of sufficient resolution to provide a desired image quality, and a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array for driving said display elements to form images on the array that are generally too small to be viewed by the naked eye, said VLSI circuit including input terminals for providing electrical signals thereto to generate such images, and an optical system disposed in front of the miniature display for enlarging such images to be visible at the desired image quality to the naked eye, wherein said reflective surface of said at least one lens is curved in accordance with a three-dimensional elliptical surface, and the visual display and the eye of the viewer are positioned at two focal points of said elliptical surface respectively such that the images displayed by said visual display are reflected by said reflective surface into the eyes of the viewer, wherein said miniature display is a liquid crystal display and further including a light source for providing illumination for the liquid crystal display, and wherein said optical system is characterizable by an optical distortion function and said display elements are positioned and scaled in accordance with an inverse function of such optical distortion function of said optical system to compensate distortion of the image displayed in said array by said optical system.

Claim 16

The virtual image display of claim 9 wherein said optical system is an optical magnifier, and said inverse function is approximately expressed as (r i +kr i 3 ) where k is approximately 0.32 and r i is the radial distance from a point on the magnifier to a central optical axis of said magnifier.

Claim 19

The method of claim 11 wherein said visual display is a liquid crystal display.

Claim 20

The method of claim 12 wherein said liquid crystal display is compatible with VLSI technology and said driving circuit is a VLSI circuit monolithically integrated with said array.

Claim 23

The method of claim 14 wherein said optical system is an optical magnifier, and said inverse function is approximately expressed as (r i +kr i 3 ) where k is approximately 0.32 and r i is the distance from a point on said optical magnifier to the optical axis.

Claim 24

The method of claim 14 wherein said step of positioning and scaling the pixels in accordance with said inverse function of said optical distortion function is implemented by using a silicon compiler software program.