LIGHT DIFFUSER WITH VARIABLE DIFFUSION
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED
APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is one of a group of five applications co-filed under Attorney Docket Nos.83948/AEK, 84008/AEK,84301/AEK,84393/AEK, and 84407/AEK the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to a variable diffuser for specular light. In a preferred form, the invention relates to a variable back light diffuser for rear projection liquid crystal display devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Optical structures that scatter or diffuse light generally function in one of two ways: (a) as a surface diffuser utilizing surface roughness to refract or scatter light in a number of directions; or (b) as a bulk diffuser having flat surfaces and embedded light-scattering elements.
[0004] A diffuser of the former kind is normally utilized with its rough surface exposed to air, affording the largest possible difference in index of refraction between the material of the diffuser and the surrounding medium and, consequently, the largest angular spread for incident light. However, some prior art light diffusers of this type suffer from a major drawback: the need for air contact. The requirement that the rough surface must be in contact with air to operate properly may result in lower efficiency. If the input and output surfaces of the diffuser are both embedded inside another material, such as an adhesive for example, the light-dispersing ability of the diffuser may be reduced to an undesirable level.
[0005] In one version of the second type of diffuser, the bulk diffuser, small particles or spheres of a second refractive index are embedded within the primary material of the diffuser. In another version of the bulk diffuser, the refractive index of the material of the diffuser varies across the diffuser body, thus causing light passing through the material to be refracted or scattered at different points. Bulk diffusers also present some practical problems. If a high angular output distribution is sought, the diffuser will be generally thicker than a surface diffuser having the same optical scattering power. If however the bulk diffuser is made thin, a desirable property for most applications, the scattering ability of the diffuser may be too low.
[0006] Despite the foregoing difficulties, there are applications where a surface diffuser may be desirable, where the bulk type of diffuser would not be appropriate. For example, the surface diffuser can be applied to an existing film or substrate thus eliminating the need for a separate film. In the case of light management in a LCD, this increases efficiency by removing an interface (which causes reflection and lost light).
[0007] It is desirable to have the amount of diffusion vary across the diffusion film, whether a bulk or surface diffuser, to compensate for uneven brightness across a backlit display. A diffuser film with uniform diffusion across the film must have the diffusion efficiency to diffuse the most intense, specular areas of the display across the entire diffuser. These
diffusers tend to need high levels of diffusion efficiency causing lower percentages total transmission across the entire film. With a diffuser with variable diffusion efficiency, the areas of high specular light could be diffused more than areas of less specular light. The result would be a display that had even diffuse light across it while having a higher overall transmission value compared to the uniform diffusion film.
[0008] In U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,697 (Meyers et al), blur films are used to transmit infrared energy of a specific waveband using a repeating pattern of peak-and-valley features. While this does diffuse visible light, the periodic nature of the features is unacceptable for a backlight LC device because the pattern can be seen through the display device.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,476 (Shie et al.) discloses a microstructure on the surface of a polymer sheet for the diffusion of light. The microstructures are created by molding Fresnel lenses on the surface of a substrate to control the direction of light output from a light source so as to shape the light output into a desired distribution, pattern or envelope. The materials disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,476 shape and collimate light, and therefore are not efficient diffusers of light particularly for liquid crystal display devices.
[0010] It is known to produce transparent polymeric film having a resin coated on one surface thereof with the resin having a surface texture. This kind of transparent polymeric film is made by a thermoplastic embossing process in which raw (uncoated) transparent polymeric film is coated with a molten resin, such as polyethylene. The transparent polymeric film with the molten resin thereon is brought into contact with a chill roller having a surface pattern. Chilled water is pumped through the roller to extract heat from the resin, causing it to solidify and adhere to the transparent polymeric film. During this process the surface texture on the chill roller's surface is embossed into the resin coated transparent polymeric film. Thus, the surface pattern on the chill roller is critical to the surface produced in the resin on the coated transparent polymeric film.
[0011] One known prior process for preparing chill rollers involves creating a main surface pattern using a mechanical engraving process. The engraving process has many limitations including misalignment causing tool lines in the surface, high price, and lengthy processing. Accordingly, it is desirable to not use mechanical engraving to manufacture chill rollers.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,001 (Fleming et al) relates to an exposure process using excimer laser ablation of substrates to improve the uniformity of repeating microstructures on an ablated substrate or to create three-dimensional microstructures on an ablated substrate. This method is difficult to apply to create a master chill roll to manufacture complex random three-dimensional structures and is also cost prohibitive.
[0013] In U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,974 (Burger) the substrates are made with lithographic processes. This lithography process is repeated for successive photomasks to generate a three-dimensional relief structure corresponding to the desired lenslet. This procedure to form a master to create three-dimensional features into a plastic film is time consuming and cost prohibitive.
