P‐251L: Late‐News Poster: Miniature Wide‐Throw‐Angle Scanning Fiber Projection Display

Abstract

Advances in mobile devices have enabled internet access and viewing of images and video, but small screens constrain the experience. We have developed a novel scanning fiber optical projector that is 1.07 mm in diameter and 13 mm long, and can project images at up to a 100° throw angle. IntroductionThe increasing computational power and connectivity of mobile devices, such as cell phones, video iPods, and PDAs, have enabled mobile internet access and playback of large images and video. However, the usefulness of such capabilities is limited by small screens. A compact projector unit as a display for a mobile device can increase effective screen size without significantly increasing the size and weight of the devicehowever, it is nontrivial to create a sufficiently compact and lightweight optical projection engine.Projectors using LCD panels as imaging elements are reasonably low cost, but are not energy efficient. To create dark pixels in the projected image, LCD panels block a portion of the light energy generated by the source from reaching the screen, so dark images require as much energy to project as bright images, placing an additional drain on the limited battery capacity of mobile devices. Furthermore, the maximum resolution of the projector is constrained by the size of the LCD panel and the attainable pixel pitch. In order to increase resolution, the dimensions of the LCD panel in the mobile device must be increased proportionately.Holographic projectors can provide the advantage of lowered power consumption, as the majority of the light generated by the laser sources reaches the screen [1]. However, holographic image generation requires complex processing, placing high computational demands on mobile devices with small, lowvoltage processors, and the resolution of the projected image is also ultimately dependent on the size and pixel pitch of the spatial light modulator used to generate the holographic image.In contrast, scanned beam displays sweep a single pixel serially across a surface to form an image, and an increase in image resolution does not require an increase in the size of the components in the device. Instead, their resolution is governed primarily by the number of scan lines-dependent, in turn, on the frequency of the optical scanner-and the speed at which the light source can be luminance-modulated. In addition, such displays are energy efficient, as less power is required to display darker pixels. Scanned beam projection displays using miniature scanning mirrors and modulatable laser sources have been developed [2-3].The compactness of such projectors is limited by the physical arrangement necessary to guide light from the source(s) at an appropriate reflection angle for the scanning mirror to create a useable image.We have developed a novel light-scanning engine that uses a vibrating optical fiber to scan light in two axes. Rather than reflecting light from a scanning element, the light is deflected directly as it emerges from being transmitted along the optical fiber, enabling a reduc...

47.4: Invited Paper: 3D Displays using Scanning Laser Projection

“…We have developed a 1 mm x 9 mm light scanning engine that projects color images via a vibrating optical fiber tip and compact lens system ( Figure 1) [4][5][6]. Inside the 1 mm enclosure (Figure 2), the optical fiber passes through a hollow piezoelectric actuator tube anchored in the center of the enclosure by an attachment collar, and protrudes as a 2.4 mm flexible cantilever from the tip of the actuator.…”

64.1: Display Technologies for Therapeutic Applications of Virtual Reality

“…As an alternative to LCDs near the patient's head, or a fiber array to relay an image to VR goggles, our laboratory is developing a miniature scanning fiber display engine that projects modulated laser light through a singlemode optical fiber that is resonantly scanned in two axes to project a image (Schowengerdt,et al,[8]). Figure 5 shows a scanning fiber display proof-of-concept prototype that projects a color image from red, green, and blue low-power laser sources (Schowengerdt, et al, [9]).…”

Display unit using laser scanning device

“…Scanning fiber technology is one of laser beam steering technologies and developed for pico projectors, endoscopy, and head‐mounted displays . This technology can change the traveling direction of light by bending an optical fiber through which light passes.…”