Electronic devices with curved display surfaces

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11862083-B2
Application number	US-202117374879-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 13, 2021
Priority date	Aug 13, 2020
Publication date	Jan 2, 2024
Grant date	Jan 2, 2024

Abstract

An electronic device may have a display mounted in a housing. The display may have a pixel array that produces images. A display cover layer may overlap the pixel array. The display cover layer may have a planar central area surrounded by a peripheral edge area with a curved cross-sectional profile. From an on-axis viewing angle, an image on the pixel array is fully viewable through the planar central area and the peripheral edge area. From an off-axis viewing angle, the image is partly viewable through the peripheral edge area and not through the central area. To avoid an undesired color cast in the partly viewable image seen through the peripheral edge area of the display cover layer, the display may be provided with color cast compensation structures such as a guest-host liquid crystal layer that exhibits an anisotropic colored light absorption characteristic, a diffuser layer, and/or other optical structures.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
a housing; and
a display coupled to the housing, wherein the display comprises:
a pixel array configured to produce an image;
a display cover layer that overlaps the pixel array, wherein the display cover layer has a peripheral edge with a curved cross-sectional profile, the peripheral edge with the curved cross-sectional profile having a curved outer surface and a planar inner surface; and
an anisotropic color cast compensation layer containing a guest-host liquid crystal layer and a light diffusing layer that are configured to alter a color cast of a portion of the image viewed from an off-axis direction through the peripheral edge, wherein the light diffusing layer is between the guest-host liquid crystal layer and the display cover layer.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the guest-host liquid crystal layer comprises a light-absorbing dye.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the light-absorbing dye comprises a yellow-light-absorbing dye.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the guest-host liquid crystal layer is configured to exhibit an angularly dependent absorption of yellow light.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 4 wherein the guest-host liquid crystal layer is configured to reduce a yellow color cast in the portion of the image by absorbing yellow off-axis light more than off-axis light of non-yellow colors.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the display further comprises an adhesive layer between the light diffusing layer and the display cover layer.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the display comprises a circular polarizer and wherein the light diffusing layer comprises a layer of adhesive containing embedded light-scattering particles that is interposed between the display cover layer and the circular polarizer.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the display comprises a circular polarizer and wherein the circular polarizer comprises a linear polarizer and the guest-host liquid crystal layer.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the display comprises a circular polarizer between the guest-host liquid crystal layer and the pixel array.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising an antireflection layer between the pixel array and the display cover layer that is configured to reduce reflections of yellow light relative to non-yellow light.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising an optically transparent layer between the display cover layer and the pixel array that is configured to shunt off-axis light away from the peripheral edge with the curved cross-sectional profile.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising a wristband coupled to the housing.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the guest-host liquid crystal layer contains a light-absorbing dye and wherein the light diffusing layer contains embedded light-scattering particles.

14. An electronic device, comprising:
a housing;
a pixel array configured to produce an image;
a display cover layer that overlaps the pixel array, wherein the display cover layer has a peripheral edge with a curved cross-sectional profile;
a guest-host liquid crystal layer with a yellow-light-absorbing dye;
a light diffuser layer containing embedded light-scattering particles between the guest-host liquid crystal layer and the display cover layer; and
a circular polarizer interposed between the guest-host liquid crystal layer with the yellow-light-absorbing dye and the pixel array.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 wherein the image is viewable from a first direction in which yellow light is not removed from the image by the yellow-light-absorbing dye and is viewable from a second direction in which yellow light is removed from the image by the yellow-light-absorbing dye.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein:
the display cover layer comprises a planar surface area and a curved surface area associated with the curved cross-sectional profile;
the image is viewable from the first direction through the planar surface area and through the curved surface area; and
the image is at least partly viewable from the second direction through the curved surface area and is not viewable through the planar surface area.

17. A wristwatch, comprising:
a housing;
a wristband coupled to the housing;
a display cover layer coupled to the housing that has a planar area surrounded by a peripheral edge with a curved cross-sectional profile;
a planar pixel array overlapped by the display cover layer, wherein the planar pixel array is configured to produce an image that is fully viewable from an on-axis direction through the planar area and that is partly viewable from an off-axis direction through the peripheral edge; and
a color cast compensation layer that is configured to not alter a color cast of the fully viewable image viewed from the on-axis direction and is configured to adjust the color cast of the partly viewable image viewed from the off-axis direction, wherein the color cast compensation layer comprises a light diffuser layer containing embedded light-scattering particles configured to adjust the color cast of the partly viewable image viewed from the off-axis direction and wherein the color cast compensation layer further comprises a guest-host liquid crystal layer between the light diffuser layer and the planar pixel array.

18. The wristwatch defined in claim 17 , wherein the guest-host liquid crystal layer contains a light-absorbing dye configured to adjust the color cast of the partly viewable image viewed from the off-axis direction.

19. The wristwatch defined in claim 17 further comprising:
a circular polarizer between the light diffuser layer and the planar pixel array, wherein the circular polarizer comprises a linear polarizer and the guest-host liquid crystal layer forming a quarter wave plate for the circular polarizer.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Pandya Sameer
• Barrett Daniel J
• De Jong Erik G
• Landry James P
• Doyle David A
• Guillou Jean-Pierre S
• Seuh Jung Yun
• Qiao Yi

Classifications

• G09G3/3233 Primary

  with pixel circuitry controlling the current through the light-emitting element · CPC title

• G02B6/004

  Scattering dots or dot-like elements, e.g. microbeads, scattering particles, nanoparticles · CPC title

• G02B6/0051

  Diffusing sheet or layer · CPC title

• G02F1/13737

  in liquid crystals doped with a pleochroic dye · CPC title

• G02F1/133331

  Cover glasses · CPC title