System and method for increased spatial resolution

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016261838-A1
Application number	US-201514635563-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 2, 2015
Priority date	Mar 2, 2015
Publication date	Sep 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to a projection system with increased spatial resolution. The projection system includes one or more light sources, a spatial light modulator configured to reflect light received from the one or more light sources to generate a plurality of sub-images of a composite image, and an optical system configured to reflect each of the plurality of sub-images the sub-images at a different portion of a projection surface. By projecting the single composite image using a plurality of sub-images projected at different times and/or locations from one another, the composite full image has a higher resolution as compared to the resolution defined by the hardware of the spatial light modulator and light sources.

First claim

1 . A projection system for projecting one or more images onto a projection surface comprising
a light source that when activated generates a beam of light; an image forming device in optical communication with the light source, wherein the image forming device sequentially converts the beam of light into a first sub-image forming a first part of a projection image and a second sub-image forming a second part of the projection image; and an optical system in optical communication with the image forming device, wherein the optical system directs the first sub-image toward a first sub-image region of a projection surface and directs the second sub-image toward the second sub-image region, adjacent to the first sub-image region of the projection surface.

2 . The projection system of claim 1 , wherein the first sub-image and the second sub-image are directed to the projection surface at different times.

3 . The projection system of claim 2 , wherein the first sub-image and the second sub-image are projected fast enough to avoid flickering effects.

4 . The projection system of claim 2 , wherein the first sub-image and the second sub-image are directed by the optical system to the projection surface sequentially.

5 . The projection system of claim 1 , wherein
the projection system has a hardware spatial resolution based on hardware constraints of the light source, the image forming device, and the optical system; a first sub-image spatial resolution of the first sub-image is substantially the same as the hardware spatial resolution; a second sub-image spatial resolution of the second sub-image is substantially the same as the hardware spatial resolution; and a projection image resolution of the projection image is greater than the hardware spatial resolution.

6 . The projection system of claim 1 , wherein the optical system comprises a fixed mirror array.

7 . The projection system of claim 1 , wherein the image forming device is a digital micro-mirror device.

8 . The projection system of claim 1 , wherein the optical system comprises a mirror galvanometer.

9 . The projection system of claim 8 , wherein the optical system further comprises a lens.

10 . The projection system of claim 1 , wherein the first sub-image and the second sub-image at least partially overlap.

11 . The projector system of claim 10 , wherein the first sub-image and the second sub-image overlap by up to one percent of a spatial resolution of the image forming device.

12 . A projection system comprising
one or more light sources; a spatial light modulator for modulating light received from the plurality of light sources to generate a plurality of sub-images of a composite image; and a plurality fixed mirrors for reflecting each of the plurality of sub-images at a portion of a projection surface.

13 . The projection system of claim 12 , further comprising a mirror galvanometer for directing light modulated by the spatial light modulator toward one of the plurality of fixed mirrors.

14 . The projection system of claim 13 , further comprising a lens positioned between the spatial light modulator and the mirror galvanometer.

15 . The projection system of claim 12 , further comprising a prism positioned in an optical path between the plurality of light sources and the spatial light modulator, and configured to combine light generated by the one or more light sources into a single beam.

16 . The projection system of claim 15 , wherein the prism comprises at least one of a dichroic prism, a cross-dichroic prism, and a Philips prism.

17 . The projection system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more light sources comprises at least one laser diode.

18 . The projection system of claim 17 , further comprising a laser driver circuit for selectively activating a deactivating the one or more light sources.

19 . A projection system comprising
an image forming device for generating sub-images of a composite image; a plurality of laser arrays, each laser array having a set of lasers stored therein and directed toward the image forming device; and a plurality of fixed mirrors, wherein each of the fixed mirrors in the plurality of fixed mirrors is configured to direct light from one laser array in the plurality of laser arrays toward a sub-image region in a projection surface.

20 . The projection system of claim 19 , wherein each set of lasers comprises at least three lasers.

21 . The projection system of claim 20 , wherein each of the at least three lasers has an output frequency different from other lasers in the laser array.

22 . The projection system of claim 19 , further comprising a laser driver for individually activating each laser in the plurality of laser arrays.

23 . A projection system comprising
a plurality of light sources that when activated generate a first beam of light and a second beam of light; an image forming device in optical communication with the light source, wherein the image forming device sequentially modulates the first beam of light to form a first sub-image forming a first part of a projection image and modulates the second beam of light to form a second sub-image forming a second part of the projection image; and a focusing array in optical communication with the image forming device, wherein the focusing array focuses the first sub-image and the second sub-image.

24 . The projection system of claim 23 , further comprising a converging lens in optical communication with the image forming device and the focusing array.

25 . The projection system of claim 23 , wherein each light source of the plurality of light sources comprises one or more light emitting devices.

26 . The projection system of claim 23 , wherein the focusing array directs the first beam of light and the second beam of light such that the first sub-image and the second sub-image are adjacent to one another.

27 . A method for projecting an image comprising
configuring a spatial light modulator to selectively modulate a first portion of a complete image; activating a light source to emit a first light beam; selectively modulating the first light beam off of the spatial light modulator; projecting the first portion of the complete image on a projection surface; configuring the spatial light modulator to selectively modulate a second portion of the complete image; activating a the light source to emit a second light beam; selectively modulating the second light beam off of the spatial light modulator; and projecting the second portion of the complete image on the projection surface.

28 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the first and second portions of the complete image are projected adjacent to and partially overlapping.

29 . The method of claim 28 , further comprising, blending the first and second portions of the complete image at a point where the first and second portions overlap.

30 . The method of claim 27 , wherein projecting the first portion comprises reflecting the first light beam off of a first fixed mirror toward the projection surface, and projecting the second portion comprises reflecting the second light beam off of a second fixed mirror toward the projection surface.

31 . The method of claim 27 , further comprising reflecting the first and second portions of the comple

Assignees

• Disney Entpr Inc

Inventors

• Ranieri Nicola
• Gross Markus
• Smithwick Quinn Yorklun Jen
• Seifert Hagen Friedrich

Classifications

• H04N9/3155

  for controlling the light source (light source control per se H05B35/00 – H05B47/00; control of an illumination source for displays in general G09G3/3406) · CPC title

• H04N9/3129

  scanning a light beam on the display screen (scanning a light beam on a screen in displays other than projection devices G09G3/02; scanning systems in general G02B26/10; projectors using laser light sources in general H04N9/3161) · CPC title

• H04N9/3188 Primary

  Scale or resolution adjustment (scaling in general G06T3/40; resolution modifying circuits for displays in general G09G5/391) · CPC title

• H04N9/3111

  for displaying the colours sequentially, e.g. by using sequentially activated light sources (sequential projection in colour photography G03B33/08) · CPC title

• H04N9/317

  Convergence or focusing systems (electronic adjustment of convergence H04N9/3185; convergence or focusing arrangements for cathode ray tubes H04N9/28; means for automatic focusing of projectors not peculiar to the presence of an electronic spatial light modulator G03B21/53) · CPC title