A polarization recycling backlight and a multiview display employ a polarization-selective scattering feature configured to preferentially scatter out a first polarization component of guided light and a polarization conversion structure configured to convert a portion of a second polarization component of the guided light into the first polarization component. The polarization conversion structure includes a subwavelength grating.

Devices and methods are described herein that use a first solid figure element, a polarizing beam splitter, and a second solid figure element to reduce speckle in projected images. Specifically, laser light is generated and split into two portions having orthogonal polarizations. The first portion of laser light is internally reflected off at least three internal faces of the second solid figure element and is then spatially recombined with the second portion of laser light in the first solid figure element. The difference in path length followed by the two portions generates a temporal incoherence in the recombined laser light beam, and that temporal incoherence reduces speckle in the projected image.

A polarization conversion element which is capable of improving the use efficiency of light, and capable of suppressing deterioration is provided. A polarization conversion element includes a main body provided with a light-transmitting member, a polarized light separation layer that transmits first polarized light of light to be incident, and reflects second polarized light, a reflection layer, disposed between the polarized light separation layer and the light-transmitting member, and a retardation layer, disposed on a light emitting end surface of the light-transmitting member, which converts one polarization direction of the first polarized light and the second polarized light into the other polarization direction; and a reflection suppression layer that suppresses reflection from a light emitting surface in the main body, wherein the main body includes an exposure region for exposing at least a portion of a region of a light emitting-side surface in the retardation layer.

Three-dimensional display systems may include polarized displays that polarize light emitted from a first set of areas of the display with a first polarization for a first eye of the viewer and that polarizes light emitted from a second set of areas of the display with a second polarization for a second eye of the viewer. This may result in dark areas being perceived by a viewer when viewed through polarized 3D glasses. Systems and technologies according to this disclosure may include 3D glasses that have a lenses configured to redirect a portion of incoming light in a first axis to at least partially illuminate the dark areas.

A display device provided with a polarising photovoltaic module includes (a) a plurality of polarisers; (b) a plurality of pixels which emit or transmit light referred to as image light; (c) a plurality of photovoltaic active zones and a plurality of openings, two adjacent photovoltaic active zones forming an opening and said photovoltaic active zones being arranged between the pixels and the polarisers; wherein said polarisers are semi-reflective and are made up of one or more surfaces selected among planar surfaces, which are concave or convex, and have parabolic, conical, pyramidal, tetrahedral, semi-cylindrical or cylindrical-parabolic shapes, said polarisers being arranged so as to concentrate, by reflection, a first linear polarised component of the ambient light onto said photovoltaic active zones, as well as to transmit, through the polarising photovoltaic module, a second linear polarised component of the ambient light or of the image light.

In an embodiment, a display panel unit includes a reflective polarizing layer, a transparent layer, and a display panel. The polarizing layer transmits a first polarized component of light incident on an incident surface to an exit surface and reflects a second polarized component of the light. The transparent layer transmits the first and second polarized component of the light incident on a second surface to a first surface adhered to the incident surface and transmits the second polarized component reflected by the polarizing layer to be incident on the first surface to the second surface. The panel faces the exit surface, and selectively transmits the light exiting from the exit surface.

The cube polarizer can have modified prism dimensions to satisfy the following equation: $.Math.{\mathrm{OPL}}_T-{\mathrm{OPL}}_R.Math.<\frac{0.5*t*n_p}{\sqrt{2}},$
where an optical path length is a distance of light travel through a material times an index of refraction of the material, OPL.sub.T is an optical path length of the transmitted beam, OPL.sub.R is an optical path length of the reflected beam, t is a thickness of the substrate between the first surface and the second surface of the substrate, and n.sub.p is an index of refraction of the first prism.

An immersive display system is disclosed that includes screens configured to mitigate reduction in contrast ratio due at least in part to peripheral light incident on the screens. The immersive display system includes at least one screen having an array of micro-lenses, a light polarization layer on top of the array of micro-lenses, a polarization rotation layer, a light reflection layer, and a section of non-polarizing light scattering material for individual micro-lenses in the array of micro-lenses. In use, light from a projector associated with the screen is substantially scattered by the non-polarizing light scattering material and light from a projector associated with a different screen in the immersive display system is substantially absorbed by the polarization layer.

Disclosed is a head-up display device for a vehicle including at least one light source, a liquid crystal display, and at least one polarization converter disposed between the light source and the liquid crystal display and configured to convert unpolarized light generated by the light source into single linearly polarized light and to provide the single linearly polarized light to the liquid crystal display.

Optical filter assemblies based on either a parallel plate optical assembly or a polarization separation optical assembly are described. The optical assemblies usefully separate randomly polarized light with at least two transmission wavelengths from an optical communication signal.