An illuminator usable for illuminating a display panel is disclosed. The illuminator uses a pupil-replicating waveguide to expand a pair of light beams propagating in the waveguide. The light beams may be coupled at a same edge and/or at opposite edges of the waveguide, and are configured to fill each other's dark spots between out-coupled beam portions of the light beams. To improve the illumination uniformity, the two light beams may be orthogonally polarized, and the out-coupling grating strength may be spatially varied along the waveguide.

Provided is a method in which, when configuring an HUD that produces a holographic image at a distance using a holographic optical element (HOE), an HOE capable of correcting aberrations generated by a projection optical system is manufactured and used to improve the quality of an HUD image. A method for manufacturing an HOE for HUD according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of: measuring aberrations generated by an optical system that projects an image of a display device; recording the measured aberrations in a master HOE; reproducing an aberrated wavefront of the optical system by playing the master HOE on a display plane on which the image of the display device is expressed; and causing an interference of the reproduced aberrated wavefront and a spherical wavefront irradiated from the HUD image plane on which the image of the display device is created, and recording the interference in the HOE. Accordingly, when configuring the HUD producing an image at a distance using the HOE, the quality of the HUD image can be improved by measuring aberrations in the projection optical system, creating a master HOE that reproduces the measured aberrations, and manufacturing a HOE that corrects the aberrations, and correcting aberrations generated in the projection optical system.

A display device, a photomask for a display device and a method for fabricating a display device comprising the photomask is described. The display device comprises a plurality of pixels arranged to spatially modulate light having a first characteristic. The display device further comprises a pixel mask structure. The pixel mask structure comprises a diffractive pattern that is configured to diffract light having the first characteristic and to transmit light having a second characteristic (without diffraction). The diffractive pattern of the pixel mask structure substantially surrounds the plurality of pixels.

The head-up display apparatus includes a displaying device installed inside an instrument panel, an opening portion formed in the instrument panel, and a combiner disposed above the opening portion. An image of the displaying device is projected to the combiner through the opening portion. The displaying device is a segment display. The segment display includes a plurality of light sources and a character/symbol plate having a plurality of image informing parts. The combiner is made of a non-translucent dark plate or a semi-translucent dark smoke plate.

A waveguide display includes a waveguide and a staircase structure coupled to the waveguide. The waveguide includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and a holographic material layer between the first substrate and the second substrate. The holographic material layer includes a first grating and a second grating. The staircase structure is positioned on top of at least a portion of the first grating but not on top of the second grating. The staircase structure includes an input grating that is on top of the first grating and is configured to couple display light into the waveguide. The first grating is configured to redirect the display light coupled into the waveguide by the input grating towards the second grating.

An augmented reality headset may include a reflective holographic combiner to direct light from a light engine into a user's eye while also transmitting light from the environment. The combiner and engine may be arranged to project light fields with different fields of view and resolution to match the visual acuity of the eye. The combiner may be recorded with a series of point to point holograms; one projection point interacts with multiple holograms to project light onto multiple eye box points. The engine may include a laser diode array, a distribution waveguide, scanning mirrors, and layered waveguides that perform pupil expansion and that emit wide beams of light through foveal projection points and narrower beams of light through peripheral projection points. The light engine may include focusing elements to focus the beams such that, once reflected by the holographic combiner, the light is substantially collimated.

An eye is illuminated with infrared illumination light from an array of infrared in-field illuminators. A wavefront image of retina-reflected infrared light is generated and an accommodative eye state value is determined based at least in part on the wavefront image.

An image projector with a high optical efficiency projects an image at an arbitrary distance from an observer. The image projector includes an illumination module having at least one spatially coherent light source; a phase image generator with an array of optical phase shifting elements; an electronic image controller connected electrically to the phase image generator; and a waveguide which includes at least one embedded partial reflector. The waveguide may be positioned either between the illumination module and the waveguide, or between the waveguide and the observer. The phase image generator may include phase shifts for canceling speckle, correcting optical aberrations, and/or compensating interference caused by light rays having different optical path lengths.

A waveguide image combiner is used to transmit a monochrome or full-color image in an augmented reality display. The combiner uses multiple stacked substrates and multiple pairs of incoupling and outcoupling VHOEs to expand a first FOV and an image expander to expand the second or perpendicular FOV. This suitably provides an expanded FOV that offers a diagonal FOV≥50°, a horizontal FOV≥40 and a vertical FOV≥25°. The combiner also delivers a large horizontal eye box up to 20 mm and a vertical eye box of 10 mm while maintaining high light efficiency of the real scene (e.g. >80%). The system is able to use a light engine based on broadband (10 nm≤Δλ≤40 nm) LEDs and maintain a large horizontal field of view and high transmission of the real imagery. The approach resolves issues with current embodiments including astigmatism, image overlap, color balance, and small light engine pupils leading to reduced eye boxes.

An imaging system includes a light source configured to produce a plurality of spatially separated light beams. The system also includes an injection optical system configured to modify the plurality of beams, such that respective pupils formed by beams of the plurality exiting from the injection optical system are spatially separated from each other. The system further includes a light-guiding optical element having an in-coupling grating configured to admit a first beam of the plurality into the light-guiding optical element while excluding a second beam of the plurality from the light-guiding optical element, such that the first beam propagates by substantially total internal reflection through the light-guiding optical element.