Meta patents light guide design to boost contrast in display devices
Meta describes a display device that uses a light guide to split a single light beam into two separate paths. One part of the beam illuminates the display panel, while the other travels toward a lens assembly, with the light guide surface tilted at a specific angle to manage how the light exits.
In the filing’s own words
A device includes a light source configured to output a first beam, and a light guide coupled with an in-coupling element and an out-coupling element. The device includes a display panel and a lens assembly disposed at opposite sides of the light guide. The in-coupling element is configured to couple the first beam into the light guide as a second beam. The out-coupling element is configured to couple a first portion of the second beam out of the light guide as a third beam propagating toward the display panel to illuminate the display panel, and couple a second portion of the second beam out of the light guide as a fourth beam propagating toward the lens assembly. A normal of a surface of the light guide where the out-coupling element is disposed is tilted by a predetermined angle with respect to an axis of the display panel.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A device, comprising: a light source configured to output a first beam; a light guide coupled with an in-coupling element and an out-coupling element, the in-coupling element and the out-coupling element disposed on a first outer surface of the light guide; a retardation film disposed on a second outer surface of the light guide at a location that is longitudinally between the in-coupling element and the out-coupling element, the second outer surface being opposite the first outer surface; and a display panel and a lens assembly disposed at opposite sides of the light guide, wherein the in-coupling element is configured to couple the first beam into the light guide as a second beam, wherein the out-coupling element is configured to couple a first portion of the second beam out of the light guide as a third beam propagating toward the display panel to illuminate the display panel, and couple a second portion of the second beam out of the light guide as a fourth beam propagating toward the lens assembly, and wherein a normal of a surface of the light guide where the out-coupling element is disposed is tilted by a predetermined angle with respect to an axis of the display panel.
Facts
- Company
- Meta (Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC)
- Official title
- Light guide illumination assembly for providing increased contrast
- Patent number
- US12742974B2
- Application number
- 18154038
- Filed
- Jan 12, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 22, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 9
Classified under
G02B 27/0938 Physics & computingG02B 27/0093 Physics & computingG02B 6/0016 Physics & computingG02B 27/017 Physics & computingG02B 2027/0178 Physics & computingMore from Meta in AR, VR & displays
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.