HIGH EFFICIENCY COLOR LCD BACKLIGHT

BACKLIGHTS FOR PORTABLE COLOR LCD MATRIX DISPLAYS ARE EXTREMELY INEFFICIENT: 96% OF THE BATTERY POWER IS WASTED ON THE BACKLIGHT SYSTEM. A HIGH EFFICIENCY BACKLIGHT SYSTEM IS PROPOSED BASED ON THE USE OF MICRO-OPTICAL IMAGING OF RGB PHOSPHOR TRIADS ONTO THE LCD RGB PIXEL ROWS SO THAT THE 67% LOSS IN THE LCD FILTER SYSTEM IS AVOIDED. IN ADDITION A SPECIAL COLLIMATOR IS PROPOSED THAT CONCENTRATES THE EMISSION INTO THE ACCEPTANCE CONE OF THE LCD DISPLAY. USE OF HIGH EFFICIENCY RGB PHOSPHOR (95% CONVERSION EFFICIENCY) COUPLED WITH THE COLLIMATION OPTICS SHOULD RESULT IN A 12X INCREASE IN EFFICIENCY OVER EXISTING LCD COLOR BACKLIGHTS. THIS DEVELOPMENT COULD HAVE MAJOR IMPACT ON COMMERCIAL PORTABLE COMPUTER TERMINALS PARTICULARLY WITH COLOR DISPLYS IN WHICH CASE THE TIME BETWEEN BATTERY RE-CHARGE COULD BE GREATLY INCREASED OR THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF THE BATTERY REDUCED.