Pascal Benoit

56.2: Achromatic Space Variant Retarder for Micro-Display Based Projection Systems

Summary: Rear Projection TV (RPTV) offers low cost and high definition images, but suffers from inadequate form factor for the cabinet design. Slim RPTV design with small depth and low chin (distance from stand to image lower edge) are available and offer a second chance for RPTV to compete in the battle of flat screen displays. For slim RPTV with a low-cost, refractive Fresnel screen, the angle of incidence of the light beam reaches 70° and induces large Fresnel losses. In order to correct this issue and to increase brightness uniformity and light flux, we designed a space variant retarder (SVR) to be located in the imaging arm of the Slim RPTV. This paper describes the concept and the experimental results.