U.S. patent application number 15/548042 was filed with the patent office on 2018-12-06 for display device and display terminal.
The applicant listed for this patent is BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Xiaochuan CHEN, Xue DONG, Jian GAO, Pengcheng LU, Xiaochen NIU, Qian WANG, Ming YANG, Wenqing ZHAO.
Application Number | 20180348591 15/548042 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 56795052 |
Filed Date | 2018-12-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180348591 |
Kind Code |
A9 |
WANG; Qian ; et al. |
December 6, 2018 |
DISPLAY DEVICE AND DISPLAY TERMINAL
Abstract
Provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are a
display device and a display terminal. The display device includes
a light emitting panel and at least one optical modulation unit
provided on a light exit side of the light emitting panel, a
grating layer being provided in the light emitting panel, or
between the light emitting panel and the optical modulation unit,
wherein the optical modulation unit is configured to modulate
incident light to exit at a certain preset angle, and the grating
layer is configured to parallelize exit directions of incident
light.
Inventors: |
WANG; Qian; (Beijing,
CN) ; DONG; Xue; (Beijing, CN) ; CHEN;
Xiaochuan; (Beijing, CN) ; ZHAO; Wenqing;
(Beijing, CN) ; YANG; Ming; (Beijing, CN) ;
LU; Pengcheng; (Beijing, CN) ; GAO; Jian;
(Beijing, CN) ; NIU; Xiaochen; (Beijing,
CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD.
BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. |
Beijing
Beijing |
|
CN
CN |
|
|
Prior
Publication: |
|
Document Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20180129113 A1 |
May 10, 2018 |
|
|
Family ID: |
56795052 |
Appl. No.: |
15/548042 |
Filed: |
January 3, 2017 |
PCT Filed: |
January 3, 2017 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/CN2017/000043 PCKC 00 |
371 Date: |
August 1, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02F 1/133528 20130101;
H01L 51/5262 20130101; G02F 2001/291 20130101; G02F 1/29 20130101;
G02F 2201/44 20130101; G02F 2201/305 20130101; H01L 27/3232
20130101; H01L 27/3244 20130101; H01L 51/5281 20130101; H01L
51/5275 20130101; G02F 2001/133548 20130101; G02F 1/292 20130101;
G02F 1/133602 20130101; H01L 2251/5307 20130101; H01L 2251/5315
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G02F 1/29 20060101
G02F001/29; G02F 1/1335 20060101 G02F001/1335; H01L 51/52 20060101
H01L051/52; H01L 27/32 20060101 H01L027/32 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 27, 2016 |
CN |
201620373112.6 |
Claims
1. A display device comprising: a light emitting panel; and at
least one optical modulation unit provided on a light exit side of
the light emitting panel, wherein a grating layer is provided in i)
the light emitting panel or ii) between the light emitting panel
and the optical modulation unit, wherein the optical modulation
unit is configured to modulate incident light to exit at a certain
preset angle, and wherein the grating layer is configured to
parallelize exit directions of incident light.
2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the at least
one optical modulation unit comprises a first substrate, a second
substrate, and a liquid crystal layer located between the first
substrate and the second substrate, wherein at least one of the
first substrate and the second substrate is provided with a
plurality of groups of electrode structures thereon, wherein
respective groups of the electrode structures are configured to
control liquid crystal molecules of corresponding regions in the
liquid crystal layer to deflect to form a microprism structure, and
wherein the microprism structure is controlled to modulate incident
light to exit at a certain preset angle by adjusting voltages of
the respective groups of the electrode structures.
3. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the display
device comprises a plurality of sub-pixel regions arranged in an
array, and wherein the microprism structure corresponds to at least
one sub-pixel region.
4. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the grating
layer comprises a first material layer, a second material layer,
and a diffraction grating structure, wherein the second material
layer is provided on a light exit side of the diffraction grating
structure and located between the diffraction grating structure and
the first material layer, and wherein a refractive index of the
first material layer is higher than a refractive index of the
second material layer.
5. The display device according to claim 4, wherein parameters of
the diffraction grating structure are different for sub-pixel
regions with different colors of the display device,
6. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display
device further comprises a liquid crystal display panel which is
provided: between the light emitting panel and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the grating layer is located in the light
emitting panel; or between the grating layer and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the light emitting panel is located on the
other side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel; or between the grating layer and the light emitting
panel, wherein the optical modulation unit is located on the other
side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel.
7. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the light
emitting panel comprises an organic electroluminescent panel, and
wherein the organic electroluminescent panel at least comprises a
package substrate, a first electrode layer, a second electrode
layer, and a light emitting layer located between the first
electrode layer and the second electrode layer, wherein the grating
layer is on a light exit side of the first electrode layer, and
wherein the package substrate is located on the other side of the
grating layer with respect to the first electrode layer.
8. The display device according to claim 7, wherein the package
substrate of the organic electroluminescent panel is used as an
array substrate of the liquid crystal display panel.
9. The display device according to claim 7, wherein the organic
electroluminescent panel further comprises a first wire grid
polarizer, and wherein the first wire grid polarizer is provided:
on a light exit side of the package substrate; or between the
package substrate and the grating layer; or between the grating
layer and the first electrode layer.
10. The display device according to claim 9, wherein an upper
polarizer is provided on a light exit side of the liquid crystal
display panel, and wherein a slit direction of the first wire grid
polarizer is parallel to a transmission axis of the upper
polarizer.
11. The display device according to claim 10, wherein the upper
polarizer is a second wire grid polarizer.
12. The display device according to claim 11, wherein a slit
direction of the second wire grid polarizer is perpendicular to the
slit direction of the first wire grid polarizer.
13. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the liquid
crystal display panel comprises a twisted nematic liquid crystal
display panel, an optically compensated bend liquid crystal display
panel, a multi-domain vertical alignment liquid crystal display
panel, a patterned vertical alignment liquid crystal display panel,
an inplane switching liquid crystal display panel, or a fringe
field switching liquid crystal display panel.
14. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light
emitting panel comprises a top emission type organic
electroluminescent panel or a bottom emission type organic
electroluminescent panel.
15. A display terminal, comprising the display device according to
claim 1.
16. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the grating
layer comprises a first material layer, a second material layer,
and a diffraction grating structure, wherein the second material
layer is provided on a light exit side of the diffraction grating
structure and located between the diffraction grating structure and
the first material layer, and wherein a refractive index of the
first material layer is higher than a refractive index of the
second material layer.
17. The display device according to claim 3, wherein the grating
layer comprises a first material layer, a second material layer,
and a diffraction grating structure, wherein the second material
layer is provided on a light exit side of the diffraction grating
structure and located between the diffraction grating structure and
the first material layer, and wherein a refractive index of the
first material layer is higher than a refractive index of the
second material layer.
18. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the display
device further comprises a liquid crystal display panel which is
provided: between the light emitting panel and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the grating layer is located in the light
emitting panel; or between the grating layer and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the light emitting panel is located on the
other side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel; or between the grating layer and the light emitting
panel, wherein the optical modulation unit is located on the other
side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel.
19. The display device according to claim 3, wherein the display
device further comprises a liquid crystal display panel which is
provided: between the light emitting panel and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the grating layer is located in the light
emitting panel; or between the grating layer and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the light emitting panel is located on the
other side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel; or between the grating layer and the light emitting
panel, wherein the optical modulation unit is located on the other
side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel.
20. The display device according to claim 5, wherein the display
device further comprises a liquid crystal display panel which is
provided: between the light emitting panel and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the grating layer is located in the light
emitting panel; or between the grating layer and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the light emitting panel is located on the
other side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel; or between the grating layer and the light emitting
panel, wherein the optical modulation unit is located on the other
side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application is a National Stage Entry of
PCT/CN2017/000043 filed on Jan. 3, 2017, which claims the benefit
and priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 201620373112.6 filed
on Apr. 27, 2016, the disclosures of which are incorporated by
reference herein in their entirety as part of the present
application.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of display
technologies, and more particularly, to a display device and a
display terminal.
[0003] Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) has many advantages, such as
low power consumption, small volume, light weight, ultra-thin
screen and so on, and in recent years, has been widely used in
digital products (such as multimedia players, digital cameras, or
personal digital assistants), intelligent instruments and low-power
consumption electronic products. Compared with the LCD display
technology, Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) technology has the
characteristics of self-light-emitting. As can be used as a light
source, the display using the OLED technology is very thin and very
light, with a large screen viewing angle, and moreover can save
electric energy. With the continuous advent of portable personal
digital products, users may operate the display screens of various
portable devices at any time and any place, and thus expect to
protect their privacy while obtaining services.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
[0004] Provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are a
display device and a display terminal, which can provide a
peep-proof function so as to prevent the information on a display
screen from being peeped and then prevent leakage of personal
privacy.
[0005] A first aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure
provides a display device including a light emitting panel and at
least one optical modulation unit provided on a light exit side of
the light emitting panel, a grating layer being provided in the
light emitting panel or between the light emitting panel and the
optical modulation unit, wherein the optical modulation unit is
configured to modulate incident light to exit at a certain preset
angle, and the grating layer is configured to parallelize exit
directions of incident light.
[0006] A second aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure
provides a display terminal including the display device according
to the first aspect of the embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0007] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
optical modulation unit includes a first substrate, a second
substrate, and a liquid crystal layer located between the first
substrate and the second substrate, wherein at least one of the
first substrate and the second substrate is provided with a
plurality of groups of electrode structures thereon, respective
groups of the electrode structures being configured to control
liquid crystal molecules of corresponding regions in the liquid
crystal layer to deflect to form a microprism structure, and the
microprism structure is controlled to modulate incident light to
exit at a certain preset angle by adjusting voltages of the
respective groups of the electrode structures.
[0008] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
display device includes a plurality of sub-pixel regions arranged
in an array, and the microprism structure corresponds to at least
one sub-pixel region.
[0009] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
grating layer includes a first material layer, a second material
layer, and a diffraction grating structure, the second material
layer being provided on a light exit side of the diffraction
grating structure and located between the diffraction grating
structure and the first material layer, wherein a refractive index
of the first material layer is higher than a refractive index of
the second material layer.
[0010] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure,
parameters of the diffraction grating structure are different for
sub-pixel regions with different colors of the display device.
[0011] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
display device further includes a liquid crystal display panel
which is provided between the light emitting panel and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the grating layer is located in the light
emitting panel, or between the grating layer and the optical
modulation unit, wherein the light emitting panel is located on the
other side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel, or between the grating layer and the light emitting
panel, wherein the optical modulation unit is located on the other
side of the grating layer with respect to the liquid crystal
display panel.
[0012] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
light emitting panel includes an organic electroluminescent panel,
and the organic electroluminescent panel at least includes a
package substrate, a first electrode layer, a second electrode
layer, and a light emitting layer located between the first
electrode layer and the second electrode layer, wherein the grating
layer is provided on a light exit side of the first electrode
layer, and the package substrate is located on the other side of
the grating layer with respect to the first electrode layer.
[0013] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
package substrate of the organic electroluminescent panel is used
as an array substrate of the liquid crystal display panel.
[0014] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
organic electroluminescent panel further includes a first wire grid
polarizer, wherein the first wire grid polarizer is provided on a
light exit side of the package substrate, or between the package
substrate and the grating layer, or between the grating layer and
the first electrode layer.
[0015] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an
upper polarizer is provided on a light exit side of the liquid
crystal display panel, and a slit direction of the first wire grid
polarizer is parallel to a transmission axis of the upper
polarizer.
[0016] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
upper polarizer is a second wire grid polarizer.
[0017] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a slit
direction of the second wire grid polarizer is perpendicular to the
slit direction of the first wire grid polarizer.
[0018] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, slit
directions of the first wire grid polarizer are perpendicular to
each other in adjacent sub-pixel regions, and/or slit directions of
the second wire grid polarizer are perpendicular to each other in
adjacent sub-pixel regions.
[0019] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
liquid crystal display panel may include a Twisted Nematic (TN)
liquid crystal display panel, an Optically Compensated Bend (OCB)
liquid crystal display panel, a Multi-domain Vertical Alignment
(MVA) liquid crystal display panel, a Patterned Vertical Alignment
(PVA) liquid crystal display panel, an InPlane Switching (IPS)
liquid crystal display panel, or a Fringe Field Switching (FFS)
liquid crystal display panel.
[0020] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
light emitting panel includes a top emission type organic
electroluminescent panel or a bottom emission type organic
electroluminescent panel.
[0021] The display device and the display terminal provided by the
embodiments of the present disclosure can collimate exit light of
the light emitting panel by providing the grating layer (such as a
diffraction grating microstructure), and can control the direction
of light in conjunction with the shaping effect on the light by the
optical modulation unit, so as to implement the peep-proof
application.
[0022] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
display device and the display terminal may adopt a structure in
which the organic electroluminescent panel is combined with the
liquid crystal display panel, wherein the organic
electroluminescent panel controls the color to continuously emit
light (constant voltage), and the liquid crystal display panel
controls liquid crystals (for example, through the TFT substrate)
to determine the grayscale, avoiding the residual image problem
brought by the organic electroluminescent panel due to grayscale
changes, meanwhile improving the life of the organic
electroluminescent panel.
[0023] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present
disclosure, a device can be made thinner overall by replacing the
traditional polarizer in the conventional liquid crystal display
panel with a Wire Grid Polarizer (WGP). Since the metal layer of
the wire grid polarizer has a certain reflectivity, the light
extraction efficiency of the organic electroluminescent panel can
be improved.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions
of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the accompanying
drawings of exemplary embodiments will be briefly described below.
Apparently, the accompanying drawings described below are exemplary
and illustrative only and are not intended to limit the present
disclosure in any way. Those of ordinary skill in the art may
obtain other drawings from these drawings. Various aspects and
their further objects and advantages of the embodiments of the
present disclosure will be better understood by reference to the
following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when
reading in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
[0025] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0026] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a grating layer provided
according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0027] FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams of an exemplary
equivalent optical device of an optical modulating unit provided
according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0028] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between
the optical modulation unit and sub-pixel regions of the display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0029] FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0030] FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0031] FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0032] FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure; and
[0033] FIGS. 9A-9D are schematic diagrams of the pattern of wire
grid polarizers according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0034] In order to make the technical solutions and advantages of
the embodiments of the present disclosure more clear, the
embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in
detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Apparently, the
described embodiments are merely part but not all of the
embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments
obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the
embodiments of the present disclosure without the need for creative
labor are also within the scope of protection of the present
disclosure.
[0035] Throughout this specification, the phrasing concerning the
features, advantages, and the like does not mean that all features
and advantages that may be practiced with the present disclosure
should be or intended to be in any single embodiment of the present
disclosure. Rather, it is to be understood that the phrasing
concerning the features and advantages means that the specific
features, advantages or characteristics described in conjunction
with the embodiments are included in at least one embodiment of the
present disclosure. Thus, throughout the specification, the
discussion of features, advantages and similar phrasing may refer
to the same embodiment, but may not necessarily refer to the same
embodiment. In addition, the described features, advantages and
characteristics of the present disclosure may be incorporated in
one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. Those skilled in
the relevant art will recognize that the present disclosure may be
practiced without one or more specific features or advantages of a
particular embodiment. In other examples, additional features and
advantages may be implemented in certain embodiments, which are not
necessarily present in all the embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0036] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure. The display device provided by the embodiment of the
present disclosure may include a light emitting panel 103 and at
least one optical modulation unit 101 provided on a light exit side
of the light emitting panel 103. As shown in FIG. 1, a grating
layer 102 is provided between the light emitting panel 103 and the
optical modulation unit 101. Alternatively, the grating layer 102
may be provided in the light emitting panel 103 as described later
in conjunction with FIG. 5 to FIG. 8. According to the embodiment
of the present disclosure, the optical modulating unit 101 is
configured to modulate incident light to exit at a preset angle,
and the grating layer 102 is configured to parallelize exit
directions of incident light.
[0037] For example, the grating layer 102 may have a selective and
corrective effect on the light from the light emitting panel 103,
so that the incident light of the optical modulation unit 101
become substantially parallel light beams. The optical modulation
unit 101 may further adjust directions of the parallel beams, so
that the light exits at a preset specific angle, thereby achieving
the peep-proof effect.
[0038] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a grating layer provided
according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. As
shown in FIG. 2, the grating layer 102 according to the embodiment
of the present disclosure may include a first material layer 201, a
second material layer 202, and a diffraction grating structure 203,
the second material layer 202 being provided on a light exit side
of the diffraction grating structure 203 and being located between
the diffraction grating structure 203 and the first material layer
201, wherein the refractive index of the first material layer 201
is higher than the refractive index of the second material layer
202.
[0039] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
diffraction grating structure 203 may include a groove surface 2031
and a grating surface 2032. When the incident light is
perpendicular to the groove surface 2031 and a condition of 2d*sin
.gamma.=.lamda. is satisfied, the light beam having a wavelength
.lamda. is intensified at a specific angle to form the exit light,
where d is the grating period or pitch, .gamma. is the grating
groove angle, .lamda. is the wavelength of the incident light. For
example, corresponding to the sub-pixel regions of different colors
(such as R, G, B) of the display device provided by the embodiment
of the present disclosure, the parameters (such as d and .gamma.)
of the diffraction grating structure 203 may be different. Thus,
different light exit angles and different light exit bands can be
obtained by designing different d and .gamma. values to apply to
the sub-pixel regions with corresponding colors.
[0040] In other words, the diffraction grating structure 203
according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has a
selective effect on the incident light, which enables the exit
light of the sub-pixel regions of different colors to be a group of
parallel beams perpendicular to the corresponding groove face 2031,
respectively, and on the whole, it can be seen that the light
passing through the diffraction grating structure 203 can be
parallel to each other. On the other hand, although the light
passing through the diffraction grating structure 203 is parallel
to each other, the directions thereof might be inclined, and
therefore the light may also be adjusted to be emitted vertically
upward as necessary.
[0041] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
first material layer 201 and the second material layer 202 may be
provided on the diffraction grating structure 203, whereby the
grating layer 102 is implemented by a diffraction grating
microstructure as shown in FIG. 2. For example, the first material
layer 201 may be bonded to the second material layer 202, and the
bonding surface may be inclined. As shown in FIG. 2, since the
refractive index n1 of the first material layer 201 is greater than
the refractive index n2 of the second material layer 202, the exit
angle r is smaller than the incident angle i according to the
refractive law i*sin n2=r*sin n1, so that the exit light converges
to the center, resulting in vertical upward collimated light.
[0042] Thus, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure,
the grating layer 102 such as the diffraction grating
microstructure shown in FIG. 2 is provided in the light emitting
panel 103 or between the light emitting panel 103 and the optical
modulation unit 101, and the exit light of the light emitting panel
103 may be collimated by making exit directions of the incident
light in parallel. Further, the optical modulation unit 101
according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be
configured to perform left and right (in a horizontal direction)
adjustments or up and down (in a vertical direction) adjustments on
the travelling direction of the collimated exit light of the light
emitting panel 103, thereby implementing the peep-proof application
by controlling the direction of the light.
[0043] FIGS. 3A-3B are schematic diagrams of an exemplary
equivalent optical device of an optical modulating unit provided
according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. As
shown in FIGS. 3A-3B, the optical modulation unit 101 according to
the embodiment of the present disclosure may include a first
substrate 301, a second substrate 304, and a liquid crystal layer
302 located between the first substrate 301 and the second
substrate 304. For example, a plurality of groups of electrode
structures 303 may be provided on the first substrate 301 and/or
the second substrate 304, respective groups of the electrode
structures 303 are configured to control liquid crystal molecules
of the corresponding regions in the liquid crystal layer 302 to
deflect to form a microprism structure 3051 or 3052, and by
adjusting the voltages of the respective groups of the electrode
structures 303, the microprism structure 3051 or 3052 may be
controlled to modulate incident light to exit at a certain preset
angle.
[0044] For the purpose of illustration, FIGS. 3A-3B also show an
XOY reference plane defined by an X-axis, a Y-axis, and an origin
O, where the cross-section of the display device shown in FIG. 1 is
in parallel to the XOY reference plane. As shown in FIG. 3A, when
the voltages of the electrode structures 303 are controlled to be
sequentially raised up in the positive direction of the X-axis (for
example, increasing progressively according to values of an
arithmetic series), the formed microprism structure 3051 can
control the travelling direction of the exit light to be shifted to
the left (toward the lower voltage direction) with respect to the
incident light. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the voltages
of the electrode structures 303 are controlled to descend
sequentially in the positive direction of the X-axis (for example,
decreasing progressively according to values of an arithmetic
series), the formed microprism structure 3052 can control the
travelling direction of the exit light to be shifted to the right
(toward the lower voltage direction) with respect to the incident
light. Therefore, with the optical modulation unit shown in FIGS.
3A-3B, the incident light can be modulated in the horizontal
direction (for example, along the X-axis direction).
[0045] Alternatively or additionally, the optical modulation unit
101 may also modulate the incident light in a vertical direction
(for example, along the direction perpendicular to the XOY
reference plane). In this case, the plurality of groups of
electrode structures 303 are provided on the first substrate 301
and/or the second substrate 304 of the optical modulation unit 101
along the direction perpendicular to the XOY reference plane.
Similar to the structure as shown in FIGS. 3A-3B, by controlling
the voltage levels of respective groups of electrode structures
303, the microprism structure formed in the liquid crystal layer
302 can control the travelling direction of the exit light to be
shifted upward or downward (for example, in the direction
perpendicular to the XOY reference plane) with respect to the
incident light.
[0046] Thus it can be seen that the direction of the exit light of
the display device of the embodiment of the present disclosure can
be controlled by applying at least one optical modulation unit 101,
so that the modulated light can exit at a preset angle (for
example, perpendicular to the surface of the optical modulation
unit 101). It should be understood that FIGS. 3A-3B merely
exemplarily illustrate an equivalent optical device of the optical
modulation unit implemented according to a liquid crystal cell
structure, and those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative
work, can conceive of other equivalent structures or variants for
implementing the optical modulation unit according to the
embodiments of the present disclosure on the basis of the
structures shown in FIGS. 3A-3B. For example, the optical
modulation unit 101 according to the embodiment of the present
disclosure may also be implemented as any other suitable optical
device structure having an optical modulation function (such as a
light direction adjustment function).
[0047] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the relationship between
the optical modulation unit and sub-pixel regions of the display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure. The display device provided according to the embodiment
of the present disclosure may include a plurality of sub-pixel
regions arranged in an array, and the microprism structure formed
by the optical modulation unit 101 may correspond to at least one
sub-pixel region. For example, the plurality of sub-pixel regions
arranged in an array may include three sub-pixel regions 403 (for
example, R, G, B sub-pixel regions from right to left,
respectively) as shown in FIG. 4, where each column of sub-pixel
regions may correspond to one microprism structure, and
accordingly, three microprism structures of the optical modulation
unit 402 are schematically shown in three boxes in FIG. 4 for
horizontal modulation of the light direction (as shown by the
horizontal bidirectional arrows in FIG. 4). Similarly, the
sub-pixel regions 403 in FIG. 4 include four rows of sub-pixel
regions (each row having three sub-pixel regions R, G, B), where
each row of sub-pixel regions may correspond to one microprise
structure, and accordingly, four microprism structures of the
optical modulation unit 401 are schematically shown in four boxes
in FIG. 4 for vertical modulation of the light direction (as
indicated by the vertical bidirectional arrows in FIG. 4).
[0048] The display device according to the embodiment of the
present disclosure may further include a liquid crystal display
panel. The liquid crystal display panel may include a TN liquid
crystal display panel, an OCB liquid crystal display panel, an MVA
liquid crystal display panel, a PVA liquid crystal display panel,
an IPS liquid crystal display panel, or an FFS liquid crystal
display panel.
[0049] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the liquid
crystal display panel may be provided between the light emitting
panel 103 and the optical modulation unit 101, wherein the grating
layer 102 is located in the light emitting panel 103 (as shown in
FIGS. 5-8). In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the
liquid crystal display panel may be provided between the grating
layer 102 and the optical modulation unit 101, wherein the light
emitting panel 103 is located on the other side of the grating
layer 102 with respect to the liquid crystal display panel. In yet
another embodiment of the present disclosure, the liquid crystal
display panel may be provided between the grating layer 102 and the
light emitting panel 103, wherein the optical modulation unit 101
is located on the other side of the grating layer 102 with respect
to the liquid crystal display panel.
[0050] FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure. The display device shown in FIG. 5 includes optical
modulation units 1011 and 1012, a liquid crystal display panel, a
light emitting panel, and a grating layer 102 provided in the light
emitting panel. The liquid crystal display panel shown in FIG. 5
includes an upper polarizer (POL) 501, a matrix substrate (such as
a color film substrate without a RGB color barrier layer, or a
black matrix substrate without color filter) 502, a liquid crystal
layer 503, an array substrate (such as a TFT substrate) 504, and a
lower polarizer 505.
[0051] At present, OLED is becoming more mature, but in view of its
service life and reliability (such as residual image) problems and
the advantages of LCD in these aspects, the two can be combined to
produce a new display technology. The light emitting panel 103
according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may include
an organic electroluminescent panel. The liquid crystal display
panel and the organic electroluminescent panel may be glued by
Optical Clear Adhesive (OCA).
[0052] The organic electroluminescent panel as shown in FIG. 5 at
least includes a package substrate 1031, a first electrode layer
(for example, a cathode layer or an anode layer) 1032, a second
electrode layer (for example, an anode layer or a cathode layer)
1034, and a light emitting layer 1033 located between the first
electrode layer 1032 and the second electrode layer 1034. For
example, the second electrode layer 1034 may be implemented on an
electrode substrate. In an embodiment of the present disclosure,
the grating layer 102 may be provided on the light exit side of the
first electrode layer 1032, and the package substrate 1031 may be
located on the other side of the grating layer 102 with respect to
the first electrode layer 1032.
[0053] The light emitting panel 103 according to the embodiment of
the present disclosure may include a top emission type organic
electroluminescent panel or a bottom emission type organic
electroluminescent panel. It will be understood that the first
electrode layer 1032 shown in FIG. 5 is a cathode layer and the
second electrode layer 1034 may be implemented as an anode
substrate in the case of the top emission type organic
electroluminescent panel, accordingly, in the case of the bottom
emission type organic electroluminescent panel, the first electrode
layer 1032 is an anode layer and the second electrode layer 1034
may be implemented as a cathode substrate.
[0054] In the display device shown in FIG. 5, the organic
electroluminescent panel can continuously emit light (at a fixed
voltage) to control the color, and the liquid crystal display panel
(for example, using the TFT substrate) can control the liquid
crystal layer 503 to determine the transmittance (i.e. luminance),
thereby avoiding the residual image problem brought by the organic
electroluminescent panel due to grayscale changes, meanwhile
improving the life of the organic electroluminescent panel.
[0055] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the
grating layer 102 can parallelize the exit light of the light
emitting panel and correct it as the collimated light, as described
in conjunction with FIG. 2. Further, as described in conjunction
with FIGS. 3A-3B, one of the optical modulation units 1011 and 1012
may be configured to horizontally modulate the light direction and
the other to vertically modulate the light direction, so that the
light exits in a preset specific direction (for example,
substantially perpendicular to the surface of the display device),
thereby implementing the peep-proof function of the display
device.
[0056] FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure. Similar to FIG. 5, the display device as shown in FIG.
6 includes optical modulation units 1011 and 1012, a liquid crystal
display panel, an organic electroluminescent panel, and a grating
layer 102 provided in the organic electroluminescent panel. Unlike
the display device shown in FIG. 5, the display device shown in
FIG. 6 employs a wire grid polarizer (WGP) to replace the
conventional lower polarizer 505, and in particular, as a lower
polarizer corresponding to the upper polarizer 501 of the liquid
crystal display panel, the wire grid polarizer (such as a first
wire grid polarizer 1035 shown in FIG. 6) is provided in the
organic electroluminescent panel.
[0057] In this regard, the organic electroluminescent panel
according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may further
include the first wire grid polarizer 1035. For example, the first
wire grid polarizer 1035 may be provided on the light exit side of
the package substrate 1031 or between the package substrate 1031
and the grating layer 102 (as shown in FIG. 6), or may be provided
between the grating layer 102 and the first electrode layer 1032.
The slit direction of the first wire grid polarizer 1035 is
parallel to the transmission axis of the upper polarizer 501
provided on the light exit side of the liquid crystal display
panel.
[0058] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a
nano-imprinting technique may be employed, for example, to provide
the first wire grid polarizer according to any one of the following
ways: preparing the first wire grid polarizer on the first
electrode layer of the organic electroluminescent panel, preparing
the first wire grid polarizer on the package substrate glass of the
organic electroluminescent panel, and then packaging the organic
electroluminescent panel, and preparing the first wire grid
polarizer on the package substrate glass of the already-packaged
organic electroluminescent panel. Thus, the lower polarizer of the
original liquid crystal display panel can be replaced by an In-cell
structure of the wire grid polarizer.
[0059] Since the metal layer (of which the material is usually
aluminum) of the wire grid polarizer has a certain reflectivity
(generally 30%), compared with the conventional polarizer, it is
possible to reflect the light that cannot be transmitted back for
reuse, thereby improving the light extraction efficiency of the
organic electroluminescent panel. In addition, the conventional
polarizer used in the liquid crystal display panel is not only
thick, but also has poor reliability, easily causing curls and
polarization failures in a high temperature and high humidity
environment, whereas the metal material of the wire grid polarizer
itself has good reliability. Further, considering that the
thickness of the metal layer of the wire grid polarizer is usually
on the nanometer scale (e.g., 150 nm) while the thickness of the
conventional polarizer is on the micrometer scale (e.g., 120
.mu.m), the overall device thickness of the display device
according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be
reduced.
[0060] FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure. Similar to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the display device as
shown in FIG. 7 includes optical modulation units 1011 and 1012, a
liquid crystal display panel, an organic electroluminescent panel,
and a grating layer 102 provided in the organic electroluminescent
panel. In particular, in this exemplary embodiment, the package
substrate 1031 of the organic electroluminescent panel is used as
the array substrate 504 of the liquid crystal display panel.
[0061] In this regard, the liquid crystal display panel shown in
FIG. 7 is not provided with the array substrate 504 (for example,
the TFT substrate) shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, rather the package
substrate 1031 of the organic electroluminescent panel is prepared
as a package substrate having a TFT layer, so that the package
substrate 1031 of the organic electroluminescent panel can be used
as the TFT substrate of the liquid crystal display panel. For
example, the TFT layer of the liquid crystal display panel may be
prepared first with respect to the package substrate glass of the
organic electroluminescent panel, and then the organic
electroluminescent panel may be packaged. The display device
provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can save at
least one layer of glass (for example, saving the TFT substrate
glass) in structure, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process
and saving the cost.
[0062] FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a display
device provided according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure. Similar to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the display device as
shown in FIG. 8 includes optical modulation units 1011 and 1012, a
liquid crystal display panel, an organic electroluminescent panel,
and a grating layer 102 provided in the organic electroluminescent
panel. In particular, in this exemplary embodiment, the upper
polarizer of the liquid crystal display panel is a second wire grid
polarizer 801. The slit direction of the second wire grid polarizer
801 is perpendicular to the slit direction of the first wire grid
polarizer 1035.
[0063] Corresponding to the first wire grid polarizer 1035 in the
organic electroluminescent panel, by using the second wire grid
polarizer 801 to further replace the conventional upper polarizer
in the liquid crystal display panel, the double-sided WGP structure
of the liquid crystal display panel can be implemented, so that the
overall thickness of the display device is further reduced. In
addition, by using the first and second wire grid polarizers that
correspond to each other, the patterned design of the wire grid
polarizers can be used in cooperation with the view image to obtain
a 3D display effect.
[0064] FIGS. 9A-9D are schematic diagrams of the pattern of wire
grid polarizers according to at least one embodiment of the present
disclosure. According to this exemplary embodiment, the slit
directions of the first wire grid polarizer 1035 are perpendicular
to each other in adjacent sub-pixel regions, and/or the slit
directions of the second wire grid polarizer 801 are perpendicular
to each other in adjacent sub-pixel regions. For example, the
pattern of the first wire grid polarizer 1035 and the second wire
grid polarizer 801 may be implemented according to the schematic
views depicted in FIGS. 9A and 9B, respectively. Alternatively, the
pattern of the first wire grid polarizer 1035 and the second wire
grid polarizer 801 may be implemented according to the schematic
views depicted in FIGS. 9C and 9D, respectively. The 3D display
application of the display device according to the embodiments of
the present disclosure can be implemented by patterning the wire
grid polarizers and then cooperating with the corresponding
views.
[0065] It should be understood that FIG. 1 to FIG. 9D merely
schematically show exemplary structures according to the
embodiments of the present disclosure, and that those of ordinary
skill in the art can conceive of, upon actual practice and
application and according to the teachings provided in this
specification, various equivalent structures or variations of the
display device of the embodiments of the present disclosure. For
example, the light emitting panel and/or the liquid crystal display
panel may have more or fewer structural layers and/or device units,
and may be implemented with different types and/or modes of
components when necessary. In addition, although the grating layer
102 is shown in a light emitting panel such as an organic
electroluminescent panel as shown in FIGS. 5-8, it would be
understood that the grating layer provided by the embodiments of
present disclosure may also be provided outside the light emitting
panel, and the wire grid polarizer still can be used to replace the
conventional polarizer.
[0066] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, by
providing the grating layer (such as the diffraction grating
microstructure as shown in FIG. 2) in the display device, the light
emitted from the light emitting panel can be collimated, and by
cooperatively using at least one optical modulation unit, the light
exit direction can be controlled, so as to implement the peep-proof
application. In addition, in conjunction with the patterned design
of the wire grid polarizer, the embodiments of the present
disclosure may further provide a multifunctional display device
incorporating 3D and peep-proof performance.
[0067] The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a
display terminal including the display device provided according to
any of the preceding exemplary embodiments. The display terminal
may include any mobile terminal, fixed terminal or portable
terminal having a display function, including, but not limited to,
a mobile phone, a smartphone, a multimedia device, a desktop
computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal
communication system device, a personal navigation device, a
personal digital assistant, an audio player, a video player, a
digital camera, a digital video camera, a positioning device, a
television receiver, a radio broadcasting receiver, an electronic
book device, a game device, a wearable device, a medical equipment,
and/or the like.
[0068] Benefiting from the teaching presented in the foregoing
description and associated drawings, those of ordinary skill in the
art to which this disclosure pertains will conceive of many
modifications and other embodiments of the present disclosure set
forth herein. It is therefore to be understood that the present
disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed,
and such modifications and other embodiments are intended to be
covered within the scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *