The present invention relates to a displaying device and a displaying method, and a manufacturing method of the device, which is a flat type displaying device used for such as personal digital assistants (PDA), a mobile communication terminal, a personal computer (PC), a television (TV) set, in particular, in which waveguides being a thin type, having light weight, and whose manufacturing cost is low, are used.
A liquid crystal display (LCD) has been used as a displaying device for a PDA, a mobile communication terminal, a PC, a TV set, a video game set, and so on. Especially, a thin film transistor (TFT)-LCD, which drives each liquid crystal cell by using a TFT provided at each pixel, has been widely used, because an image can be displayed in high resolution and high speed response.
However, since the manufacturing processes of the TFT are complicated, the larger its displaying screen is, the higher its manufacturing cost is. Furthermore, the size of the screen of the LCD is limited to a certain size depending on performance of the TFT manufacturing equipment such as spattering equipment, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) equipment, and lithography equipment.
In order to solve these problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-29398 discloses xe2x80x9cFlat Panel Display using Waveguidesxe2x80x9d. In this patent application, light from a light source is attenuated corresponding to a video signal. And the attenuated light is inputted to plural waveguides arrayed regularly. And an image is displayed by extracting light from designated places of the waveguides corresponding to the video signal repeatedly.
Referring now to drawings, this conventional flat panel display using waveguides is explained. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the conventional flat panel display disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-29398. As shown in FIG. 1, a video signal is inputted to a driving unit 130, and a control signal C1 is outputted to a gray level controlling unit 134 and a control signal C2 is outputted to a display panel 132 from the driving unit 130. Light from a light source 136 is attenuated according to the control signal C1 and the attenuated light is inputted to the display panel 132. The display panel 132 consists of waveguides and a light extracting means for extracting light from these waveguides.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the display panel 132 shown in FIG. 1. Optical fibers without clad 123, whose cross-section is rectangle, are regularly arrayed on a substrate for optical fibers 124. As described above, these optical fibers without clad 123 do not have clad which is different from conventional optical fibers. And a liquid crystal layer 122 is formed on the upper surface of these optical fibers without clad 123. The liquid crystal layer 122 changes its refractive index when a voltage is applied.
Optical fibers without clad 121, whose cross-section is cylindrical, are arrayed regularly in the upper part of the liquid crystal layer 122. And a transparent protection panel 120 is formed on the upper surfaces of the optical fibers without clad 121. An optical adhesive 127 is disposed between the transparent protection panel 120 and the optical fibers without clad 121. Further, first electrodes 125 are disposed on the lower surface of the transparent protection panel 120, and second electrodes 126 are disposed on the lower surface of the substrate for optical fibers 124. Voltages are applied to the first electrodes 125 and the second electrodes 126 respectively. Alternatively, the second electrodes 126 can be disposed on the lower surface of the liquid crystal layer 122 or on the lower surface of the optical fiber without clad 123.
Next, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an operation of the conventional flat panel display using waveguides is explained. The light from the light source 136 is controlled (attenuated) by the gray level controlling unit 134 according to a control signal C1. And this attenuated light is inputted to an optical fiber 123. A control signal C2 determines a position where the light is entered. When there is no potential difference between the first electrode 125 and the second electrode 126, this light is propagated in the optical fiber without clad 123 by repeating the total reflection inside.
When a potential difference is applied between the designated first and second electrodes 125 and 126 selected by the control signal C2, the refractive index of the liquid crystal layer 122 becomes high. And as shown in FIG. 2, the light, which does not satisfy the condition for the total reflection, is extracted from the designated optical fiber without clad 123. And the direction of the extracted light is changed by the refraction at the boundary of the optical fiber without clad 121, and the light reaches an observer (not shown). The operation mentioned above is repeated for all of the points on the surface of the display panel 132, and an image is displayed on the display panel 132.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the gray level controlling unit 134 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 3, in the gray level controlling unit 134, optical fibers without clad 144 whose cross-section is rectangular are arrayed on a substrate for optical fibers 146, and a protection panel 142 having third electrodes 140 and fourth electrodes 141 is disposed in the upper surface of the optical fibers without clad 144. And a liquid crystal layer 148, a light absorbing layer 150, and a fifth electrode 152 are layered in a part of the substrate for optical fibers 146 at the position where the substrate for optical fibers 146 contacts with the optical fibers without clad 144.
Next, referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, an operation of the gray level controlling unit 134 is explained. When voltages are not applied to the third electrode 140, the fourth electrode 141, and the fifth electrode 152, light inputted to the optical fiber without clad 144 from the light source 136 repeats the total reflection in the optical fiber without clad 144 and inputted to the display panel 132 with almost no attenuation. And, for example, when a potential difference is applied between the fourth electrode 141 and the fifth electrode 152, the refractive index of the liquid crystal layer 148 becomes high, and the condition of the total reflection is broken at the boundary of the optical fiber without clad 144.
Light not satisfying the condition for the total reflection is inputted to the liquid crystal layer 148 and is absorbed by the light absorbing layer 150. As mentioned above, the amount of light supplied to the display panel 132 can be controlled by the gray level controlling unit 134 based on whether voltages are applied or not to the gray level controlling unit 134.
As mentioned above, the conventional flat panel display using waveguides consists of the light source 136, the gray level controlling unit 134, the display panel 132, and the driving unit 130. And the display panel 132 includes the waveguides and the light extracting means, and the driving unit 130 gives control signals to the gray level controlling unit 134 and the display panel 132. In this, an important role to extract light propagating in the waveguides in the display panel 132 is executed by a specific material. The refractive index of this specific material must be changed by application of a voltage. In the conventional flat panel display using waveguides, as mentioned above, the liquid crystal is used as this material.
And there is also another conventional displaying device having waveguides and a light extracting means. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. SHO 59-148030 discloses xe2x80x9cOptical Fiber Displaying Devicexe2x80x9d. In this patent application, nitroglycerin films are formed at a part of an optical fiber with clad, and two transparent electrodes are disposed at the nitroglycerin films in a state that the two transparent electrodes face each other with the optical fiber between them. And lead wires are connected to the transparent electrodes. In this patent application, when a voltage is applied to the transparent electrodes, the refractive index of the clad is changed by Kerr effect, and light is extracted from this part of the clad.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 1-185692 discloses xe2x80x9cFlat Display Panelxe2x80x9d. In this patent application, a unit, which serves both as waveguides and as a light extracting means, is provided. For example, a supper-lattice structure, in which two kinds of thin films such as amorphous silicon (a-Si) and amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN) are stacked together alternately, functions as a core. And two transparent electrodes, which face with each other with the core between them, function as clad. And the refractive index of the core is changed by applying a voltage to the transparent electrodes, and the light propagating inside the core is extracted.
However, there are following common problems in the conventional displaying devices using waveguides mentioned above.
First, since light is extracted from each of the waveguides in time series, the operating frequency of the driving unit is high, and the reduction of its power consumption is difficult. For example, in case that a color image with a video graphic array (VGA) format (the number of pixels is 640xc3x97480xc3x973=921,600) is displayed at the frame frequency of 60 Hz, time needed to extract light from each pixel becomes 1/(60xc3x97640xc3x97480xc3x973) at maximum, that is, 18 n sec. And the driving unit is required to apply a voltage to electrodes of each light extracting means at a frequency higher than the frequency corresponding to 18 nsec. The power consumption of the circuit of the driving unit is proportional to the operating frequency, therefore, the frequency is increased in proportion to the number of pixels. If light can be extracted from waveguides in parallel, the operating frequency of the driving unit can be decreased dramatically. For example, in the conventional example mentioned above, in which a VGA format image mentioned above is displayed at the frequency of 60 Hz, the operating frequency can be reduced by a factor of 1/680 at maximum. However, the prior arts mentioned above do not teach how to reduce their power consumption.
Second, when ambient light inputted to the waveguide is reflected on the boundary of either the waveguides or the light extracting means, the reflected light is added to the light corresponding to an original video signal. Therefore, there is a problem of the contrast deterioration.
Third, if there is a remarkable light loss caused by self-absorption in the waveguide, a gradation pattern appears in the displayed image meant to be all white. However, the prior arts do not teach to solve this problem.
Fourth, in the conventional displaying devices, the waveguides, the light extracting means, and the gray level controlling unit are required independently. Therefore, there are problems that their manufacturing cost becomes high and that the reliability is deteriorated. However, the prior arts do not teach how to solve these problems.
Fifth, if the waveguides and the light extracting means can be contained in a small container when they are not used, a displaying device with excellent portability can be realized. However, the conventional displaying devices do not teach anything how this can be realized.
Next, specific problems to each of the conventional displaying devices mentioned above are explained in detail. In the flat panel display using waveguides in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-29398, there are following problems.
First, its manufacturing problems are explained. It consumes time and labor to array many optical fibers regularly and precisely. In order to control a light emitting angle, it is important to position optical fibers precisely. However, the diameter of the optical fiber has some tolerance. This tolerance is accumulated when many optical fibers are arrayed. The optical fibers having a rectangular cross-section, which work as the waveguides, are arrayed at concave parts formed in the substrate for optical fibers. However, gaps may exist between the optical fibers and the concave parts, because, in some cases, their shapes are not matched, or the tolerances exist in them. Therefore, the waveguides contact with materials (gaps) whose refractive index is different from the waveguides, and the optical characteristics, being essential to the waveguides, may be deteriorated. As mentioned above, there are the manufacturing problems in the processes arraying many optical fibers.
Second, its problem in driving the display is explained. It is necessary to apply a sufficient high voltage, in order to align liquid crystal molecules so that the refractive index of the liquid crystal layer changes. However, in the structure disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-29398, it is necessary to apply an additional bias in series across the optical fibers, which are inserted for changing the courses of light propagating by refraction.
According to FIG. 2 in this patent application, the diameter of the optical fiber is equivalent to the pixel pitch of the display. For example, in a case of a color displaying device with 200 ppi (pixel per inch resolution, this pixel pitch is about 30 xcexcm. On the other hand, it is known that 3 to 10 bias V is necessary for aligning liquid crystal molecules in a 2 to 5 xcexcm thickness in a conventional LCD. Therefore, in this application, at least several 10 V voltages are necessary to realize the 200 ppi resolution, as a result, it is difficult to drive the display with a low voltage for this application. That is, the lower the resolution is, the higher bias voltage is required. Consequently, it is difficult to use this display for instruments, which need low power consumption, such as a PDA, a note type PC.
Next, in the optical fiber displaying device at the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. SHO 59-148030, there is a following problem of manufacturing. For this structure, complicated processes, such as forming the nitroglycerin films, connecting lead wires to the transparent electrodes, are required. Therefore, the manufacturing cost becomes high, and its mass production is problematic.
Further, in the flat display panel disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 1-185692, there is a following manufacturing problem. In this structure, it requires time and labor to form the super-lattice structure of cores. Consequently, its manufacturing cost becomes high.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a displaying device and a displaying method and a manufacturing method of the displaying device, in which an image having high contrast can be watched clearly and the displaying device can be driven by low power consumption.
In more detail, the present invention provides a displaying device, a displaying method, and a manufacturing method of the displaying device, which can be driven by a direct current (DC) voltage being less than 5V.
And, the present invention provides a displaying device, a displaying method, and a manufacturing method of the displaying device, which can be manufacture by a low cost.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a displaying device, a displaying method, and a manufacturing method of the displaying device, which can be contained in a small container whose vertical direction is long when the displaying device is not used.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a displaying device. The displaying device provides a light emitting array that emits light of one line of a displaying image by plural light emitting elements, a waveguide array that propagates light inputted from the light emitting array from one end to the other end of a displaying region, and a light extracting section that extracts light propagating in the waveguide array from an arbitrarily selected region.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the arbitrarily selected region includes at least two or more pixels.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the arbitrarily selected region is an arbitrary one line crossing to the propagating direction of the light of the one line emitted from the light emitting array.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the waveguide array provides at least high refractive index regions and low refractive index regions. And the high refractive index regions are provided corresponding to the number of pixels composing the one line of the light emitting from the light emitting array in a designated array pitch, and the light of the one line emitted from the light emitting array propagates in the corresponding high refractive index regions.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the waveguide array is formed by a polymeric material.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the waveguide array further provides a light absorbing layer for absorbing light from the outside on a supporting substrate.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the waveguide array further provides a supporting substrate made of a polymeric material, a light absorbing layer for absorbing light from the outside formed on the supporting substrate, a low refractive index region formed on the light absorbing layer, and a layer, in which high refractive index regions and low refractive index regions are disposed alternately in a designated pitch, on the low refractive index region.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light extracting section provides an antireflection layer for preventing light from the outside from reflecting.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light extracting section further provides an optical material layer whose refractive index is changed by an external electric field, and plural electrodes for generating an electric field by selecting a region of the optical material layer.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the plural electrodes are disposed so that a potential difference is generated in a region composing an arbitrary one line crossing to the propagating direction of the light of the one line emitted from the light emitting array.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the plural electrodes are composed of a pair of stripe-shaped electrodes, and one piece of the stripe-shaped electrodes has plural branches.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the region where an electric potential is given by the plural electrodes makes light emitted from the light emitting array extract to the outside from the optical material layer through the waveguide array, by changing the refractive index of the optical material layer at the region.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the plural electrodes are formed on the same plane surface.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the twelfth aspect, the light extracting section further provides a light scattering layer for scattering the light extracted from the optical material layer.
According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the light extracting section further provides an antireflection layer for preventing light from the outside from reflecting.
According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light extracting section corrects the light extracting efficiency at the time when the light is extracted corresponding to a loss of the light in the waveguide array.
According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the waveguide array and the light extracting section are formed by a flexible material that can be repeatedly rolled up and pulled out, and can be contained in a container.
According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the seventeenth aspect, the displaying device further provides a detecting section that detects the boundary between the pulled out part being the exposed part from the container and the contained part in the container of the waveguide array and the light extracting section. And the light extracting section extracts light from only a region of the exposed part base on the detected result.
According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light emitting array provides organic electro-luminescence (EL) layers for emitting light. And each of the organic EL layers is positioned between a transparent electrode and an opaque electrode.
According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the nineteenth aspect, the light emitting array further provides a transparent substrate, a light shielding layer for shielding light from the outside provided on the transparent substrate, a barrier layer for preventing impurity elements including in the transparent layer from entering other layers provided on the barrier layer, and thin film transistors (TFTs) provided on the barrier layer.
According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the nineteenth aspect, the light emitting array provides the plural organic EL layers and TFTs for driving the plural organic EL layers corresponding to the number of pixels composing one line of emitting light.
According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the nineteenth aspect, the light emitting array further provides plural capacitors in which an inputted analog image signal is stored every pixel composing the one line. And when the analog image signal of the one line was stored in the plural capacitors, voltages stored in the capacitors are applied to gate electrodes of the TFTs at the same time, and the organic EL layers emit light of the one line at the same time.
According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light emitting array inputs light of three colors R, G, and B to the waveguide array.
According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the light emitting array inputs a corrected image signal to the waveguide array corresponding to a loss of the light in the waveguide array.
According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a displaying device. The displaying device provides a light emitting array that emits light of one line of a displaying image by plural light emitting elements, a waveguide array that propagates light inputted from the light emitting array from one end to the other end of the waveguide array, and a light extracting section that extracts light propagating in the waveguide array from an arbitrarily one line crossing to the propagating direction of one line of the light emitted from the light emitting array. And the light extracting section provides a gray level controlling region which makes a part of light propagating through the waveguide array leak to the outside, and a displaying region from which light controlled at the gray level controlling region is extracted.
According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the light extracting section further provides an antireflection layer for preventing light from the outside from reflecting.
According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the light extracting section further provides an optical material layer whose refractive index is changed corresponding to an electric field from the outside, and plural electrodes for generating an electric field by selecting a region of the optical material layer.
According to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-seventh aspect, the plural electrodes disposed at the gray level controlling region are positioned so that a potential difference is generated at a region of an area based on an inputted digital image signal.
According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the displaying device further provides a light absorbing section for absorbing light leaked from the gray level controlling region.
According to a thirtieth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-seventh aspect, the plural electrodes disposed at the displaying region are positioned so that a potential difference is generated in a region composing an arbitrary one line crossing to the propagating direction of light of one line emitted from the light emitting array.
According to a thirty-first aspect of the present invention, in the thirtieth aspect, the plural electrodes are composed of a pair of stripe-shaped electrodes, and one piece of the stripe-shaped electrodes has plural branches.
According to a thirty-second aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-seventh aspect, the plural electrodes are formed on the same plane surface.
According to a thirty-third aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-seventh aspect, at the region where the electric potential was given from the plural electrodes, the refractive index of the optical material layer is changed, and the light emitted from the light emitting array is extracted from the optical material layer through the waveguide array to the outside.
According to a thirty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-seventh aspect, the light extracting section further provides a light scattering layer for scattering the light extracted from the optical material layer.
According to a thirty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-seventh aspect, the light extracting section further provides an antireflection layer for preventing light from the outside from reflecting.
According to a thirty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the light extracting section corrects the light extracting efficiency at the time when the light is extracted corresponding to a loss of the light in the waveguide array.
According to a thirty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the light emitting array provides organic EL layers for emitting light. And each of the organic EL layers is positioned between a transparent electrode and an opaque electrode.
According to a thirty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the thirty-seventh aspect, the light emitting array further provides a transparent substrate, a light shielding layer for shielding light from the outside provided on the transparent substrate, a barrier layer for preventing impurity elements including in the transparent layer from entering other layers provided on the barrier layer, and TFTs provided on the barrier layer.
According to a thirty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the thirty-seventh aspect, the light emitting array provides the plural organic EL layers and the TFTs for driving the plural organic EL layers corresponding to the number of pixels composing one line of emitting light. And the TFTs are driven from the beginning of the one line in order, and the plural organic EL layers emit light from the beginning of the one line in order.
According to a fortieth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the light emitting array inputs light of three colors R, G, and B to the waveguide array.
According to a forty-first aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the light emitting array inputs a corrected image signal to the waveguide array corresponding to a loss of the light in the waveguide array.
According to a forty-second aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the waveguide array provides at least high refractive index regions and low refractive index regions. And the high refractive index regions are provided corresponding to the number of pixels composing one line of light emitting from the light emitting array by a designated array pitch, and light of one line emitted from the light emitting array is propagated in the corresponding high refractive index regions.
According to a forty-third aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the waveguide array is formed by a polymeric material.
According to a forty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the waveguide array further provides a light absorbing layer for absorbing light from the outside on a supporting substrate.
According to a forty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the waveguide array further provides a supporting substrate formed by a polymeric material, a light absorbing layer for absorbing light from the outside provided on the supporting substrate, a low refractive index region formed on the light absorbing layer, and a layer in which high refractive index regions and low refractive index regions are disposed alternately in a designated pitch on the low refractive index region.
According to a forty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the displaying device further provides a light reflecting section for reflecting light propagated by the waveguide array at the other end of the waveguide array.
According to a forty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the waveguide array and the light extracting section are formed by a flexible material that can be repeatedly rolled up and pulled out, and can be contained in a container.
According to a forty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the twenty-fifth aspect, the displaying device further provides a detecting section that detects the boundary between the pulled out part being the exposed part from the container and the contained part in the container of the waveguide array and the light extracting section. And the light extracting section extracts light from only a region of the exposed part base on the detected result.
According to a forty-ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a displaying method. The displaying method provides the steps of, emitting light of one line of a displaying image by plural light emitting elements, propagating emitted light from one end to the other end of a displaying region through a waveguide array, and extracting the propagating light from an arbitrarily selected region.
According to a fiftieth aspect of the present invention, in the forty-ninth aspect, the arbitrarily selected region includes at least two or more pixels.
According to a fifty-first aspect of the present invention, in the forty-ninth aspect, the arbitrarily selected region is an arbitrary one line crossing to the propagating direction of one line of emitted light.
According to a fifty-second aspect of the present invention, in the forty-ninth aspect, extracting the propagating light provides the steps of, generating a potential difference at a designated region of an optical material layer, whose refractive index is changed corresponding to an external electric field of the waveguide array in which light is propagating, and changing the refractive index of the optical material layer by generating the potential difference.
According to a fifty-third aspect of the present invention, in the forty-ninth aspect, extracting the propagating light further provides the step of, correcting light extracting efficiency at the time when the light is extracted corresponding to a loss of the light in the waveguide array.
According to a fifty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the forty-ninth aspect, the displaying method further provides reflecting light that was propagated in the waveguide array at the other end of the displaying region.
According to a fifty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the forty-ninth aspect, the emitting light provides the steps of, storing an inputted analog image signal in capacitors, every pixel composing one line of the inputted analog image signal, applying the analog image signal to gate electrodes of TFTs at the same time, when the one line of the analog image signal was stored in the capacitors, and making organic EL layers of the one line connecting to source-drain electrodes of the TFTs emit light at the same time.
According to a fifty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the forty-ninth aspect, at the emitting light, three colors of R, G, and B are emitted.
According to a fifty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the forty-ninth aspect, at the emitting light, light is emitted based on a corrected image signal corresponding to a loss of the light in the waveguide array.
According to a fifty-eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a displaying method. The displaying method provides the steps of, emitting light of one line of a displaying image by plural light emitting elements, propagating the emitted light from one end to the other end of a waveguide array, leaking a part of the propagating light at a gray level controlling region, and extracting light controlled at the gray level controlling region from an arbitrarily one line crossing to the propagating direction of one line of the light.
According to a fifty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth-eighth aspect, the displaying method further provides the step of, absorbing light leaked at the gray level controlling region.
According to a sixtieth aspect of the present invention, in the fifty-eighth aspect, the leaking light and the extracting light provides the steps of, generating a potential difference at a designated region of an optical material layer, whose refractive index is changed corresponding to an external electric field of the waveguide array in which light is propagating, and changing the refractive index of the optical material layer by generating the potential difference.
According to a sixty-first aspect of the present invention, in the fifty-eighth aspect, the leaking light and the extracting light provides the step of, generating a potential difference at a region of an area based on an inputted digital image signal.
According to a sixty-second aspect of the present invention, in the fifty-eighth aspect, the extracting light further provides the step of, correcting light extracting efficiency at the time when the light is extracted corresponding to a loss of the light in the waveguide array.
According to a sixty-third aspect of the present invention, in the fifty-eighth aspect, the emitting light provides the steps of, driving switching elements provided corresponding to pixels composing one line of emitting light from one end of the one line in order, and making organic EL layers connecting to one end of the switching elements emit light from the one end in order.
According to a sixty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the fifty-eighth aspect, at the emitting light, three colors of R, G, and B are emitted.
According to a sixty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fifty-eighth aspect, at the emitting light, light is emitted based on a corrected image signal corresponding to a loss of the light in the waveguide array.
According to a sixty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifty-eighth aspect, the displaying method further provides the step of, reflecting light that was propagated in the waveguide array at the other end of the displaying region.
According to a sixty-seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manufacturing method of a displaying device. The manufacturing method of the displaying device provides the steps of, forming a light emitting section that emits light of one line of a displaying image by plural light emitting elements, forming a waveguide array that propagates light emitted from the light emitting section from one end to the other end of a displaying region, and forming a light extracting section that extracts the propagating light from an arbitrarily selected region.
According to a sixty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sixty-seventh aspect, the forming the waveguide array provides the step of, forming a photosensitive acrylic resin having a polymer property on all surface of a supporting substrate made of a material having a polymer property by a spin coating method.
According to a sixty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the sixty-seventh aspect, the forming the waveguide array further provides the steps of, forming high refractive index regions by exposing and etching the photosensitive acrylic resin coated on the supporting substrate, forming low refractive index regions by coating a low refractive index material having a polymer prosperity on the supporting substrate on which the high refractive index regions were formed by the spin coating method, and exposing the upper surfaces of the high refractive index regions by polishing the coated surface.
According to a seventieth aspect of the present invention, in the sixty-seventh aspect, the forming the light extracting section provides the steps of, forming a light scattering layer by a light scattering material having a polymer prosperity on a transparent substrate having a plastic prosperity, coating a transparent electrode material on all surface of the transparent substrate on which the light scattering layer was formed by a spattering method, forming plural electrodes by exposing and etching the transparent substrate on which the transparent electrode material was coated, coating polyimide on all surface of the supporting substrate on which the plural electrodes were formed by the spin coating method, forming an alignment layer by heating and rubbing the coated polyimide, and forming a liquid crystal layer on the supporting substrate on which the alignment layer was formed.
According to a seventy-first aspect of the present invention, in the sixty-seventh aspect, the forming the light extracting section provides the steps of, forming an optical material whose refractive index is changed corresponding to an external electric field on the waveguide array, and forming plural electrodes on the optical material.
According to a seventy-second aspect of the present invention, in the sixty-seventh aspect, the forming the light emitting section provides the steps of, forming TFT driving circuits for driving the light emitting elements on a transparent substrate having a glass property, and forming the light emitting elements on the transparent substrate on which the TFT driving circuits were formed.
According to a seventy-third aspect of the present invention, in the sixty-seventh aspect, the light emitting elements are organic EL elements.
According to a seventy-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the sixty-seventh aspect, the forming the light emitting section provides the steps of, forming TFT driving circuits for driving the light emitting elements on a transparent substrate having a glass property, forming a planalization layer for making the surface of the transparent substrate on which the TFT driving circuits were formed plane by using a transparent insulating material, forming transparent electrodes that connect the TFT driving circuits and the light emitting elements by opening contact holes at a part of the planarization layer, forming organic EL layers on the transparent electrodes, forming opaque electrodes on the organic EL layers, and forming a sealing layer for covering all of the transparent electrodes.