阅读说明：本技术 投影仪以及该投影仪中所用的光学构件 (Projector and optical member used in the projector ) 是由 八重樫将宽 梅本清司 于 2018-08-13 设计创作，主要内容包括：提供一种通过偏振元件(64)导致的光量损耗少且能实现保持了所期望的色相的投影图像的投影仪(100)。本发明的投影仪(100)具备：将来自光源的光色分解成红色光、绿色光以及蓝色光的色分解光学系统(20)；将红色光、绿色光以及蓝色光分别对应于图像信息进行调制从而生成图像光的光调制装置(30R、30G、30B)；将调制过的红色光、绿色光以及蓝色光的图像光色合成的色合成光学系统(40)；将色合成的图像光投射的投射光学系统(50)；和在色合成光学系统(40)与投射光学系统(50)之间从色合成光学系统侧起依次而设的相位差元件(62)以及偏振元件(64)。在本发明的投影仪(100)中,通过相位差元件(62),色合成的图像光的偏振方向和与偏振元件(64)的透射轴方向实质平行的方向一致。(Provided is a projector (100) which has little light loss due to a polarizing element (64) and can realize a projected image having a desired hue. A projector (100) according to the present invention includes: a color separation optical system (20) that separates light from the light source into red light, green light, and blue light; light modulation devices (30R, 30G, 30B) that modulate the red light, the green light, and the blue light in accordance with image information to generate image light; a color synthesis optical system (40) for color synthesizing the modulated red, green and blue image lights; a projection optical system (50) for projecting the color-synthesized image light; and a phase difference element (62) and a polarizing element (64) provided between the color synthesis optical system (40) and the projection optical system (50) in this order from the color synthesis optical system side. In the projector (100) of the present invention, the polarization direction of the color-synthesized image light is aligned with the direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizing element (64) by the phase difference element (62).)

1. A projector is provided with:

a color separation optical system that separates light from the light source into red light, green light, and blue light;

a light modulation device that modulates the red light, the green light, and the blue light in accordance with image information, respectively, to generate image light;

a color synthesis optical system that performs color synthesis of the modulated image light of the red light, the green light, and the blue light;

a projection optical system for projecting the color-synthesized image light; and

a phase difference element and a polarizing element provided between the color combining optical system and the projection optical system in this order from the color combining optical system side,

the polarization direction of the color-combined image light is aligned with a direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizing element by the phase difference element.

2. The projector according to claim 1,

the phase difference element is disposed so that the slow phase axis thereof is at an angle of 40 DEG to 50 DEG with respect to the polarization direction of the image light of the blue light.

3. The projector according to claim 1 or 2,

the in-plane retardation Re (550) of the retardation element is 1250nm to 1400nm or 1520nm to 1670 nm.

4. The projector according to claim 3,

the polarizing element is disposed such that a transmission axis thereof is at an angle of 40 DEG to 50 DEG with respect to a slow phase axis of the phase difference element.

5. The projector according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the phase difference element and the polarization element are formed as an integrated member.

6. The projector according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

stokes parameters S1 and S3 of the red light, the green light, and the blue light passing through the phase difference element satisfy the relationships of-0.85 or 0.1 to S1 and-0.3 to S3 to 0.2.

7. An optical member is provided, which comprises a base,

having a polarizing element and a phase difference element,

disposed between a color synthesis optical system and a projection optical system of a projector such that the phase difference element becomes the color synthesis optical system side,

the phase difference element has a function of aligning the polarization direction of the image light color-combined by the color combining optical system with a direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizing element.

8. The optical member according to claim 7,

the angle formed by the transmission axis of the polarizing element and the slow phase axis of the phase difference element is 40-50 deg.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a projector and an optical member used in the projector.

Background

There is known a so-called 3-plate projector that decomposes light from a light source into 3 colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), generates image light corresponding to image information by light modulating devices (for example, liquid crystal display devices) for the 3 colors, and synthesizes the obtained 3 colors of image light again by a color synthesis optical system to project the synthesized image light onto a screen. According to the conventional 3-plate projector, among R light, G light, and B light in image light, R light and B light become s-polarized light, and G light becomes p-polarized light.

However, the projection image of the projector is generally darker than the image displayed by the image display device, and is therefore susceptible to external light, and adjustment of the projection environment such as darkening of a room is required. A projector that can clearly display a projected image even in a bright environment is desired. From this point of view, the following system is studied: a selective reflection layer is provided on a screen, and a projected image can be clearly displayed even in a bright environment by polarization (linear polarization or circular polarization) (for example, patent documents 1 and 2). However, in the 3-plate projector, the following problem arises when the emitted light (synthesized image light) is polarized. That is, the following problems occur in a general 3-plate projector: r light and B light, or G light are absorbed, and therefore dark and unable to maintain hue; in a case where a phase difference plate having a very large in-plane phase difference is arranged on the projection side of the color combining optical system to largely disturb the polarization state of each color to be a pseudo unpolarized state (for example, patent documents 3 and 4), about half of pseudo unpolarized light is absorbed and thus becomes dark.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The present invention has been made to solve the above conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a projector which has less light amount loss due to a polarizing element and can realize a projected image maintaining a desired hue, and an optical member which can be used in such a projector.

Means for solving the problems

The projector of the present invention includes: a color separation optical system that separates light from the light source into red light, green light, and blue light; a light modulation device that modulates the red light, the green light, and the blue light in accordance with image information, respectively, to generate image light; a color synthesizing optical system for color-synthesizing the modulated red, green, and blue image lights; an optical system for projecting the color-synthesized image light; and a phase difference element and a polarizing element provided between the color combining optical system and the projection optical system in this order from the color combining optical system side. In the projector according to the aspect of the invention, the polarization direction of the color-combined image light is aligned with a direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizing element by the phase difference element.

In one embodiment, the slow axis of the retardation element is disposed at an angle of 40 ° to 50 ° with respect to the polarization direction of the image light of blue light.

In one embodiment, the in-plane retardation Re (550) of the retardation element is 1250nm to 1400nm or 1520nm to 1670 nm.

In one embodiment, the polarizing element is disposed such that a transmission axis thereof is at an angle of 40 ° to 50 ° with respect to a slow phase axis of the phase difference element.

In one embodiment, the phase difference element and the polarization element are formed as an integrated member.

In one embodiment, the Stokes parameters S1 and S3 of the red light, the green light, and the blue light, respectively, after passing through the phase difference element satisfy the relationships S1. ltoreq. S1, 0.85. ltoreq. S1, and-0.3 < S3 < 0.2.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical member. The optical member has a polarizing element and a phase difference element; a color synthesis optical system of the projector and a projection optical system are arranged so as to be on the color synthesis optical system side; the phase difference element has a function of aligning the polarization direction of the image light color-combined by the color combining optical system with a direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizing element.

In one embodiment, an angle formed by the transmission axis of the polarizer and the slow phase axis of the phase difference element is 40 ° to 50 °.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the embodiment of the present invention, by providing the phase difference element between the color combining optical system and the projection optical system in the 3-plate type projector, the in-plane phase difference and the slow phase axis direction of the phase difference element, and the angle between the slow phase axis and the transmission axis of the polarizer, and the like, are optimized, and the polarization direction of the color-combined image light and the direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizer can be aligned. As a result, a projector in which the loss of light amount due to the polarizing element is small and the polarizing element is consequently provided on the projection side of the color combining optical system (i.e., a projector that realizes a projected image by linear polarization) can be obtained. Further, such a projector can realize a projected image in which a desired hue is maintained. Therefore, according to the embodiments of the present invention, a projector capable of clearly displaying a projected image in a bright environment can be realized. Further, according to the embodiments of the present invention, an optical member capable of realizing such a projector can be provided.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a projector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following describes embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a projector according to an embodiment of the present invention. The projector 100 of the illustrated example includes: a light source 10; a color separation optical system 20 that separates light from the light source 10 into red light R, green light G, and blue light B; light modulation devices 30R, 30G, and 30B that modulate red light R, green light G, and blue light B in accordance with image information to generate image light, respectively; a color combining optical system 40 that performs color combining of the modulated image lights of red light R, green light G, and blue light B; a projection optical system 50 for projecting the color-synthesized image light; a phase difference element 62 and a polarizing element 64 provided in this order from the color combining optical system 40 side between the color combining optical system 40 and the projection optical system 50. In the embodiment of the present invention, the polarization direction of the image light color-combined by the phase difference element 62 is made to coincide with the direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizing element 64.

The light source 10 typically emits white light WL. Any suitable structure can be adopted as the light source 10.

The color separation optical system 20 typically includes a dichroic mirror 21, a dichroic mirror 22, a reflecting mirror 23, a reflecting mirror 24, a reflecting mirror 25, a relay lens 26, and a relay lens 27. The color separation optical system 20 separates light from the light source 10 into red light R, green light G, and blue light B, and guides each color light of the red light R, the green light G, and the blue light B to the light modulation device 30R, the light modulation device 30G, and the light modulation device 30B, which are illumination targets. A condenser lens 32R, a condenser lens 32G, and a condenser lens 32B are disposed between the color separation optical system 20 and the light modulation device 30R, between the color separation optical system 20 and the light modulation device 30G, and between the color separation optical system 20 and the light modulation device 30B, respectively.

Dichroic mirror 21 transmits red light R, and reflects green light G and blue light B. Dichroic mirror 22 reflects green light G of green light G and blue light B reflected by dichroic mirror 21, and transmits blue light B.

Mirror 23 reflects red light R transmitted through dichroic mirror 21. Mirror 24 and mirror 25 reflect blue light B transmitted through dichroic mirror 22.

Red light R having passed through dichroic mirror 21 is reflected by reflecting mirror 23, and passes through condensing lens 32R to be incident on the image forming region of light modulation device 30R for red light. The green light G reflected by the dichroic mirror 21 is further reflected by the dichroic mirror 22, passes through the condenser lens 32G, and is incident on the image forming region of the light modulation device 30G for green light. The blue light B transmitted through the dichroic mirror 22 passes through the relay lens 26, the reflection mirror 24, the relay lens 27, the reflection mirror 25, and the condenser lens 32B, and enters the image forming region of the blue light modulation device 30B.

The light modulation device 30R, the light modulation device 30G, and the light modulation device 30B modulate the incident red light R, green light G, and blue light B in accordance with image information to form image light corresponding to the red light R, image light corresponding to the green light G, and image light corresponding to the blue light B, respectively. The light modulation device 30R, the light modulation device 30G, and the light modulation device 30B are objects to be illuminated by the light source 10.

The light modulation device 30R, the light modulation device 30G, and the light modulation device 30B can be each representatively a liquid crystal display device, more specifically, can be a transmissive liquid crystal display device. The liquid crystal display device typically includes: a pair of substrates; a liquid crystal layer disposed between the pair of substrates and containing liquid crystal as a display medium; and a pair of polarizing plates (both not shown) disposed outside (i.e., on the incident side and on the emission side) the pair of substrates. Any suitable structure can be adopted as the liquid crystal display device. For example, the liquid crystal display device may be in a normally black mode or a normally white mode; the driving mode may be a VA mode or an IPS mode. When the light modulation devices 30R, 30G, and 30B are configured by a transmissive liquid crystal display device, the emitted (transmitted) light (i.e., the image light corresponding to the red light R, the image light corresponding to the green light G, and the image light corresponding to the blue light B) is polarized (typically linearly polarized).

The color combining optical system 40 can be representatively constituted by a cross dichroic prism. The cross dichroic prism is an optical element that combines image light corresponding to red light R, image light corresponding to green light G, and image light corresponding to blue light B. Crossed dichroic prisms can typically be fabricated by combining (e.g., fitting) 4 triangular prisms. Thus, inside cross dichroic prism 40, R-light reflecting dichroic film 40R and B-light reflecting dichroic film 40B are arranged orthogonally. The image light corresponding to the red light R, the image light corresponding to the green light G, and the image light corresponding to the blue light B, which are incident from different incident surfaces, are reflected in the direction of the projection optical system 50 by the R-light reflecting dichroic film 40R for the image light corresponding to the red light R, reflected in the direction of the projection optical system 50 by the B-light reflecting dichroic film 40B for the image light corresponding to the blue light B, and the image light corresponding to the green light G passes through 2 dichroic films, thereby generating color-synthesized image light.

The image light color-combined by the cross dichroic prism 40 is enlarged and projected by the projection optical system 50 to form an image on the screen SCR. The projection optical system 50 is constituted by a plurality of lenses.

In the embodiment of the present invention, as described above, the phase difference element 62 and the polarizing element 64 are provided between the color combining optical system 40 and the projection optical system 50 in this order from the color combining optical system 40 side. The phase difference element 62 and the polarization element 64 may be separate members or may be formed as an integrated member. When the retardation element 62 and the polarizing element 64 are integrated, an optical member (for example, a polarizing plate with a retardation layer) having the retardation element and the polarizing element can be used. Since a combination of the phase difference element and the polarization element is one of the features of the embodiments of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention also include an optical member having the phase difference element and the polarization element.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the polarization direction of the color-synthesized image light is aligned in the direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizer 64 by the phase difference element 62. In the present specification, expressions such as "substantially parallel" and "substantially parallel" include a case where the angle formed by the 2 directions is 0 ° ± 7 °, preferably 0 ° ± 5 °, and more preferably 0 ° ± 3 °. Expressions such as "substantially orthogonal" and "substantially orthogonal" include a case where the angle formed by the 2 directions is 90 ° ± 7 °, preferably 90 ° ± 5 °, and more preferably 90 ° ± 3 °. Further, in the present specification, the term "parallel" or "orthogonal" may include a state of being substantially parallel or substantially orthogonal. In addition, when an angle is referred to in the present specification, the angle includes both clockwise and counterclockwise with respect to the reference direction.

More specifically, with respect to the polarization direction of the color-combined image light, the polarization directions of the image light corresponding to red light R, the image light corresponding to green light G, and the image light corresponding to blue light B all coincide with a direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizing element. In other words, the image light corresponding to red light R, the image light corresponding to green light G, and the image light corresponding to blue light B are linearly polarized or elongated (i.e., nearly linearly polarized) elliptically polarized, and the vibration direction of the linear polarization and the major axis direction of the elliptical polarization coincide with a direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizing element. Typically, when the image light corresponding to red light R and the image light corresponding to blue light B are s-polarized and the image light corresponding to green light G is p-polarized, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the in-plane phase difference and slow axis direction of the phase difference element 62 and the angle between the slow axis and the transmission axis of the polarization element are optimized, whereby the vibration directions of s-polarization and p-polarization can be appropriately converted, and the directions can be aligned as described above. As a result, a projector (i.e., a projector that projects an image using linear polarization) in which the loss of light amount due to the polarizing element is small and the polarizing element is consequently provided on the projection side of the color combining optical system can be obtained. Further, such a projector can realize a projected image in which a desired hue is maintained. Therefore, according to the embodiments of the present invention, a projector capable of clearly displaying a projected image in a bright environment can be realized.

As described above, the polarization direction of the color-combined image light passes through the phase difference element 62 and coincides with the direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarization element 64. Specifically, the following is made. The Stokes parameters S1 of each of the red light (image light corresponding to red light R), the green light (image light corresponding to green light G), and the blue light (image light corresponding to blue light R) after passing through the phase difference element typically satisfy S1. ltoreq. 0.85 or 0.85. ltoreq. S1. S1 is preferably S1. ltoreq. S3990 or 0.90. ltoreq. S1, more preferably S1. ltoreq. S0.95 or 0.95. ltoreq. S1. Further, stokes parameter S3 of each of red light (image light corresponding to red light R), green light (image light corresponding to green light G), and blue light (image light corresponding to blue light B) after passing through the phase difference element typically satisfies the relationship of-0.3 < S3 < 0.2. S3 is preferably-0.25 < S3 < 0.15, more preferably-0.2 < S3 < 0.1. The stokes parameter S1 characterizes a linearly polarized component, S3 characterizes a circularly polarized component, the closer to ± 1 the S1 or S3 is, the closer to a completely linear or circular polarization. As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the red light, the green light, and the blue light passing through the phase difference element become linearly polarized components and elliptically polarized components close to the linear polarization become very large, and the circularly polarized components become very small. Therefore, by making the vibration direction of such linearly polarized and elliptically polarized light close to linearly polarized light substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizer described later, it is possible to make the light transmitted through the polarizer extremely large and minimize the light quantity loss. As a result, a projector in which a polarizing element is provided on the projection side of the color combining optical system (i.e., a projector that uses linear polarization to realize a projected image) can be obtained, and such a projector can realize a projected image in which a desired hue is maintained. Therefore, a projector capable of clearly displaying a projected image in a bright environment can be realized.

The phase difference element 62 may have any suitable configuration as long as it has a function of aligning the polarization direction of the color-combined image light with a direction substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarization element. The in-plane retardation Re (550) of the retardation element is preferably 1250nm to 1400nm, more preferably 1300nm to 1370 nm. Alternatively, the in-plane retardation Re (550) of the retardation element is preferably 1520nm to 1670nm, more preferably 1570nm to 1620 nm. The refractive index characteristic of the retardation element satisfies nx > ny, and the desired in-plane retardation can be obtained. In the present specification, the in-plane retardation Re (λ) is an in-plane retardation measured by light having a wavelength λ nm at 23 ℃. Re (λ) is determined by using the formula when the thickness of the layer (film) is d (nm): re ═ x-ny) × d was determined. For example, Re (550) is an in-plane retardation measured at 23 ℃ with light having a wavelength of 550 nm.

The phase difference element may show a reverse dispersion wavelength characteristic in which the phase difference value increases according to the wavelength of the measurement light, a positive dispersion wavelength characteristic in which the phase difference value decreases according to the wavelength of the measurement light, or a flat dispersion wavelength characteristic in which the phase difference value hardly changes regardless of the wavelength of the measurement light. In the case where the retardation element shows the reverse dispersion wavelength characteristic, Re (450)/Re (550) is preferably 0.85 or more and less than 1.00, more preferably 0.95 or more and less than 1.00; re (550)/Re (650) is preferably 0.90 or more and less than 1.00, more preferably 0.95 or more and less than 1.00. In the case where the phase difference element shows a positive dispersion wavelength characteristic or a flat wavelength dispersion characteristic, Re (450)/Re (550) is preferably 1.00 to 1.15, more preferably 1.00 to 1.07; re (550)/Re (650) is preferably 1.00 to 1.10, more preferably 1.00 to 1.05.

The thickness of the retardation element can be set in accordance with the material or the like so that the desired in-plane retardation can be obtained. The thickness of the retardation element is preferably 20 to 500. mu.m, more preferably 50 to 400. mu.m, and still more preferably 100 to 350. mu.m.

The retardation element can be formed of a retardation film made of any suitable resin that can achieve the above-described characteristics. Examples of the resin for forming the retardation film include polyarylate (ポリアリレート), polyamide, polyimide, polyester, polyaryletherketone (ポリアリールエーテルケトン), polyamideimide, polyesterimide (ポリエステルイミド), polyvinyl alcohol, polyfumarate (ポリフマル patent No. ステル), polyethersulfone, polysulfone, norbornene resin (ノルボルネン resin), polycarbonate resin, cellulose resin (セルロース resin), and polyurethane. These resins may be used alone or in combination.

The retardation element satisfies nx > ny as described above, and has a slow phase axis because it has an in-plane retardation. The phase difference element is disposed in the projector as follows: the slow phase axis direction is aligned with a direction in which the polarization direction of the image light to be color-synthesized is substantially parallel to the transmission axis direction of the polarizing element. For example, the retardation element may be preferably disposed such that the slow phase axis thereof is at an angle of 40 ° to 50 °, more preferably 42 ° to 48 °, still more preferably 43 ° to 47 °, and particularly preferably about 45 ° with respect to the polarization direction (vibration direction) of blue light (image light corresponding to blue light B). With such a configuration, the slow axis of the phase difference element can be at the same angle with respect to the polarization direction (vibration direction) of the red light (image light corresponding to red light R); the polarization direction (vibration direction) energy with respect to green light (image light corresponding to green light G) is preferably an angle of 130 ° to 140 °, more preferably 132 ° to 138 °, still more preferably 133 ° to 137 °, and particularly preferably about 135 °.

The polarizing element 64 can be constituted by a polarizing plate. The polarizing plate comprises a polarizer; and a protective film disposed on one side or both sides of the polarizer. The polarizer and the protective film can each take any suitable configuration. The polarizing element may be arranged such that its transmission axis (substantially the transmission axis of the polarizer included in the polarizing element) is substantially parallel to the polarization direction of the color-combined image light. For example, when the in-plane retardation Re (550) of the retardation element is 1250nm to 1400nm, the polarizing element may be disposed such that the transmission axis thereof is at an angle of preferably-5 ° to 5 °, more preferably-3 ° to 3 °, further preferably-2 ° to 2 °, and particularly preferably about 0 ° with respect to the polarization direction (vibration direction) of blue light (image light corresponding to blue light B). For example, when the in-plane retardation Re (550) of the retardation element is 1520nm to 1670nm, the polarizing element may be disposed such that the transmission axis thereof makes an angle of 85 ° to 95 °, more preferably 87 ° to 93 °, still more preferably 88 ° to 92 °, and particularly preferably about 90 ° with respect to the slow axis of the retardation element. In any case, the angle formed by the transmission axis of the polarizing element and the slow phase axis of the retardation element is preferably 40 ° to 50 °, more preferably 42 ° to 48 °, still more preferably 43 ° to 47 °, and particularly preferably about 45 °.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to an example in which the present invention is applied to a projector including a transmissive liquid crystal display device as an optical modulation device, the present invention can also be applied to a projector including a reflective liquid crystal display device. Further, the light modulation device is not limited to the liquid crystal display device, and may be a light modulation device using a micromirror, for example. In the above-described embodiment, the example of the projector using 3 liquid crystal display devices has been described, but the number of liquid crystal display devices can be changed as appropriate depending on the purpose. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to a projector using 4 or more liquid crystal display devices, for example. The shape, size, number, arrangement, material, and the like of each component of the projector can be appropriately changed according to the purpose and the like.