BRIGHTNESS INCREASE IN AN LCD STEREO DISPLAY

A practical head mounted display (HMD) has to be light enough and bright enough to wear and view without undue strain on the users head or eyes. A 10 pound CRT based helmet is not always out of the question but binocular or stereo HMDs using LCDs rather than CRTs need only weigh in at around one pound complete with electronics and are far more comfortable to wear. The space bandwidth product or pixel count of LCDs is now approaching that of CRT type displays but LCDs could use a big boost in brightness, especially for see thru designs. The see thru or head up style has many user advantages and this paper addresses ways to more efficiently transmit photons from the source to the eye in one such design. All of the components that are used to improve performance may be made holographically or in an alternate fashion. The most practical method of construction is probably a toss up for some components.