Brightness and contrast enhancement of reflective liquid crystal displays by microlens array light control film

Abstract

An off-axis microlens array light control film (OMA-LCF) for brightness and contrast enhancement in reflective liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) is demonstrated. The OMA-LCF is constructed with an off-axis microlens array (with a half-lens body) and then laminated to the top surface (toward the viewer) of the uppper glass of the reflective LCDs. The filmlike device directs incident light to a reflected cone with a controlled angular profile nearly normal to the display surface, yields a gain of about 1x to 10x of MgO standard-white in the typical viewing region from 0 degrees to 20 degrees. Moreover, glare and optical losses can be greatly reduced.