US20180067332A1 - Image projector and optical assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

An image projector is disclosed that can include a light source and a MEMS mirror to receive a light beam emitted by the light source and oscillate to scan the light beam across multiple-beam-generators that each include a planar beam splitter arranged to receive the light beam and generate multiple beams to project an image.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention concerns an image projector and optical assembly which comprises the image projector, which is suitable for use in a head-up-display, and which is configured to achieve a reduction in both speckle and morié.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
• In projection assemblies light projected onto a projection screen can cause speckle which reduces the resolution of the projected image. For example, in projection assemblies which comprise a head-up-display, coherent light is projected onto the head-up-display so that a projected image appears on the head-up-display.
• In projection assemblies which comprise a head-up-display the head-up-display is typically provided in the form of a transparent screen (e.g. a windscreen of a vehicle); the coherent light is projected onto the transparent screen so that a virtual image is visible at some point beyond the screen. The surface of the transparent screen is never perfectly smooth; accordingly when the coherent light is projected onto the transparent screen the transparent screen will randomly diffuse the coherent light thereby creating random inference which causes speckle which reduces the resolution of the virtual image.
• In order to resolve this problem of speckle which occurs in projection assemblies which comprise a head-up-displays, it is known to provide the head-up-display in the form of a microlens array (or in the form of a micromirror array). The surface of each lens in the microlens array is perfectly smooth, accordingly it will not randomly diffuse the coherent light it receives; therefore no random inference or speckle is created. However, when the coherent light is projected onto the microlens array the microlens array will cause regular diffraction and regular interference known as moiré. The moiré appears as variations in intensity across the virtual image; accordingly the moiré compromises the quality of the projected image.
• Many solutions in the prior art address exclusively the problem of speckle or moiré however none of the solutions provide an single adequate solutions with addresses both problems. US20040257664 discloses a solution to speckle but this solution is not effective to reduce moiré because the system is not configured to create an angle between the multiple beams which would allow the interference of the first beam to be averaged with the interference of the second beam by having the interference maxima of the second beam fit between the interference maxima of the first beam.
• Other solutions of the prior art use anti-moiré filters or anti-aliasing filters but these solutions provide no means for adequate speckle reduction; moreover these solutions cannot incorporate a speckle reduction means such as a microlens array because they project polarised light and a microlens array cannot reduce the speckle in polarized light because the speckle or moiré pattern for microlens are the same for both orthogonal orientation of the polarization.
• It is an aim of the present invention to mitigate or obviate at least some of the above-mentioned problems.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided an image projector comprising, a light source for providing a light beam; a MEMS mirror which is arranged such that it can receive the light beam, and which can oscillate about at least one oscillation axis to scan said light beam; one or more multiple-beam-generators each of the one or more multiple-beam-generators comprising, a planar beam splitter which is arranged to receive the light beam reflected by the MEMS mirror, and a planar reflector which can receive the part of the light beam which is transmitted through the planar beam splitter, so that each of the one or more multiple-beam-generators can generated multiple beams, and wherein the planar beam splitter and planar reflector are arranged to be in parallel; and a focusing lens which is arranged to receive multiple beams which are generated by the one or more multiple-beam-generators; wherein, in each of the one or more multiple-beam-generators the distance (h) between the planar beam splitter and planar reflector is such that the optical distance (OD) between the planar beam splitter and planar reflector is greater than, or equal to, half the coherent length of the light beam.
• Preferably the light beam is a collimated light beam. Preferably the light source is configured to provide a collimated light beam.
• The one or more multiple beam generators may comprise a planar beam splitter element, which defines the planar beam splitter, and a planar reflector element, which defines the planar reflector, arranged in parallel and spaced apart such that there is an air-gap between the planar beam splitter element and a planar reflector element and wherein the optical distance (OD) is defined as:
• $\mathrm{OD}=\frac{t}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}+\frac{h}{\cos \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n\sin {\theta }_2}{n_3}\right)\right]}$${\theta }_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="n"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$
• wherein ‘t’ is the thickness of the planar beam splitter element, ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence angle of the light beam on the planar beam splitter element, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the light beam passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter element, ‘n’ is the refractive index of planar beam splitter element, ‘h’ is the distance between the planar beam splitter element and planar reflector element, ‘n3’ is the refractive index of the air in the air-gap.
• The one or more multiple beam generators may comprise a block of transparent material, and a planar coating of semi-reflective material on a first surface of the block, which defines the planar beam splitter, and a planar coating of reflective material provided on a second, opposite, surface of the block which defines the planar reflector, and wherein the optical distance (OD) is defined as:
• $\mathrm{OD}=\frac{h}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}$
• wherein h is the distance between the coating of semi-reflective material and the coating of reflective material, and Θ₂is
• ${\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="n"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$
• wherein ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence (AOI) of the light beam on the planar coating of semi-reflective material, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the light beam passes before it is incident on planar coating of semi-reflective material, ‘n’ is the refractive index planar coating of semi-reflective material.
• The image projector may comprise a plurality of multiple-beam-generators, which are arranged to be in optical communication, and wherein the planar beam splitter and planar bean reflector of each of the plurality of multiple-beam-generators lie on, or are arranged parallel to, differently orientated planes.
• The planar beam splitter may be configured to have a beam splitting ratio of 40% reflection to 60% transmission. Preferably the planar beam splitter is configured to have a beam splitting ratio of 45% reflection and 55% transmission.
• The planar beam splitter may be arranged such that the part of the light beam which has transmitted through the planar beam splitter and is reflected by the planar reflector, can pass directly to the focusing lens without passing through the planar beam splitter. For example the position of the planar beam splitter may be offset from the position of planar reflector so that the planar beam splitter does not completely overlay the planar reflector. Alternatively the planar beam splitter may have a smaller dimension than the planar reflector so that the planar beam splitter does not completely overlay the planar reflector. A combination of both offset positioning and smaller dimensions is also possible.
• According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided an optical assembly comprising, an image projector according to any one of the preceding claims, and a screen arranged to receive light which has passed through the focusing lens, wherein the screen is configured to diffuse light it receives, and a head-up-display which is arranged to receive light which is diffused by the screen.
• The screen is preferably a diffuser; the screen may be a microlens array, a micromirror array, or a white-board.
• Preferably the image projector is positioned such that the focusing lens of the image projector is located at a distance from the screen which is equal to the focal length of the focusing lens.
• The optical assembly may be configured to have a numerical aperture which is greater than the numerical aperture of the viewer. Preferably the optical assembly may be configured to have a numerical aperture which is greater than a predefined numerical aperture value which represents the numerical aperture of a viewer. Most preferably the optical assembly may be configured to have a numerical aperture which is greater than 0.016. The numerical aperture of the optical assembly is defined as (d/2)/(F·M), wherein M is the magnification of the head-up-display, and F is the focal length of the of the focusing lens, and d is the distance between two consecutive multiple light beams which are output from the multiple beam generator and prior to said multiple light beams being incident on the focusing lens.
• The optical assembly may be configured such that ‘d’ satisfies the condition:
• $d=2\left(t\tan {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_2+h\tan {\theta }_3\right)\cos {\theta }_i$${\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="n"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$${\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00001.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_3={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n\sin {\theta }_2}{n_3}\right)$
• wherein ‘t’ is the thickness of the planar beam splitter, ‘Θ_i’ is the angle of incidence (AOI) of the light beam on the planar beam splitter, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the light beam passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter, ‘n’ is the refractive index of planar beam splitter, ‘h’ is the distance between the planar beam splitter and planar reflector, ‘n3’ is the refractive index of the material which occupies the space between planar beam splitter and planar reflector. For example: ‘t’ may be the thickness of a planar beam splitter element, ‘Θ_i’ may be the angle of incidence (AOI) of the light beam on the planar beam splitter element, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the light beam passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter element (e.g. ‘n1’ may be the refractive index of air), ‘n’ may be the refractive index of planar beam splitter element, ‘h’ is the distance between the planar beam splitter element and a planar reflector element, ‘n3’ is the refractive index of the material which occupies the space between planar beam splitter element and planar reflector element (e.g. ‘n3’ may be the refractive index of air).
• The optical assembly may be configured such that ‘d’ satisfies the condition:
• $d=2h\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i$
• wherein ‘h’ is the distance between the planar beam splitter and the planar beam reflector, n is the refractive index of the material between the planar beam splitter and planar beam reflector, Θ_iis the angle of incidence of the light beam on the of semi-reflective material. For example ‘h’ may be the distance between a coating of semi-reflective material provided on a surface of a transparent block and a. coating of reflective material provided on an opposite surface of the transparent block, n may be the refractive index of a transparent block, Θ_imay be the angle of incidence of the light beam on the of coating of semi-reflective material.
• The optical assembly may be configured such that ‘d’ satisfies the condition:
• $d=2F\tan \frac{{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta \; p"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00001.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00006.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_p}{4}\left(2k+1\right)$
• wherein F is the focal length of the of the focusing lens, k is an integer which is the order of the multiple-beam-generator, and Θ_pequal to:
• ${\theta }_p=\frac{\lambda }{p}$
• wherein λ is the wavelength of the light beam and ‘P’ is the pitch of the microlens array.
• k can be any integer: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, . . . it should preferably be chosen such that it will make the OD greater than or equal to half the coherence length of the coherent light beam. It can also be chosen so as to ensure that the OD is greater than or equal to half the coherence length of the coherent light beam for all the wavelength λ used in the light beam (for example where h=5.12 choosing k=4, 5, 6 for the light bean red, green, blue respectively).
• The optical assembly may be configured such that the distance ‘h’ between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector is equal to:
• $h=\frac{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="d"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">d</figure-callout>}}{2\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i}$
• wherein ‘n’ is the refractive index of material between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector, Θ_iis the angle of incidence of the light beam on the beam splitter, and ‘d’ is the distance between two consecutive multiple light beams which are output from the multiple beam generator and prior to said multiple light beams being incident on the focusing lens.
• Preferably the distance ‘h’ between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector is between 0.5 mm and 10 mm. More preferably the distance ‘h’ between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector is between 3 mm-4 mm.
• The screen may comprise a microlens array. The microlens array may comprise different sized microlens so that the microlens array has a plurality of different pitch lengths between microlens' in the microlens array.
• The screen may comprise a micromirror array. The micromirror array may comprise different sized micromirrors so that the micromirror array has a plurality of different pitch lengths between micromirrors. The pitch (P) between consecutive microlens, or micromirrors, may be equal to:
• 
  P=(P_eff/cos Θ_scan)
• wherein P_effis a predefined effective pitch value and Θ_scanis the angle of incidence of the light from the projector device on the microlens or micromirrors. Typically the predefined effective pitch value will be a pitch value which the users desires the scanned light to experience as it is incident on the microlens/micromirror array. Because P varies along the scanning angle (i.e. the size of the microlens or micromirrors varies (increases or decreases depending on the direction of scanning)) the P_effremains constant, at a predefined value, throughout the whole of the scanning angle.
• The pitch (P) between consecutive microlens, or micromirrors, may be equal to:
• $P=\frac{\left(2k+1\right)\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\lambda "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\lambda </figure-callout>}}{2{\tan }^{-1}\left\{\frac{2h}{F}\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i\right\}}$
• wherein k is an integer which is the order of the multiple beam generator, Θi is the angle of incidence of the light beam of the planar beam splitter, F is the focal length of the collimating lens, λ is the wavelength of the light beam, ‘h’ is the distance between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector, n is the refractive index of material between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector.
• In a further embodiment the consecutive emission of independent red, green and blue light beams from the light source is synchronization with the oscillation of the MEMS mirror, so that the red, green and blue light beams are incident on predefined respective points on the focusing lens, so as to compensate for chromatic aberration ensuring that the red, green and blue light beams are focused by the focusing lens onto the same point on the screen. Preferably the red, green and blue light beams define the red, green and blue colours of a pixel; and therefore the amount of red, green and blue light in each beam is proportional to the amount of red, green and blue light in the pixel to be projected.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• The invention will be better understood with the aid of the description of embodiments of the present invention, which are given by way of example only, and illustrated by the figures, in which:
• FIG. 1 shows a plan view of an optical assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;
• FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an optical assembly according to a further embodiment of the present invention;
• FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an optical assembly according to a further embodiment of the present invention;
• FIG. 4 shows a plan view of an optical assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;
• FIG. 5aprovides front view of an alternative configuration for the screen which can be used in the optical assembly of the present invention;FIG. 5billustrates the problem which arises with the use of standard microlens arrays as a screen;
• FIG. 6 provides a perspective view of an optical assembly according to a further embodiment of the present invention;
• FIG. 7 illustrates the maxima of the interference pattern of a light beam overlaying the minima of the interference pattern of another light beam.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF POSSIBLE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
• FIG. 1 shows a plan view of anoptical assembly1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Theoptical assembly1 comprises animage projector2 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and ascreen3 in the form of amicrolens array3. Themicrolens array3 comprises an array ofmicrolens3′.
• It should be understood that thescreen3 is not limited to being a microlens array; thescreen3 may take any suitable form, for example thescreen3 may be a micromirror array or a diffuser such as a wall surface, white board or standard projector-screen. Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment each of the microlens'3′ in themicrolens array3 is the same size; accordingly the pitch ‘P’ between the microlens'3′ in themicrolens array3 is constant across themicrolens array3. However, as will be described with respect to another embodiment of the invention, the microlens array may comprise microlens' which have different sizes such that the pitch between the microlens' in the microlens array differs across the microlens array. The pitch ‘P’ is the distance between the centre of a microlens to the centre of its neighbouring microlens.
• Theimage projector2 comprises, alight source4 which provides acollimated light beam5; and aMEMS mirror6 which is arranged such that it can receive the collimatedlight beam5. TheMEMS mirror6 is configured such that it can oscillate about twoorthogonal oscillation axes7a,bso that it can scan the collimatedlight beam5 in two-dimensions. It will be understood that theMEMS mirror6 could be configured to oscillate about any number of oscillation axes. For example theMEMS mirror6 could be configured to oscillate about a single oscillation axes so that it can scan the collimatedlight beam5 in one dimension. In a further variation theimage projector2 may comprise two MEMS mirrors, arranged to be in optical communication with each other, one of the MEMS mirrors being configured to oscillate about one oscillation axis and the second MEMS mirror being configured to oscillate about a second oscillation axis which is orthogonal to the first oscillation axis, so that collectively the two MEMS mirrors can scan the collimatedlight beam5 in two-dimensions.
• Theimage projector2 further comprises a multiple-beam-generator8. The multiple-beam-generator8 comprises aplanar beam splitter9 in the form of a planarbeam splitter element90 which is arranged to receive the collimatedlight beam5 reflected by theMEMS mirror6. The planarbeam splitter element90 reflectspart5bof the collimatedlight beam5 and transmits anotherpart5aof the collimatedlight beam5. The planarbeam splitter element90 is configured to have a beam splitting ratio of 40% reflection to 60% transmission.
• The multiple-beam-generator8 further comprises aplanar reflector10 in the form of a planar reflector element100 (e.g. a mirror) which can receive, and subsequently reflect, thepart5aof the collimated light beam which is transmitted through the planarbeam splitter element90. The multiple-beam-generator8 thus generates multiple light beams15a-cfrom the single collimatedlight beam5. Only three multiple light beams15a-care illustrated in the figure for clarity, but it should be understood that the multiple-beam-generator8 could generate any number of multiple light beams.
• The planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100 are arranged to be in parallel. The planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100 are further arranged such that the optical distance between the planarbeam splitter element90 and theplanar reflector element100 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherent length of the collimated light beam5 (Typically the coherent length of the collimatedlight beam5 will be a fixed value; the coherent length of the collimatedlight beam5 is a property of thelight source4 which generates the collimatedlight beam5 and is given as part of the specification for the light source4). The optical distance is defined as:
• $\mathrm{OD}=\frac{t}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}+\frac{h}{\cos \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n\sin {\theta }_2}{n_3}\right)\right]}$${\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="n"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$
• wherein, ‘OD’ is the optical distance, ‘t’ is the thickness of the planarbeam splitter element90, ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence (AOI) of the collimated beam5 (preferably the central beam) on the planarbeam splitter element90, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the collimatedbeam5 passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter element90 (e.g. in this example the material in which the collimated beam passes before it is incident on the planarbeam splitter element90 is air so ‘n1’ is equal to the refractive index ‘air’), ‘n’ is the refractive index of planarbeam splitter element90, ‘h’ is the distance between the planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100, ‘n3’ is the refractive index of the material which occupies thespace13 between planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100. In this embodiment thespace13 between the planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100 is occupied by ‘air’ (i.e. there is anair gap13 between the planarbeam splitter element90 and planar reflector element100) and the collimatedbeam5 passes through ‘air’ before it is incident on the planarbeam splitter element90 such that n1=n3=1, so that in this example the optical distance is defined as:
• $\mathrm{OD}=\frac{t}{\cos \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]}+\frac{h}{\cos \left({\theta }_i\right)}$
• While this example shown inFIG. 1 illustrates the multiple-beam-generator8 as comprising a planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100 defining theplanar beam splitter9 and planar reflector respectively, and being separated by an air gap; it should be understood that the multiple-beam-generator8 may have any other suitable configurations. For example in another embodiment a block of material, preferably transparent material (e.g glass), having a thickness ‘h’, occupies thespace13. Theplanar beam splitter9 andplanar reflector10 are attached, abut to, or are formed on, opposite sides of the block of material thus theplanar beam splitter9 andplanar reflector10 are fixed distance ‘h’ apart (‘h’ in this case is equal to the thickness of the block of material). In this case the optical distance is defined as:
• $\mathrm{OD}=\frac{h}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}$
• wherein ‘h’ is the distance between theplanar beam splitter9 and planar reflector10 (i.e. the thickness of the block of material) and Θ₂is
• ${\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="n"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$
• wherein ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence (AOI) of the collimated beam5 (preferably the central beam) on the planarbeam splitter element90, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the collimatedbeam5 passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter element90 (e.g. in this example the material in which the collimated beam passes before it is incident on theplanar beam splitter90 is air so ‘n1’ is equal to the refractive index ‘air’), ‘n’ is the refractive index of planarbeam splitter element90.
• For example, in a variation of the embodiment shown inFIG. 1, the multiple-beam-generator may comprise a glass block with a beam splitter coating on one surface of the glass block and a reflective coating on a second, opposite surface of the glass block. In this variation the beam splitter coating defines theplanar beam splitter9 and the reflective coating defines theplanar reflector10, and the optical distance is defined as:
• $\mathrm{OD}-\frac{h}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}$
• wherein ‘h’ is the distance between the beam splitter coating (i.e. the planar beam splitter9) and the reflective coating (i.e. the planar reflector10); in other words ‘h’ is equal to the thickness of the glass block, and Θ₂is
• ${\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="n"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$
• wherein ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence (AOI) of the collimated beam5 (preferably the central beam) on theplanar beam splitter9, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the collimatedbeam5 passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter9 (e.g. the refractive index ‘air’), ‘n’ is the refractive index ofplanar beam splitter9. Theimage projector2 further comprises a focusinglens11 which is arranged to receive the multiple light beams15a-cwhich are output from themultiple beam generator8.
• Theimage projector2 is arranged to be a distance ‘F’ equal to the focal length of the focusinglens11, from themicrolens array3.
• Advantageously, in the embodiment shown inFIG. 1, the planar beam splitter9 (planar beam splitter element90) and planar reflector10 (planar reflector element100) causes the collimatedlight beam5 to be split into multiple light beams15a-c; because the optical distance is greater than, or equal to, half the coherent length of the collimated light beam the multiple beams are ‘independent’; two beam are ‘independent’ if the difference between their optical paths is greater than the coherence length of the light source which generated the two beams. Referring to theoptical assembly1 illustrated inFIG. 1 thelight beam15ais reflected only by the planarbeam splitter element90 whereas the consecutive (or neighbouring)light beam15bis transmitted by the planarbeam splitter element90 and reflected by theplanar reflector element100 and transmitted again by the planarbeam splitter element90. Since the optical distance between the planarbeam splitter element90 and theplanar reflector element100 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherent length of the collimatedlight beam5, thebeam15btravels an optical distance which is greater than the optical distance travelled by thebeam15a, by at least an amount equal to the coherence length of thelight source4. Thus consecutive (i.e. neighbouring) multiplelight beams15aand15bare independent from each other. The other successive (i.e. neighbouring) multiple light beams (15cetc.) will also have optical paths which differ at least by a distance greater than or equal to the coherence length of thelight source4.
• Since the planar beam splitter9 (planar beam splitter element90) and planar reflector10 (the planar reflector element100) are arranged in parallel the multiple light beams15a-care then focused onto thesame point16 on themicrolens array3 using the focusinglens11, so as to define asingle pixel17 of a projected image atpoint16. Since the collimatedlight beam5 is split into multiple independent light beams15a-cby themultiple beam generator8, the multiple independent light beams15a-ceach produce their own speckle and moiré pattern; accordingly when the multiple light beams15a-care focused onto thesame point16 the speckle and moiré patterns of each of the multiple independent light beams15a-cwill overlap atpoint16 and thus will average-out; accordingly the speckle and moiré which is visible to a viewer viewing thepixel17 will be reduced. In practice it is the viewer's eyes that will average out the speckle and moiré patterns upon viewing thepixel17. Each pixel of the image is projected onto themicrolens array3 in this manner so that there is a reduction in speckle and moiré pattern over the whole of the image projected on themicrolens array3.
• To ensure that the optical distance between the planar beam splitter9 (the planar beam splitter element90) and the planar reflector10 (the planar reflector element100) is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the collimated light beam, the manufacturer will typically calculate the smallest angle of incidence ‘Θ_i’ of the collimated light beam5 (preferably the central beam) on thebeam splitter9. The smallest angle of incidence can be found for example, in the following manner: when theMEMS mirror6 is at rest (i.e. theMEMS mirror6 is not oscillating) the collimatedlight beam5 reflected by theMEMS mirror6 towards thebeam splitter9 defines what is referred to as the ‘central beam. It should be noted that in this embodiment, and for each of the other embodiments described herein, when theMEMS mirror6 is at rest it is not oscillating aboutoscillation axes7a,b, and it is assumed that when theMEMS mirror6 is at rest it will located at the centre of its amplitude of oscillation; for example if theMEMS mirror6 can oscillation between ±45° then when theMEMS mirror6 is at rest it will be positioned at 0°.
• The manufacturer can adjust and measure the angle of incidence ‘Θ_k’ of the central beam on thebeam splitter9. Then, the smallest angle of incidence is equal to the angle of incidence ‘Θ_k’ of the central beam minus half the maximum angle over which the MEMS mirror can scan the collimatedlight beam5. If the value for the smallest angle of incidence is less than 0° then 0° is taken to be smallest angle of incidence. Then, using the optical distance ‘OD’ formula described above and using the known refractive index of the materials composing the multiple beam generator, the manufacturer can adjust the dimension ‘t’ and ‘h’ such that the optical distance is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the collimated light beam which is known.
• In another type of optical assembly there may be provided a plurality of different light sources use to generate the multiple independent light beams15a-c, each light source generating one of the multiple independent light beams15a-c. Since each of the light beams will come from different light sources the multiple light beams15a-cwill be “independent”. For example a first light source could be used to generate thelight beam15a, a second light source could be used to generatelight beam15band a third light source could be used to generatelight beam15c. In this variation noplanar beam splitter9 andplanar reflector10 is required; and the optical assembly may configured such that the first, second and third light sources generate respective light beams15a-cwhich are passed directly to the focusinglens11.
• FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of anoptical assembly20 according to a further embodiment of the present invention. The optical assembly comprises many of the same features of theoptical assembly1 shown inFIG. 1 and like features are awarded the same reference numbers.
• Theoptical assembly20 further comprises a head-up-display21 which is arranged to receive light from themicrolens array3. The head-up-display21 is arranged a distance ‘L’ from themicrolens array3 wherein ‘L’ is equal to:
• 
  (Ze−z)/M
• wherein ‘Ze’ is a distance from a predefined position where theoptical assembly20 projects avirtual image22 to a predefined position where a viewer should view thevirtual image22, ‘z’ is a distance between the head-up-display21 and the predefined position where a viewer should view thevirtual image22, and ‘M’ is the magnification of the head-up-display21. The multiple light beams15a-cwhich are focused onto themicrolens array3 by the focusinglens11 are diffused by themicrolens array3. The diffusedlight23 is passed through the head-up-display21 to project avirtual image22 at a location beyond the head-up-display21. Thevirtual image22 will be the same image as the image which is projected onto themicrolens array3, however thevirtual image22 may be larger (or smaller) as it may be magnified (or reduced) by the head-up-display21.
• The optical-assembly20 is configured such that it has a numerical aperture which is larger than the numerical aperture of aviewer27 who is viewing thevirtual image22. Preferably theoptical assembly20 is configured such that it has a numerical aperture which is greater than a predefined numerical aperture value which represents the numerical aperture of a viewer; the predefined numerical aperture value is usually 0.016. 0.016 is the largest numerical aperture of a viewer having a pupil size between 1 to 10 mm for a virtual image position which is greater than, or equal to, 300 mm from the viewer.
• The numerical aperture of theoptical assembly20 is defined as:
• 
  (d/2)/(F·M)
• wherein M is the magnification of the head-up-display21 and F is the focal length of the of the focusinglens11, and ‘d’ is the distance between two consecutive (i.e. two neighbouring) multiple beams15a-coutput from themultiple beam generator8 measured prior to being incident on the focusinglens11 and is given by the equation:
• $d=2\left(t\tan {\theta }_2+h\tan {\theta }_3\right)\cos {\theta }_i$${\theta }_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="n"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}_{1}\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$${\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00001.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_3={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n_{}\sin {\theta }_2}{n_3}\right)$
• wherein ‘t’ is the thickness of the planarbeam splitter element90, ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence (AOI) of the collimated beam5 (preferably the central beam) on the planarbeam splitter element90, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the collimatedbeam5 passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter element90 (which in this example is the refractive index ‘air’), ‘n’ is the refractive index of planarbeam splitter element90, ‘h’ is the distance between the planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100, ‘n3’ is the refractive index of the material which occupies thespace13 between planarbeam splitter element90 and planar reflector element100 (which in this example is the refractive index ‘air’).
• In a preferred variation of the embodiment shown inFIG. 2, ‘d’ preferably satisfies the following equation:
• $d=F\tan \lceil \left(2k+1\right)\frac{{\theta }_{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="P"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">P</figure-callout>}}}{2}\rceil$
• wherein Θ_pequal to:
• ${\theta }_P=\frac{\lambda }{P}$
• wherein λ is the wavelength of the collimatedlight beam5 and ‘P’ is the pitch of themicrolens array3 which is the distance from the center of a microlens in themicrolens array3 to the center of its neighbouring microlens, k is an integer defining the order of themultiple beam generator8, and Θ_pis the angular separation between the interference maxima (or minima) of one of the multiple light beams15a-c; this means that successive interference maxima of thefirst light beam15awill occur at 0Θ_p, 1Θ_p, 2Θ_p, 3Θ_p. . . etc. In order for the maxima of the interference pattern another one of the multiple light beams15a-c(e.g. secondlight beam15b) to overlay the minima of the interference pattern of thefirst light beam15a, its maxima of the interference pattern must fit between two successive maxima of the interference pattern of thefirst light beam15a; accordingly the maxima of the interference pattern of thesecond light beam15bmust occur at Θ=Θ_p/2, 1.5Θ_p, 2.5Θ_p, 3.5Θ_p. . . etc.
• Thus calculation of ‘d’ using the condition Θ=Θ_p/2, 1.5Θ_p, 2.5Θ_p, 3.5Θ_p. . . etc gives:
• 
  d=Ftan(Θ)=Ftan(Θ_p/2).
• Because the interference are periodic, this equation is also true for every odd integer (2k+1) multiple such that:
• 
  d=Ftan [(2k+1)Θ_p/2]
• Advantageously when this condition for ‘d’ is satisfied, the moiré reduction is further increased.
• The angle of incidence (AOI) ‘Θ_i’, of the collimated light beam5 (preferably the central beam) on thebeam splitter element90 is the angle between thecollimated light beam5 and the normal vector to theplanar surface9aof the planarbeam splitter element90. Preferably the AOI is the angle between a central beam and the normal vector to theplanar surface9aof the planarbeam splitter element90, wherein the central beam is the beam reflected towards theplanar surface9awhen theMEMS mirror6 is at rest (i.e. is not oscillating aboutoscillation axes7a,b, in other words when theMEMS mirror6 is not actuated). For example, one could use the central beam to make the calculation to find suitable dimensions for the thickness ‘t’ of the planarbeam splitter element90 and for the distance ‘h’ between the planarbeam splitter element90 and theplanar reflector element100 to ensure that the ‘OD’ of the planarbeam splitter element90 and theplanar reflector element100 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the calumniatedlight beam5 and that the numerical aperture of theoptical assembly20 is larger than the numerical aperture of the viewer27:
• The central beam is found by measuring the angle between thecollimated beam5 projected on thebeam splitter9 when the MEMS mirror is at rest and the normal to thesurface9aof thebeam splitter element90. The refractive index of the planar beam splitter (‘n’) is a known value typically given from material datasheet. Suitable dimensions for ‘t’ and ‘h’ are then chosen such that the optical distance ‘OD’ between the planarbeam splitter element90 and theplanar reflector element100 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the collimatedlight beam5 and such that the numerical aperture of the optical assembly20 (i.e. (d/2)/(FM)) is larger than the numerical aperture of theviewer27.
• The numerical aperture of theviewer27 is defined by:
• 
  (y/2)/(Ze)
• wherein y is the pupil size of theviewer27, and Ze is a distance from a predefined position where theoptical assembly20 projects avirtual image22 to a predefined position where a viewer will view thevirtual image22. The pupil size depends of each viewer physiognomy and ambient light conditions and may vary between 1 to 10 mm in size. The position/distance of thevirtual image22 with respect to theviewer27 is preferably a predefined value and it is equal to ‘Ze=(L·M)+z’ wherein, ‘L’ is the distance between themicrolens array3 and the head-up-display21 and ‘z’ is the distance between a predefined position for the eye of aviewer27 and the head-up-display21. ‘L’ is determined using the equation L=(Ze−z)/M and is typically between 1 to 500 mm. ‘z’ is preferably a predefined value and is typically between 500 to 1200 mm. A distance between 500 to 1200 mm is the typical distance between the eye of a driver of a car and the position of a head-up-display21 in the car. ‘M’ is preferably a predefined value which is representative of the position of thevirtual image22; the position of thevirtual image22 can be changed by changing ‘M’. Typically a predefined value of for ‘M’ is given by the manufacturer.
• During manufacturing fixed predefined values for the Ze, z, M and L are given. The magnification of the head-up-display M is preferably in the range of 1 to 20. The focal length F of the of the focusing lens is preferably in therange 5 to 1000 mm, and ford: t and h are preferably in the range 0.1 to 100 mm, and n is preferably in therange 1 to 4, Θ_iis preferably in the range 0 to 89°, so that d is preferably in the range 9.5×10⁻⁴mm to 55 mm.
• The manufacturer will position theplanar reflector element100 and the planarbeam splitter element90 to achieve suitable values for ‘h’, ‘d’ and will adjust the position of themicrolens array3 and/or the position of theimage projector2 and replace the focusinglens11 with a focusing lens having a suitable focal length, so as to achieve a suitable value for ‘F’, so as to ensure that theoptical assembly20 has a numerical aperture which is larger than the numerical aperture of aviewer27 who is viewing thevirtual image22, and such that the optical distance (OD) between the planarbeam splitter element90 and theplanar reflector element100 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the calumniatedlight beam5. It is noted that if the position of themicrolens array3 and/or the position of theimage projector2 is moved then the focusing lens having a suitable focal length is a focusing lens which can be positioned between theimage projector2 andmicrolens array3 at a distance from the microlens array which is equal to the focal length ‘F’ of the focusing lens.
• For example, under normal illumination conditions the eye of aviewer27 can measure 3 mm such that ‘y=3 mm’. Thevirtual image22 can be desired to be at a distance of ‘Ze=2250 mm’ from theviewer27 because typically for a head-up-display in automotive application it is desired to have the virtual image project to just in front of the automobile, thus the numerical aperture of theviewer27 is 0.00067. Typically ‘M’ is equal 6 for the system compactness. To obtain a good virtual image quality, the pixel density must be at least 60 pixel/degree. This implies a condition on the virtual image size and resolution. For example, the image can have a 720p resolution which means that the image has 1280×720 pixels. If the image is viewed from a distance of 2250 mm it must have a maximal dimension of 846×473 mm to have a minimum of 60 pixels/degree. With a magnification of 6 the image on themicrolens array3 measures 141×79 mm. Thus the position of themicrolens array3 and/or the focusinglens11 can be adjusted, and/or the focusinglens11 can be replaced with a focusing lens having a suitable focal length, to achieve a suitable dimension for F which ensures that an image on themicrolens array3 is generated which is smaller or equal to the dimension 141×79 mm, otherwise the quality of thevirtual image22 will be lowered. In practice it will depend on the full optical scanning angle of theMEMS mirror6. It is always possible to obtain the right image size with a MEMS mirror projection system. If the image on themicrolens array3 is too small, one can replace the focusinglens11 with a focusing lens with a suitable focal length, or move theimage projector2 further away from themicrolens array3 until the image dimension on the microlens array is small than or equal to the dimension 141×79 mm. Similarly if the if the image on themicrolens array3 is too large the focusing one can move theimage projector2 further away from themicrolens array3 and replace the focusinglens11 with a focusing lens with a suitable focal length, until the image dimension on the microlens array is small than or equal to the dimension 141×79 mm. Once a value for ‘F’ is found which provides an image dimension on themicrolens array3 which is small than or equal to the dimension 141×79 mm, a suitable value for the thickness ‘t’ of the planarbeam splitter element90 and a suitable value for the distance ‘h’ between the planarbeam splitter element90 and thereflector element100 are then determined so that the the ‘OD’ between the planarbeam splitter element90 and theplanar reflector element100 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the collimatedlight beam5 and the numerical aperture of theoptical assembly20 is larger than the numerical aperture of theviewer27. Typically, ‘F=200 mm’ such that ‘d’ must be larger or equal to 2×F×M×0.00067=1.61 mm.
• In this embodiment thespace13 between the planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100 is occupied by an air and the collimatedlight beam5 passes through air before it is incident on the planarbeam splitter element90 such that n1=n3=1, and the angle of incidence ‘Θ_i’ is 45°, and the beam splitter material is glass such that ‘n=1.52’, so that in this example the optical distance is defined as: ‘OD=t/0.885+h/0.707’; suitable values for ‘t’ and ‘h’ are chosen such that the optical distance (OD) between the planarbeam splitter element90 and theplanar reflector element100 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the collimatedlight beam5 which for example in the case of a red diode laser can be 1 mm. From these numbers, one can adjust the dimension for ‘t’ and ‘h’ in theoptical assembly20 such that ‘OD’ of theoptical assembly20 is at least 1 mm and ‘d’ is at least 1.61 mm.
• Advantageously, in thisoptical assembly20 embodiment illustrated inFIG. 2, because the planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100 are arranged in parallel and have an optical distance greater than half the coherent length of the collimatedlight beam5, itsimage projector2 offers the same advantages of reduced speckle and reduced moiré patterns, as theimage projector2 of theoptical assembly1 shown inFIG. 1. Furthermore, since theoptical assembly20 is configured such that it has a numerical aperture which is larger than the numerical aperture of aviewer27 who is viewing thevirtual image22, the speckle patterns created by each of the multiple independent light beams15a-care de-correlated from each other; this results in a further reduction in speckle.
• Furthermore since, in thisoptical assembly20 the distance ‘d’ between two consecutive (i.e. two neighbouring) multiple beams15a-coutput from themultiple beam generator8 measured prior to being incident on the focusinglens11 and is equal to:
• 
  d=2(ttan θ₂+htan θ₃)cos θ_i
• a better reduction in moiré is achieved because this condition for ‘d’ ensures that the maxima of the interference pattern of at least one of the multiple light beams15a-cmore precisely overlays the minima of the interference pattern of at least one other of the multiple light beams15a-c, and vice versa; in practice there will be many multiple light beams15a-cand many more precise overlays of maxima and minima of the interference patterns for different light beams.
• In the embodiment in which ‘d’ satisfies the following equation:
• $d=F\tan \left[\left(2k+1\right)\frac{{\theta }_P}{2}\right]$
• wherein Θ_pequal to:
• ${\theta }_p=\frac{\lambda }{p}$
• wherein λ is the wavelength of the collimatedlight beam5 and ‘P’ is the pitch of themicrolens array3 which is the distance from the center of a microlens in themicrolens array3 to the center of its neighbouring microlens, k is an integer defining the order of themultiple beam generator8, and Θ_pis the angular separation between the interference maxima of one of the multiple light beams15a-c, then advantageously a further reduction in moiré is achieved.
• FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of anoptical assembly30 according to a further embodiment of the present invention. Theoptical assembly30 shown inFIG. 3 has many of the same features of theoptical assembly20 shown inFIG. 2 and like features are awarded the same reference numbers.
• However in contrast the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 2, theoptical assembly30 comprises animage projector2baccording to a further embodiment of the present invention, which comprises amultiple beam generator80 having aglass block81 between theplanar beam splitter9 and the planar reflector10 (It will be understood that the invention is not limited to requiring a glass block; it will be understood that any suitable optically transparent material may be used in the multiple beam generator80). A planarbeam splitter coating82 is provided on one surface83 of theglass block81 and a planarreflective coating84 is provided on a second, opposite surface85 of the glass block. The planarbeam splitter coating82 may comprise a semi-reflective material and the planarreflective coating84 may comprise reflective material. The opposing surfaces83,85 of the glass block are flat and are parallel to one another so that the planarbeam splitter coating82 and planarreflective coating84 are parallel and planar. In this embodiment the planarbeam splitter coating82 defines theplanar beam splitter9 and the planarreflective coating84 defines theplanar reflector10, and the optical distance between the planar beam splitter9 (planar beam splitter coating82) and the planar reflector10 (planar reflective coating84) is defined by:
• $\mathrm{OD}=\frac{h}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}$
• wherein ‘h’ is the distance between the planarbeam splitter coating82 and planar reflective coating84 (i.e. the thickness ‘T’ of the block of the glass block81) and Θ₂is
• ${\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\theta "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\theta </figure-callout>}}_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="n"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">n</figure-callout>}}_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$
• wherein ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence (AOI) of the collimated beam5 (preferably the central beam) on the planarbeam splitter coating82, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the collimatedbeam5 passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter element9 (e.g. in this example the material in which the collimated beam passes before it is incident on theplanar beam splitter9 is air so ‘n1’ is equal to the refractive index ‘air’), ‘n’ is the refractive index of the planarbeam splitter coating82.
• In this example the distance ‘h’ between planarbeam splitter coating82 and planarreflective coating84 is equal to:
• $h=\frac{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="d"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">d</figure-callout>}}{2\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i}$
• wherein ‘d’ is the distance ‘d’ between two consecutive (i.e. two neighbouring) multiple beams (e.g.15aand15b, or,15band15c) output from themultiple beam generator80 prior to two consecutive multiple beams being incident on the focusinglens11, ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence (AOI) of the collimated beam5 (preferably the central beam) on the planarbeam splitter coating82, ‘n’ is the refractive index of the material theglass block81.
• For example a manufacturer of theoptical assembly30 may choose a glass block having a suitable thickness ‘T’ such that the condition for ‘h’ mentioned above is met.
• When this condition for ‘h’ is met a better reduction in moiré is achieved because the maxima of the interference pattern of at least one of the multiple light beams15a-cmore precisely overlays the minima of the interference pattern of at least one other of the multiple light beams15a-c, and vice versa; in practice there will be many multiple light beams15a-cand many more precise overlays of maxima and minima of the interference patterns for different light beams.
• The optical-assembly30 is configured such that it has a numerical aperture which is larger than the numerical aperture of aviewer27 who is viewing thevirtual image22. Preferably theoptical assembly30 is configured such that it has a numerical aperture which is greater than a predefined numerical aperture value which represents the numerical aperture of a viewer; the predefined numerical aperture value is usually 0.016. 0.016 is the largest numerical aperture of a viewer having a pupil size between 1 to 10 mm for a virtual image position which is greater than, or equal to, 300 mm from the viewer.
• The numerical aperture of theoptical assembly30 is defined as:
• 
  (d/2)/(F·M)
• wherein M is the magnification of the head-up-display21 and F is the focal length of the of the focusinglens11, and ‘d’ is the distance between two consecutive (i.e. two neighbouring) multiple beams15a-coutput from themultiple beam generator8 measured prior to being incident on the focusinglens11 and is given by the equation
• Theoptical assembly30 is configured such that the distance ‘d’ between two consecutive (i.e. two neighbouring) multiple beams (e.g.15aand15b, or,15band15c) output from themultiple beam generator80 measured prior to being incident on the focusinglens11 is equal to:
• $d=2h\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i$
• wherein ‘n’ is the refractive index ofglass block81, Θ_iis the angle of incidence of the collimatedlight beam5 on the planar beam splitter coating82 (typically Θ_itaken to be the angle of incidence of central beam on the beam splitter coating82), and ‘h’ is the distance between the planarbeam splitter coating82 and planar reflective coating84 (i.e. ‘h’ is equal to the thickness ‘T’ of the glass block81).
• In a more preferred variation of the embodiment shown inFIG. 3, theoptical assembly30 is configured such that the distance ‘d’ between two consecutive (i.e. two neighbouring) multiple beams (e.g.15aand15b, or,15band15c) output from themultiple beam generator80 measured prior to being incident on the focusinglens11 is equal to:
• $d=F\tan \left[\left(2k+1\right)\frac{{\theta }_P}{2}\right]$
• wherein Θ_Pequal to:
• ${\theta }_P=\frac{\lambda }{P}$
• wherein λ is the wavelength of the collimatedlight beam5 and ‘P’ is the pitch of themicrolens array3 which is the distance from the center of a microlens in themicrolens array3 to the center of its neighbouring microlens, k is an integer defining the order of themultiple beam generator80, and Θ_pis the angular separation between the interference maxima (or minima) of one of the multiple light beams15a-c; this means that successive interference maxima of thefirst light beam15awill occur at 0Θ_p, 1Θ_p, 2Θ_p, 3Θ_p. . . etc. In order for the maxima of the interference pattern another one of the multiple light beams15a-c(e.g. secondlight beam15b) to overlay the minima of the interference pattern of thefirst light beam15a, its maxima of the interference pattern must fit between two successive maxima of the interference pattern of thefirst light beam15a; accordingly the maxima of the interference pattern of thesecond light beam15bmust occur at Θ=Θ_p/2, 1.5Θ_p, 2.5Θ_p, 3.5Θ_p. . . etc.
• Thus, the calculation of ‘d’ using the condition Θ=Θ_p/2, 1.5Θ_p, 2.5Θ_p, 3.5Θ_p. . . etc. gives:
• 
  d=Ftan(Θ)=Ftan(Θ_p/2)
• Because the interference are periodic, this equation is also true for every odd integer (2k+1) multiple such as:
• 
  d=Ftan [(2k+1)Θ_p/2]
• When theoptical assembly30 is configured such that ‘d’ satisfies this condition a further reduction in moiré is achieved.
• The angle of incidence (AOI), ‘Θ_i’, of the collimatedlight beam5 on thebeam splitter coating82 is the angle between thecollimated light beam5 and the normal vector to the planarbeam splitter coating82. Preferably the AOI is the angle between a central beam of the collimatedlight beam5 and the normal vector to the planarbeam splitter coating82 wherein the central beam of the collimatedlight beam5 is the beam reflected towards the planarbeam splitter coating82 when theMEMS mirror6 is at rest.
• For example, one could consider the AOI of the central beam to find suitable dimensions for ‘h’ (i.e. to find a suitable dimension for the thickness of the glass block81) when designing or manufacturing theoptical assembly20 so that such that ‘OD’ between planarbeam splitter coating82 and planarreflective coating84 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the collimatedlight beam5 and such that the numerical aperture of the optical assembly20 (i.e. (d/2)/(FM)) is larger than the numerical aperture of the viewer27:
• The central beam is found by measuring the angle between thecollimated beam5 projected on thebeam splitter9 when the MEMS mirror is at rest and the normal to the surface83 of thebeam splitter element9. The refractive index of the planar beam splitter is a known value typically given from material datasheet. Suitable dimensions for ‘h’ are then chosen such that ‘OD’ between the planarbeam splitter coating82 and the planarreflective coating84 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the collimatedlight beam5 and such that the numerical aperture of the optical assembly30 (i.e. (d/2)/(FM)) is larger than the numerical aperture of theviewer27.
• The numerical aperture of theviewer27 is defined by (y/2)/(Ze) wherein y is the pupil size of theviewer27, and Ze is a distance from a predefined position where theoptical assembly30 projects avirtual image22 to a predefined position where a viewer will view thevirtual image22. The pupil size depends of each viewer physiognomy and ambient light conditions and may vary between 1 to 10 mm in size. The position of thevirtual image22 is preferably a predefined value and it is equal to ‘Ze=(L·M)+z’ wherein, ‘L’ is the distance between themicrolens array3 and the head-up-display21 and ‘z’ is the distance between a predefined position for the eye of aviewer27 and the head-up-display21. ‘L’ is determined using the equation L=(Ze−z)/M and is typically between 1 to 500 mm. ‘z’ is preferably a predefined value and is typically between 500 to 1200 mm. A distance between 500 to 1200 mm is the typical distance between the eye of a driver of a car and the position of a head-up-display21 in the car. ‘M’ is preferably a predefined value which is representative of the position of thevirtual image22; the position of thevirtual image22 can be changed by changing ‘M’. Typically a predefined value of for ‘M’ is given by the manufacturer.
• During manufacturing fixed predefined values for the Ze, z, M and L are given. The magnification of the head-up-display M is preferably in the range of 1 to 20. The focal length F of the of the focusing lens is preferably in therange 5 to 1000 mm, and ford: h is preferably in the range 0.1 to 100 mm, and n is preferably in therange 1 to 4, Θ_iis preferably in the range 0 to 89°, so that d is preferably in the range 9.5×10⁻⁴mm to 55 mm.
• The manufacturer of theoptical assembly30 may choose a glass block having a suitable thickness ‘T’ such that the condition for ‘h’ mentioned above is met and will adjust the position of themicrolens array3 and/or theprojector2 and replace the focusinglens11 with a focusing lens having a suitable focal length, to achieve a suitable value for ‘F’, so as to ensure that theoptical assembly30, is configured such that it has a numerical aperture which is larger than the numerical aperture of aviewer27 who is viewing thevirtual image22, and such that optical distance between the planarbeam splitter coating82 and the planarreflective coating84 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the calumniatedlight beam5.
• For example, under normal illumination conditions the eye of aviewer27 can measure 3 mm such that ‘y=3 mm’. Thevirtual image22 can be desired to be at a distance of ‘Ze=2250 mm’ from theviewer27 because typically for a head-up-display in automotive application it is desired to have the virtual image project to just in front of the automobile, thus the numerical aperture of theviewer27 is 0.00067. Typically ‘M’ is equal 6 for the system compactness. To obtain a good virtual image quality, the pixel density must be at least 60 pixel/degree. This implies a condition on the virtual image size and resolution. For example, the image can have a 720p resolution which means that the image has 1280×720 pixels. If the image is viewed from a distance of 2250 mm it must have a maximal dimension of 846×473 mm to have a minimum of 60 pixels/degree. With a magnification of 6 the image on themicrolens array3 measures 141×79 mm. Thus the position of themicrolens array3 and/or the focusinglens11 can be adjusted, and/or the focusinglens11 can be replaced with a focusing lens having a suitable focal length, to achieve a suitable dimension for F which ensures that an image on themicrolens array3 is generated which is smaller or equal to the dimension 141×79 mm, otherwise the quality of thevirtual image22 will be lowered. In practice it will depend on the full optical scanning angle of theMEMS mirror6. It is always possible to obtain the right image size with a MEMS mirror projection system. If the image on themicrolens array3 is too small, one can replace the focusinglens11 with a focusing lens with a suitable focal length, or move theimage projector2bfurther away from themicrolens array3 until the image dimension on the microlens array is small than or equal to the dimension 141×79 mm. Similarly if the if the image on themicrolens array3 is too large the focusing one can move theimage projector2 further away from themicrolens array3 and replace the focusinglens11 with a focusing lens with a suitable focal length, until the image dimension on the microlens array is small than or equal to the dimension 141×79 mm. Once a value for ‘F’ is found which provides an image dimension on themicrolens array3 which is small than or equal to the dimension 141×79 mm, a suitable value for the distance ‘h’ between the planarbeam splitter coating82 and the planarreflective coating84 are then determined so that the ‘OD’ between the planarbeam splitter coating82 and the planarreflective coating84 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the collimatedlight beam5 and the numerical aperture of theoptical assembly30 is larger than the numerical aperture of theviewer27. Typically, ‘F=200 mm’ such that ‘d’ must be larger or equal to 2×F×M×0.00067=1.61 mm.
• In this embodiment thespace81 between the planarbeam splitter coating82 and planarreflective coating84 is occupied by glass and the collimatedlight beam5 passes through air before it is incident on the planarbeam splitter coating82 such that n1=1, and the angle of incidence ‘Θ_i’ is 45°, and the beam splitter material is glass such that ‘n=1.52’, so that in this example the optical distance is defined as: ‘OD=h/0.707’; suitable values for ‘h’ is chosen such that the optical distance (OD) between the planarbeam splitter coating82 and theplanar reflecting coating84 is greater than, or equal to, half the coherence length of the collimatedlight beam5 which for example in the case of a red diode laser can be 1 mm. From these numbers, one can adjust the dimension for ‘h’ in theoptical assembly30 such that ‘OD’ of theoptical assembly30 is at least 1 mm and ‘d’ is at least 1.61 mm.
• Advantageously, in this embodiment illustrated inFIG. 3, because the planarbeam splitter coating82 and planarreflective coating84 are arranged in parallel and have an optical distance greater than half the coherent length of the collimatedlight beam5, itsimage projector2boffers the same advantages of reduced speckle and reduced moiré patterns, as theimage projector2 of theoptical assembly1 shown inFIG. 1. Furthermore, since theoptical assembly30 is configured such that it has a numerical aperture which is larger than the numerical aperture of aviewer27 who is viewing thevirtual image22, the speckle patterns created by each of the multiple independent light beams15a-care de-correlated from each other; this results in a further reduction in speckle.
• Furthermore since, in thisoptical assembly30 the distance ‘h’ between planarbeam splitter coating82 and planarreflective coating84 is equal to:
• $h=\frac{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="d"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">d</figure-callout>}}{2\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i}$
• theoptical assembly30 can achieve an improved reduction in moiré is achieved because this condition for ‘h’ ensures that the maxima of the interference pattern of at least one of the multiple light beams15a-cmore precisely overlays the minima of the interference pattern of at least one other of the multiple light beams15a-c, and vice versa; in practice there will be many multiple light beams15a-cand many more precise overlays of maxima and minima of the interference patterns for different light beams.
• Additionally an further more precise overlays of maxima and minima of the interference patterns of multiple light beams15a-cis achieved when theoptical assembly30 is configured such that ‘d’ satisfies the condition:
• $d=F\tan \left[\left(2k+1\right)\frac{{\theta }_P}{2}\right]$
• In the most preferred embodiment ‘h’ is equal to 5.12 mm. This provides the optimum moiré reduction when the multiple light beams15a-care blue, green and red light beams respectively; and which each have an angle of incidence Θ_iof 45°; and which has respective wavelength values
• λ_blue=0.438 μm
  λ_green=0.520 μm
  λ_red=0.638 μm
  and respective k values,
  k_blue=6
  k_green=5
  k_red=4
• And respective n values:
• n_blue=1.47
  n_green=1.46
  n_red=1.46
• FIG. 7 illustrates how the moiré reduction is achieved in the embodiments shown inFIGS. 2 and 3.FIG. 7 illustrates themaxima71 of the interference pattern of thesecond light beam15boverlaying theminima72 of the interference pattern of thefirst light beam15a, and themaxima73 of the interference pattern of thefirst light beam15boverlaying the minima (not visible in figure) of the interference pattern of thesecond light beam15b.
• FIG. 4 shows a plan view of anoptical assembly40 according to a further embodiment of the present invention. Theoptical assembly40 shown inFIG. 4 has many of the same features as theoptical assembly1 shown inFIG. 1 and like features are awarded the same reference numbers. It will be understood that theoptical assembly40 could have any one or more of the features or conditions of theoptical assemblies20,30 shown inFIGS. 2 and 3.
• In contrast the optical assembly shown inFIG. 1 theoptical assembly40 according to a further embodiment of the present invention which comprises animage projector2caccording to a further embodiment of the present invention, which has amultiple beam generator41 which comprises a glass block46 (It will be understood that the invention is not limited to requiring aglass block46; it will be understood that any suitable optically transparent material may be used in the multiple beam generator41). Aplanar beam splitter9, in the form of a planar beam splitter coating42 (which may comprise semi-reflective material), is provided on onesurface49aof theglass block81, and aplanar reflector10, in the form of a planar reflective coating43 (which may comprise reflective material), is provided on a second, oppositesurface49bof theglass block46. In this embodiment the planarbeam splitter coating42 defines theplanar beam splitter9 and the planarreflective coating43 defines theplanar beam reflector10. The first andsecond surfaces49a,bare flat and are parallel to one another so that the planarbeam splitter coating42 and planarreflective coating43 are parallel and planar.
• Importantly the planarbeam splitter coating42 is configured such that light45 reflected from theplanar reflector coating43 passes directly from theplanar reflector coating43 to the focusinglens11 without passing through theplanar beam splitter42. This can be achieved by positioning the planarbeam splitter coating42 on only a portion of thefirst surface49aof theglass block46 so that the planarbeam splitter coating42 does not overlay the whole of theplanar reflector coating43 and/or by providing a planarbeam splitter coating42 which has a smaller perimeter than the perimeter of theplanar reflector coating43 so that the planarbeam splitter coating42 does not overlay the whole of theplanar reflector coating43. In this embodiment illustrated inFIG. 4 the planarbeam splitter coating42 is provided on only a portion of thefirst surface49aof theglass block46 so that the planarbeam splitter coating42 does not overlay the whole of theplanar reflector coating43. Collimatedlight beam45 which passes through the planarbeam splitter coating42 is thus reflected by theplanar reflector coating43 directly to the focusinglens11 without passing through the planarbeam splitter coating42. Themultiple beam splitter41 comprises aglass block46 and a planarbeam splitter coating42 on one surface of theglass block46 defines the planarbeam splitter coating42, while a planarreflective coating43 provides on an opposite surface of theglass block46 defines theplanar reflector43.
• Advantageously, because the light beams reflected45 by theplanar reflector43 are passed directly from theplanar reflector43 to the focusinglens11 without passing through theplanar beam splitter42 only twobeams48a,48bare generated by themultiple beam splitter41 from a single collimatedlight beam45 and these twobeams48a,bhave similar optical power. When these twobeams48a,bare focused to thesame point16 on themicrolens array3 by the focusinglens11 each of the twobeams48a,bwill produce an interference pattern of the same intensity and which are angularly shifted with respect to one another such as the maxima of the interference pattern of one of the light beams48aare located at the minima of the interference pattern of theother light beam48b; because the twobeams48a,bhave the same optical power the interference patterns will average out perfectly to obtain a constant optical power image with reduced moiré.
• It will be understood that in a variation of the embodiment shown inFIG. 4, no glass block is provided in the multiple beam generator; rather the multiple beam generator may simply take the form of themultiple beam generator8 of theimage projector2 of theoptical assembly1 shown inFIG. 1, which comprises a planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100 as mechanically independent structures separated by anair gap13. In this variation the planarbeam splitter element90 andplanar reflector element100 may be simply position so that the planarbeam splitter element90 does not overlay theplanar reflector element100 completely; or the planarbeam splitter element90 could be dimensioned to have a perimeter which is smaller than the perimeter of theplanar reflector element100 so that the planarbeam splitter element90 does not overlay theplanar reflector element100 completely; thereby allowing light45 reflected from theplanar reflector element100 to pass directly from theplanar reflector element100 to the focusinglens11 without passing through the planarbeam splitter element90.
• FIG. 6 illustrates anoptical assembly60 according to further embodiment of the present invention. Theoptical assembly60 contains many of the same features of the optical assemblies (1,20,30,40) shown inFIGS. 1-4 and like features are awarded the same reference numbers. It will be understood that theoptical assembly60 could contain any of the features of the embodiments illustrated inFIGS. 1-4.
• Unlike the other embodiments theoptical assembly60 comprises a plurality of multiple-beam-generators61,62, which are arranged to be in optical communication with one-another. Each of the multiple-beam-generators61,62 may comprise one or more of the features of the multiple-beam-generators8,41,80 illustrated in the any of the other optical assembly embodiments already described.
• Each of the plurality of multiple-beam-generators have a different orientation such that they each lie on, or are parallel to, differently orientatedplanes64,65. In this example theplanar beam splitter9 andplanar reflector10 of themultiple beam generator61 lie on, or are parallel to, afirst plane64 and theplanar beam splitter9 andplanar reflector10 of themultiple beam generator62 lie on, or are parallel to, asecond plane65. Thefirst plane64 andsecond plane65 are orientated such that there is an angle of 120° between theplanes64,65. Preferably thefirst plane64 of themultiple beam generator61 is orientated along the (1 0 1) and thesecond plane65 of themultiple beam generator62 is orientated along the (−1 −1 0). Then the angle between the two planes is 120°. The orientation of a plane is defined by a vector (x y z) which is normal to the plane. Thefirst plane64 is orientated perpendicular to the (1 0 1)vector66 while thesecond plane65 is orientated perpendicular to the (−1 −1 0)vector67.
• It will be understood that while theoptical assembly60 illustrates only two multiple-beam-generators61,62 which lie ondifferent planes64,65 any number of multiple-beam-generators could be provided in theoptical assembly60, each multiple-beam-generator being in optical communication with another multiple-beam-generator and theplanar beam splitter9 andplanar reflector10 of each of the multiple beam generators lying on, or being parallel to, differently orientated planes.
• Advantageously because theoptical assembly60 comprises twomultiple beam generators61,62 which are in optical communication and which lie on, or are parallel to, differently orientatedplanes64,65 this enables a further reduction in speckle and moiré to be achieved because a2D array69 of multiple beams is created when using twomultiple beam generators61,62. Each of the multiple beams in the 2Dmultiple beam array69 are focused by the focusinglens11 to thesame point16 on themicrolens array3 to define asingle pixel17. Multiple speckle patterns or moiré patterns are then created atpoint16 such as they average out in 2D providing improved speckle and moiré reduction. Each pixel of the projected image is projected in this manner so that there is a reduction in speckle and moiré over the whole of the projected image.
• As mentioned in the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 1 the sizes of the microlens'3′ in themicrolens array3 are all equal, however in a variation of the invention themicrolens array3 could be configured to have different sized microlens as shown inFIG. 5a.FIG. 5ashows a perspective view of an alternative configuration for thescreen3 which can be used in any of the embodiments of the present invention.FIG. 5aillustrates ascreen3 in the form of amicrolens array50 which comprises differentlysized microlens51. Accordingly in themicrolens array50 the pitch ‘P’ between the microlens'51 in themicrolens array50 differs across themicrolens array50. More precisely in this example the sizes of the microlens'51 in themicrolens array50 increase from acentre column53 of microlens towards theoutermost column54 of microlens of themicrolens array51. The size of the microlens along eachrespective column53,54 are equal; however in a variation of the embodiment the size of the microlens along eachrespective column53,54 may increase or decrease.
• In a further variation of the embodiment the sizes of the microlens'51 in themicrolens array50 can increase from acentre row56 of microlens towards the outermost row ofmicrolens57 of themicrolens array51. The size of the microlens along eachrespective row56,57 may be equal; however in a further variation of the invention the size of the microlens along eachrespective row56,57 may increase or decrease.
• Specifically the size of the microlens'51 in themicrolens array50 is such that the pitch betweenconsecutive microlens51, is equal to:
• 
  (P_eff/cos Θ_scan)
• wherein P_effis a predefined effective pitch value and Θ_scanis the angle of incidence of a light beam emitted from the projector device on thatmicrolens51. The ‘effective pitch’ is the projection of the pitch of the microlens along the incoming light direction Θ_scan.
• FIG. 5billustrates the problem which arises with microlens arrays in which all microlens of the microlens array are of equal size: As the light beam is scanned across the microlens array, the angle of incidence of the light beam on microlens array will change over the scan amplitude; as the light beam is scanned towards the outermost microlens' in the angle of incidence will be reduced so that light beam experiences an ‘effective pitch’ which is lower than the physical distance between the centres of neighbouring microlens; this can result in a changing interference pattern along the scanning amplitude (wherein the scanning amplitude is the amplitude over which theoscillating MEMS mirror6 scans the collimated light beam5). Because the angle between two maxima of the interference pattern is defined by Θ_p=λ/P, as the scanning amplitude increases, the ‘effective pitch’ becomes smaller, thus Θ_pbecomes larger and the calculated thickness of the MBG is not optimal to average out perfectly the interference patterns. Advantageously the microlens array shown inFIG. 5aresolves this problem; since the microlens' are sized such that the pitch betweenconsecutive microlens51 is equal to (P_eff/cos Θ_scan) it compensates for the scanning of the light beam by theMEMS mirror6 so that ‘effective pitch’ experienced by the light beam is equal across the whole scanning amplitude.
• In a further variation of themicrolens array50 shown inFIG. 5; themicrolens51 in the microlens array may be further sized such that they compensate for the change in angle of incidence of the collimatedlight5 beam on theplanar beam splitter9, which occurs when the collimatedlight beam5 is scanned by the oscillatingMEMS mirror6. In this case the optical assembly will preferably take the form of theoptical assembly30 shown inFIG. 3 and theoptical assembly30 will be configured such that the distance ‘h’ between the planar beam splitter9 (beam splitter coating82) and the planar reflector10 (reflective coating84)) is given by:
• $h=\frac{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="d"\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">d</figure-callout>}}{2\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i}$
• The thickness ‘T’ of theglass block81 between thebeam splitter coating82 and thereflective coating84 defines the distance ‘h’ between the planar beam splitter9 (beam splitter coating82) and the planar reflector10 (reflective coating84)), thus theoptical assembly30 is configured such that the above mentioned condition for ‘h’ is met by choosing aglass block81 with the appropriate thickness.
• Theoptical assembly30 is configured such that the distance ‘d’ between two consecutive (i.e. two neighbouring) multiple beams15a-coutput from themultiple beam generator80 measured prior to being incident on the focusinglens11 is:
• $d=F\tan \left[\left(2k+1\right)\frac{{\theta }_P}{2}\right].$
• Theoptical assembly30 is configured such that the above conditions for ‘h’ and ‘d’ are met for the ‘central beam’. As the amplitude of the scanning angle increases, Θ_iwill change and the required value of ‘h’ to satisfy the condition on ‘d’ will thus change too. But it is difficult to have a changing thickness ‘h’ because the beam splitter and reflector should preferably be planar. In the present solution the variable Θ_p=λ/P is changed over the canning angle by having a microlens array which has an increasing pitch between the microlens, such as the condition on ‘d’ is constant with the change in input angle Θ_i. Preferably pitch P between the microlens in themicrolens array50 should preferably vary according to the following equation:
• $P=\frac{\left(2k+1\right)\mathrm{<figure-callout\; label="\lambda "\; filenames="US20180067332A1-20180308-D00000.png,US20180067332A1-20180308-D00002.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">\lambda </figure-callout>}}{2{\tan }^{-1}\left\{\frac{2h}{F}\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i\right\}}$
• wherein all the variables of this equation are fixed by the design of theoptical assembly30 and Θ_ivaries with the scanning of theMEMS mirror6.
• It will be understood that although thescreen3 shown inFIG. 5ais in the form of amicrolens array50, thescreen3 could alternatively be in the form of a micromirror array having the same pitch conditions between consecutive micromirrors as those described above for themicrolens array50. It will also be understood that any of the above described optical assemblies could have ascreen3 in the form shown inFIG. 5a. Also it will be understood that thescreen3 may alternatively comprise a micromirror array and similarly the pitch between consecutive micromirror in the micromirror array may be equal to (P_eff/cos Θ_scan).
• Furthermore, it will be understood that in each of the above-mentionedimage projector2,2b,2cand/oroptical assembly embodiments1,20,30,40,60 the focusinglens11 may take any suitable form; for example the focusinglens11 may be a simple converging lens, a plano convex lens, double convex lens or a F-theta lens. Additionally, or alternatively, the focusinglens11 may be further configured to correct chromatic aberration; for example the focusinglens11 may be an achromatic lens such as an achromatic doublet or lens with a surface grating which is configured to correct chromatic aberration.
• In each of the above mentionedimage projector2,2b,2cand/oroptical assembly embodiments1,20,30,40,60 the alight source4 may be configured to emit collimatedlight beams5 in pulses, each pulse of light defining a single pixel of a projected image. Each pulse may comprise the amount of red, green and blue light beams necessary for defining a corresponding pixel of the projected image; thus in this case the red, green and blue light beams are emitted by the light source simultaneously in the same pulse. One problem which may arise by having the red, green and blue light beams in the same pulse is that each of the red, green and blue light beams are incident on the same position on the focusinglens11; as a result due to chromatic aberration the red, green and blue light beams will be focused to different points on thescreen3 thus compromising the resolution of the projected pixel.
• To obviate or mitigate this problem thelight source4 may be configured to emit pulses of green, red and blue light beams consecutively in independent pulses, rather than emitting them simultaneously in the same pulse. Preferably the time of the emission of the green, red and blue light beams is synchronized with the orientation of theoscillating MEMS mirror6 so that the red, green and blue light beams are incident at predefined respective positions on the focusinglens11. The predefined respective positions are such that the red, green and blue light beams are focused to same point on thescreen3 by the focusinglens11.
• The chromatic aberration of the focusinglens11 is a known value; typically known from the lens manufacturer or it can be calculated using well known equations in optics; it can also be measured using a detector placed after the focusinglens11. Thus, the chromatic aberration is known for each pixel of a projected image. The optical assembly can also include a position sensor which is configured to measure the position and the speed of oscillation theMEMS mirror6 about itsoscillation axes7a,7b, so that the position and the speed of oscillation of theMEMS mirror6 is known at all-times. Knowing the speed and the position of theMEMS mirror6, and knowing the chromatic aberrations of the focusinglens11 for each red, green and blue light beam, allows calculating the time of the emission of the green, red and blue light beams to compensate the chromatic aberration such that the green, red and blue light beams are focused to the same point on thescreen3 by the focusing lens11:
• For example, due to the effects of chromatic aberration the blue light portion of a pixel is offset by a fixed distance of ‘x mm’ with respect to the green light portion of a pixel at a given scanning angle α of the MEMS mirror. At this given scanning angle α, the speed of oscillation of theMEMS mirror6 is ‘ω’ in degree/second and the scannedspot16 moves on thescreen3 at a speed ‘v’ in mm/s. To compensate for the effects of chromatic aberration, thelight source4 is configured to emit independent pulses of blue, red and green light, consecutively, for each pixel to be projected; the red, green and blue pulses combine on thescreen3 to form an pixel. The amount of blue, red and green light in the each pulse is according to the amount of blue, red and green colour in the pixel to be projected. Importantly in present invention, when theMEMS mirror6 is detected to be at its given scanning angle α, and oscillating at a speed of ‘ω’ in degree/second, the blue light pulse which is to define blue colour portion of the pixel is emitted at a time delay of ‘t=x/v’ seconds after the green light pulse which is to define the green colour portion of the pixel such that the blue and green pulses are incident at thesame position16 on thescreen3 to form thepixel17. A similar operation will be done for the emission of the red light pulse. ‘t’ defines the time delay between consecutive red, green and blue pulses. The time delay of the emission of the green, red and blue light beams can vary for each position of theMEMS mirror6 because the aberration and the speed of theMEMS mirror6 also vary throughout the oscillation amplitude of theMEMS mirror6 will vary. Thus the synchronization of the emission of the independent red, green and blue light beams from thelight source4 with the oscillation of the MEMS mirror, so that the red, green and blue light beams are incident on predefined respective points on the focusinglens11 such that they are focused by the focusinglens11 onto the same point on thescreen3, can be used to correct chromatic aberration.
• Various modifications and variations to the described embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiment.

Claims (17)

1-15. (canceled)

16. An image projector comprising:

a light source to provide a light beam;

a MEMS mirror arranged to receive the light beam and to reflect the light beam;

one or more multiple-beam-generators, each of the one or more multiple-beam-generators comprising:

a planar beam splitter arranged to receive the light beam reflected by the MEMS mirror and transmit at least part of the light beam; and

a planar reflector to receive the part of the light beam which is transmitted through the planar beam splitter to generate multiple beams, the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector arranged in parallel; and

a focusing lens arranged to receive the multiple beams generated by the one or more multiple-beam-generators, for each of the one or more multiple-beam-generators, the distance (h) between the planar beam splitter and planar reflector is such that the optical distance (OD) between the planar beam splitter and planar reflector is greater than, or equal to, half the coherent length of the light beam.

17. The image projector ofclaim 16, the MEMS mirror to oscillate about at least one oscillation axis to scan the light beam across the one or more multiple-beam generators.

18. The image projector ofclaim 16, the one or more multiple beam generators comprising a planar beam splitter element defining the planar beam splitter and a planar reflector element defining the planar reflector, the planer beam splitter element and the planar reflector element arranged in parallel and spaced apart such that there is an air-gap between the planar beam splitter element and the planar reflector element, wherein the optical distance (OD) is defined as:

$\mathrm{OD}=\frac{t}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}+\frac{h}{\cos \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n\sin {\theta }_2}{n_3}\right)\right]}$${\theta }_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$

wherein ‘t’ is the thickness of the planar beam splitter element, ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence angle of the light beam on the planar beam splitter element, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the light beam passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter element, ‘n’ is the refractive index of planar beam splitter element, ‘h’ is the distance between the planar beam splitter element and planar reflector element, ‘n3’ is the refractive index of the air in the air-gap.

19. The image projector ofclaim 16, the one or more multiple beam generators comprising:

a block of transparent material having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface;

a planar coating of semi-reflective material on the first surface, the planar coating of semi-reflective material defining the planar beam splitter; and

a planar coating of reflective material on the second surface, the planar coating of reflective material defining the planar reflector, wherein the optical distance (OD) is defined as:

$\mathrm{OD}=\frac{h}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}$

wherein h is this distance between the coating of semi-reflective material and the coating of reflective material, and Θ₂is

${\theta }_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$

wherein ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence (AOI) of the light beam5 on the planar coating of semi-reflective material (82), ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the light beam5 passes before it is incident on planar coating of semi-reflective material, ‘n’ is the refractive index planar coating of semi-reflective material.

20. The image projector ofclaim 16, comprising a plurality of multiple-beam-generators arranged in optical communication, wherein the planar beam splitter and the planar beam reflector of each of the plurality of multiple-beam-generators lie on differently orientated planes.

21. The image projector ofclaim 16, the planar beam splitter configured to have a beam splitting ratio of 40% reflection to 60% transmission.

22. The image projectorclaim 16, the planar beam splitter arranged such that the part of the light beam to be transmitted through the planar beam splitter and reflected by the planar reflector passes directly to the focusing lens without passing back through the planar beam splitter.

23. An optical assembly comprising,

an image projector comprising:

a light source to provide a light beam;

a MEMS mirror arranged to receive the light beam and to reflect the light beam;

one or more multiple-beam-generators, each of the one or more multiple-beam-generators comprising:

a planar beam splitter arranged to receive the light beam reflected by the MEMS mirror and transmit at least part of the light beam; and

a planar reflector to receive the part of the light beam which is transmitted through the planar beam splitter to generate multiple beams, the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector arranged in parallel; and

a focusing lens arranged to receive the multiple beams generated by the one or more multiple-beam-generators and transmit the light through the focusing lens, for each of the one or more multiple-beam-generators, the distance (h) between the planar beam splitter and planar reflector is such that the optical distance (OD) between the planar beam splitter and planar reflector is greater than, or equal to, half the coherent length of the light beam;

a screen to receive light transmitted through the focusing lens and to diffuse the received light; and

a head-up-display to receive light diffused by the screen.

24. The optical assembly ofclaim 23, comprising a numerical aperture which is greater than a predefined numerical aperture value representing the numerical aperture of a viewer, wherein the numerical aperture of the optical assembly is defined as (d/2)/(F·M), wherein M is the magnification of the head-up-display, and F is the focal length of the of the focusing lens11, and d is the distance between two consecutive multiple light beams output from the multiple beam generator and prior to said multiple light beams being incident on the focusing lens.

25. The optical assembly ofclaim 24, the one or more multiple beam generators comprising a planar beam splitter element defining the planar beam splitter and a planar reflector element defining the planar reflector, the planer beam splitter element and the planar reflector element arranged in parallel and spaced apart such that there is an air-gap between the planar beam splitter element and the planar reflector element, wherein the optical distance (OD) is defined as:

$\mathrm{OD}=\frac{t}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}+\frac{h}{\cos \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n\sin {\theta }_2}{n_3}\right)\right]}$${\theta }_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$

wherein ‘t’ is the thickness of the planar beam splitter element, ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence angle of the light beam on the planar beam splitter element, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the light beam passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter element, ‘n’ is the refractive index of planar beam splitter element, ‘h’ is the distance between the planar beam splitter element and planar reflector element, ‘n3’ is the refractive index of the air in the air-gap, wherein ‘d’ satisfies the condition:

$d=2\left(t\tan {\theta }_2+h\tan {\theta }_3\right)\cos {\theta }_i$${\theta }_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$${\theta }_3={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n\sin {\theta }_2}{n_3}\right)$

wherein ‘t’ is the thickness of the planar beam splitter element, ‘Θ_i’ is the angle of incidence (AOI) of the light beam on the planar beam splitter element, ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the light beam passes before it is incident on the planar beam splitter element, ‘n’ is the refractive index of planar beam splitter element, ‘h’ is the distance between the planar beam splitter element and the planar reflector element, ‘n3’ is the refractive index of the material which occupies the space between planar beam splitter element and planar reflector element.

26. The optical assembly ofclaim 24, the one or more multiple beam generators comprising:

a block of transparent material having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface;

a planar coating of semi-reflective material on the first surface, the planar coating of semi-reflective material defining the planar beam splitter; and

a planar coating of reflective material on the second surface, the planar coating of reflective material defining the planar reflector, wherein the optical distance (OD) is defined as:

$\mathrm{OD}=\frac{h}{\cos \left({\theta }_2\right)}$

wherein h is this distance between the coating of semi-reflective material and the coating of reflective material, and Θ₂is

${\theta }_2={\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{n_1\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)$

wherein ‘Θ_i’ is the incidence (AOI) of the light beam5 on the planar coating of semi-reflective material (82), ‘n1’ is the refractive index of the material in which the light beam5 passes before it is incident on planar coating of semi-reflective material, ‘n’ is the refractive index planar coating of semi-reflective material, wherein ‘d’ satisfies the condition:

$d=2h\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i$

wherein ‘h’ is the distance between the coating of semi-reflective material (82) and the coating of reflective material (84), n is the refractive index of the block of transparent material (46,81), Θ_iis the angle of incidence of the light beam on the of semi-reflective material (82).

27. The optical assembly ofclaim 24, the screen comprising a microlens array, wherein ‘d’ satisfies the condition:

$d=F\tan \left[\left(2k+1\right)\frac{{\theta }_p}{2}\right]$

wherein F is the focal length of the of the focusing lens, k is an integer which is the order of the multiple-beam-generator, and Θ_pis equal to:

${\theta }_p=\frac{\lambda }{p}$

wherein λ is the wavelength of the light beam and ‘P’ is the pitch of the microlens array.

28. The optical assembly ofclaim 26, wherein the distance ‘h’ between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector satisfies the condition:

$h=\frac{d}{2\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i}$

wherein ‘n’ is the refractive index of material between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector, Θ_iis the angle of incidence of the light beam on the beam splitter, and ‘d’ is the distance between two consecutive multiple light beams which are output from the multiple beam generator and prior to said multiple light beams being incident on the focusing lens.

29. The optical assembly ofclaim 26, wherein the screen comprises a microlens array and wherein the microlens array comprises different sized microlens so that the microlens array has a plurality of different pitch lengths between microlens, or wherein the screen comprises a micromirror array wherein the micromirror array comprises different sized micromirrors so that the micromirror array has a plurality of different pitch lengths between micromirrors.

30. The optical assembly ofclaim 29, wherein the pitch (P) between consecutive microlens' is equal to:

P=(P_eff/cos Θ_scan)

wherein P_effis a predefined effective pitch value and Θ_scanis the angle of incidence of the light from the projector device on the microlens′.

31. The optical assembly ofclaim 29, wherein the pitch (P) between consecutive microlens' is equal to:

$P=\frac{\left(2k+1\right)\lambda }{2{\tan }^{-1}\left\{\frac{2h}{F}\tan \left[{\sin }^{-1}\left(\frac{\sin {\theta }_i}{n}\right)\right]\cos {\theta }_i\right\}}$

wherein k is an integer which is the order of the multiple beam generator, Θi is the angle of incidence of the light beam of the planar beam splitter, F is the focal length of the collimating lens, λ is the wavelength of the light beam, ‘h’ is the distance between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector, n is the refractive index of material between the planar beam splitter and the planar reflector.

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