Rugged fiber-optic backlight

By Rick DeMeis, Senior Technical Editor -- Design News, December 2, 2002


Light from an ELD source is carried by optical fibers in the backlight panel to back-illuminate the LCD display.

The Poly-Optical Products fiber-optic backlight is designed to illuminate, via light "piping," all types of LCD displays—reflective, transmissive, or transflective—to provide excellent visibility at night or in dark, shaded areas. It is more compact than comparable electroluminescent (EL) backlights. Other advantages over EL include lower cost, because no dc/ac inverter is needed, and the wide range of colors available from LED light sources. A patented UniGlo^® process is used to remove cladding on the sides of the optical fibers to introduce light where needed. Handling options include a peel-off protective film on the backlight to expose an adhesive to bond the device to the display, easing installation.

Applications include rugged use such as off-road motorcycle odometer/speedometers. One such unit made by ICO Racing (Lacomb, LA) employs transflective a display, which is keyed by a thumb switch to light (see figured). The arrangement eliminates the need for a rider—traveling at high speed during a rally in darkness or dust—from having to remove his/her hands from the handle bars to turn on a separate lamp to see conventional, non-illuminated displays. An orange/amber LED is used to preserve night vision while maintaining instrument visibility.

Nancy Callanan, Poly-Optical Products, A Division of Lumitex Inc., 17475 Gillette Ave., Irvine, CA 92614; Tel: (949) 250-8557; Fax: (949) 250-1840; E-mail: popi@poly-optical.com

For more information on backlights from Poly-Optical Products, enter 501 at www.designnews.com/info.

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