Optical filter devices and methods for passing one of two orthogonally polarized images

• Main Author: NEMETH EDWARD ALLEN
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 15.05.2012
• Subjects: ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

Shutter glasses or other viewing mechanisms for selectively passing one separable image in a composite image stream, which includes a first image stream polarized at a first orientation and a second image stream polarized at a second orthogonal orientation. The apparatus includes a first switchable optical rotator that receives the composite image stream and rotates the first and second image streams by 90 degrees or passes them unchanged. A first polarization filter is placed adjacent to the first optical rotator and is aligned to pass the first image stream when the first optical rotator rotates the image streams and to pass the second image stream when the images are passed without rotation. The apparatus includes a second switchable optical rotator that selectively rotates the image stream to choose a time slot for viewing, and a second polarization filter passes image streams at the first or second orientation to a viewer.