Application Example: Mobile Displays

Mobile devices such as smartphones, e-readers, and watches are becoming ubiquitous in today’s world. Precise optical engineering is required to optimize the performance of mobile features such as the camera system, sensors, and the display. A key design objective for a mobile display is uniform illumination over its area and range of viewing angles. In addition, it should have high optical efficiency to reduce power consumption and increase battery life. Edge-lit LED screens accomplish this by using compact and efficient LED lights coupled into a transparent waveguide. Elements such as reflective back surfaces, microstructure patterns, brightness-enhancing films, and diffusers can be incorporated into the display to increase efficiency and uniformity. In this FRED model, an edge-lit LED smartphone display is virtually prototyped. Uniform illumination is achieved by incorporating a gradient diffuser along the waveguide.

A full description of this application example can be found here: Mobile Displays Application Example

Download the FRED file: mobile-displays.frd