The Army has initiated a flexible display research program. This program is part of the Army's strategy to create technologies that will enable revolutionary designs and transformational weapons systems for the Objective Force. The ARL flexible display program is more general than just for the dismounted soldier-it will also have implications for air and vehicular crews, and for the other services, even though it is not a DoD tri-service program per se. “Flexible” is defined in the program as displays that operate under conditions from conformal applications, limited flexing, to rollable displays for compact storage. The Army program will include display manufacturing concepts that enable roll-to-roll processes reduce cost, to tap a strong U.S. domestic industrial strength, and, eventually, to enable fabrication of very large sizes. There is commercial interest in flexible displays for applications ranging from wearable electronics for road-warriors and gamers to large screen 71-in. 1920x1200 color pixel consumer high definition television sets for walls. Industry willingness to cost share will be a key criterion in identifying investment opportunities that are necessary and timely from among all that may be envisioned. Some anticipated military applications and a roadmap are presented that identify the technology barriers at the materials, device and manufacturing levels to the creation of flexible display technology.

In the past, cockpit displays have had a limited role in that they were capable only of displaying information that was generated by other equipmentin the aircraft. Examples of this can be seen when we look at system architectures consisting of separate mission computers, map generators, engine data generators, and air data computers. These individual boxes take sensor information and perform the computations which feed the displays. With the advent of new technology offering super miniature, high speed components, potentially all processing can now be accomplished within the displays themselves while also allowing for a wide range of interfaces. In aircraft applications, this allows an architecture whereby the remote sensors feed directly into the displays, thus greatly reducing cabling requirements, reducing weight as well as reducing overall cost due to reduction in the number of boxes. System reliability is also greatly improved due to redundancy of functions between multiple displays in the aircraft. This paper discusses such an application and describes a display designed for aircraft fighter applications containing multiple processing capability. New system architecture is described which takes advantage of this capability.

Immediate concerns in multi-layered display development centre around a method to describe and measure the trade-off between Moire interference, viewed as rainbow coloured bands, and image sharpness. Since displays are only wholly defined in conjunction with an observer, we need to find a map between what is perceived, what is measured and the actual design artefacts. A perceptually weighted metric describing the trade-off forms the central node. If we approach the node from the physical embodiment we need measurements and if we approach from the observer, we need to find out if what they are actually seeing is well described by the metric.

Personnel in airport control towers monitor and direct the takeoff of outgoing aircraft, landing of incoming aircraft and all movements of aircraft on the ground. Although the primary source of information for the Local Controller, Assistant Local Controller and the Ground Controller is the real world viewed through the windows of the control tower, electronic displays are also used to provide situation awareness. Due to the criticality of the work to be performed by the controllers and the rather unique environment of the air traffic control tower, display hardware standards, which have been developed for general use, are not directly applicable. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requested assistance of Air Force Research Laboratory Human Effectiveness Directorate in producing a document which can be adopted as a Tower Display Standard usable by display engineers, human factors practitioners and system integrators. Particular emphasis was placed on human factors issues applicable to the control tower environment and controller task demands.

Scanned Beam Display (SBD) technology provides a versatile high performance microdisplay architecture that results in a mix of cockpit display capabilities including sunlight legible see thru, wide FOV, full color, high resolution, light head weight, low power HMDs and highly legible HUDs. SBD displays use a scanned optical beam, resulting in CRT-like image quality while having the most desirable features of flat panel display HMDs as well.

Much of the guidance provided to designers of visual displays is highly simplified because of historical limitations of visual display hardware and software. Vast improvements have been made in processors, communication channel bandwidth, and display screen performance over the past 10 years; and the pace of these visual system improvements is accelerating. It is now time to undertake a critical review of the true performance capability of the human visual system (HVS). Designers can now expect to realize systems that optimize (increase) worker productivity rather than minimize the negative impact on human effectiveness of hardware artifacts like low resolution - spatial, gray level, and temporal - relative to the real world. Myths and realities of human vision are examined to show where some assumptions used by designers are not based on solid research. Some needed new human vision studies are identified. An ideal display system is described that would enable, rather than limit, full exploitation of HVS capability.

For the first time, an avionic grade MVA AM LCD with wide viewing angle has been developed for use in either landscape or portrait mode. The development of a high resolution Multi-domain Vertical Alignment (MVA) Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display (AM LCD) is described. Challenges met in this development include achieving the required performance with high luminance and sunlight readability while meeting stringent optical (image quality) and environmental performance requirements of avionics displays. In this paper the optical and environmental performance of this high resolution 14.1” MVA-AM-LCD are discussed and some performance comparisons to conventional AM-LCDs are documented. This AM LCD has found multiple Business Aviation and Military display applications and cockpit pictures are presented.

American Panel Corporation in Alpharetta Georgia and LG-Philips-LCD in Seoul South Korea have a strategic alliance for the design and manufacture of custom AMLCD products targeted for the military vehicle and avionics sector. As part of this relationship, new innovations in AMLCD technology specifically aimed at the rugged and avionics applications have been developed and are now brought to the marketplace

Scientific Research Corporation designed a Smart Multi-Function Color Display with Positive Pilot Feedback under the funding of an U. S. Navy Small Business Innovative Research program. The Smart Multi-Function Color Display can replace the obsolete monochrome Cathode Ray Tube display currently on the T-45C aircraft built by Boeing. The design utilizes a flat panel color Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display and TexZec's patented Touch Thru Metal bezel technology providing both visual and biomechanical feedback to the pilot in a form, fit, and function replacement to the current T-45C display. Use of an existing color AMLCD, requires the least adaptation to fill the requirements of this application, thereby minimizing risk associated with developing a new display technology and maximizing the investment in improved user interface technology. The improved user interface uses TexZec's Touch Thru Metal technology to eliminate all of the moving parts that traditionally have limited Mean-Time-Between-Failure. The touch detection circuit consists of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf components, creating touch detection circuitry, which is simple and durable. This technology provides robust switch activation and a high level of environmental immunity, both mechanical and electrical. Replacement of all the T-45C multi-function displays with this design will improve the Mean-Time-Between-Failure and drastically reduce display life cycle costs. The design methodology described in this paper can be adapted to any new or replacement display.

Your man/machine interface must be available 100% of the time. Naturally, your display therefore must be an environmentally ruggedized, full color, tri-notch filtered, high-contrast, sunlight readable, active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) with a heater, a cold-cathode fluorescent backlight, and dual mode day/night dimming ranges. For graphically rich, multifunction indication with a need for full color, this could be so; but for a dedicated-function or alphanumeric multiple function display, the size, cost of packaging that AMLCD into your available envelope could be prohibitive; not to mention the latent expense of managing the source stability risks. For dedicated functional requirements a rugged, backlit direct drive or low mux rate segmented or dot matrix transflective LCD may be a very cost effective solution. Three instruments that provide just such a solution for a bubble canopy environment and that also include NVIS Green A chromaticity and NVIS Class A radiance-compliant LED backlighting will be reviewed, along with their operational requirements.

High performance cockpit displays utilizing Commercial-Off-The-Shelf COTS Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) have been and continue to be produced successfully. The challenge is to maintain consistency of performance because of COTS limitations. It is not the purpose of this paper to solve all problems associated with COTS. Major LCD performance issues will be discussed along with avenues for solutions from lessons learned.

Affordable performance and survivability is the key to providing displays for new Army programs. The Towed Artillery Digitisation (TAD) program applies COTS computers and communications to traditional artillery functions in order to increase lethality and effectiveness at minimal expense. The human interface requires the flexibility of displays to facilitate the decision loop and to implement the gun interface. GDC is tasked with providing two different displays for the TAD program and this paper will focus on how functional and performance requirements were met at affordable cost. The TAD displays operate in extreme environmental conditions and we describe both the functions of these displays within the TAD system and how GDC addressed the environmental issues.

Stereo imagery has been a goal in optics research since the invention of the stereoscope in 1834. While the market has been inundated with displays of various types, sizes, and formats, no general purpose, easy to use, inexpensive method for the display of imagery in stereo has been developed. The benefits of stereo vision are numerous and quickly become apparent when attempting to perform simple tasks without the aid of stereo cues. Numerous approaches to the display of stereo imagery have been demonstrated. Stereoscopic displays typically require the user to wear special headgear. Autostereoscopic displays, so named because they do not require the headgear, typically have tight limitations on the position of the viewer's head. The research proposed here will investigate the application of two readily available, inexpensive liquid crystal panels sandwiched together to form a compact, rugged stereoscopic display. The appropriate drive signals are provided to the two stacked panels, which encode in polarization, the left and right images. Standard polarized 3D glasses can then be used to view the image in stereo. The proposed display will provide stereo pairs without loss of resolution or frame rate and without strict limitations on the placement of the viewer’s head.

We propose a novel true 3-D display based on holographic optics, called HAD (Holographic Autostereoscopic Display), or Holographic Inverse Look-around and Autostereoscopic Reality (HILAR), its latest generation. It does not require goggles, unlike the state of the art 3-D system which do not work without goggles, and has a table-like 360° look-around capability. Also, novel 3-D image-rendering software, based on Beowulf PC cluster hardware is discussed.

We report the design, fabrication, and test of a micromirror-based 3D display system. This real-time and full-color 3D display system has left and right eye views in the forms of both still and motion 3-D scenes, and the viewers were able to fuse the stereo information. Furthermore, we report the design concepts for defense applications of this 3D display system.

Manufacturing of active matrix OLED full color displays has begun at SK Display; a joint venture between Eastman Kodak Co. and Sanyo Electric Corporation. The manufacturing process is based on vacuum deposition of organic materials to form thin emissive layers of OLED films patterned to emit red, green and blue light. A number of innovations have enabled mass production including the development of linear sources, precision shadow mask technology, white emitter with color filter array, and sealing and desiccant technology. The first product is a 2.2 inch diagonal panel full color panel with 521 x 218 dots. A technology demonstration project was recently done on the manufacturing line to make a 15 inch diagonal 3840 x 720 dot HDTV format display with exceptional viewing qualities.

In this paper we will outline the technical challenges and progress towards enabling a novel communication device based on a roll-out, low power consumption, OLED display. Advanced mobile communication devices require a bright, high information content display in a small, light-weight, low power consumption package. We believe that phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) technology fabricated on a truly flexible substrate, enables a mobile Universal Communication Device (UCD) to offer a high information content display in an extendable form, while rolling up into a small form factor when not in use. This communication device is of great interest for a range of both consumer and military applications. From the display perspective, the key component is achieving a long-lived, low power consumption display. We believe the OLEDs are the preferred display media, and in this talk we will outline our flexible phosphorescent OLED technology. The key to reliable operation is to ensure that the organic materials are fully encapsulated in a package designed for repetitive flexing. UDC has been developing long-lived flexible OLED (FOLED) displays based on plastic substrates and multi-layer monolithic encapsulation. Recent progress in this area will also be reported. Finally, we will outline the backplane requirements for flexible OLED displays and compare the various technology options that can be used to fabricate the UCD.

Flexible displays fabricated using plastic substrates have a potential for being very thin, light weight, highly rugged with greatly minimized propensity for breakage, roll-to-roll manufacturing and lower cost. The emerging OLED display media offers the advantage of being a solid state and rugged structure for flexible displays in addition to the many potential advantages of an AM OLED over the currently dominant AM LCD. The current high level of interest in flexible displays is facilitating the development of the required enabling technologies which include development of plastic substrates, low temperature active matrix device and backplane fabrication, and display packaging. In the following we will first discuss our development efforts in the PEN based plastic substrates, active matrix backplane technology, low temperature (150°C) a-Si TFT devices and an AM OLED test chip used for evaluating various candidate designs. We will then describe the design, fabrication and successful evaluation and demonstration of a 64x64 pixel AM OLED test display using a-Si TFT backplane fabricated at 150°C on the flexible plastic substrate.

Active-matrix organic/polyeric light emitting displays (AMOLEDs/AMPLEDs) are of great potentials for high information content display applications. They offer high brightness, fast response time, high image quality (high contrast, high gray levels and small pixel pitch size) and low power consumption. AMPLEDs are ideal for portable electronic devices such as web-phones, personal data assistants, GPS and handhold computers. AMPLEDs are especially suitable for motion picture applications. Since the image pixels consume power only when they are turned on, and only consume the power necessary for their corresponding brightness, video displays made with AMOLED/AMPLED reduce power consumption and extend display lifetime considerably. Motion picture applications also minimize image retention and optimize display homogeneity. In this presentation, we discuss our recent progress on AMPLEDs and compare their performance with that of AMLCD.

BlackScreen rear-projection display screens, developed by Jenmar Visual Systems, are well suited for cockpit avionics applications primarily because they exhibit both high image resolution and high ambient light rejection. These characteristics combine to produce highly visible high-contrast images, even in very brightly lit viewing environments. On-screen optical noise commonly referred to as speckle and grain, can be a problem in these screens. This paper will describe the methods we have developed to measure speckle and grain. We will also show data from prototype screens that we have modified to reduce the magnitude of these artifacts.

Embedded training is to enhance and maintain the skill proficiency of fleet/armor personnel in taking advantage of the capabilities built into or added onto operational systems, subsystems, or equipment. Physical Optics Corporation (POC) is developing a new scene projector system (collimating display system for out-the window) for simulation applications, where it can fully be integrated into tanks, automobiles, submarines, and other vehicles. This concept integrates the advanced holographic technology with Beowulf computer-cluster highly parallel microprocessors.

D-ILA modulators and projectors based on LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) technology have been developed. The compact reflection-mode modulators have resolution of up to 2048 x 1536 pixels for projection display applications. Research projectors have demonstrated resolution of 3840 x 2048 pixels. D-ILA projectors feature high contrast and a close-spaced pixel structure that creates high quality imagery. The structure of the D-ILA will be reviewed and current performance of D-ILA projectors characterized.

Decision makers from a variety of disciplines need to review large quantities of high-resolution visual information in real time. Data sets ranging from millions to billions of pixels or voxels are not uncommon and the number of simultaneous users many vary from one user to tens of users. A large area display of 2m by 4m, not an uncommon size, requires 95 million pixels to achieve near eye limiting resolution when viewed a 1m distance. The required size and resolution of these images far exceeds the ability of a single projection display. It is therefore necessary to devise techniques to seamlessly tile images from multiple projectors to meet this need. This paper discusses the difficulties in tiling multiple projectors, and the methods currently used to overcome them. Large area images exhibit geometric distortions caused by projector misalignment, imperfect lenses and folding mirrors and those from the displays themselves. The images, if uncorrected, generally have luminance and color variations both between, and within, each projector channel. Finally, the images must be tiled in such as way as to have smooth transitions between each of the projector channels.

Command and control in today's battlefield environment requires efficient and effective control of massive amounts of constantly changing information from a variety of databases and real-time sensors. Using advanced information technology for presentation and interactive control enables more extensive data fusion and correlation to present an accurate picture of the battlespace to commanders and their staffs. The Interactive DataWall being developed by the Advanced Displays and Intelligent Interfaces (ADII) technology team of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate (AFRL/IF) is a strong contender for solving the information management problems facing the 21st century military commander. It provides an ultra high-resolution large screen display with multi-modal, wireless interaction. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology has been combined with specialized hardware and software developed in-house to provide a unique capability for multimedia data display and control. The technology once isolated to a laboratory environment has been packaged into deployable systems that have been successfully transitioned to support the warfighter in the field.

A large seamless display that could be set up rapidly, operated effectively, and moved quickly would be a great value to the military. Such a display system would be even more beneficial if it consisted entirely of easily available, commercial, off-the-shelf components, not dependent on a single supplier. We have designed a seamlessly tiled projection system to meet these needs. The system consists entirely of easily available, commercial, off-the-shelf equipment. We created software that records the location of projected images as detected by a digital camera, computes the movements necessary to align the images, and drives the projection lenses to align the seamlessly tiled display. We developed a method for rapid mechanical mounting of the projectors and camera. We chose commercial folding stands and a mirror-based alignment method that accelerated the mechanical setup. In field trials, our prototype was operational within one-half hour of opening the shipping cases.

Avionics projection displays are entering production in advanced tactical aircraft. Early adopters of this technology in the avionics community used projection displays to replace or upgrade earlier units incorporating direct-view CRT or AMLCD devices. Typical motivation for these upgrades were the alleviation of performance, cost and display device availability concerns. In these systems, the upgraded (projection) displays were one-for-one form / fit replacements for the earlier units. As projection technology has matured, this situation has begun to evolve. The Lockheed-Martin F-35 is the first program in which the cockpit has been specifically designed to take advantage of one of the more unique capabilities of rear projection display technology, namely the ability to replace multiple small screens with a single large conformal viewing surface in the form of a panoramic display. Other programs are expected to follow, since the panoramic formats enable increased mission effectiveness, reduced cost and greater information transfer to the pilot. Some of the advantages and technical challenges associated with panoramic projection displays for avionics applications are described below.

Direct-view CRT and AMLCD multifunction displays (MFDs) in legacy aircraft are often upgraded for purposes of improved performance, reduced cost and/or avoidance of parts obsolescence. Rear projection technology is an attractive option in dealing with all these issues, as is discussed herein. Specifically, the design and features of a compact full-color rear projection MFD intended to replace a monochrome CRT-based system in a tactical military aircraft is described. Because of its small size and high performance, this system can be adapted for various other applications.

Transparent electronics is a nascent technology whose objective is the realization of invisible electronic circuits. Part of the impetus for the development of transparent electronics is the recent availability of p-type transparent conductive oxides (TCOs). With the emergence of p-type TCOs, in addition to conventional n-type TCOs such as indium-tin oxide, tin oxide, and zinc oxide, fabrication of transparent bipolar electronic devices becomes feasible. The first part of this paper reviews TCOs and discusses our work in the development of p-TCOs and alternative TC materials (e.g. sulfides). We have recently invented a novel, n-channel, accumulation-mode transparent thin-film transistor (TTFT). This TTFT is highly transparent, has very little light sensitivity, and exhibits electrical characteristics that appear to be suitable for implementation as a transparent select-transistor in each pixel of an active-matrix liquid-crystal display (AMLCD). Moreover, the processing technology used to fabricate this device is relatively simple and appears to be compatible with inexpensive glass substrate technology. The second part of this paper focuses on TTFTs. If transparent electronics is employed to realize transparent back-plane electronic drivers on transparent substrates, fabrication of a transparent display becomes feasible. The third part of this paper offers an approach for realization of a transparent display.

With the increasing use of night vision goggles and night missions, new methods to display information in the infrared region is of interest. We have developed both inorganic and organic electroluminescent thin films which emit at wavelengths between 700 nm and 1.8 μm. These thin films have been incorporated into simple devices and the feasibility of a NIR flat panel display has been demonstrated. Both inorganic zinc sulfide and organic polymers doped with rare earth lanthanide ions have been demonstrated. The wavelength of emission can be varied by choosing the appropriate lanthanide ion, such as dysprosium, erbium, thulium or neodymium. Power densities of ~30 μW/cm² have been achieved with these devices.

The military display market (MDM) is analyzed in terms of one of its segments, wearable and portable displays. Wearable and portable displays are those embedded in gear worn or carried by warfighters. Categories include hand-mobile (direct-view and monocular/binocular), palm-held, head/helmet-mounted, body-strapped, knee-attached, lap-born, neck-lanyard, and pocket/backpack-stowed. Some 62 fielded and developmental display sizes are identified in this wearable/portable MDM segment. Parameters requiring special consideration, such as weight, luminance ranges, light emission, viewing angles, and chromaticity coordinates, are summarized and compared. Ruggedized commercial versus commercial off-the-shelf designs are contrasted; and a number of custom displays are also found in this MDM category. Display sizes having aggregate quantities of 5,000 units or greater or having 2 or more program applications are identified. Wearable and portable displays are also analyzed by technology (LCD, LED, CRT, OLED and plasma). The technical specifications and program history of several high-profile military programs are discussed to provide a systems context for some representative displays and their function. As of August 2002 our defense-wide military display market study has documented 438,882 total display units distributed across 1,163 display sizes and 438 weapon systems. Wearable and portable displays account for 202,593 displays (46% of total DoD) yet comprise just 62 sizes (5% of total DoD) in 120 weapons systems (27% of total DoD). Some 66% of these wearable and portable applications involve low information content displays comprising just a few characters in one color; however, there is an accelerating trend towards higher information content units capable of showing changeable graphics, color and video.

The US Army has been evolving advanced cockpit designs for future ground combat vehicles through a series of technology development programs that began in the early 1990s. The current effort, the Crew-integration & Automation Testbed (CAT) program, is focused on providing direct transition to the next generation of Army vehicles. This paper describes the cockpit concept, its evolution, and the experimentation plan.

This paper explains the use of CIELUV delta E* calculations for the optimization of colors for avionic displays serving as primary flight displays (PFD). It explains how to choose a white reference, and over what range to use the equations, to get consistent results. Example delta E* values that could be achieved on a typical primary flight display are provided, along with a recommendation of what represents "clearly discriminable" colors. A spreadsheet implementing the delta E* equations is available to simplify the calculations and present the results in graphical form.

Flight Visions has developed, for the Crew System Interface Division of the Air Force Research Laboratories a set of developmental brassboards which demonstrate advanced approaches to head-up display design. These brassboards employ different configurations of digital light engine technologies to serves as the image projector.

LCD projection-based cockpit displays are beginning to make entry into military and commercial aircraft. Customers for commercial Head-Up Displays (HUDs)(including airframe manufacturers) are now interested in the adaptation of the technology into existing and future HUD optical systems. LCD projection can improve mean-time-between-failure rates because the LCDs are very robust and the light sources can be replaced with scheduled maintenance by the customer without the need for re-calibration. LCD projectors promise to lower the cost of the HUD because the cost of these displays continues to drop while the cost of CRTs remain stable. LCD projectors provide the potential for multi-colors, higher brightness raster, and all-digital communication between the flight computer and display unit. Another potential benefit of LCD projection is the ability to increase field of view and viewing eyebox without exceeding existing power budgets or reducing display lifetime and reliability compared to the capabilities provided by CRTs today. This paper describes the performance requirements and improved performance of a third-generation LCD projection image source for use in a wide field of view head-up display (HUD) optical system. This paper will focus on new HUD requirements and the application of various technologies such as LCOS microdisplays, arc lamps, and rear-projection screens. Measured performance results are compared to the design requirements.

A summary is provided of a comprehensive industry status report and roadmap available from www.usdc.org. Continued improvements in LCD technology are being driven by home entertainment applications, leading to better color and video response. Competing technologies, such as PDP and OLED and electronic paper must either exploit inherent advantages for such applications or focus on other market niches that are not being addressed well by mainline LCD technology. Flexible displays provide an opportunity for innovative technologies and manufacturing methods, but appear to bring no killer applications.

This paper presents an update on the progress to commercialize a new, unique replacement for the powder phosphor currently used in projection cathode ray tubes (CRTs). The new display technology designated Resonant Microcavity Phosphor display (RMP), is now being tested for use in CRTs similar to those currently used in commercial rear projection televisions. This new technology allows resolution, brightness and dynamic range well beyond what is possible with current powder phosphor approaches. Recent test data on operational red, blue and green RMPs faceplates will be presented. Additionally, this paper gives engineers a basic understanding of the characteristics and advantages of the RMP display technology. Some of the key reasons for the need for a new phosphor for the projection CRT are presented. Current and future RMP Display performance is presented. Another future application for RMP technology is as a narrow-band electronically addressable light source, an economical replacement for laser scanning. The technology also has many other applications where a uniform, large area, narrow-band light source or confined beam (non-Lambertian), electron excited light generation is required.

The demand for more pixels in digital displays is beginning to be met as manufacturers increase the native resolution of projector chips. Tiling several projectors still offers one solution to augment the pixel capacity of a display. However problems of color and illumination uniformity across projectors need to be addressed as well as the computer software required to drive such devices. In this paper we present the results obtained on a desktop size tiled projector array of three D-ILA projectors sharing a common illumination source. The composite image on a 3 x 1 array, is 3840 by 1024 pixels with a resolution of about 80 dpi. The system preserves desktop resolution, is compact and can fit in a normal room or laboratory. A fiber optic beam splitting system and a single set of red, green and blue dichroic filters are the key to color and illumination uniformity. The D-ILA chips inside each projector can be adjusted individually to set or change characteristics such as contrast, brightness or gamma curves. The projectors were matched carefully and photometric variations were corrected, leading to a seamless tiled image. Photometric measurements were performed to characterize the display and losses through the optical paths, and are reported here. This system is driven by a small PC computer cluster fitted with graphics cards and is running Linux. The Chromium API can be used for tiling graphics tiles across the display and interfacing to users' software applications. There is potential for scaling the design to accommodate larger arrays, up to 4x5 projectors, increasing display system capacity to 50 Megapixels. Further increases, beyond 100 Megapixels can be anticipated with new generation D-ILA chips capable of projecting QXGA (2k x 1.5k), with ongoing evolution as QUXGA (4k x 2k) becomes available.

Military displays have been limited first by the availability of CRT and then AMLCD for color multifunctional displays. Projection display technology has been offered as an alternative. With the growth of the LCOS based consumer projection display industry, commercially off the shelf (COTS) components and technology are becoming readily available. A projection display system addresses the lessons learned from the CRT or AMLCD based attempts. This approach presents multiple vendors and user defined aspect ratio, resolution, brightness and color. This paper will present the latest work at ColorLink, Inc. on a two-panel LCOS based projection light engine developed for the consumer industry driven Rear Projection Television (RPTV) market. This engine demonstrates throughput, contrast and color performance that exceeds military requirements using COTS technology and components. We will introduce the core technology and philosophy followed by this industry in defining such a product.

Light-measurement instrumentation based upon high-quality charge-coupled-devices (CCD) is currently in use for measuring the characteristics of electronic displays. When such array detectors are used to measure scenes or images having high contrasts or wide color variations, they can suffer from the effects of veiling glare or lens flare and thereby inaccurately measure the darker luminances because of a mixing of the scene luminances or colors. A liquid-filled simulated-eye design (SED) camera was constructed to improve the ability to measure such images by reducing the internal scattering that contributes to the veiling glare. This paper discusses the investigation of the use of various liquids, in particular the effects of scattering within the liquids.

The purpose of this paper is to review the important properties of electronic displays and to examine how these properties should be characterized. The adequacy of specifications used by vendors to describe the properties of flat panel displays is assessed, both from the perspective of manufacturers wishing to differentiate their products and of users trying to match their acquisitions to the demands of a particular application.