Design of an electrooptic light valve projection display

A display device, e.g., projection TV, can be made by scanning, with an electron beam, a large sheet of electrooptic crystal in a light valve configuration. The design equations indicate the following. 1) The transfer function will be reasonably linear. 2) The resolution measured at the crystal will be the order of two TV lines per crystal thickness at 15 percent sine; wave response. 3) The output light spectrum can be nearly white. 4) Writing rates of the order of 10 MHz are feasible with conventional high-resolution CRT electron guns. 5) Large screen image brightnesses of the order of 40 to 50 fL are obtainable with xenon arc lamps and f/l collimator lenses. 6) Image contrast will generally be limited by the polarizer-analyzer quality. The electrooptic crystals must be several hundred millimeters in diameter and several tenths of a millimeter thick. Obtaining such crystals is the most serious obstacle to device construction.