ILLUMINATION SYSTEM WITH LIGHT RECYCLING TO ENHANCE BRIGHTNESS

摘要

An optical illumination system is comprised of: (a) a light source means having a reflective emitting surface and an intrinsic luminance (brightness); (b) a light transmitting means; (c) a light reflecting means to reflect and recycle a portion of the light emitted by the light source means back to the light source means; and (d) a light extracting means to extract a portion of the light from the light transmitting means and direct the light to the output of the illumination system. The resulting illumination system achieves an enhanced output luminance. Under certain conditions, it is possible to achieve an output luminance that is greater than the intrinsic luminance of the bare light source.