Proceedings Article | 9 February 2009
Proc. SPIE. 7206, Reliability, Packaging, Testing, and Characterization of MEMS/MOEMS and Nanodevices VIII
KEYWORDS: Image quality, Mirrors, Laser based displays, Distortion, Micromirrors, Laser scanners, Image processing, Cameras, 3D scanning, Projection systems
The scanning laser display technology is one of the most promising technologies for highly integrated projection display
applications (e. g. in PDAs, mobile phones or head mounted displays) due to its advantages regarding image quality,
miniaturization level and low cost potential. As a couple of research teams found during their investigations on laser
scanning projections systems, the image quality of such systems is - beside from laser source and video signal
processing - crucially determined by the scan engine, including MEMS scanner, driving electronics, scanning regime
and synchronization. Even though a number of technical parameters can be measured with high accuracy, the test
procedure is challenging because the influence of these parameters on image quality is often insufficiently understood.
Thus, in many cases it is not clear how to define limiting values for characteristic parameters.
In this paper the relationship between parameters characterizing the scan engine and their influence on image quality will
be discussed. Those include scanner topography, geometry of the path of light as well as trajectory parameters.
Understanding this enables a new methodology for testing and characterization of the scan engine, based on evaluation
of one or a series of projected test images. Due to the fact that the evaluation process can be easily automated by digital
image processing this methodology has the potential to become integrated into the production process of laser displays.
