WO2005106567A2

WO2005106567A2 - Rear projection cabinet-less display

Info

Publication number: WO2005106567A2
Application number: PCT/US2005/014209
Authority: WO
Inventors: Janek T. Dombrowa; Michael Perry
Original assignee: Dovi, Inc.
Priority date: 2004-04-26
Filing date: 2005-04-26
Publication date: 2005-11-10
Also published as: WO2005106567A3

Abstract

The present invention provides a display system that eliminates the need for a cabinet enclosure and allows for the projection of images towards an image screen at greater angles of incidence than previously achievable while maintaining image quality. Embodiments of the present invention reduce the emission of ambient or extraneous light from the image screen through the use of the refracting properties of the screen. The display system may utilize a transparent or translucent screen support that gives the appearance of a floating display. The image screen is specially configured through the use of a double lenticular lens such as a Fresnel lens using asymmetric prisms combined with a substantially opaque layer and a diffusing layer.

Description

REAR PROJECTION CABINET-LESS DISPLAY

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/565,332 filed on April 26, 2004, the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference in full.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and method to enable an integrated, compact, cabinet-less (i.e., unenclosed) image projection display system.

Discussion of the Related Art Rear projection display systems typically comprise an image source, a cabinet enclosure and an image screen. Cabinet enclosure is employed to reduce the emission of ambient light from the image screen. These cabinet enclosures shield the image screen and the path of light emitted by an image source from undesirable ambient or extraneous light. Notably, rear projection display systems typically comprise an image source which directs the image to be incident upon an image screen with a small angle of incidence. This is done to minimize and distorting effects that would result if the image were directed from an angle, as well as maximize the directivity of the image towards the viewers of the image screen (which typically face the image screen at a perpendicular angle) . More advanced systems allow the positioning of an image source at a greater angle, but use of a secondary mirror that is shaped direct the image against the screen. Current front projection systems may eliminate the cabinet enclosure by directing images toward the front of an opaque or nearly opaque image screen. The image screen, being opaque or nearly opaque does not suffer from the undesirable transmission of ambient light that is incident upon the rear of the screen because, by its very definition, the opaque or nearly opaque screen would absorb such light. Of course, such front projection screens are capable of reflecting light incident from the front. In current front projection systems, the image source (the component that projects an image to be displayed on the image screen) is located at a distance and in a location such that the angle of incidence of the image upon the image screen is small, often times in the range of zero degrees to thirty degrees. Such a small angle of incidence is done, as is done with the rear projection screens, to maximize the directivity of the image light towards the viewers of the image screen. Viewers of an image shown upon an image screen typically face the image screen at small angle (the direction in which they face is approximately perpendicular to the image screen) . Thus, the image source is also placed so that the angle of incidence is also at a small angle (given that the reflective nature of the forward projection screens causes the angle at which the image is at its maximal intensity to be approximately equal to the angle of incidence. Employing a small angle of incidence also may avoid the image distorting effects that could occur if the image were directed at the image screen from a greater angle.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention seeks to expand upon the art of projected displays by enabling a novel and beneficial display system which may, among other features, eliminate the need for a cabinet enclosure and allow for the projection of images towards an image screen at greater angles of incidence than previously achievable while maintaining image quality. Some embodiments of the present invention may reduce the emission of ambient or extraneous light from the image screen through the use of the refracting properties of the screen. The present invention disclosed herein also relates to a display system utilizing a transparent or translucent screen support, which gives the appearance of a floating display. The image screen is specially configured through the use of a double lenticular lens such as a Fresnel lens using asymmetric prisms combined with a substantially opaque layer and a diffusing layer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other advantages of the present invention are described more fully in the following drawings and accompanying text in which like reference numbers represent corresponding parts throughout: FIGS. 1A-1D (PRIOR ART) depict known image projection systems . FIGS. 2A-2c depict embodiments of an image projection system in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. FIGS. 3A-3B, 5A-5B and 6A-6D depict an image screen formed using a lenticular lens used in the image projection system of FIGS. 2a-2C. FIG. 4 depicts an image source used in the image projection system of FIGS. 2a-2C. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As depicted in FIG 1A, a typical rear projection system 101 comprises an image source 100 that outputs an image along multiple original vectors 110a, 110b. The outputted image is received and modified by an opaque image screen 120 that presents the modified image along modified vectors 130a, 130b for viewing by a viewer 140. Notably, the image source 120 typically directs the projected image to be displayed in a more perpendicular fashion to the image screen 120, as shown by vertical vector 150. Thus, the image screen 120 receives the projected image along the original vectors 110a and 110b, respectively, at angles θ_aι and θbi and modifies the projected image so that it is emitted toward the viewer 140 along the modified vectors 130a and 130b, respectively, at smaller angles θ_a2 and θj-₂. This modification by the image screen 120 is done to minimize distorting and attenuation effects that would result if the image were directed from an angle, as well as maximize the directivity of the image towards the viewer 140 of the image screen 120, which are typically face the image screen 120 at a perpendicular angle 150. Accordingly, best results are achieved with the configuration of FIG. 1A by minimizing angles θ_aι and θ_bi, such as by maximizing the distance from the image source 100 to the image screen 120. The known image screen 120 operates in known ways, whereby modification of the input image occurs for example, according to the transitivity of the screen 120 or its physical configuration . Turning now to FIG. IB, a typical configuration for a known enclosed rear projection display device 102 is depicted. Much like the configuration of FIG. 1A, the enclosed rear projection display of FIG. IB has the image projector 100 that creates is projects an image toward the image screen 120 that, in turn, modifies the projected image for viewing by the viewer 140. The enclosed rear projection display further includes a rear reflective surface 160 that directs the projected image along the original vectors 110a, 110b toward the image screen 120. Use of the reflective surface improves image system performance by effectively increasing the light path distance from the image projector 100 to the image screen 120, thereby decreasing the angles θ_aι and θ_bi. The rear projection display of FIG. IB further includes an enclosure 170 that surrounds and supports the image source 100, reflective surface 170, and the image screen 120. Thus, the rear projection display tends to be relatively large and unwieldy. Turning now to FIG. 1C, it can be seen that known imaging system 103 do not properly function when the image projector 100 is placed close to the image screen 120 at a relatively large angle. Such a configuration is desirable because it allows for a relatively smaller imaging device due to the decreased distance of the image source 100 to the image screen 120. One problem is that relative large angles, there is a significant difference in angles θ_aι and θi for different original vectors 110a and 110b. As a consequence, the output image from the image screen 120 may occur along the modified vectors 130a and 130b at drastically different angles θ_a2 and θ_b2. Consequently, the resulting image will be attenuated and have different brightness levels and appearance. While known imaging devices 104, such as applying a diffuser to the image screen 120 as depicted FIG. ID, may be used to address some of these problems, these known solution create additional undesirable effects, such as softening the image outputted from the image screen 120. As is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the angle of incidence of light upon a plane is measured with respect to the perpendicular of the plane. That is, light traveling directly at a plane (i.e., heading along a path that perpendicularly intersects the plane) has a zero degree angle of incidence, whereas light that travels almost along the surface of the plane would have an angle of incidence close to ninety degrees. Thus, ordinary forward and rear projection screens often employ small angles of incidence to increase the amount of light that is reflected or refracted toward the viewing audience. This is often necessary or desirable because of the nature of the screen on which the image is projected. In known projection systems, larger angles of incidence undesirably cause much of the light comprising the projected image to reflect or refract away from a viewer of the system. Turning now to FIG. 2A, the present invention addresses the needs of the known projection systems by providing a configuration whereby a compact, cabinet-less image system is enable through the use of an image projected placed in close distance at a relatively high angle to the image screen, with the screen adjusting the angled projected image for viewing by the viewer. As depicted in FIG 2A, an improved projection system 201 comprises an image source 200 that outputs an image along multiple original vectors 210a, 210b. The outputted image is received and modified by an opaque image screen 220 that presents the modified image along modified vectors 230a, 230b for viewing by a viewer 240. Notably, the image source

220 typically directs the projected image to be displayed in a more perpendicular fashion to the image screen 220, as shown by vertical vector 250. Thus, the image screen 220 receives the projected image along the original vectors 220a and 220b, respectively, at angles θ_aι and θ_bι and modifies the projected image so that it is emitted toward the viewer 240 along the modified vectors 230a and 230b, respectively, at similar, smaller angles θ_a2 and θ_b2, even though θ_aι is significantly larger than θi. As described above, this modification by the image screen 220 is done to minimize distorting and attenuation effects that would result if the image were directed from an angle, as well as maximize the directivity of the image towards the viewer 240 of the image screen 220, which are typically face the image screen 220 at a perpendicular angle 250. The operation of the image screen 220 in modifying the original projected image from the image source 200 is described in greater detail below. The present invention, however, may employ a image screen capable of adequately displaying images when the angle of incidence of the projected images are greater than those typically associated with known projection systems. Thus, image sources may be positioned such that the angles at which a projected image is incident upon the image screen may exceed 40 degrees. In the displayed configuration, the improved image device 201 of FIG. 2A further includes a support 260 for supporting and positioning the image projector 200 and the image screen 200 upon a resting surface 270. Thus, it can be seen that this configuration eliminates the need for an enclosure, further reducing the size and bulk of the display system. As depicted in FIG. 2B, the image source 200 in the image device 201' may alternatively be separately supported by a second support 280, separate from the support 270. Thus, the image source may be configured to attach to the top or side of the image screen 220. Additional light modifying elements may be incorporated into the support 260. For example, one or more mirrors 290 may be incorporated in the image device as needed to direct the projected image from the image projector 200 to image screen 220 as depicted in the image device 201" and 201"' of FIGS. 2C and 2D. Referring now to FIG. 3A a preferred embodiment of the present invention uses an image screen 220 with an imaging element 300 positioned as needed to receive and modify the image from the image projector 200. In this preferred embodiment, a substantial portion of the screen support is transparent. This transparent portion permits a greater view of the space on the other side of the display by not obstructing the view one would ordinarily have. Moreover, the transparent nature of the non-imaging portion of the display employed in the preferred embodiment gives the unique visual impression of a floating display - i.e., an image that is rendered without being connected to other components by wires or other distracting cables. Continuing with FIG. 3A, the one or more additional elements may be incorporated in the projection device 201 as needed to fulfill the need of the user. For example, video conference functionality could be enabled through the used of a camera 301, a microphone 302, and sound speakers 303 incorporated into the image projection device 201. Likewise, an embodiment of the image projection device 201 used as a television may incorporate only the speakers 303. As depicted in FIG. 3B, the imaging element 300 is typically sandwiched between two transparent layers 310, 320. As described in greater detail below, a preferred embodiment of the present invention uses the front and rear transparent layers 310, 320 are constructed from clear glass, and the middle imaging element 300 is a piece of glass on which a lensing element such as a Fresnel lens is cut into a portion 301. Alternatively, one or more of the layers 300, 310, 320, may be constructed from a different material. For example, the lensing layer 300 and rear layer 320 may be constructed from a lighter material such as optical quality Acrylic or plexiglass . The present invention may be employed as a cabinet-less system - that is, the space between the image source and the image screen need not be enclosed. Unlike other display systems which employ a housing or cabinet structure to enclose the region between a an image source and image screen, some embodiments of the present invention may eliminate this structure, thereby reducing production costs, reducing system weight, providing more readily accessible system components, and providing a unique system structure that beneficially attracts greater attention and focus to the image screen.

Some embodiments of the present invention can operate using this cabinet-less structure due to the refracting design of the image screen. Some embodiments of the refracting image screen may be referred to herein as an Ambient Light Blocking Asymmetric Prism (ALBAP) display 300. In the present invention, an image source directs an image to be display towards an image screen. The image screen is supported by the screen support and, in the preferred embodiment, the image screen is formed within the screen support. Under this preferred design, the screen support comprises a back layer of glass, an intermediary layer of glass that has had a portion of the glass removed, and a front layer of glass. The image screen is formed by placing a Fresnel lens in the portion of the intermediary layer of glass that has been removed. Of course, the materials used to construct support and image screens need not be limited to glass, but may beneficially employ optical quality acrylic or plexiglass, as these materials are lighter and less prone to shattering. Some embodiments of the image screen may beneficially operate by noticeably decreasing the amount of ambient light that is directed to viewers. In this respect, some embodiments of the image screen comprise ambient light blocking asymmetric prisms. The image screens are generally planar in structure, providing viewers the appearance of a flat panel display. Some embodiments of the present invention contain an image screen that forms only a portion of a screen support. In some of the these embodiments, portions of the screen support that surround the image screen may be transparent or translucent, allowing viewers of the display system to see through the screen support where otherwise an opaque screen would be present. This favorably allows greater view of the projected image. In the event that a light source such as a window or lamp is located on the other side of the screen support, greater light diffusion may be allowed into the room. Of course, as screen supports increase in size, the potential for blocking a greater portion of visual field increases .

However, the transparent or translucent nature of portions of the screen support found in certain embodiments of the present invention permit increased flow of light across the portions of the screen support that are not used as the image formation. Given that some embodiments of the present invention have screen supports that are 100 inches are greater in the diagonal, screen may prove to be increasingly beneficial as sizes of screen supports increase. Moreover, the atypical nature of a floating image (an image that is merely surrounded by transparent or translucent material - and thus may appear to be floating) contemplated in some of the embodiments of the present invention draws greater attention to the image. This allows certain embodiments of the present invention to have greater effectiveness in delivering information, be it for advertising, educational instruction, collaborative meetings or other purposes. The present invention also contemplates an image screen 220 that appears fully transparent or translucent. This might be achieved by the selective layering of transparent or translucent materials or the selective use of dopants into the screen support. Regardless of how it is achieved, such a feature could be employed in practicing the present invention. The lensing layer 300 can be created in several ways. Ordinarily, such a screen may comprise a Fresnel or Off-Axis Fresnel lenses . For thin screens a TIR type Fresnel lens may be used. The additional of a diffuser sheet on top of the lens creates. In the preferred embodiment, a TIR curved prism lens, radial tint and a diffuser sheet are combined to form the image screen. Such a combination has lead to thinner and brighter displays with greater contrast and higher resolution. Specifically, the imaging element 300, as depicted in FIG. 5A is preferably a layered lensing configuration 500 having a double lenticular application for wider horizontal angle and better contrast. Specifically, the double lenticular application 500 has a Fresnel lensing layer 510, a diffusing layer 520, and an anti-reflective (AR) layer 530. The lensing layer 510 is selected as needed to achieve desired performance and may be, for example, Spartech 133 LPI lenticulars . Light from the Fresnel lensing layer 510 will be focused at a desired exit position. Double Lenticular 510 is composed with two clear lenticulars and black printing technology. For example, the lenticular side of one sheet 510 may be painted black. Also the lenticular lens is used for light focus and scattering as usual, and the Lens may be convex like Toppan or DNP. The diffusing layer 520 may be a Nimbus film diffuser with half angle of 8 degrees. The lensing layer 510 may be Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) prismatic crystals held together by LLDPE plastic. Alternatively as depicted in FIG. 5B, the lensing layer 510 and diffusing layer 520 may be a hybrid diffusing layer where the lenticular lens is produced by a known diffuser material. The hybrid diffusing layer may further include a tint layer 540 with Photo Masking (70%) or Privacy Filter (78%) In one implementation, the pitch of the lensing layer 510 is 64μm to 98μm. The hybrid diffuser may have properties, as shown in Table 1 :

Table 1: Hybrid Diffuser Gs Ha Vα SR 5 35-40 15-20 N/A

Overall, the screen has properties as shown in Table 2

Table 2 : Screen Gs Hα Vα SR 3.5 35-40 15-20 2.7

Thus, the Hybrid Diffuser may be a unique diffuser included with a lenticular, concave lens. The tint layer 540 blocks light forward at least 30% and can be used as a low Haze diffuser to reduce milky color. Referring now to FIG. 6A, benefits of the double lenticular configuration of FIG. 5B and now described. The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 6A uses standard prismatic reflects in the lensing layer 510 to direct the light energy 601, indicated with rays 1, 2, 3, and 4 that enter at a high angle of incidence. However, as can be seen by following light energy 601, the standard prismatic lensing layer 510 internally inverts the orientation of the light energy 601 pairs 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, thereby distorting the viewed image . To address this problem, a preferred implementation of the lensing layer 510 depicted in FIG. 6B preferably includes focusing prism sections 610 having curved surfaces 620 for properly focusing the projected image. A front view of the The curved surfaces, typically circular, parabolic or other conic shape, are configured according to the pitch of the curved prisms 610 and the angle that the light energy 601 enters the curved prisms 610 in order to intentionally create prismatic distortion as needed to redirect light energy 601 in the proper orientation. Thus, it can be seen in the example that light energy 601, indicated with rays 1, 2, 3, and 4 that enter at a high angle of incidence leave the layered lensing configuration 500 without internal prismatic inversion of the rays . Referring to FIG. 6C, as described above, an painted opaque layer 630 with specifically designed slots adapted to the double lenticular configuration further allows for increased contrast and direction of the projected image. The opaque layer 630 typically tints 70-90% of the surface area, leaving a clear gap of 10-30%. Specifically, the opaque layer 630 is configured to block ambient light that emerges from lensing prism layer 610 at different angles from light from the image projector 200. A clear separation 640 between the opaque layer 630 and the diffusion layer further helps to improve system performance. As a result, the imaging element 300 blocks light from all directions except that of the 40-60 degree angle from below that the light engine 100 projects onto the screen. This eliminates the need for an enclosure or cabinet to block ambient light as needed to increase brightness and contrast of the picture. For example, the Blue Ocean ® screen of U.S. NIPPURA, INC. of Charlotte, NC or the Advanced Projection Screens from Luminoz of Tokyo, Japan. FIG. 6D depicts a front or rear view of the lensing layer 510 in a preferred implementation of the embodiment of the FIG. 6C. Specifically, the prism sections 610 are configured in circular or curved arcs extending from a central location. The present invention can be beneficially employed in a wide range of uses and limitless locations . A few examples of the locations that the present invention may be employed include businesses, government offices and facilities, homes, hotel rooms and modes of transportation including trains, ships and airplanes . Some embodiments of the present invention have additional features designed to provide additional functionality often sought for presentations, collaborative meetings or development activities. In particular, some systems may be equipped with a screen enabled to display writings input by users of the system. The screen support or image screen may be composed of or coated with a material on which writings may be directly physically written. Such materials, for example, might be chosen so that dry erase markers may be used to draw or write onto the screen support or image screen. More advanced models may contain a screen support, image screen or other separate or additional components sensitive to pressure or other physical, electrical or magnetic phenomena by which a user may electronically incorporate writings and drawings on to the screen support, image screen or other system components . In the embodiments that permit writings and drawings, such writings and drawings are removable (i.e., erasable) . Depending on the nature of the writings and drawings, the erasing may be done physically, electronically or magnetically. In more advance models, the writings and drawings may be transmitted to other locations across a communications link or a communications network or may be printed out onto physical copies. Of course, those embodiments of the present invention that allow for writing upon the screen support need not have this functionality over the entire screen support or image screen. It may be sufficient for some embodiments to have only a fraction of the screen support or image screen capable of accepting writings and drawings . The aforementioned writing and drawing features are particularly well suited for collaborative, pedagogical and development activities and may be employed in any context, but are often associated with businesses, government, and educational and research institutions. Some embodiments of the present invention may be designed to permit a change in the size of the image screen. This may be done by appropriately adjusting the image source settings and replacing the image screen. In those embodiments in which the image screen is mounted on a screen support, the image screen might be replaced independently of the screen supported. In some embodiments in which the image screen is formed within the screen support, the entire screen support may be replaced. Turning now to FIG. 4, an image source 200 producing a projected image 401 is described is greater detail. Image source 200 operates according to known designs and technology, but it should be appreciated that the configurations of the present invention may be modified as needed to incorporate newly developed technology. Referring back to FIG. 4, the image source 200 generally included a light source 410; a selectively transmissive image device 420; one or more image modification devices 430 such as lenses; and one or more light path redirection devices 440 such as mirrors. The light source 410 may be a standard light bulb or other known technology for producing desired light energy characteristics, such as a desired wavelength or combination of wavelengths and desired intensity. In a preferred implementation of the present invention, the image projection device of FIG. 2A employs a solid-state light source with no moving parts, greater efficiency, lower heat, and greater reliability, using for example light emitting diodes, to produce light energy having desired characteristics. For example, Qubic Light of Sausalito, California (www. qubiclight . com) produced several solid state light sources that may be used within the present invention. Continuing with FIG. 4, the selectively transmissive image device 420 is used to modify the light output from the light source 410 as needed to create the desired projected image. For example, known selectively transmissive image devices include digital light processing (DLP) and liquid crystal displays (LCDs) . It should be appreciated that while FIG. 4 depicts a single selectively transmissive image device 420, there may be multiple such devices. For example, it is common to have three separate selectively transmissive image devices 420, each separately controlling blue, green, and red wavelengths, which combine to form a color image. The image selectively transmissive image device 420 is typically connected to a processor 450 that received and processes video data and then directs the operation of the selectively transmissive image device 420 according to that video data. The processor may further need to modify the input video data as needed for projection on the imaging device 201 of the present invent. For example, as seen in FIG. 2a, the projected image from the image device 200 sent a such an extreme angle to the image screen 220, that the top of the screen is attenuated and stretched out in comparison to the image portion at the bottom of the screen at a lower angle of incidence. Consequently, the image 450 processor may compensate for this attenuation by intentionally compressing the top portion of the projected image. In the same way, the image processor 450 may compress the top portion of the image horizontally, thereby creating an initially trapezoidal projection in order to compensate from the resulting horizontal image stretching of the top image portion from greater projection image distance and angle. Similarly, the top image portion may be initially brighter in order to accept brightness loss from the screen. Of course, various modifications of the embodiments disclosed herein are readily apparent to one skilled in the art after reading the above. Any and all such modifications are intended to be covered by the application as claimed.

Claims

What is claimed is :

1. A rear-projection digital window display system comprising: a screen support; a substantially planar image screen supported by the screen support, wherein said image screen comprises a double lenticular lens layer and a substantially opaque layer attached to a side of the double lenticular lens layer; a projection image source that directs a projected image across a space towards a rear side of the image screen; said space being substantially unenclosed; said projected image incident upon the image screen at substantially varying angles of incidence; said image screen substantially refracting said projected image incident upon the image screen such that the angles of refraction of the refracted projected image are generally smaller than the angles of incidence of the projected image, whereby the angle of reflection is substantially uniform regardless of the ; a base supporting the screen support.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the projected image has an angle of incidence greater than 40 degrees measured with respect to the image screen.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the image screen is formed within in a portion of the screen support.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein a portion of the screen support is substantially transparent.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the image screen generally reduces the amount of ambient light that is refracted towards a viewer of the image screen.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the image screen comprises : an intermediary layer comprising a Fresnel lens; a back layer comprising a transparent material, the back layer being affixed upon a first side of the intermediary layer; a front layer comprising a transparent material affixed upon a second side of the active layer.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the Fresnel lens comprises a plurality of prisms have at least one curved surface.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the Fresnel lens is an ambient light-blocking asymmetrical prism screen.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the image screen further comprises a layer of light diffusing material.

10. The system of claim 1 further comprising a image source support connected to a top surface of the screen support, wherein the image source is connected to the image source support.

11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a image source support connected to a side surface of the screen support, wherein the image source is connected to the image source support .

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the projected image has angles of incidence with the image screen that substantial vary, and said angles of incidence are at least partially refracted by the image screen so that the angle of refraction of the projected image is smaller than the refracted into a direction into the screen.

13. A rear-projection digital window display system comprising: a screen support; an substantially transparent image screen supported by the screen support; a rear-projection image source, wherein the image source broadcasts an image across an unenclosed space towards the image screen, wherein said image is incident upon the image screen; said image screen refracting said image incident upon the image screen, wherein said image screen is an ambient light- blocking asymmetrical prism screen; and a base supporting the screen support.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein at least a portion of said image has an angle of incidence greater than 40 degrees measured with respect to the perpendicular of the image screen.

15. The system of claim 13, further comprising a media interface for controlling the image source to direct a media- type projected onto the image screen, wherein the media-type projected may be selected from at least television shows, movies, and internet accessible content.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the image screen is screen is formed within the screen support.

17. A digital window display system comprising: an image screen displaying means for receiving and modifying an image from an image source projecting means for broadcasting the image, wherein the image source projecting means broadcasts the image across a space towards the image screen displaying means at an angle of incidence of at least 40 degrees measured with respect to a perpendicular of the image screen displaying means, and wherein the space between the image source projecting means and the image screen displaying means is without an enclosure; and an image screen support means for supporting the image screen means .

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a media interface for controlling the image source to direct a media- type projected onto the image screen, wherein the media-type projected may be selected from at least television shows, movies, and internet accessible content.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the image screen is screen is formed within the screen support.