US Patent 8384852 Hybrid daylight-coupled backlights for sunlight viewable displays

An daylight-coupled display includes a plurality of passive backlights cascaded in a stack for backlighting of LCD panels or static display panels. The display includes a diffuser to transmit light to multiple cascaded curved reflectors, each of which reflects light for backlighting of the display. A polarization rotator is located within the backlight such that the reflectors provide the correct polarization of light to the LCD panel for backlighting of it. One daylight-coupled display can include an active light source to provide light to the reflectors A secondary light source can provide light to at least one of the reflectors to provide backlighting of the display in low lighting conditions.