The optical simulation of an air-guide edge-lit

The air-guide edge-lit without a light guide panel has been developed to meet the low manufacturing cost of a surface illuminator. The performance of the light guide inside the air layer between the curved reflector, used as the rear surface, and a flat light diffuse plate, at the front surface, depends on the shape of reflector curve and the BRDF (bidirectional reflectance distribution function) of the material of reflector. The goal of this study is to develop a ray-tracing simulation model in order to design the curve shape of the air-guide edge-lit meeting the luminance uniformity. In the present study, the BRDFs of reflector materials were measured and calibrated. The simulation accuracy in the luminance uniformity of the model was examined, and the influence of BRDF at the high angle of incidence on simulation accuracy was discussed.