Importance

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Abstract

A light valve has a composite substrate comprised of an electrically insulating substrate and a semiconductor single crystal thin film formed over the electrically insulating substrate. A pixel array comprising semiconductor switch elements is formed in the semiconductor single crystal thin film. A peripheral circuit having circuit elements is formed in the semiconductor single crystal thin film so that a small-sized, high speed light valve is obtained. X- driver and Y-driver circuits are formed in the semiconductor single crystal thin film and controlled by a control circuit, such as a video signal processing circuit, which receives and processes video signals inputted directly from an external source. The peripheral circuit can be a DRAM sense amplifier for sensing charges stored in each pixel of the pixel array to detect defects in the pixel array. The peripheral circuit can be a photosensor circuit for detecting an intensity of incident light to monitor the performance of a light source of the light valve. The peripheral circuit can be a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of a liquid crystal layer of the light valve, and may be comprised of Darlington connected NPN transistors formed in the semiconductor single crystal thin film. The peripheral circuit can also be a solar cell for converting incident light into electrical energy to supply power to at least one of the pixel array, X-driver and Y-driver circuits and the peripheral circuit.

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First Claim