Retinal scanning display: light sources moving over the retina

A retinal scanning display is a new kind of display that directly uses the retina as a projection screen. This differs from, for example, a TV which first creates an image on a screen outside the eye. Although a retinal scanning display needs no screen, the principle of creating an image is similar to that of a TV. Where the TV uses an electron beam to create (scan) a raster pattern on a screen, a retinal scanning display uses a beam of light to scan a raster pattern on the retina. The way to get from an equally illuminated raster pattern to an image is to modulate the intensity of the beam as it scans. Since the eye does not look at a physical screen, people often wonder what the image of a retinal scanning display will look like. Upon seeing the image, the general response is: 'It looks just like a normal display'. In fact it is a normal display, but one that has many advantages compared to other kind of displays, such as: possibility of high brightness, large color gamut, possibility of high-resolution and good image quality.