Image panel having composite image using color changing with backlight illumination
Embodiments of an image panel are provided. The image panel includes a transparent substrate having a first major surface and a second major surface opposite the first major surface. A first image layer is disposed on the second major surface. A diffuser layer is disposed on the first image layer, and a second image layer is disposed on the diffuser layer. The second image layer includes mask regions and image regions. An optical density of the image panel is at least 3.0 in the mask regions and less than 3.0 in the image regions. The image regions are not visible from the first major surface when light is not incident upon the second major surface. The image regions are visible from the first major surface and form a composite image with the first image layer when light is incident upon the second major surface.
1. An image panel, comprising:
a transparent substrate comprising a first major surface and a second major surface, the second major surface being opposite the first major surface;
a first image layer disposed on the second major surface of the transparent substrate;
a diffuser layer disposed on the first image layer, wherein the diffuser layer reflects ambient light passing initially through the first image layer to enhance visibility of the first image layer through the transparent substrate from the ambient light such that the image panel exhibits a first image from the ambient light when the image panel viewed from the first major surface;
a second image layer disposed on the diffuser layer, wherein the diffuser layer is configured to block visibility of the second image layer from the ambient light, wherein, when the image panel is backlit from the second major surface, the second image layer modifies a color of a region of the first image to form a composite image when the image panel is viewed from the first major surface, wherein, when the second major surface is backlit, light is transmitted through inks of the second image layer and the first image layer to form the composite image via subtractive color mixing from the light by material of both the first image layer and the second image layer.
2. The image panel of claim 1 , wherein the second image layer defines one or more image regions where the second image layer comprises an optical density of 0.5 or less.
3. The image panel of claim 2 , wherein the one or more image regions are not visible when the image panel is viewed from the first major surface under ambient light.
4. The image panel of claim 1 , further comprising a black ink layer defining one or more opaque regions, wherein, within the opaque regions, the optical density of the image panel is at least 3.0.
5. The image panel of claim 1 , wherein the optical density of the diffuser layer is from 1.0 to 2.0.
6. The image panel of claim 1 , wherein in a region of the image panel, the first image layer comprises a first color having first CMYK values, the second image layer comprises a second color having second CMYK values, and the composite image comprises a third color having third CMYK values that are different from the first CMYK values and the second CMYK values.
7. The image panel of claim 1 , wherein the first image layer comprises a decal adhered to the second major surface of the transparent substrate.
8. The image panel of claim 1 , wherein the first image layer comprises an ink layer printed onto the second major surface of the transparent substrate.
9. The image panel of claim 1 , wherein the diffuser layer comprises one or more white ink layers printed onto the first image layer.
10. The image panel of claim 1 , wherein a first ink of the second image layer and a second ink of the first image layer are semitransparent and comprise optical densities of 0.5 or less.
11. The image panel of claim 1 , wherein the composite image has a different number of elements than the first image.
12. An image panel, comprising:
a glass substrate comprising a first major surface and a second major surface, the second major surface being opposite the first major surface;
a first image layer disposed on the second major surface of the glass substrate, wherein, in a region of the image panel, the first image layer comprises a first ink having a first color;
a diffuser layer disposed on the first image layer, wherein the diffuser layer reflects ambient light passing initially through the first image layer to enhance visibility of the first image layer through the glass substrate from the ambient light such that the image panel exhibits a first image from the ambient light when the image panel viewed from the first major surface;
a second image layer disposed on the diffuser layer, wherein the diffuser layer is configured to block visibility of the second image layer from the ambient light, wherein:
in the region, the second image layer comprises a second ink having a second color different from the first color, and
when the region is backlit from the second major surface, light is transmitted through both the second ink and the first ink to form a composite image having a third color that is different from the first color and the second color via subtractive color mixing from the light by material of both the first image layer and the second image layer.
13. The image panel of claim 12 , further comprising a black ink layer defining one or more opaque regions, wherein, within the opaque regions, the optical density of the image panel is at least 3.0.
14. The image panel of claim 13 , wherein the second image layer defines one or more image regions where the second image layer comprises an optical density of 0.5 or less.
15. The image panel of claim 14 , wherein the one or more image regions are not visible when the image panel is viewed from the first major surface under ambient light.
16. The image panel of claim 12 , wherein the optical density of the diffuser layer is from 1.0 to 2.0.
17. The image panel of claim 12 , wherein the diffuser layer comprises one or more white ink layers printed onto the first image layer.
18. The image panel of claim 12 , wherein the first ink and the second ink are semitransparent and comprise optical densities of 0.5 or less.
19. The image panel of claim 12 , wherein the composite image has a different number of elements than the first image.