Active thermal management of a display panel

1. A system comprising:

a display panel;

display optics configured to project images generated by the display panel to a user's eye;

a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the display panel;

a thermoelectric device coupled to a backside of the display panel and configured to transfer heat to or from the display panel; and

a controller electrically coupled to the temperature sensor and the thermoelectric device, the controller configured to:

receive a first signal comprising the temperature of the display panel measured by the temperature sensor;

compare the temperature of the display panel with a target temperature;

send, upon determining that the temperature of the display panel is greater than the target temperature, a second signal to the thermoelectric device, wherein the second signal causes the thermoelectric device to remove a first quantity of heat from the display panel; and

send, upon determining that the temperature of the display panel is lower than the target temperature, a third signal to the thermoelectric device, wherein the third signal causes the thermoelectric device to provide a second quantity of heat to the display panel to increase the temperature of the display panel.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the thermoelectric device includes a Peltier heat pump.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the second signal and the third signal are direct current signals having opposite current flow directions.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the thermoelectric device includes a heater and a cooler.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a heat sink coupled to the thermoelectric device, the heat sink including a thermal conductive material and configured to dissipate heat to or absorb heat from ambient air.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the heat sink is a back portion of an eye cup.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

upon determining that the temperature of the display panel is greater than the target temperature, determine the first quantity of heat based on a first difference between the temperature of the display panel and the target temperature; and

upon determining that the temperature of the display panel is lower than the target temperature, determine the second quantity of heat based on a second difference between the temperature of the display panel and the target temperature.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to maintain the temperature of the display panel within ±5% of the target temperature in a proportional integral derivative (PID) control loop.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the temperature sensor is embedded within the display panel.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the display panel comprises a silicon substrate.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the thermoelectric device is characterized by an area that is a fraction of an area of the display panel.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the display panel comprises a plurality of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the display panel includes an active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the target temperature includes a range of temperatures.

15. A method comprising:

receiving a first signal comprising a measured temperature of a display panel behind display optics of a near-eye display system;

comparing the measured temperature of the display panel with a target temperature; and

controlling a thermoelectric device coupled to the display panel, the controlling comprising:

sending, upon determining that the measured temperature of the display panel is greater than the target temperature, a second signal to the thermoelectric device to cause the thermoelectric device to remove a first quantity of heat from the display panel; and

sending, upon determining that the measured temperature of the display panel is lower than the target temperature, a third signal to the thermoelectric device to cause the thermoelectric device to provide a second quantity of heat to the display panel to heat the display panel.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

upon determining that the measured temperature of the display panel is greater than the target temperature, determining the first quantity of heat based on a first difference between the measured temperature of the display panel and the target temperature; and

upon determining that the measured temperature of the display panel is lower than the target temperature, determining the second quantity of heat based on a second difference between the measured temperature of the display panel and the target temperature.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising repeatedly performing the receiving, the comparing, and the controlling in a proportional integral derivative (PID) control loop to maintain the measured temperature of the display panel within ±5% of the target temperature.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the measured temperature of the display panel is determined by a temperature sensor embedded within the display panel.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the thermoelectric device includes a Peltier heat pump; and

the second signal and the third signal are direct current signals having opposite current flow directions.

20. A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, the computer-program product including instructions configured to cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first signal comprising a measured temperature of a display panel behind display optics of a near-eye display system;

comparing the measured temperature of the display panel with a target temperature; and

controlling a thermoelectric device coupled to the display panel, the controlling comprising:

sending, upon determining that the measured temperature of the display panel is greater than the target temperature, a second signal to the thermoelectric device to cause the thermoelectric device to remove a first quantity of heat from the display panel; and

sending, upon determining that the measured temperature of the display panel is lower than the target temperature, a third signal to the thermoelectric device to cause the thermoelectric device to provide a second quantity of heat to the display panel to heat the display panel.