Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Three-dimension
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-13
2003-02-04
Vo., Cliff N. (Department: 2671)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Three-dimension
C345S419000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06515663
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for and method of controlling liquid-crystal-display (LCD) shutter glasses and, more particularly, to an apparatus and a method capable of alternately making the right and left LCD-type shutter of the LCD shutter glasses transparent. An observer who wears the said LCD shutter glasses controlled by the said apparatus to stare any planar picture will feel the three-dimension effect of said picture.
2. Description of Prior Art
With the arrival of the multimedia era and the advancement of technology, three dimensional image displaying systems has become an integral function of video game software, especially when building a three dimensional application software on a PC with the accompaniment of LCD Shutter Glass or Head Mounted Display. With the above setup, consumers can experience virtual reality. Using LCD Shutter Glass as an example, binocular disparity is commonly used to create depth perception and three-dimensionality such that an observer who wears the said LCD shutter glasses to watch any planar picture will feel the three-dimension effect of said picture.
Binocular disparity refers to the condition where when one stares at an object, there is a slight inconsistency between the images projected onto the left and right retinas due to different sight angles for the left eye and the right eye. After the optic nerves process. the slightly inconsistent images the viewer experiences the sensation of three-dimensional effect. In simpler terms, if a special method is used to form a first and second image from a purely two dimensional picture, and there exists between the first and second images a fixed discrepancy, and the left and right eyes are each limited to view only either the first or second image, then a three-dimensional effect can be achieved through binocular disparity. The function of the LCD Shutter Glass is as follows: when an image meant for left-eye-viewing is displayed, the LCD Shutter Glass's left lens transmits light while the right lens blocks light, and vice versa. Via the alternating light blocking and light transmitting functions of the lenses, the viewer experiences effect of three-dimensionality.
Investigation shows that traditional 3D imaging systems (such as D3D, OpenGL,) mostly utilize the following principle (please refer to FIG.
1
):
Hypothesize that an object
11
is placed in a virtual space, and the object's outline can be sketched by connecting a first apex
111
, a second apex
112
, a third apex
113
, a fourth apex
114
, and so on. In simpler terms, any object can be sketched by tracing the vectors of certain apexes. Therefore, if one wishes to display the object
11
on the screen
13
, a first viewpoint
12
(for example the left eye of a person) could be of assistance, projecting the first apex
111
onto the computer screen
13
, making it a first displaying point
141
. The procedure is repeated for the second apex
112
, the third apex
113
, and the fourth apex
114
, making them show up on the screen
13
as a second displaying point
142
, a third displaying point
143
, and a fourth displaying point
144
, respectively. Then using a 3D Rendering Engine habitually employed by the industry, connect and outline the first displaying point
141
, the second displaying point
142
, the third displaying point
143
, and the fourth displaying point
144
. Subsequently, a first 3D image
14
is displayed on the computer screen. Only this kind of 3D image cannot create depth perception as binocular disparity can, and therefore is unable to supply the sensation of three-dimension one experiences in the real world. Hence, the invention refers to images made by a single viewpoint using linear perspective “3D images,” not real “three-dimensional images.”
The solution is to pair the first apex
111
with a second viewpoint
15
(such as a person's right eye), and project a fifth displaying point
161
. Then, repeat the procedure with the second apex
112
, the third apex
113
, and the fourth apex
114
to project onto the screen
13
a sixth displaying point
162
, a seventh displaying point
163
, and a eighth displaying point
164
. After processing by a 3D Rendering Engine a second 3D image
16
is displayed on the computer screen. There exists a certain discrepancy between the first 3D image
14
and the second 3D image
16
, and the viewer's left eye is made to view only the first 3D image
14
while the right eye views only the second 3D image
16
. As a result, the viewer experiences three-dimensionality due to binocular disparity.
Yet the above-described method of producing binocular disparity is limited in efficiency. Projecting the first apex
111
onto the computer screen to create the first displaying point
141
needs to be synchronized with matrix calculation. To convert the spatial coordinates of the first apex
111
into the computer coordinates of the first displaying point
141
requires a certain amount of time. Since binocular disparity is desired, it is necessary to once again employ matrix calculation to convert the first apex
111
's spatial coordinates into the fifth displaying point
161
. Clearly, the method described above requires many repetitions of the matrix calculation process before other procedures can be employed. Moreover, the matrix calculation process is very time-consuming, and naturally hinders the following imaging process. Therefore this repeated use of the matrix calculation process is mostly applied to “still three-dimensional” images; it fails to deliver ideal results when applied to “real-time image three-dimensional images” due to the extended processing time.
As the aforementioned, the 3D image obtained via processing by a traditional 3D Rendering Engine is still a two dimensional image. The 3D Rendering Engine saves the image's content in the frame buffer, and uses the scanning circuit to access the information in the frame buffer, and employs the interlace scan method to exhibit the 3D image information on the display screen—please refer to FIG.
2
(
a
). FIG.
2
(
a
) is a block diagram showing the relationship between a traditional 3D Rendering Engine
21
, a scanning circuit
22
, a address-translating circuit
23
, and a frame buffer
24
. A computer's Memory address is essentially an one dimension line vector, and the 3D image information in the frame buffer is composed of many pixel. For example, if the upper left comer of the screen
25
is an original point
26
, the real Memory address of any pixel P with coordinates (x,y) should be (please refer to FIG.
2
(
b
))
Pixel P's real address=
P
0
+y
*pitch+
x
Where P
0
is the real Memory address of the original point
26
at the upper left corner of display screen
25
; pitch is the width of every scanning line in the frame buffer
24
(please refer to FIG.
2
(
a
)). The 3D Rendering Engine desires to sketch a 3D image (this image is still a two dimension image), so it requires the assistance of the said address-translating circuit
23
to convert every pixel in the 3D image's frame buffer before it's able to save information in the real Memory address. Similarly, when the scanning circuit
22
desires to display on the screen
25
every pixel information in the frame buffer based on an interlacing manner, the scanning circuit
22
also needs the address-translating circuit
23
to obtain the pixel's real address, then send the information saved in the real address to the screen
25
. Traditionally, the display design of a regular stereoscopic system is divided into non-interlace and Interlace display scan. A three-dimensional visual display application of non-interlace display scan is more complicated in design because the left and right eyes must each be equipped with a display screen and shod. In concern with the mutual accommodation of the non-interlace processing systems and the ready-made three-dimensional images, it is seldom applied because the ready-made three-dimensio
Huang Yu-Hsiang
Hung Hung-Chong
Asustek Computer Inc.
Coudert Brothers LLP
Vo. Cliff N.
LandOfFree
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