Television – Stereoscopic – Stereoscopic display device
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-27
2001-10-16
Lee, Richard (Department: 2613)
Television
Stereoscopic
Stereoscopic display device
C348S059000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06304288
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a stereoscopic display requiring no special glasses, and more particularly, to a head tracking three-dimensional (3D) display so adapted that a viewer can properly view a three-dimensional (3D) image even if the head of the viewer moves by detecting the position of the head of the viewer. Further, the present invention relates to a head position detecting device capable of detecting, when the viewer views a 3D image without requiring special glasses, the position of the head of the viewer, to enlarge the stereoscopic area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As a stereoscopic display requiring no special glasses, a system using a parallax barrier and a system using a lenticular lens have been known. In such a stereoscopic display, however, the stereoscopic area is narrow.
Therefore, a stereoscopic display so adapted as to detect the position of the head of a viewer, to optically make correction depending on the head position has been conventionally known.
In a head tracking stereoscopic display shown in
FIG. 31
, a right eye image and a left eye image are respectively displayed on liquid crystal display (LCD) panels for image display
701
and
702
, a right half image of a viewer which is picked up by an imaging device
703
and an image obtained by negative-positive inversion of the right half image in an image processing device
704
are respectively displayed on viewer image display devices
705
and
706
each composed of an LCD panel for back-light, for example, the viewer image display devices
705
and
706
are respectively used as illuminating devices for displaying right and left eye images, and the right eye image and the left eye image which are synthesized are respectively viewed with only the right eye and the left eye of the viewer, by Fresnel lenses
707
and
708
which have directional properties and a half mirror
709
.
Specifically, a portion where a viewer image is displayed in the viewer image display device
705
emits light, so that the light emitting portion becomes right eye illuminating light, while a portion where a viewer image is displayed in the viewer image display device
706
emits light, so that the light emitting portion becomes left eye illuminating light, and the positions of both the light emitting portions are changed by following the position of the viewer. Therefore, the positional limitation of the viewer for stereoscopic view is reduced.
In the above-mentioned conventional head tracking stereoscopic display, an imaging device and the display devices to be a light source are required, however, the structure of a back-light is complicated, and the cost is high.
An example of the conventional head position detecting device is one, having a device mounted on a viewer for producing a magnetic force, adapted so as to detect the position of the viewer by grasping the position where the magnetic force is produced using a magnetic sensor. If the position of the viewer is detected using the magnetic sensor, however, the scale of the head position detecting device becomes large, and the cost thereof becomes comparatively high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has for its object to provide a head tracking stereoscopic display so adapted that a 3D image can be properly viewed even if the head of a viewer moves while simplifying the structure of a back-light, and also has for its object to provide a head position detecting device capable of detecting the position of a viewer in simple construction and a head tracking stereoscopic display comprising the head position detecting device.
A head tracking stereoscopic display according to the present invention is characterized by comprising a light emitting means comprising at least two light sources each comprised of a set of two line-shaped light sources for one of the eyes and the other eye, the two light sources being for a first area and a second area in a position shifted by approximately E/2 (E is the distance between the eyes of a viewer) in the horizontal direction from the first area, a diffusing screen provided on the light emission side of the light emitting means, a first lenticular lens screen provided between the diffusing screen and the light emitting means for focusing light from the selected one of the light sources and alternately forming bright portions and dark portions on the diffusing screen by semi-cylindrical lens portions constituting the first lens screen, a second lenticular lens screen provided on the light emission side of the diffusing screen and having the function of taking each of the bright portions formed on the diffusing screen as a light source for either one of the eyes, an image display panel provided on the light emission side of the second lenticular lens screen, light source control means for alternately turning one of the line-shaped light sources and the other line-shaped light source in the selected one light source on and off, display control means for alternately displaying one of the images and the other image which have binocular parallax on the image display panel in synchronization with the alternate ON/OFF of the line-shaped light sources, head position detection means for detecting the position of the head of the viewer, and control means for suitably carrying out such control as to change the timing of the alternate display of the images and select the light source on the basis of information relating to the head position from the head position detection means.
In such construction, the light emitting means is constituted by the four line-shaped light sources, the first lenticular lens screen, the diffusing screen, and the second lenticular lens screen, so that the construction can be made simpler and the cost can be made lower, as compared with a conventional light emitting means which is constituted by a combination of an imaging device and an image display device. Even when the viewer moves from a stereoscopic position to a pseudostereoscopic position or moves from the stereoscopic position to a crosstalk area, for example, it is possible to properly view a 3D image by following the movement of the viewer.
A head tracking stereoscopic display according to the present invention is characterized by comprising two one-eye systems each comprising a light emitting means comprising a first light source comprised of a set of two line-shaped light sources and a second light source comprised of the other set of two line-shaped light sources, a diffusing screen provided on the light emission side of the light emitting means, a first lenticular lens screen provided between the diffusing screen and the light emitting means for focusing light from the selected one of the line-shaped light sources and alternately forming bright portions and dark portions on the diffusing screen by semi-cylindrical lens portions constituting the first lenticular lens screen, a second lenticular lens screen provided on the light emission side of the diffusing screen and having the function of taking each of the bright portions formed on the diffusing screen as a light source for either one of the eyes, and an image display panel provided on the light emission side of the second lenticular lens screen, image supply means for fixedly displaying one of images and the other image which have binocular parallax, respectively, on the image display panel in one of the one-eye systems and the image display panel in the other one-eye system, head position detection means for detecting the position of the head of a viewer, and control means for suitably carrying out such control as to select light emission of the line-shaped light sources in each of the first and second light sources on the basis of information relating to the head position from the head position detection means.
In such construction, the light emitting means is constituted by the eight line-shaped light sources, the first lenticular lens screen, the d
Arent Fox Kintner & Plotkin & Kahn, PLLC
Lee Richard
Sanyo Electric Co,. Ltd.
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