Optical: systems and elements – Stereoscopic – With right and left channel discriminator
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-17
2004-12-21
Chang, Audrey (Department: 2872)
Optical: systems and elements
Stereoscopic
With right and left channel discriminator
C359S462000, C359S630000, C348S057000, C348S058000, C353S007000, C353S008000, C353S009000, C345S007000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06833952
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic display apparatus and a technique to which the stereoscopic display apparatus is applied.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been well known such a fact that a stereoscopic image obtained by a stereoscopic vision is incomparably excellent in realistic sensations and reality as compared with a normal planar image. Up to now, in order to employ the usefulness of the stereoscopic image, an attempt has been made that the application of the stereoscopic image to medical equipments, video game machines or the like becomes widespread.
In the case of applying the stereoscopic vision to the medical equipments or the video game machines, a facility has been demanded for a stereoscopic display apparatus used for giving the stereoscopic image to a viewer. Also, it is preferable that the stereoscopic display apparatus employed for the above intended purpose is of the head mount type that readily ensures the degree of freedom of viewer's hands because the viewer is required to handle an operation appliance or manipulate a game controller.
Incidentally, the stereoscopic vision is realized by the celebration of brains using such a phenomenon that a parallax occurs in images picked up by the respective right and left eyes of the viewer. In order to realize the stereoscopic vision, there is required that image lights from the images for the respective right and left eyes with a constant parallax are supplied to the respective right and left eyes, and various display apparatuses that comply with such a requirement have been proposed.
As techniques for supplying the above image light, there have been known one technique in which the images for the respective right and left eyes are displayed on one display screen in a superimposing manner, and the image lights from the images are separated from each other by some means and given to the respective right and left eyes, and another technique in which the images for the respective right and left eyes are projected onto two display screens, respectively, and the images for the respective right and left eyes are viewed by the respectively right and left eyes, separately.
The stereoscopic display apparatus using one display screen is designed in such a manner that the images for the respective right and left eyes are projected onto one screen, the image lights from the respective images are separated and guided to the respective right and left eyes, to thereby realize the stereoscopic image. The stereoscopic display apparatus of this type is advantageous in that everybody can readily realize the stereoscopic vision because such a work that those two images are assembled into one stereoscopic image by their selves which will be described later is not required.
However, this technique makes it difficult to realize the facility and the downsizing because there is required a means for separating the image lights from the images for the respective right and left eyes which are displayed on the display screen in the superimposing fashion.
In other words, as a measure for separating the image lights which is required for the above-mentioned necessity, polarization is generally employed. The separation of polarization is implemented by, for example, a technique in which the images for the respective right and left eyes which project polarized lights different in property as image light are displayed on one screen, for example, in a time division manner, and the viewer has glasses worn.
This technique suffers from a minor problem from the viewpoint of the facility because the viewer is compelled to put on polarized glasses. Also, the stereoscopic display apparatus of that type is unavoidably liable to be complicated and large-sized because the means for separating the polarized lights is necessary.
Taking the above circumstances into consideration, the research and development of the stereoscopic display apparatuses of the head mount type which can be simply dealt with are being promoted with the application of the above-mentioned technique using two images.
The technique using two display screens is to transmit the image lights which are supplied to the respective eyes from those two display screens, separately. Therefore, since no structure for separating the lights is required, and the structure of the apparatus can be simplified, the apparatus can be readily downsized, and that technique is readily applied to the stereoscopic display apparatus of the head mount type or the like.
However, in the case of using those two display screens, the viewer is required to assemble two images naturally produced into one image by himself while viewing those two images. That is, in the technique using two display screens, the viewer does not conduct the stereoscopic vision so far as the positional relationship between those two display screens and the positional relationship between two eyes of the viewer do not satisfy very severe conditions. Therefore, this technique makes it fundamentally difficult that the viewer is allowed to conduct the stereoscopic vision.
What plays an important role in order to obtain one stereoscopic image from two images is a technique that is called “an inter-eye width adjustment”. Therefore, a mechanism for adjusting the width of the image lights to the width of both the right and left eyes is required for the stereoscopic display apparatus based on the above technique. This mechanism is complicated, resulting in many cases in which the apparatus becomes large-sized. Also, the above-mentioned inter-eye width adjustment does not satisfy a requirement such as the facility demanded for the video game machine because the inter-eye width adjustment cannot be executed not through miscellaneous processes such as the measurement of the inter-eye width.
Most importantly, this technique makes it difficult to conduct the stereoscopic vision, and even if the stereoscopic vision is conducted, the fatigue of the viewer is liable to become large.
The present inventors have promoted the research of the stereoscopic vision and come to the conclusion that a stereoscopic display apparatus which will be widespread as a facile and accessible apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the present invention has been made as a result that the present inventors have promoted the research of the stereoscopic vision, and therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a stereoscopic display apparatus which is small in size and does not require the adjustment of an inter-eye width.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an endscope and a microscrope to which the above stereoscopic display apparatus is applied.
In order to achieve the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a stereoscopic display apparatus, comprising:
two liquid crystal devices for picking up image lights for respective right and left eyes of a viewer from an image source;
a half-mirror onto which images of the respective right and left eyes having a parallax from said two liquid crystal devices for a stereoscopic vision as a stereoscopic image are projected; and
two polarizers for the respective right and left eyes disposed between said half mirror and the respective right and left eyes of the viewer;
wherein said half-mirror operates to transmit the image lights from one of said two liquid crystal devices and to reflect the image lights from the other one of the said two liquid crystal device so that the transmitted image lights and reflected image lights are orthogonally polarized with respect to each other, and the transmitted image lights and the reflected image lights are combined and guided to said two polarizers by said half-mirror;
wherein said two polarizers for the respective right and left eyes receive the combined image lights and separate the combined image lights for the respective right and left eyes, in which one of the said polarizers shuts out the transmitted image lights in the combined image lights and allows t
Bednarek Michael D.
Chang Audrey
Scalar Corporation
Shaw Pittman LLP
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