Television – Stereoscopic
Patent
1997-12-23
2000-12-19
Le, Vu
Television
Stereoscopic
348 51, H04N 1300, H04N 1304, H04N 1500
Patent
active
061633364
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention is generally directed to stereoscopic display systems for providing a three dimensional (3D) image to a viewer. Systems which allow the 3D image to be viewed with the naked eye are known as "auto-stereoscopic" display systems. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a tracking system for use in such systems.
There are two main classes of functional auto-stereoscopic 3D display systems. These are multi-image and stereo-pair type displays.
Both of these display systems rely on the principle of presenting several images that are viewable only in particular spatial positions. The object being that the individual images are only perceived by one eye of the viewer at a time. That is to say, the left eye sees one image and the right eye sees the other.
The location and arrangement of these spatial positions and the method of presentation varies greatly between the different systems.
Multi-image displays rely on the "interleaving" of the different images into a single display medium. These images are then "decoded" or "unscrambled" by virtue of the differential viewing angles subtended between the viewer's eyes and the screen i.e. by a virtue of the horizontal displacement between the eyes of the viewer a different image will be presented to each eye.
The simplest implementation consists of a technique producing a repeating sequence of left-right images as illustrated in FIG. 24. The distance between each successive image is 65 mm which is equal to the average distance between the viewers eyes. Therefore, a viewer located at position A will see a correctly sequenced 3D image.
However, should the viewer move laterally more than 32 mm, or be at position B, then the left image will be seen by the right eye and the right image by the left eye i.e. the viewer sees a "reverse 3D" image. The reverse 3D image is very uncomfortable to view and after a short while causes viewer distress i.e. headache. In practice, when first sitting down to view such a system it is difficult for the viewer to determine if a correct or reverse 3D image is being viewed. It is not until discomfort is felt that the viewer is aware of being incorrectly positioned.
Additionally, it is difficult for the viewer to maintain the correct viewing position for an extended period of time.
Most multi-image auto-stereoscopic systems have this shortcoming. In particular systems those based upon lenticular lenses and grid type image separators.
Consider now an improvement to this system whereby a number of images 1,2,3,4 each spaced 65 mm apart are presented such that each of the images displayed has a different "perspective" or "view" as per FIG. 25.
In a properly designed system the viewable regions would be placed such that the viewer's eyes would fall across 1 and 2 (i.e. left eye would see image 1, right eye would see image 2) as for the viewer at position B. However, if the viewer were to move to the left to position A then the viewer's eyes would fall across images 2 and 3. However, as the images 2 and 3 also show stereo disparity (with regard to each other) a correct 3D image is still viewable. Similarly a viewer at position D will also view a 3D image. The pattern of images repeats 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4 so a familiar situation exists in a number of viewable locations thus making the system truly multi-viewer. However, this is where a problem arises. Because the pattern repeats, if the viewer moves to position C then the left eye will see image 4 and the right eye will see image 1. The problem here is that when the video or other media was produced it was done so with camera 4 to the right of camera 1. So as a result the image is viewed from this position the stereo-disparity is reversed and reverse 3D is displayed.
This problem can be significantly overcome by introducing a null or black field as one of the images (for example making image 4 a black field as per FIG. 26. This eliminates the problem of reverse 3D by ensuring that at the cross-over between one pattern and the next repeated pattern, one of the viewer's e
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