JPH08220477A - Production of lenticular display and apparatus for production therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make it possible to form images suitable for applications where the images are used as the output of a computer with a small size by forming plural pieces of wire-shaped pixels constituting the specific parallax images viewed through a lenticular plate from a certain visual point. CONSTITUTION: Electronic data (digital data) are obtd. from a right original picture and a left original picture. The lenticular plate 60 arranged with a photosensitive sheet on the smooth surface of its rear surface is subjected to scanning and exposing by plural laser scanners from the cylindrical surface side of the lenticular plate 60, by which pixels are exposed and formed on the sheet. In such a case, the respective laser beams execute scanning and exposing while the intensity of their irradiation is changed by acousto-optical modulation elements(AOMs) 61 to 63. The pixels are formed over the entire surface of the sheet while the lenticular plate 60 is moved in a direction (a direction where the lenticular plate 60 has no periodic curvature) orthogonal with the scanning direction of the beams (direction where the cylindrical lenses of the lenticular plate 60 are arranged in juxtaposition).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention forms a pixel in which a stereoscopic image or the like can be obtained by combining a plurality of original images having parallax information into a single image and separating the original images through a lenticular plate. The present invention relates to a method for producing a sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pixel forming sheet on which pixels of a stereoscopic image are formed is a multi-lens camera system or a system using a special camera and a turntable. A slightly different image was taken on each of the films, and multiple images with parallax for each film were used as the original images, and they were composed by moving them on another film through the lenticular plate at a slight pitch. .

It is possible to observe a stereoscopic image by stacking a lenticular plate matching the pitch on the pixel forming sheet to form a lenticular display.

The above series of steps will be described with reference to the drawings. First, multiple original images with parallax are required. FIG. 9 shows an example of five original images A to E having continuous parallax. These can be obtained by photographing with a multi-lens camera, or by placing one camera on a slide table that can be moved laterally and moving the camera laterally while releasing the shutter at a predetermined interval to obtain the image.

In the above multi-lens camera, a plurality of lenses are arranged side by side, and the space between the lenses is divided by a wall, and the diaphragm and shutter of each lens are set under the same conditions, and one shutter is used to make the lens horizontally long. There is a film in which a number of images corresponding to the number of lenses are simultaneously exposed at the same time. Since the lenses are arranged side by side in this manner, a plurality of original images having parallax necessary for stereoscopic vision can be obtained.

The case of synthesizing original images by an optical (photographic) method will be described. FIG. 10 shows an example of a synthesizer. The synthesizer 30 is basically a stretcher, which enlarges and projects the original image, and the lenticular plate 3
The film 32 to be exposed through 1 is combined and exposed.

As an example of the synthesizing method, the images of the original images A to E are synthesized in one pitch of the lenticular plate 31.
The light (image light) incident on the lenticular plate 31 is condensed and linearly compressed. As shown in FIG. 11 to FIG. 13, the light receiving portion in which the lenticular plate 31 and the exposed film 32 are integrated is tilted by a predetermined amount so that the image of the original image A is positioned at one pitch end of the lenticular plate 31,
Perform predetermined exposure. Next, the image of the original image B is the original image A
Exposure is performed by setting the angle so that it is exposed next to the image. Similarly, the image of the original image C, the image of the original image D, and the image of the original image E are exposed. In this way, the images 1 to 3 are lined up and combined in one pitch. As shown in FIG. 14, the pitches are the same, and the combined image F is obtained.

Although the structure of the original image holding section in the synthesizing machine is not shown, the original image can be arbitrarily set at a predetermined position, and in the synthesized image, there are five image portions that neither float nor sink. Is exposed at the same position as the original image, the floating image portion is slightly shifted with a parallax necessary for floating, and the sunken image is slightly shifted with a parallax necessary for sinking. As a result, as shown in FIG. 15, a stereoscopic effect can be obtained by viewing the image with the right eye R and the image with the left eye L, for example.

However, it takes skill to set a plurality of original images used for composition in predetermined positions in the original image holding section. That is, among the original images, it is possible to grasp which part of the image does not rise and fall, which part of the image floats and which part of the image falls, and to set the position of each image in the composite image as described above. First, the coordinates of each image must be set on the synthesizer. This requires a lot of time and a jig with a complicated mechanism.

In mass production of lenticular displays, first, the pixel forming sheet (image F in FIG. 14) obtained by the above-mentioned synthesizing step is used as an original image, and the sheet is duplicated in a large amount by an existing photo (printing) method. Then, a large amount of displays are obtained by bonding a lenticular plate, which has been mass-produced in a separate process and has the same optical characteristics as that used in the synthesis process, to the sheet.

In the above-mentioned mass production method, the alignment at the time of attaching the lenticular plate and the pixel forming sheet is
This is a difficult task that requires high precision and skill.

Instead of this, various proposals have hitherto been made for a method of directly forming pixels on the back surface (flat surface) of a lenticular plate or a sheet (film) integrated with the back surface.

However, if the pixels are formed from the back side of the lenticular plate, it is natural that it is not a fundamental solution to the problem of the alignment of the pixel and the lens, and the fundamental solution is to be solved. In order to achieve this, it is effective to form pixels from the cylindrical lens side of the lenticular plate, but there have been no specific reports of pixel formation methods for mass production.

The above-mentioned synthesizing step is nothing but "pixel formation from the side of the cylindrical lens", but this method requires a space for projecting by using a lens (imaging lens) for enlarging and projecting the original image. , The synthesizer becomes larger. The formed pixel is easily affected by the aberration of the lens, and high optical performance is required for the lens. For these reasons, it is unsuitable for "pixel formation for mass production".

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel pixel forming method and a device therefor which are small in size and suitable for use as an output of a computer in mass production of lenticular displays. To do.

[0016]

That is, according to the present invention, a plurality of parallax images are compressed into a plurality of linear shapes according to the characteristics of a lenticular plate, and a single pixel forming sheet for a lenticular display is provided. When synthesizing
A method of manufacturing a lenticular display, which comprises the following steps. (A) A step of using a plurality of actually captured parallax images as original images and reading the data of the original images with a scanner. (B) A step of obtaining electronic data (digital data) forming the pixel forming sheet for each original image from the original image data read by the scanner. (C) Based on the electronic data, scanning exposure using a plurality of laser beams is performed on a photosensitive sheet arranged on the back surface of the lenticular plate, and each laser beam makes it visible from a certain viewpoint through the lenticular plate. A step of forming a plurality of linear pixels that form a specific parallax image to produce the pixel forming sheet.

According to a second aspect of the invention, instead of the steps (a) and (b), electronic data of a plurality of parallax images created by a computer graphics method is used as the original image. To do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, scanning exposure using a plurality of laser beams is performed on a photosensitive sheet arranged on the back surface of the lenticular plate, and each laser beam makes it visible from a certain viewpoint through the lenticular plate. A device for forming a plurality of linear pixels forming a specific parallax image, a means for respectively modulating the irradiation intensity of a plurality of laser beams, and a plurality of laser beams for each of which a cylindrical lens is arranged in parallel. A device for manufacturing a lenticular display, comprising: a means for scanning in a arranged direction; a means for conveying the lenticular plate in a direction orthogonal to a scanning direction of a laser beam; and at least each of the above means. .

Since the price of stereo cameras and video cameras has come down to widespread use in recent years, each user can relatively easily obtain a plurality of original images having parallax (hereinafter referred to as parallax original images). I got it.

The ultimate purpose of the present invention is to provide a lenticular display easily from the “parallax original image” obtained by each user so that the public can easily obtain a lenticular product rich in originality. Is to provide.

Of course, the "original image capturing" is not performed, and the "parallax original image which is a digital signal (electronic data)" obtained by a computer graphics method is used as it is, and the step of obtaining electronic data by scanning with a scanner is omitted. It goes without saying that it is okay.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The flow of the manufacturing process according to the present invention is shown in FIG.

(1) Original image of parallax For stereoscopic vision using a lenticular plate, a plurality of (two or more) original images having parallax are required. In order to simplify the description, a case where two parallax original images are obtained will be described.

In order to easily obtain a parallax image on an individual level, a multi-lens camera that can photograph a parallax of 2 or 4 images on a 35 mm film is commercialized and is widely available for individual purchase. ing.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a twin-lens type stereo camera and a film on which parallax images are taken by the camera.

In the twin-lens camera 20, two lenses (right eye R, left eye L) are arranged side by side, and the space between the lenses is divided by a wall, and the diaphragm and shutter of each lens are set under the same conditions. The structure is such that two images corresponding to the number of lenses are simultaneously exposed on a horizontally long film by one shutter. Since the lenses are arranged side by side in this way, two parallax original images required for stereoscopic viewing can be obtained.

In the above description, a case where a multi-lens camera is used, but a home video camera which has been widely used in recent years is used, for example, two video cameras are arranged side by side and fixed, and synchronous photographing is performed. It is also possible to capture the original image of the parallax.

The video output of the video camera is a moving image, but an image for each left and right frame (limited to the same moment) is selected as a still image from the two, and the two required for stereoscopic viewing are selected.
The original parallax image.

(2) Composition of Parallax Original Images The composition of two original parallax images will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the right (R) original image and the left (L) original image obtained in the photographing step are combined on one plane according to the characteristics of the lenticular plate.

In the figure, △ indicates a subject that appears to float, ○
, Which is in the center, and which can be seen without floating or sinking,
Is a subject that appears to sink. In the combined image, △
In □ and □, a lateral deviation is seen due to parallax. ○
In the case of, since the synthesis was done after setting the coordinates so that it would neither float nor sink, no lateral displacement is seen.

To obtain electronic data (digital data) in the present invention from the right (R) original image and the left (L) original image,
Since the original image data is converted into a digital signal by reading the original image with a scanner, it may be applied to a desired output (dot printer, inkjet printer, etc.) based on the signal.

(3) Output of Composite Image Next, a composite image is output on a predetermined sheet based on the electronic data to obtain a pixel forming sheet.

Since the digital signal is sampled at a specific frequency and is independent one by one, it is easy to make the laser beam from the printer correspond to the signal. A printer is preferred.

An outline of image output using a laser printer is shown in FIGS. 4, 6 and 7.

A lenticular plate 60 having a photosensitive sheet arranged on the smooth surface of the back surface is scanned and exposed by a plurality (three in the figure) of laser scan heads (not shown) from the cylindrical surface side of the lenticular plate 60. By doing so, the pixels are exposed and formed on the sheet.
(See Figure 6)

When the light emitted from the point light sources at different positions is formed so as to form an image on the photoconductor on the back surface through the lenticular plate (which means that the focal position of the cylindrical lens exists on the smooth surface on the back surface). The pixel formation positions are shown in FIG.

According to the figure, the image forming point from the light source A is a1, a2, ... A5, and the image forming point from the light source B is b1, b2 ,. Imaging points from the light source C are imaged (pixel formation) on c1, c2, ... C5.

The pixels a1, a2, ... A5 can be observed from the position A, but cannot be observed from the positions B and C. Similarly,
The pixels b1, b2, ... B5 can be observed from the position of B, and the pixels c1, c
2, ... c5 can be observed from the C position.

In FIG. 6, each laser beam is subjected to scanning exposure while changing the irradiation intensity by the acousto-optic modulators (AOM) 61 to 63.

The means for changing the irradiation intensity of the laser beam is not limited to the AOM, and particularly when a semiconductor laser is used, the intensity may be modulated by switching the laser at high speed.

Although the galvano mirrors 64 to 66 are used as the mechanism for scanning the laser beam in the figure, the invention is not limited to this, and a polygon mirror may be rotated or an acousto-optic deflector may be used.

It will be described with reference to FIG. 4 that the image forming position (pixel forming position) of the beam within one pitch of the cylindrical lens is constant without depending on the scanning of the laser beam.

For example, in FIG. 4, the image forming position from the light source A in FIG. 6 is as follows: in FIG. 4, when the laser beam scans and moves on the cylindrical lens from the left to the right in FIG. It is constant at point a.

When the scanning range of the laser beam reaches the next cylindrical lens, the image forming point moves to the next point, and the image forming point is constant during the scanning on the cylindrical lens. is there.

While moving the lenticular plate 60 in the direction orthogonal to the beam scanning direction (direction in which the cylindrical lenses of the lenticular plate are arranged in parallel) (direction in which the lenticular plate does not have a periodic curvature), the entire surface of the sheet is moved. Pixels will be formed. In the figure, the lenticular plate is conveyed by the rollers 67 and 68 on the back surface.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the device configuration of the printer of this embodiment.

A laser, an optical modulator (AOM), and an optical scanning mechanism (galvano mirror) are provided for each parallax number (3), and each optical modulator and optical scanning mechanism are controlled by the controller.

The laser may be prepared for each scanning system as in this embodiment, or may be branched from one laser light source. The transport system (roller) that transports the lenticular plate is also controlled by the controller.

Original image data forming a stereoscopic image is transferred from an external computer to the controller.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a pixel forming sheet on which a composite image produced by the printer of this embodiment is output on a predetermined sheet (photosensitive sheet). In the figure, R
And 2 cells of L (that is, in the above printer, the number of laser beams is two), one pitch of the lenticular plate is obtained. A display in which this sheet is laminated with a lenticular plate makes it possible to observe stereoscopic and variable images due to left-right parallax.

[0052]

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION The process of "positioning the pixel forming sheet and the lenticular plate", which is a problem in mass production of lenticular displays, becomes unnecessary, and it is small and is used as an output from a computer. Provided are a novel method for forming pixels and an apparatus therefor, which are suitable for manufacturing the display.

[0053]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a twin-lens type stereo camera and a film on which parallax images are taken.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of two parallax images and a pixel formation sheet combined into one.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a scanning movement of a laser beam within one pitch of a lens.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a pixel forming sheet is attached to a lenticular plate.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view schematically showing a pixel forming method by the printer of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing pixel formation positions on the back surface of the lenticular plate.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a device configuration of a printer.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a plurality of original images having parallax.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an original image synthesizer according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of synthesizing original images according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of synthesizing an original image according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a process of synthesizing original images according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a pixel formation sheet on which original parallax images are combined.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing an observation state of a lenticular display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 ... Stereo camera 30 ... Synthesizer 31 ... Lenticular plate 32 ... Exposed film 60 ... Lenticular plate 61, 62, 63 ... Acousto-optic modulator 64, 65, 66 ... Galvano mirror 67, 68 ... Conveying roller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for compressing a plurality of parallax images into a plurality of linear shapes according to the characteristics of a lenticular plate and synthesizing the same as a pixel forming sheet for a lenticular display, including the following steps. A method for manufacturing a lenticular display, which is characterized in that (A) A step of using a plurality of parallax images obtained by actually capturing an object as an original image and reading the data of the original image with a scanner. (B) A step of obtaining electronic data (digital data) forming the pixel forming sheet for each original image from the original image data read by the scanner. (C) An optical system is arranged so that a plurality of laser beams are incident on the lenticular plate in a direction corresponding to the direction in which each original image is picked up, and based on the electronic data, a photosensitive member arranged on the back surface of the lenticular plate. A step of performing scanning exposure with a plurality of laser beams on a property sheet, and forming linear pixels forming a specific parallax image that is viewed through a lenticular plate from a certain viewpoint by each laser beam. 2. The electronic data of a plurality of parallax images created by a computer graphics method is used as the original image instead of the steps (a) and (b). Lenticular display manufacturing method. 3. A specific parallax which is visible through a lenticular plate from a certain viewpoint by performing scanning exposure using a plurality of laser beams on a photosensitive sheet arranged on the back surface of the lenticular plate. An apparatus for forming a plurality of linear pixels forming an image, comprising at least the following means, and a manufacturing apparatus for a lenticular display. A means for modulating the irradiation intensity of each of the plurality of laser beams, a means for scanning each of the plurality of laser beams in the direction in which the cylindrical lenses are arranged in parallel, the lenticular plate in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction of the laser beam. Means of transport.