CN218917805U - Near-eye display system and near-eye display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model discloses a near-eye display system and a near-eye display device. The optical element comprises a phase modulation layer, a half-reflection half-transmission layer and a phase compensation layer, wherein the half-reflection half-transmission layer is arranged on the phase modulation layer. The phase structure of the phase modulation layer is designed to modulate the initial image light emitted from the micro display module so that the initial image light becomes a virtual image at a distance. The phase modulation layer may be a fresnel lens, and the surface shape of the fresnel lens may be one of a spherical surface, an aspherical surface, a free-form surface, and a holographic surface. The phase compensation layer is made transparent to light passing through the transparent optical element by compensating for phase changes of the phase modulation layer. The near-eye display system is characterized in that the aperture of the optical system is large, the requirement of the eyeball movement range can be met without a pupil expanding system, the volume of the near-eye display system is reduced to a great extent, and the light energy utilization efficiency of the near-eye display system is improved.

Description

Near-eye display system and near-eye display device

Technical Field

The present utility model relates to the field of optical display technologies, and in particular, to a near-eye display system and a near-eye display device.

Background

The near-eye display technology is widely applied to aspects of AR glasses, AR helmets, various head-mounted displays and the like, and is a hardware foundation of an Augmented Reality (AR) technology. Augmented reality is a display technology that superimposes a virtual world on the real world on a screen. Achieving AR display generally requires a near-eye display system. The mainstream implementation modes include an optical waveguide mode, a BirdBath mode (which refers to a curved mirror with a beam splitting function, and a mode in which light perpendicular to the curved mirror is reflected to the curved mirror by a beam splitter) and a curved mirror.

The optical waveguide technology, which is the easiest to achieve very small size due to the thinness of the optical waveguide sheet, is the mainstream of the current AR glasses. However, since the optical waveguide has a very small cross-section, its exit pupil aperture is very small, and the exit pupil beam diameter is often only a few millimeters, i.e., the eye box is too small (the eye box refers to a conical region between the near-eye display optical module and the eyeball). The human eye can only see the image in a very small area, and the experience is extremely poor.

The existing method for solving the problem that the exit pupil of the AR glasses is too small is to copy the exit pupil multiple times by utilizing multiple reflections of light on an optical waveguide interface, and the size of the exit pupil is increased. However, optical waveguide mydriasis increases the structural complexity of the near-eye display system.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings in the prior art, an object of the present utility model is to provide a near-eye display system and a near-eye display device, so as to solve the problem of high structural complexity of the near-eye display system caused by optical waveguide pupil expansion.

In order to solve the technical problems, the utility model adopts the following technical scheme:

a near-to-eye display system comprises a micro display module and a planar optical element, wherein the micro display module is arranged at a preset distance from the optical element;

the micro display module is used for providing initial image light to the optical element;

the optical element comprises a phase modulation layer, a half-reflection half-transmission layer and a phase compensation layer, wherein the half-reflection half-transmission layer is arranged on the phase modulation layer, and the phase compensation layer is arranged on the half-reflection half-transmission layer;

the phase modulation layer is used for modulating the initial image light by combining with the half-reflection half-transmission layer and generating image reflection light reflected to a target area, the phase compensation layer is used for compensating the phase change of the phase modulation layer, and the half-reflection half-transmission layer is also used for transmitting external environment light to the target area.

Further, the micro display module is provided with at least one device of an auxiliary lens and a phase plate.

Further, the Micro display module comprises one of LCOS chip, LCD chip, DLP chip, OLED chip and Micro-LED chip.

Furthermore, the phase modulation layer is a Fresnel lens with one of spherical surface, aspheric surface, free curved surface and holographic surface.

Further, the semi-reflective semi-transparent layer is a semi-reflective semi-transparent metal film.

Further, the semi-reflective semi-transparent layer is a semi-reflective semi-transparent optical medium film.

Further, the transflective layer is configured such that a reflection wavelength interval thereof is adapted to a wavelength interval of the initial image light.

Further, the micro-display module is configured to emit the initial image light of a target polarization state, and the transflective layer is configured to reflect the initial image light of the target polarization state.

Further, the semi-reflective semi-transparent layer is provided with a state-adjustable device, and the state-adjustable device is used for adjusting at least one parameter of reflectivity and transmissivity of the semi-reflective semi-transparent layer according to an external optical signal or an external electrical signal.

A near-eye display device comprising a near-eye display system as claimed in any preceding claim.

The utility model discloses a near-eye display system and a near-eye display device, which have the advantages that: the optical element may be mounted on the ophthalmic lens as an element having an optical curvature, the exit pupil size increasing with the size of the optical element, the exit pupil aperture reaching a maximum when the optical element reaches the size of the ophthalmic lens. Therefore, the method and the device can realize larger exit pupil aperture without adopting an optical waveguide pupil expansion mode, thereby reducing the structural complexity of the near-eye display system.

Furthermore, the optical waveguide pupil expansion mode is not adopted, the required optical devices are correspondingly reduced, the volume and the weight of the near-eye display system are greatly reduced, and the light energy utilization efficiency of the near-eye display system is improved. Since the optical element is transparent to light from the outside world, the optical element can be directly integrated onto the ophthalmic lens without affecting the normal use of the lens, thus contributing to ensuring lower lens haze.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a near-eye display system according to an embodiment of the utility model;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an optical element of a Fresnel surface phase structure according to a second embodiment of the present utility model;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an optical element of a binary optical planar phase structure according to a third embodiment of the present utility model;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an optical element with a holographic planar phase structure according to a second embodiment of the present utility model.

Description of the reference numerals:

fig. 1: 101. a micro display module; 103. a transflective layer; 104. a human eye; 105. a phase modulation layer; 107. a phase compensation layer; 109. an optical element; 111. spectacle legs; 112. and a virtual image.

Fig. 2: 201. an optical element; 202. a phase modulation layer; 203. a transflective layer; 204. and a phase compensation layer.

Fig. 3: 301. an optical element; 302. a phase modulation layer; 303. a transflective layer; 304. and a phase compensation layer.

Fig. 4: 401. an optical element; 402. a phase modulation layer; 403. a transflective layer; 404. and a phase compensation layer.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present utility model more clear and clear, the present utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the utility model, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the utility model.

Example 1

The present utility model relates to a near-eye display system, and more particularly to a near-eye display system for a near-eye display device, such as a wearable real-world enhancement helmet, a real-world enhancement glasses, etc., and it should be noted that the near-eye display device according to the present utility model may be a non-wearable real-world enhancement product in addition to the devices to be worn such as glasses and helmets, etc., so long as the devices are sufficiently close to the eyes to form a transparent virtual image, without departing from the scope of the present utility model, such as a real-world enhancement display cabinet.

Referring to fig. 1, the near-to-eye display system includes a micro display module 101 and a transflective optical element 109, wherein the micro display module 101 is disposed at a predetermined distance from the optical element 109. The micro display module 101 is configured to provide initial image light to the optical element 109. The optical element 109 includes a phase modulation layer 105, a transflective layer 103, and a phase compensation layer 107, wherein the transflective layer 103 is disposed on the phase modulation layer 105, and the phase compensation layer 107 is disposed on the transflective layer 103. The phase modulation layer 105 is configured to modulate the initial image light in combination with the transflective layer 103 and generate image reflected light reflected to a target area, the phase compensation layer 107 is configured to compensate for a phase change of the phase modulation layer 105, and the transflective layer 103 is further configured to transmit external ambient light to the target area. Herein, the term "semi-reflective and semi-transmissive" refers to reflecting one part of light and transmitting another part of light.

The working principle of the near-eye display system of this embodiment is as follows: the micro display module 101 generates a small initial image with high brightness, reflects the initial image light to the target area through the transflective optical element 109, and when the human eye 104 is located in the target area, the human eye 104 can see the virtual image 112 that is enlarged and corresponds to the initial image. Since the optical element 109 is in a semi-transparent state, external ambient light is transmitted through the optical element 109 to the human eye 104 in the target area, so that the human eye 104 can see an ambient image formed by the ambient light, the generated virtual image 112 will be superimposed on the ambient image, and an augmented reality effect is generated.

Illustratively, taking the application of near-eye display systems to real-world augmented eyewear as an example, the exit pupil size of an optical system is generally determined by the aperture of the last optical curvature lens versus the opening angle of the eye. While the last element with optical curvature in this embodiment is the lens-mounted optical element 109, which may be up to the size of an ophthalmic lens (about 50 mm). The pupil can see a complete image only in the range, so the aperture of the exit pupil exceeds 10 mm, and the moving distance of the normal pupil can be met.

In the near-to-eye display scheme adopting the optical waveguide technology in the prior art, if the size of the exit pupil needs to be increased, the exit pupil needs to be copied multiple times by utilizing multiple reflections of light rays on an optical waveguide interface so as to increase the size of the exit pupil. When the scheme is applied to the reality enhancement glasses, the complexity of the system is greatly increased due to the use of the optical waveguide, the transparency of the lenses is reduced, and the cost of the near-eye display system is increased.

It will be appreciated that since the optical element 109 of the present embodiment is transparent to light from the outside world, the optical element 109 can be integrated directly onto the ophthalmic lens without affecting the normal use of the ophthalmic lens. The maximum aperture of the optical element 109 may be comparable to the aperture of the eye piece. The near-eye display system of the embodiment is characterized in that the aperture of the optical system is large, the aperture of the exit pupil can be as high as tens of millimeters or more, the requirement of the eyeball movement range can be met without a pupil expansion system, and the structure complexity of the near-eye display system is reduced. The near-eye display system replaces the optical waveguide, greatly reduces the volume of the near-eye display system, and improves the light energy utilization efficiency of the near-eye display system. In this embodiment, the Micro display module 101 includes one of an LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) chip, an LCD chip, a DLP (digital light processing) chip, an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) chip, a Micro-LED (Micro light emitting diode) chip, and the like. Illustratively, the micro-display module 101 may be mounted on the temple 111 or around the eye piece. The optical element 109 may be integrated with the ophthalmic lens and does not obstruct the view of the person. When the micro display module 101 adopts the display technologies of LCOS chip, LCD chip, DLP chip, etc., the micro display module further includes a light source illumination module adapted to the corresponding chip. When the micro display module 101 adopts self-luminous chips such as a micro led chip and an OLED chip, a light source display module is not required to be arranged, so that a smaller volume is achieved. It should be noted that the different kinds of micro display modules do not depart from the protection scope of the present patent.

It is understood that the micro-display module may be mounted around the temples 111 or the lenses. The whole system can be designed to be very small and exquisite, and accords with the characteristics of human engineering so as to meet the requirement of convenient and comfortable wearing of people. In order to further improve the imaging quality, one or more optical lenses for assisting imaging can be arranged on the micro display module.

In this embodiment, the transparent optical element 109 includes a phase modulation layer 105 and a phase compensation layer 107. The phase modulation layer 105 is provided with a transflective layer 103, and the phase modulation layer 105 is combined with the transflective layer 103 to specifically modulate the initial image light emitted from the micro display module and reflect the initial image light to the human eye 104, so that the initial image emitted from the micro display module 101 forms a virtual image 112 at a distance. The transflective layer 103 transmits a portion of ambient light to the human eye 104, and the ambient image is superimposed with the initial image, thereby realizing the function of enhancing display.

The phase compensation layer 107 of the present embodiment is used to compensate the phase change of the phase modulation layer 105, so that the transparent optical element 109 generates a sufficiently small phase disturbance to the light passing through itself, and no phase modulation exists, so that the real-world ambient light can enter the human eye 104 without interference, and functions as a transparent optical plate. Thus, the optical element 109 of this embodiment is a transparent and imaging device that is substantially transparent to the outside world light, and forms a virtual image 112 for the micro-display light.

Illustratively, the phase modulating surface is plated with a transflective layer 103. Optionally, the transflective layer 103 is a transflective metal film or an optical medium film, and the reflectivity and transmittance of the transflective layer 103 may be adjusted. The transflective layer 103 means that a part of light irradiated on the surface thereof is reflected and another part of light is transmitted. The reflectance R and transmittance T thereof may be in any interval of 0% to 100%. Also illustratively, the transflective layer 103 may be implemented by a metallic reflective film, or may be implemented by forming a refractive index gradient using a medium of high refractive index.

In another embodiment, optionally, the micro-display module 101 is configured to emit an initial image light of a target polarization state, and the transflective layer 103 is configured to reflect the initial image light of the target polarization state. It will be appreciated that the transflective layer 103 has polarization selectivity and is reflective for light of one polarization state only and transmissive for light of another polarization state. The light emitted by the micro display module 101 is also set in this polarization state, so that the light emitted by the micro display module can be reflected into the human eye 104 with a high reflectivity, thereby improving the luminous efficiency of the display. While also maintaining a high transmittance.

In another embodiment, optionally, the transflective layer 103 is configured such that its own reflection wavelength interval is adapted to the wavelength interval of the initial image light. The light emitted by the micro display module is a narrow-band light of red, green and blue, and the reflection wavelength interval of the medium reflection layer of the transflective layer is close to the light wavelength interval emitted by the micro display module, so that most of initial image light emitted by the micro display module is reflected into eyeballs, the luminous efficiency of display is improved, and meanwhile, the higher transmittance is also maintained.

Optionally, the transflective layer 103 is provided with a state-adjustable device, and the state-adjustable device is used for adjusting at least one parameter of reflectivity and transmittance of the transflective layer 103 according to an external optical signal or an electrical signal. It will be appreciated that the transflective layer 103 further includes an opto-electric device or a state-tunable device of an opto-optical device, the reflectivity and transmittance of which can be tuned to accommodate light of different environments. The photo-electric device may be independently selected from at least one of various liquid crystal devices, electrochromic devices, electrophoretic devices, etc., and may be various photochromic devices, etc., and the present embodiment may adjust the reflectivity, transmittance of the transflective layer 103 using the characteristics of the currently used device.

In this embodiment, the phase compensation layer 107 is closely matched with the phase modulation layer 105, and the phases of the two layers are just opposite and mutually compensated. For the transmitted light, the two light beams cancel each other out and do not generate any effect, so that the external environment image is transmitted to the human eyes 104 without being influenced, and transparent display is realized. The phase compensation layer 107 may be fabricated using a number of optical processes commonly used in the art. Illustratively, the phase compensation layer 107 is fabricated separately from the phase modulation layer 105 and then bonded together using an optical cement. The phase compensation layer 107 may also be formed by filling the phase modulation layer 105 with a flexible optical material directly after the phase modulation layer 105 is formed, and then curing the material.

The phase modulation layer 105 is a fresnel lens, and the surface shape of the fresnel lens may be derived from one of a spherical surface, an aspherical surface, a free-form surface, a holographic surface, and the like. The surface design is generated by optical design software, and in cooperation with other optical components in the system, the image generated by the micro display module 101 generates a magnified and clear virtual image, and the specific process of the surface design is referred to in the related art and will not be described in detail herein.

Example two

In the first embodiment, referring to fig. 2, the optical element 201 adopts a fresnel surface, the optical element 201 includes a phase modulation layer 202, and a half-reflection half-transparent layer 203 is further coated on the surface of the phase modulation layer 202. The optical element 201 further comprises a phase compensation layer 204 cooperating with the phase modulation layer 202, the phase compensation layer 204 and the phase modulation layer 202 are closely matched together, and for the transmitted light, the phases of the two mutually cancel, and no effect is generated, so that the external image is not affected, and a transparent display is formed in the eyes of the user.

Example III

In this embodiment, referring to fig. 3, the optical element 301 adopts a binary optical structure. The optical element 301 comprises a phase modulation layer 302 of a binary optical structure designed by a computer, the surface of which is provided with a unique planar structure and is coated with a transflective layer 303 (a metal film layer or an optical medium film), and the phase modulation layer 302 is designed to form a virtual image according to the light emitted by the micro display module. The modulation surface of the phase modulation layer 302 may be processed by nanoimprinting, specifically, by forming a specific surface shape on a mold under control of a computer, and fabricating it on an optical substrate by nanoimprinting. The optical element 301 further includes a phase compensation layer 304 for use with the phase modulation layer 302.

Example IV

In this embodiment, referring to fig. 4, a holographic optical structure is adopted for an optical element 401. The optical element includes a holographic phase modulation layer 402 designed by a computer, the surface of which is provided with a unique surface-shaped structure, and the surface of which is plated with a transflective layer 403 (a metal film layer or an optical medium film). The phase modulation layer 402 is designed to form a virtual image from light emitted from the micro-display module. The modulation surface of the phase modulation layer 402 may be processed by a nanoimprint method, in which a specific surface shape is formed on a mold under control of a computer, and is formed on an optical substrate by a nanoimprint method, or by a method in which coherent light is recorded on an optical substrate. The optical element 401 further includes a phase compensation layer 404 for use with the phase modulation layer 402.

Example five

The present embodiment provides a near-eye display device including a near-eye display system according to any one of the first to fourth embodiments. The near-eye display device is a wearable type real-world augmented helmet, a real-world augmented glasses, etc., and it should be noted that the near-eye display device according to this embodiment may be a non-wearable type real-world augmented product besides the glasses, the helmet, etc., so long as the distance between the device and the eyes is sufficiently short, and a transparent virtual image is formed, without departing from the scope of the present utility model, such as a real-world augmented display case, etc.

The near-eye display device is illustratively a reality enhancing glasses, including a glasses frame, a lens, a micro display module and the like, and the optical element is arranged on the lens, and illustratively, the lens can adopt a near-sighted lens or a far-sighted lens and the like to meet different user requirements. The micro display module is arranged on the frame, and the light emitting direction of the display chip of the micro display module faces the optical element at a preset angle, and in the wearing process, the human eyes are positioned in the target area. Due to the special design requirements of near-eye displays, the display chip can only be laid out at the edges of the lenses, for example the temples and the periphery of the lenses. The light emitted from the display chip has a relatively large angle with respect to the direction of the line of sight of the human eye, and in all embodiments of the present application, the near-eye display device further comprises an angle adjusting structure for adjusting the angle of the light. The structure can be a half-reflecting and half-transmitting mirror placed at a specific angle or a blazed grating, and the light energy in the inclined direction can be reflected into eyes of a target area through the maximum diffraction direction; the optical axis direction of each point on the surface of the phase modulation layer is inclined relative to the corresponding section, so that most of light emitted from the display chip enters eyes in the target area after being reflected by the optical element.

In summary, the present utility model provides a near-eye display system and a near-eye display device, in which a micro display module and a transflective optical element are provided, the micro display module is used for generating a display image, and the optical element is used for reflecting an initial image from the micro display module into human eyes, so that light forms an amplified virtual image at a distance. The optical element comprises a phase modulation layer and a phase compensation layer, and the phase modulation layer and the phase compensation layer cancel each other out and do not generate any effect on the transmitted light, so that an external image can reach human eyes without being influenced, and transparent display is realized.

In addition, the optical element can be made into an eyeglass lens with the size of tens of millimeters, which is enough to ensure the viewing requirement of human eyes, has excellent performances of permeability, haze and the like, has lower cost, and has obvious advantages compared with the current optical waveguide type reality enhancement eyeglasses. Because the application adopts less optical devices and auxiliary devices, the light utilization efficiency is improved by more than 25 percent, the weight of a near-eye display system and a near-eye display device can be reduced, and the battery endurance time is prolonged. Further, the near-eye display device of the application can also adopt a near-eye lens or a far-eye lens and the like so as to meet the requirements of different users.

It is to be understood that the system application of the present utility model is not limited to the examples described above, and that modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art in light of the above teachings, all of which are intended to be within the scope of the utility model as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. The near-to-eye display system is characterized by comprising a micro display module and a planar optical element, wherein the micro display module is arranged at a preset distance from the optical element;

the micro display module is used for providing initial image light to the optical element;

the optical element comprises a phase modulation layer, a half-reflection half-transmission layer and a phase compensation layer, wherein the half-reflection half-transmission layer is arranged on the phase modulation layer, and the phase compensation layer is arranged on the half-reflection half-transmission layer;

the phase modulation layer is used for modulating the initial image light by combining with the half-reflection half-transmission layer and generating image reflection light reflected to a target area, the phase compensation layer is used for compensating the phase change of the phase modulation layer, and the half-reflection half-transmission layer is also used for transmitting external environment light to the target area.

2. The near-eye display system of claim 1, wherein the micro display module is provided with at least one of an auxiliary lens, a phase plate.

3. The near-eye display system of claim 1, wherein the Micro-display module comprises one of an LCOS chip, an LCD chip, a DLP chip, an OLED chip, and a Micro-LED chip.

4. The near-eye display system of claim 1, wherein the phase modulation layer is a fresnel lens of one of spherical, freeform, holographic, etc.

5. The near-eye display system of claim 1 wherein the transflective layer is a transflective metal film.

6. The near-eye display system of claim 1 wherein the transflective layer is a transflective optical dielectric film.

7. The near-eye display system of claim 1, wherein the transflective layer is configured to adapt a reflection wavelength interval of itself to a wavelength interval of the initial image light.

8. The near-eye display system of claim 1, wherein the micro-display module is configured to emit the initial image light of a target polarization state, the transflective layer being configured to reflect the initial image light of the target polarization state.

9. The near-eye display system of claim 1, wherein the transflective layer is provided with a state-adjustable device for adjusting at least one parameter of reflectivity and transmittance of the transflective layer according to an external optical signal or an electrical signal.

10. A near-eye display device comprising a near-eye display system as claimed in any one of claims 1-9.

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