JP2002131694A - Image observing device and image observing system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image observing device by which image information can be observed by respective display modes and to obtain an image observing system using the same. SOLUTION: The image observing device has an image display means for displaying the image information and a display optical system for guiding light flux based on the image information displayed in the image display means to an observing eye and observes the image information by making an emitting pupil position of the display optical system and an incident pupil position of the observing eye almost coincide. Further the image observing device has an incident light flux controlling means which has a plurality of display modes and corresponding to the selected display mode, changes at least one among an area and a position of the light flux incident on the observing eye at the incident pupil position of the observing eye.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image observing apparatus for satisfactorily observing image information displayed on an image display device in various display modes (formats), and an image observing system using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an image observation apparatus for observing image information displayed on a display element such as an LCD as an enlarged virtual image by an eyepiece optical system (hereinafter, virtual image observation). For example, a prism disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-333551 efficiently guides a light beam from a display element to an observation eye by using total reflection, and includes a so-called free-form surface having a different optical power depending on the azimuth angle. Are used to satisfactorily correct various aberrations caused by decentering the optical system, thereby realizing a small and lightweight display optical system. When observing a stereoscopic image, a pair of image observation devices is provided for the left and right eyes, and stereoscopic viewing is performed using binocular parallax.

Further, Japanese Patent No. 2679176 discloses an image observation apparatus of the type which projects image information directly onto the retina when observing the image information (hereinafter referred to as “retinal projection”). In this method, a display element is illuminated by a point light source, and an image of the point light source is formed on an entrance pupil of an observer, so that an image can be observed in the same manner as the principle of a pinhole camera. With this configuration, a clear image can be observed without depending on the imaging ability of the eye. When observing a stereoscopic image, a pair of image observing devices is provided for the left and right eyes, as in the above-described type, and stereoscopic viewing is performed using binocular parallax.

[0004] The applicant has filed a Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-2885.
No. 3 proposes another type of image observation device. This device divides the exit pupil of the display optical system into a plurality of regions, guides the parallax images corresponding to each region to the observation eye, and causes a plurality of parallax images to be incident on a single eye (hereinafter, monocular parallax). It is. With such a configuration, when observing a stereoscopic image only with binocular parallax, it is possible to reduce fatigue caused by contradiction between convergence and accommodation of the observer's eyes, and to observe the stereoscopic image in a natural state without the observer getting tired. I can do it.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a stereoscopic image observation image value of a type in which an enlarged virtual image of image information is observed by an eyepiece optical system,
When observing a stereoscopic image, there is a problem that inconsistency arises in that the convergence of the observation eye is adjusted to the position of the reproduced object, and the adjustment is adjusted to the enlarged virtual image plane of the display element.

In an image observation apparatus of the type which projects an image directly on the retina, when the eye is rotated to gaze at the peripheral portion of the screen when the display angle of view is wide, the illuminating light deviates from the pupil and cannot be observed. For this reason, there is a problem that the display angle of view cannot be set too large. Also, when observing a stereoscopic image, there is no contradiction between convergence and accommodation, but on the other hand, there is a problem that the image is in focus even if the eye is adjusted to any position, which is different from the natural appearance.

An image observation apparatus of the type in which a plurality of parallax images are incident on a single eye requires a large amount of image information.

As described above, each method has advantages and disadvantages, and it is optimal to select each method according to the image information to be observed. However, in order to observe the image sources generated for each system, a separate image observation device had to be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image observing apparatus which can observe image information corresponding to various display modes by an appropriate observing method, and an image observing system using the same.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image observation apparatus, comprising: an image display unit for displaying image information; and a display optical system for guiding a light beam based on the image information displayed on the image display unit to an observation eye. An image observation apparatus for observing the image information with the exit pupil position of the display optical system substantially coincident with the entrance pupil position of the observation eye, and having a plurality of display modes; Correspondingly, the present invention is characterized in that it has an incident light beam control means for changing at least one of the area and the position of the light beam incident on the observation eye at the entrance pupil position of the observation eye.

A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect of the present invention, a display mode selecting means is provided, and the display mode is selected by the display mode selecting means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the image display control means for changing image information displayed on the image display means according to a change in the state of the incident light beam by the incident light beam control means. It is characterized by having.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the light amount adjusting means for adjusting the light amount incident on the observation eye in accordance with a change in the state of the incident light beam by the incident light beam control means. It is characterized by having.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the display mode is provided by observing a virtual image of the image information by the display optical system.
A mode for observing the image information is included.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, in the display mode, the image information displayed on the image display element is directly transmitted to the retina of an observation eye by the display optical system. It is characterized by including a mode for observing the image information by projecting.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the display mode includes a mode in which a plurality of parallax images enter a single eye and the image information is observed. And

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the plurality of display modes include observing a virtual image of the image information displayed by the image display means by the display optical system. By observing the image information, by projecting the image information directly on the retina of the observation eye by the display optical system, a mode for observing the image information, a plurality of parallax images are incident on a single eye, the image At least two display modes among the modes for observing information are set.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to eighth aspects of the present invention, there is provided illumination means having an illumination light source for illuminating the image display means, and the illumination light source is configured to receive light from the display optical system. It is arranged at or near the position optically equivalent to the pupil, and controls the illumination means by the incident light flux control means to change the state of the light flux incident on the entrance pupil of the observation eye. Features.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the illumination light source has a plurality of unit light sources, and the images of the plurality of unit light sources correspond to an exit pupil of the display optical system by a plurality of irradiation areas. By controlling the irradiation of the luminous flux from the plurality of unit light sources, the exit pupil of the display optical system is divided into a plurality of irradiation areas and controlled to each of the irradiation areas. A display mode in which a plurality of parallax images are incident on a single eye of an observer by controlling switching of image information to be displayed on the image display means in accordance with the incident state of the luminous flux. It is characterized by.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the ninth or tenth aspect, the image display means has a transmission type spatial modulation element.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth or tenth aspect, the image display means has a reflection-type spatial modulation element.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the ninth to twelfth aspects of the present invention, the illumination light source has a luminous array.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the ninth to twelfth aspects, the illumination light source includes a surface light source and a spatial light modulator.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the ninth to twelfth aspects, the illumination light source has a point light source and an optical system having a positive power.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the ninth to fifteenth aspects, a member capable of electrically switching the degree of light scattering in an optical path between the illumination means and the image display means. Or a means for mechanically inserting and removing the light scattering member.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the image display means is a self-luminous type image display element or a light source integrated type image display element, and the display optical system Has a relay optical system for forming an aerial image of the image display element surface and an eyepiece optical system for presenting the aerial image as an enlarged virtual image to an observation eye, and has a space at or near the entrance pupil position of the eyepiece optical system. It is characterized in that a state of a light beam incident on an entrance pupil of an observation eye is changed by disposing a modulation element and controlling the spatial modulation element by the incident light beam control means.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in accordance with the seventeenth aspect, the spatial modulation element has a two-dimensional pixel structure, and an image of the spatial modulation element is formed by dividing an exit pupil of the display optical system into a plurality of irradiation areas. Is formed by spatially dividing the light into an image. By controlling the irradiation of the light flux from each pixel of the spatial light modulator,
The exit pupil of the display optical system is controlled to be divided into a plurality of irradiation areas, and in response to the state of incidence of a light beam on each of the irradiation areas,
A display mode is provided in which a plurality of parallax images are incident on a single eye of an observer by switching control of image information displayed on the image display means.

A nineteenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the seventeenth aspect or the eighteenth aspect, the spatial modulation element is a transmission type spatial modulation element.

A twentieth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the seventeenth aspect or the eighteenth aspect, the spatial modulation element is a reflection type spatial modulation element.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to twentieth aspects of the present invention, the display optical system has a prism body including a decentered non-rotationally symmetric reflecting surface having different optical power depending on the azimuth angle. It is characterized by doing.

An image observation system according to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention provides the image observation apparatus according to any one of the first to twenty-first aspects for the left and right eyes of an observer. It is characterized in that a pair is provided.

[0032]

1 to 7 are explanatory views of the basic concept of an optical system of an image observation apparatus according to the present invention.

The image observation apparatus S according to the present invention is roughly divided into an illumination means 10 having an illumination light source 11, an image display means 20 for displaying image information 21, and a light source for guiding a light beam based on the image information 21 to an observation eye E. Display optical system 30, control means 40
have.

1 and 2, the illuminating means 10 is disposed at the entrance pupil position of the display optical system 30, and the display optical system 30 causes the exit pupil P of the display optical system 30 in a conjugate relationship with the entrance pupil.
An image 11 'of the illumination light source 11 is formed at the position. The observer makes the entrance pupil of the eye (observation eye) E substantially coincide with the exit pupil P of the display optical system 30, and the display optical system 30 of the image information 21 displayed on the image display means 20 illuminated by the illumination means 10. An image (enlarged virtual image) 21 'is observed. Since the illumination light source 11 and the exit pupil P have a conjugate relationship, the position of the illumination light source 11, the illumination area, the light intensity, the illumination spectral characteristics, and the like are controlled by the incident light flux control circuit 41, so that the entrance pupil position of the observer is obtained. Can change variously the state of the incident light beam. The optical parameters such as the position and the focal length of the display optical system 30 are determined so that an enlarged virtual image of the display element surface of the image display means 20 is formed 2 m ahead of the exit pupil P, for example.

FIG. 1 shows the image forming relationship of the image display means 20 by the display optical system 30, and FIG. 2 shows the image forming relationship of the illumination means 10 by the display optical system 30.

The control means 40 has a display mode switching control circuit (display mode selection means) 43 as an incident light flux control circuit (incident light flux control means) 41 and an image display control circuit (image display control means) 42.

The display mode switching control circuit 43 sends the display mode selected by the observer to the incident light beam control circuit 41 and the image display control circuit 42. Incident light flux control circuit 41
Controls the operation of the illumination means 10 according to the selected display mode, and controls the state of the incident light beam at the entrance pupil position of the observation eye E. Further, the image display control circuit 42 controls image information to be displayed on the image display means 20 according to the selected display mode.

The display modes include a virtual image observation mode, a retinal projection mode, and a monocular parallax mode. It is not necessary to support all three modes, and it is sufficient to support at least two display modes.

Next, the state of the light beam incident on the observation eye E and the image information when each mode is selected will be described.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram when the virtual image observation mode for observing the image information displayed by the image display means 20 as an enlarged virtual image is selected. Incident light flux control circuit 41
Is the illumination light source image 1 at the exit pupil position P of the display optical system 30.
The size of the illumination light source 11 of the illumination means 10 is controlled so that the size of 1 'is, for example, 4 mm or more in diameter. Further, the image display control circuit 42 displays, on the display element of the image display means 20, image information when the center position of the exit pupil position P of the display optical system 30 is viewed from the viewpoint. When this virtual image observation mode is selected, the observer can observe the image information 21 as if there is a screen at the virtual image position of the display element surface of the image display means 20 by the display optical system 30. Also, since the area of the light beam incident on the entrance pupil position of the observation eye E is large, the display light beam enters the observation eye even if the entrance pupil moves due to the movement of the line of sight of the observation eye E. It is possible to observe a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image of the image information 21 from a wide field of view. Note that 3
When observing a two-dimensional image, a pair of image observation devices according to the present invention are provided for the left and right eyes, and a parallax image is displayed on each display element.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram when the retinal projection mode is selected. The incident light flux control circuit 41 includes the display optical system 3.
The size of the illumination light source 11 of the illumination means 10 is controlled so that the size of the illumination light source image 11 'at the exit pupil position P of 0 is, for example, 1 mm or less in diameter. On the display element of the image display means 20, image information when the center position of the exit pupil position P of the display optical system 30 is set as a viewpoint is displayed. When this retinal projection mode is selected, since the diameter of the incident light beam at the position of the entrance pupil of the observer is small, it does not depend on the imaging ability of the observer's eyeball optical system according to the same principle as a so-called pinhole camera. The image information 21 can be clearly observed.

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams in the case where the single-eye parallax mode for allowing the observation eye to recognize the minute parallax image is selected. The illumination light source 11 is composed of a plurality of, for example, three unit light sources 11a, 11b, 11c (the number may be any number as long as it is plural). As shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. The light sources 11a, 11
b and 11c are sequentially turned on. Thereby, the display optical system 3
The exit pupil P of 0 has a plurality of area regions (11a ′, 11b ′,
11c '), the light flux to each area can be time-divisionally controlled. At this time, the image display control circuit 4
2 switches the image information 21 displayed on the image display means 20 to image information 21a, 21b, 21c in response to the switching of the illumination light source 11. Image information 21
a, 21b, and 21c are minute parallax images obtained when the object to be reproduced is viewed from the center position of each of the regions 11a ', 11b', and 11c '.

The illumination light source 11 by the incident light flux control circuit 41
The switching of the image information 21 by the image display control circuit 42 synchronized therewith is repeatedly performed in a cycle shorter than the permissible time of afterimage of the observer's eyes, so that the switching operation can be performed without being conscious of the observer. When this monocular parallax mode is selected, a plurality of parallax images are incident on the monocular, so that a similar image observation device can be provided for each of the left and right eyes to obtain a more natural stereoscopic effect when observing a stereoscopic image. it can. Particularly, in the case of an image observation system in which a pair of image observation devices according to the present invention are provided for the left and right eyes, a virtual image observation mode is used.
It is possible to reduce the contradiction between the convergence and accommodation of the observation eyes that occurs when the stereoscopic image is observed only with the binocular parallax, and the observer can observe the stereoscopic image in a natural state.

FIGS. 8 to 13 show some of the specific operations of the illumination light source 11 of the illumination means 10. FIG.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the illumination light source 11 is configured to have a plurality of unit light sources 51 divided into a plurality of areas in terms of area. The incident light beam control circuit 41 controls the illumination light source 11 for each selected mode as follows.

When the virtual image observation mode (FIG. 3) is selected, all the unit light sources are turned on to provide an illumination light source having a substantially large area. Alternatively, an arbitrary unit light source may be turned on, and a member having a light scattering property (diffusion plate) may be inserted into the optical path between the illumination light source 11 and the image display means 20. As for the insertion of the member having the light scattering property, a diffusion plate may be mechanically inserted, or a member such as a PDLC may be provided in the optical path to electrically control the degree of scattering.
At this time, the member is set to have a predetermined size (for example, a diameter of 4 mm or more) on the exit pupil position P in the display optical system 30.

When the retinal projection mode (FIG. 4) is selected, only the central unit light source is turned on, and the illumination light source has a substantially small area. At this time, even if a plurality of unit light sources are turned on, any number of unit light sources may be turned on as long as the size of the image at the exit pupil position P is small.

When the monocular parallax mode is selected, each unit light source is sequentially turned on to substantially change the position of the illumination light source.

The illumination light source 11 has a light emitting array such as an EL panel or an LED array, or a structure as shown in FIGS.

In FIG. 9, the unit light source 51 is a light emitting body 52.
And a pinhole 53 illuminated with a light beam therefrom. The light shielding plate 54 is for preventing the light flux of the adjacent light emitting body 52 from leaking.

In FIG. 10, the unit light source 51 is
2 and a diffusion plate 55 illuminated with a light beam therefrom. The light shielding plate 54 is for preventing the light flux of the adjacent light emitting body from leaking.

In FIG. 11, the illumination light source 11 comprises a surface light source 56 such as a cold-cathode tube and a light guide plate and a transmissive spatial modulation element 57 such as a transmissive liquid crystal panel. The unit light source 51 is composed of one pixel or several pixels of the transmission type spatial modulation element 57.

In FIG. 12, the illumination light source 11 comprises a surface-emitting light source 58, a lens 59, a half mirror 61, and a reflective spatial modulation element 60 such as a reflective liquid crystal panel.
The unit light source 51 is one pixel (60
a, 60b, 60c) or several pixels. Here, the light beam from the surface light source 58 is reflected by the half mirror 61 and enters the spatial light modulator 60. Spatial modulation element 60
The light beam modulated by the light beam passes through the half mirror 61 and illuminates the image light beam means (see FIG. 1).

FIG. 1 shows another configuration of the illumination light source 11.
The configuration shown in FIG. The left side of the figure shows a side view of the main part, and the right side shows a front view of the main part.
The illumination light source 11 includes a light source 62 that can be regarded as a substantially point light source, an illumination lens 63 having a positive power, and a diffusion plate 64.
As shown in FIG. 13A, when the light source 62 and the diffusion surface 64a of the diffusion plate 64 have a conjugate relationship, the illumination light source 11 becomes a light source having a light emitting surface 11a with a small area. 13B, the area of the light emitting surface 11a of the illumination light source 11 can be changed as shown in FIGS. Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 13D and 13E, even if only one of the illumination lens 63 and the light source 62 is moved, the area of the light emitting surface 11a of the illumination light source 11 can be changed. Further, the position of the light source 62 or the illumination lens 63
Is moved in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis, the position of the light emitting surface 11a of the illumination light source 11 can also be changed.

As shown in FIG. 13 (E), the light beam from the light source 62 is converted into a parallel light beam on the illumination lens 63, and a mechanical diaphragm mechanism 64b is provided immediately before or immediately after the diffusion plate 64, and the diaphragm aperture is changed to change the illumination light source. The area and position of the light emitting surface 11b may be changed.

By configuring the illumination light source 11 as described above, a plurality of unit light sources divided in area can be realized. Note that the shape of the unit light source does not necessarily have to be a rectangular shape as shown, but may be any shape such as a circle, an ellipse, and a polygon.

Further, in each display mode, a function of automatically adjusting the light amount by changing the brightness of the light source so that the brightness of the observed image is substantially the same or a desired brightness can be obtained ( Light amount adjusting means) may be added.
(Embodiment 1) FIG. 14 is a schematic view of a main part of an image observation apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This apparatus comprises an illumination means 10 having an illumination light source 11 and an image display means 2 for displaying image information.
0, a display optical system 30 for guiding image information displayed on the image display means 20 illuminated by the light beam from the illumination means 10 to the observation eye E, and a control means 40.

The light beam emitted from the illumination light source 11 of the illumination means 10 passes through the polarizing plate 23 and becomes linearly polarized light, a part of which is transmitted by the half mirror 31, and guided to the display element 25. The display element 25 is a reflection type display element such as a reflection type liquid crystal panel having a pixel structure. For example, the polarization direction of the linearly polarized light incident on the pixels in the “ON” display portion is reflected by rotating the polarization direction by 90 degrees, and is turned “OFF”. It has a function of preserving and reflecting the polarization direction of linearly polarized light that has entered the pixels of the display portion.

The light beam reflected by the display element 25 is partially reflected by the half mirror 31 and is reflected by the concave mirror 32 having a curvature such as a spherical surface or an aspherical surface.
, A part of the light is transmitted and guided to the polarizing plate 24. Polarizing plate 2
Numeral 4 is arranged so that the polarizing plate 23 and the transmission polarization axis are orthogonal to each other. The reflected light from the pixels in the “ON” display portion of the display element 25 is polarized by 90 degrees because the polarization direction is rotated by 90 degrees.
4 and is guided to the observation eye E. However, the display element 2
The reflected light from the pixels in the “OFF” display portion of No. 5 is blocked by the polarizing plate 24 because the polarization direction is preserved, and does not enter the observation eye E. Further, the polarizing plate 24 is used for the illumination light source 11.
It also has a role of blocking a light beam that is partially reflected by the half mirror 31 toward the observation eye E after passing through the polarizing plate 23 and preventing the light from entering the observation eye E.

The illumination light source 11 is arranged at the entrance pupil position of the display optical system 30, and is located at the exit pupil P of the display optical system 30 which is in a conjugate relationship with the entrance pupil by the display optical system 30.
An image is formed. The observer displays the entrance pupil of the eye with the optical system 30.
Of the image information displayed on the image display means 20 illuminated by the illumination light source 11 and observed by the display optical system 30. The display optical system 30 converts the enlarged virtual image of the display element surface of the image display means 20 into, for example, 2
The position, the focal length, and the like are determined so as to be formed m m ahead.

In FIG. 14, a broken line indicates an optical path of an image forming relation by the display optical system 30 of the image display means 20, and a solid line indicates an optical path of an image forming relation by the display optical system 30 of the illumination means 10.

The control means 40 appropriately switches and controls the operations of the illumination light source 11 and the display element 25, so that the observer can observe a plurality of display modes based on the principle shown in FIGS. , The input image information can be observed by an appropriate observation method.

In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 14, a reflective display element is used as a display element of the display means 20, but a transmissive display element may be used as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 15, components having the same functions as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 14 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
The illumination light beam emitted from the illumination light source 11 of the illumination means 10 is refracted by the condenser lens 12 and guided to the display element 26 of the display means 20. The display element 26 is a transmissive display element including a polarizing plate and a transmissive liquid crystal panel.

The light beam passing through the display element 26 is guided to the observation eye E by the display optical system 30 including the half mirror 31 and the concave mirror 32. The focal length and position of the condenser lens 12 are determined so that the image position of the illumination light source 11 by the condenser lens 12 coincides with the entrance pupil position of the display optical system 30.

The display optical system 30 forms an image of the illumination light source 11 at the position of the exit pupil P. The observer makes the entrance pupil of the eye substantially coincide with the exit pupil P of the display optical system 30, and observes an image of the image information displayed on the image display means 20 illuminated by the illumination light source 11 by the display optical system 30.

In FIG. 15, a broken line indicates an optical path of an image forming relation by the display optical system 30 of the image display means 20, and a solid line indicates an optical path of an image forming relation by the display optical system 30 of the illumination means 10.

The control means 40 appropriately switches and controls the operations of the illumination light source 11 and the display element 26, so that the observer can observe a plurality of display modes based on the principle shown in FIGS. , The input image information can be observed by an appropriate observation method. (Embodiment 2) FIG. 16 is a schematic view of a main part of an image observation apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 15, the present apparatus is displayed on an illuminating means 10 having an illuminating light source 11, an image displaying means 20 for displaying image information, and an image displaying means 20 illuminated by a light beam from the illuminating means 10. A display optical system 30 for guiding the image information to the observation eye E, and control means 40. Components having the same functions as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 15 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

The luminous flux emitted from the illuminating light source 11 of the illuminating means 10 is refracted by the condenser lens 12 and guided to the display element 26 of the display means 20, and the luminous flux passing through the display element 26 is refracted by the surface 34 while being refracted by the prism. The light enters the body 33. The light beam incident on the surface 34 of the prism body 33 is incident on the surface 35 at an incident angle equal to or greater than the critical angle, is totally reflected, and is reflected by the mirror surface 3.
6 and is incident on the surface 35 at an incident angle equal to or smaller than the critical angle, exits the prism body 33 while being refracted.
To the entrance pupil. The prism body 33 has at least one decentered non-rotationally symmetric surface having different optical powers depending on the azimuth angle in order to favorably correct the aberration caused by the inclined surface having the optical power. The size of the display optical system 30 is reduced. The position and the focal length of the prism body 33 are determined so that an enlarged virtual image of the display element surface of the display means 20 is formed, for example, 2 m ahead of the exit pupil P.

The display optical system 30 forms an image of the illumination light source 11 at the position of the exit pupil P. The observer makes the entrance pupil of the eye substantially coincide with the exit pupil P of the display optical system 30, and observes an image of the image information displayed on the image display means 20 illuminated by the illumination light source 11 by the display optical system 30.

The control means 40 appropriately switches and controls the operations of the illumination light source 11 and the display element 26, so that the observer can observe a plurality of display modes based on the principle shown in FIGS. , The input image information can be observed by an appropriate observation method.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16, a reflective display element may be used as the display element of the display means 20, as shown in FIG. The components having the same functions as those of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 and 16 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 17, the illumination light beam emitted from the illumination light source 11 of the illumination means 10 is refracted by the condenser lens 12, passes through the polarizing plate 23, becomes linearly polarized light, and enters the prism 13 while being refracted by the surface 14. The prism 13 is a triangular prism (a part may have a curved surface) constituted by a plane. The light beam incident on the prism 13 is incident on the surface 15 at an angle equal to or greater than the critical angle, is totally reflected, exits from the prism 13 while being refracted on the surface 16, and is incident on the reflective display element 25. The light beam reflected by the reflective display element 25 enters the prism 13 while being refracted by the surface 16, re-enters the surface 15 at an angle smaller than the critical angle, exits the prism 13 while being refracted, and enters the polarizing plate 24. I do. As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the reflected light from the pixels in the “ON” display portion of the display element 25 passes through the polarizing plate 24 and
The reflected light from the pixels in the “OFF” display portion of No. 5 is blocked by the polarizing plate 24. The light beam that has passed through the polarizing plate 24 is shown in FIG.
The light is guided to the observation eye E while being reflected and refracted by the same prism body 33 as shown in FIG. By configuring the illumination means 10 using the prism 13 including the surface that totally reflects, the size of the apparatus is reduced. In this embodiment, the surface 15 of the prism 13 is a total reflection surface, but may be a half mirror surface or a polarizing beam splitter surface.

The display optical system 30 forms an image of the illumination light source 11 at the position of the exit pupil P. The observer makes the entrance pupil of the eye substantially coincide with the exit pupil P of the display optical system 30, and observes an image of the image information displayed on the image display means 20 illuminated by the illumination light source 11 by the display optical system 30.

The control means 40 appropriately switches and controls the operations of the illumination light source 11 and the display element 25, so that the observer can observe a plurality of display modes based on the principle shown in FIGS. , The input image information can be observed by an appropriate observation method. (Embodiment 3) Next, Embodiment 3 of the image observation apparatus of the present invention.
Will be described.

Conventionally, a self-luminous type high-speed display device such as an EL panel has been known. Further, a light source integrated type display device in which a backlight, a polarizing plate, a transmission type liquid crystal panel and the like are integrated is known. In the present embodiment, an image observation apparatus is configured using such a self-luminous type or a light source integrated type display device as shown in FIGS.

FIGS. 18 and 19 are schematic views of a main part of an image observation apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

The image observation apparatus S according to the present invention comprises a self-luminous image display means 80 such as an EL panel for displaying image information 81, a relay optical system 90, a display optical system (eyepiece optical system) 1.
00, a spatial modulation element 70, and a control means 40.

In FIGS. 18 and 19, the image display means 8
The image information 81 displayed at 0 is formed as an aerial image 81 ′ by the relay optical system 90 via the spatial modulation element 70, and the aerial image 81 ′ is enlarged by the display optical system 100.
An image is formed as 1 ".

The observer makes the entrance pupil of the eye substantially coincide with the exit pupil P of the display optical system 100, and observes the image 81 ″. The relay optical system 90 and the display optical system 100 provide the enlarged virtual image 81 ″ of the image information 81. Is formed, for example, 2 m ahead of the exit pupil P, the position and the focal length are determined.

The spatial modulation element 70 is arranged at the entrance pupil position of the display optical system 100, and the image 70 of the spatial modulation element 70 is located at the position of the exit pupil P of the display optical system 100 conjugate with the entrance pupil by the display optical system 100. 'Form. By controlling the areas and positions of the transmission part and the light shielding part of the spatial modulation element 70 in this manner, the state of the incident light beam at the position of the entrance pupil of the observer can be changed.
7 can be changed in the same manner as shown in FIG.

FIG. 18 shows an optical path of an image forming relationship by the relay optical system 90 and the display optical system 100 of the image display means 80, and FIG. 19 shows an optical path of an image forming relationship by the display optical system 100 of the spatial light modulator 70. ing.

The control means 40 comprises an incident light beam control circuit 41, an image display control circuit 42, and a display mode switching control circuit 43.

The display mode switching control circuit 43 sends the selected display mode to the incident light beam control circuit 41 and the image display control circuit 42. The incident light beam control circuit 41 controls the spatial modulation element 70 according to the selected display mode, and controls the state of the incident light beam at the position of the entrance pupil of the observation eye E. Further, the image display control circuit 42 controls image information 81 to be displayed on the image display means 80 according to the selected display mode.

With such a configuration, various display modes can be realized by one image observation apparatus by controlling the spatial modulation element 70 and the image display means 80 in the same manner as in the method shown in FIGS. can do. (Embodiment 4) FIG. 20 is a schematic view of a main part of an image observation apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. This apparatus is a self-luminous image display means 80 for displaying image information, a relay optical system 90, a spatial modulation element 70, and a display optical system 1 for guiding image information to an observation eye E.
00 and control means 40.

Image display means 8 on which image information 81 is displayed
The light beam emitted from the light source 0 is converged by the relay lens 91 of the relay optical system 90, passes through the polarizing plate 111, becomes linearly polarized light, partially passes through the half mirror 101, and passes through the field lens 92 to the spatial light modulator. It is led to 70.

The spatial modulation element 70 is a reflection type spatial modulation element such as a reflection type liquid crystal panel having a pixel structure.
It has a function of reflecting by rotating it by 0 degrees and preserving the polarization direction of the linearly polarized light that has entered the pixels in the “OFF” portion.

The light beam reflected by the spatial modulation element 70 forms an aerial image 81 ′ of the image information 81,
At 1, a part of the light is reflected, reflected by the concave mirror 102, transmitted again by the half mirror 101, and guided to the polarizing plate 112. The polarizing plate 112 is disposed so that the transmission polarization axis is orthogonal to the polarizing plate 111. The reflected light from the pixels in the “ON” portion of the spatial modulation element 70 passes through the polarizing plate 112 because the polarization direction is rotated by 90 degrees, and is guided to the observation eye E. However, the reflected light from the pixels in the “OFF” portion of the spatial modulation element 70 is blocked by the polarizing plate 112 because the polarization direction is preserved, and does not enter the observation eye E. Further, the polarizing plate 112 is provided with the image information 81 of the image display means 80.
From the half mirror 101 through the polarizing plate 111
To block the light beam partially reflected to the observation eye E side,
It also has the role of preventing the light from entering.

The spatial modulation element 70 is arranged at the position of the entrance pupil of the display optical system 100, and the display optical system 100 shifts the image of the spatial modulation element 70 to the position of the exit pupil P of the display optical system 100 which has a conjugate relationship with the entrance pupil. Form. The observer makes the entrance pupil of the eye substantially coincide with the exit pupil P of the display optical system 100, and observes the image of the image information displayed on the image display means 80 by the relay optical system 90 and the display optical system 100. Relay optical system 90
The position and the focal length of the display optical system 100 are determined so that an enlarged virtual image of the display element surface of the image display means 80 is formed, for example, 2 m ahead of the exit pupil P.

The control means 40 appropriately switches and controls the operations of the image display means 80 and the spatial modulation element 70, so that a plurality of observers can be provided based on the principles shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 and FIGS. Can be observed, and input image information can be observed by an appropriate observation method.

Here, by using the field lens 92, the imaging relationship of the pupil and the imaging relationship of the image display means 80 can be separated, so that the degree of freedom in layout is increased and the size of the apparatus can be reduced. It becomes easier. Further, in the present embodiment, a reflective liquid crystal panel is used as the spatial modulation element 70, but it may be configured using a micromirror device or the like.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 20, a reflection type element is used as the spatial modulation element 70, but a transmission type element may be used as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 21, components having the same functions as those in the embodiment shown in FIG. 20 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
The light flux emitted from the image display means 80 on which the image information 81 is displayed is guided to the spatial modulation element 71 while being focused by the relay lens 91 of the relay optical system 90. The spatial modulation element 71 is a transmission type spatial modulation element including a polarizing plate and a transmission type liquid crystal panel. The light beam that has passed through the spatial modulation element 71 is guided to the observation eye E by the display optical system 100 having the same configuration as in FIG. The display optical system 100 forms an image of the spatial modulation element 71 at the position of the exit pupil P. The observer makes the entrance pupil of the eye substantially coincide with the exit pupil P of the display optical system 100, and observes the image of the image information 81 displayed on the image display means 80 by the display optical system 30.

The control means 40 appropriately switches and controls the operations of the image display means 80 and the spatial modulation element 71 so that the observer can obtain a plurality of images based on the principles shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 and FIGS. The display mode can be observed,
The input image information can be observed by an appropriate observation method.

The display mode switching in the above embodiments is automatically selected by the display mode switching control circuit 43 based on a signal from the image input means 44 as shown in FIG.
A control signal may be transmitted to the image display control circuit 42 and the incident light flux control circuit 41, or a display mode selection means 45 such as a switch may be provided as shown in FIG. You may do it.

Further, the image observation apparatus S of each of the above embodiments is configured to be provided as a pair for the left and right eyes of the observer as shown in FIG. 24, so that the binocular parallax (in the case of the monocular parallax mode, the monocular parallax ) Can be used to obtain an image observation system such as a head-mounted display capable of observing a stereoscopic image.

[0097]

According to the present invention, an image observing apparatus and an image observing apparatus capable of observing image information corresponding to various display modes by an appropriate observing method can be provided by adopting the above configuration. The image observation system used can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a basic concept of an optical system of an image observation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a basic concept of an optical system of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of each display mode of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of each display mode of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of each display mode of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of each display mode of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of each display mode of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a lighting unit of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a lighting unit of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view of a lighting unit of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a lighting unit of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a lighting unit of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view of a lighting unit of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a main part of an image observation apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of a main part when a part of the image observation apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention is changed.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a main part of a second embodiment of the image observation apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of a main part when a part of the image observation apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention is modified.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of a main part of an image observation apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a schematic view of a main part when a part of the third embodiment of the image observation apparatus of the present invention is changed.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of a main part of an image observation apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a main part when a part of Embodiment 4 of the image observation device of the present invention is changed.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram of control means of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of control means of the image observation device of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram of an image observation system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S image observation device P exit pupil E eyeball (observation eye) 10 illumination means 11 illumination light source 20 image display means 21 image information 30 display optical system 40 control means 41 incident light flux control circuit 42 image display control circuit 43 display mode switching control circuit 51 Unit light source 52 Light emitting body 54 Shielding plate 55, 64 Diffusing plate 57, 60 Spatial modulation element 23, 24 Polarizing plate 13, 33 Prism

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04N 13/04 H04N 13/04

Claims (22)

[Claims] An image display means for displaying image information, a display optical system for guiding a light beam based on the image information displayed on the image display means to an observation eye, an exit pupil position of the display optical system and the observation An image observation apparatus that observes the image information while making the entrance pupil positions of the eyes substantially coincide with each other has a plurality of display modes, and corresponds to the selected display mode, and the luminous flux incident on the observation eyes corresponds to the observation eyes. An image observation apparatus comprising: an incident light flux control unit that changes at least one of an area and a position at an entrance pupil position. 2. The image observation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display mode selection means, wherein the display mode is selected by the display mode selection means. 3. An image display control means for changing image information displayed on said image display means in accordance with a change in the state of the incident light flux by said incident light flux control means. 2. Image observation device. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising light amount adjusting means for adjusting the amount of light incident on the observation eye in accordance with a change in the state of the incident light beam by said incident light beam control means. Image observation device. 5. The display mode according to claim 1, wherein the display mode includes a mode of observing the image information by observing a virtual image of the image information by the display optical system. Image observation device. 6. The display mode includes a mode in which image information displayed on the image display element is directly projected on a retina of an observation eye by the display optical system to observe the image information. The image observation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein 7. The image observation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display mode includes a mode in which a plurality of parallax images are incident on a single eye and the image information is observed. 8. A display mode for observing the image information by observing a virtual image by the display optical system of the image information displayed by the image display means, wherein the plurality of display modes are: 2. A display mode in which at least two of a mode in which the image information is observed by projecting the image information directly on a retina of an observation eye, and a mode in which a plurality of parallax images are incident on a single eye and the image information is observed. 5. The image observation device according to any one of items 1 to 4. 9. An illuminating means having an illuminating light source for illuminating said image display means, said illuminating light source being disposed at or near a position optically equivalent to an entrance pupil of said display optical system, The image observation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a state of a light beam incident on an entrance pupil of an observation eye is changed by controlling the illumination means by an incident light beam control means. 10. The illumination light source has a plurality of unit light sources, and images of the plurality of unit light sources are formed by spatially dividing an exit pupil of the display optical system into a plurality of irradiation regions. By controlling the irradiation of the light beams from the plurality of unit light sources, the exit pupil of the display optical system is divided into a plurality of irradiation regions and controlled.
And a display mode in which a plurality of parallax images are incident on a single eye of an observer by switching and controlling image information displayed on the image display means in accordance with a state of incidence of a light beam on each irradiation area. The image observation device according to claim 9, further comprising: 11. The image display device according to claim 9, wherein said image display means has a transmission type spatial modulation element.
Image observation device. 12. The image display device according to claim 9, wherein said image display means has a reflection-type spatial modulation element.
Image observation device. 13. An image observation device according to claim 9, wherein said illumination light source has a light emitting array. 14. An image observation apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said illumination light source has a surface light source and a spatial light modulator. 15. An image observation apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said illumination light source has a point light source and an optical system having a positive power. 16. A member which can electrically switch the degree of light scattering in an optical path between the illumination means and the image display means, or has means for mechanically inserting and removing the light scattering member. 16. The method according to claim 9, wherein:
The image observation device according to any one of the above. 17. The image display means is a self-luminous image display element or an image display element integrated with a light source, and the display optical system is a relay optical system for forming an aerial image on the image display element surface. An eyepiece optical system for presenting the aerial image as an enlarged virtual image to an observation eye; a spatial modulation element arranged at or near an entrance pupil position of the eyepiece optical system; and the spatial light modulation element controlled by the incident light flux control means The image observation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the state of the light beam incident on the entrance pupil of the observation eye is changed by performing the operation. 18. The spatial light modulator has a two-dimensional pixel structure, and an image of the spatial light modulator is formed by spatially dividing an exit pupil of the display optical system into a plurality of irradiation areas. By controlling the irradiation of the light beam from each pixel of the spatial modulation element, the exit pupil of the display optical system is controlled to be divided into a plurality of irradiation regions, and corresponding to the state of the light beam entering each irradiation region. 18. An image according to claim 17, further comprising a display mode in which a plurality of parallax images are made to enter a single eye of an observer by switching and controlling image information displayed on said image display means. Observation device. 19. An image observation apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said spatial modulation element is a transmission type spatial modulation element. 20. An image observation apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said spatial modulation element is a reflection type spatial modulation element. 21. The display optical system according to claim 1, wherein the display optical system has a prism body including a decentered non-rotationally symmetric reflecting surface having different optical powers depending on the azimuth angle. Image observation device. 22. An image observation system comprising a pair of the image observation devices according to claim 1 provided for left and right eyes of an observer.