JP2005115177A - Three-dimensional image display device and method of displaying three-dimensional image - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a three-dimensional image display device having a simple structure and an excellent resolution. <P>SOLUTION: The device has a light source part 1 which emits light corresponding to at least a two-dimensional image and a beam deflector part 2 which deflects the light emitted from the light source part 1 into a plurality of emitting directions for every one pixel of the two-dimensional image, and an intensity modulation corresponding to a three-dimensional image is performed for every one pixel of the two-dimensional image at the light source part 1 synchronizing with deflection directions L1 to Ln at the beam deflector part 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image display device and a three-dimensional image display method for displaying a stereoscopic image.

  Conventional three-dimensional image recording / reproducing techniques include holography using light coherence and a method using a plurality of images without using coherence. The latter records right-eye and left-eye planar images, and during playback, the right-eye is the right eye, and the left-eye is the left eye. It can be roughly divided into multi-eye type using images.

  Representative examples of the binocular stereoscope type include stereoscopic movies that use polarized glasses and stereoscopic televisions that use lenticular and parallax barriers. Therefore, even if the viewing position is changed, the video does not change, and it cannot be said that the back side can be seen. Furthermore, in the case of the multi-view system, there is a problem that the resolution deteriorates as the number of viewpoints increases.

  In holography, which is an ideal 3D stereoscopic image recording / reproducing method, wavefront information of light from an object is used to record stereoscopic image information. In the wavefront information, the interference light is recorded by causing interference between the reference light separately provided and the scattered light from the object.

  For this reason, the optical system and the recording medium require a spatial resolution with a pitch close to the optical wavelength, and particularly the recording medium requires a huge recording capacity. For example, stereoscopic image recording of moving images is not practical.

  Further, this hologram recording requires at least a coherent light source such as a laser. In addition, since interference fringes depend on the wavelength, a color image cannot be handled as it is, and three lasers of three primary colors are required for color recording, and a device that realizes a complicated configuration that constitutes each color laser light source. Is required (see Patent Document 1).

  Therefore, similar to the principle of operation of holograms, the intensity of light emitted from a point in the image, that is, a pixel, can be controlled according to the emission angle using a plurality of light sources capable of modulating and deflecting light. That is, a three-dimensional image generation method and apparatus having a light emitting surface capable of changing the intensity of light according to the emission direction has been proposed (see Patent Document 2).

This technology uses a window glass when viewing an entity through the window glass as a virtual three-dimensional image display device. In the method described in Patent Document 2, the first and second light emitting surfaces are provided. Specifically, light from a plurality of light sources is intensity-modulated by a modulator corresponding to the number of light sources on the first light emitting surface. The emission direction is deflected on the second light emitting surface.
In this case, viewpoints corresponding to the number of light sources can be obtained, and the resolution does not deteriorate even if the number of viewpoints is increased, but there is a problem that the apparatus becomes larger as the number of viewpoints is increased.

JP 2002-72135 A Special table 2000-509591

  An object of the present invention is to provide a 3D image display apparatus and a 3D image display method that solves the above-described problem for displaying a 3D image, has a simple configuration, and can achieve high resolution.

  In order to solve the above problems, a three-dimensional image display device according to the present invention includes a light source unit that emits light corresponding to at least a two-dimensional image, and a plurality of light beams emitted from the light source unit for each pixel of the two-dimensional image. A light beam deflecting unit that deflects in the direction, and performs intensity modulation corresponding to the three-dimensional image on the light of each pixel of the two-dimensional image in the light source unit in synchronization with the deflection direction in the light beam deflecting unit. To do.

  Further, the three-dimensional image display method according to the present invention deflects light for displaying a two-dimensional image in a plurality of emission directions for each pixel in the light beam deflecting unit, and this light beam deflecting unit for the light for displaying the two-dimensional image. Before the incidence, the intensity modulation corresponding to the three-dimensional image is performed in synchronization with the deflection direction in the light beam deflecting unit.

  As described above, in the present invention, light for displaying a two-dimensional image is incident on the light beam deflecting unit from the light source unit, and the incident light is deflected on the light beam deflecting unit. Further, the light source unit performs intensity modulation corresponding to a three-dimensional image, that is, a three-dimensional image, according to the deflection direction.

  By such display, the light emitted from the light beam deflecting unit is scanned within the viewing zone of the observer, so that the observer can use the right eye and the left eye for the light whose intensity is modulated so as to correspond to the stereoscopic image. A three-dimensional image with a resolution corresponding to the number of deflection directions can be seen.

  In the present invention, since the functions of the light intensity modulation and the light deflection are separated in the light source unit and the light beam deflection unit, the light source is prepared according to the number of deflection directions and the number of pixels. There is no need to do this, and a simple configuration can be achieved without being affected by the distance from the light beam deflecting surface.

  According to the three-dimensional image display apparatus and the three-dimensional image display method of the present invention, the light for stereoscopic viewing is deflected only by the light beam deflecting unit, so that the apparatus configuration is simplified and the light source is used to increase the resolution. Since there is no need to increase the size, the apparatus can be downsized.

  Further, in the present invention, the light for displaying the two-dimensional image is a laser beam, so that the light can be easily introduced into the light beam deflecting unit with directivity, and the apparatus configuration can be simplified.

  Furthermore, the light for displaying the two-dimensional image in the light source unit is light-modulated by the one-dimensional type light modulation element, and then scanned and irradiated so as to enter the light beam deflecting unit. Correspondingly, intensity modulation for each deflection direction can be performed, and a three-dimensional image display apparatus can be provided without causing complication of the apparatus configuration.

  Further, as the light modulation element, a plurality of microribbons constituting a diffraction grating are provided, and the diffraction state is similarly modulated by using a light modulation element whose intensity is modulated by modulating the diffraction state by relative movement of the microribbons. Intensity modulation for each deflection direction can be performed in response to the signal to be modulated, and a three-dimensional image display apparatus can be provided without incurring the complexity of the apparatus configuration.

  Embodiments of the best mode for carrying out the three-dimensional image display apparatus and the three-dimensional image display method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the following examples, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the configuration of the present invention.

  As described above, the three-dimensional image display device according to the present invention emits light corresponding to at least a two-dimensional image and emits light from the light source unit in a plurality of emission directions for each pixel of the two-dimensional image. A light beam deflecting unit that deflects the light, and performs intensity modulation corresponding to the stereoscopic image on the light of each pixel of the two-dimensional image in the light source unit in synchronization with the deflection direction of the light beam deflecting unit. The present invention proposes a 3D image reproduction apparatus and a 3D image display method in which the side and back of the video can be seen when the viewing position is changed, and resolution is not sacrificed even if a plurality of viewpoints are supported.

The basic principle of the three-dimensional image display used in the present invention is the same as that for displaying a three-dimensional image so that a stereoscopic image can be seen through the window glass described in Patent Document 2 described above.
In the above-mentioned Patent Document 2, a configuration is proposed in which the intensity of light emitted from a point in an image, that is, a pixel, is controlled according to the emission angle using a plurality of light sources capable of modulating and deflecting light. .

In the present invention, unlike the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 2, instead of using a plurality of light sources, one light source unit is used, and the light from the light source unit is associated with each pixel of the two-dimensional image, The light beam deflecting unit, that is, the observer is configured to deflect so as to scan the viewing zone on the screen (or screen). At this time, the stereoscopic image can be reproduced by changing the direction and intensity of the light beam in correspondence.
As described above, the present invention is configured to deflect each pixel of the two-dimensional image, and does not perform an angle adjustment according to the intensity of light, and is configured to separate the functions of intensity modulation and deflection in the apparatus. A three-dimensional image display apparatus can be configured with a simpler apparatus configuration without using a plurality of light sources. Further, by simplifying the device configuration, the number of viewpoints can be increased without incurring high costs, that is, high-resolution three-dimensional image display can be performed.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram for explaining the basic concept of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the observer sees the light transmitted through the pixels. However, as will be described later, the observer may see the light reflected by the pixels.

A specific configuration and a three-dimensional image display method will be described with reference to FIG.
First, directional light beams L 1, L 2,... Ln are emitted from the light source unit 1 toward the light beam deflecting unit 2. As the directional light, for example, a laser is preferable. Alternatively, one laser beam may be scanned as indicated by an arrow a. Further, when using light from a light source other than a laser, for example, when using a liquid crystal type two-dimensional image display light source, for example, toward each pixel unit of the light beam deflecting unit 2 via an optical system such as a lens array. Light for displaying a two-dimensional image can also be emitted.

Then, the light beam that has reached the light beam deflecting unit 2 is deflected by the light beam deflecting unit 2 as indicated by arrows L11 to L15, for example, and the viewing zone is scanned around each pixel as indicated by an arrow b. Emitted.
In FIG. 2, the deflection mode at each deflection pixel 21 in the light beam deflecting unit 2 is shown in an enlarged manner, and portions corresponding to those in FIG. The deflection direction is not limited to this example, but may be two or more, and the resolution can be increased as the number increases.

  As described above, as an element that modulates laser light in the light source unit 1, for example, GLV (Grating Light Valve) developed by US Silicon Light Machine (SLM) can be used.

  As shown in the schematic plan view of FIG. 3, the GLV type light modulation element is formed by, for example, a large number of one-dimensionally arranged pixels 37 on which light diffraction elements using microribbons are arranged.

  As shown in the schematic perspective view of FIG. 4, the internal structure of the pixel 37 is configured by, for example, six laser light reflecting microribbons 39 supported at both ends on a substrate 36 to form a diffraction grating. ing.

  On the other hand, a common electrode 38 is formed on the substrate 36 so as to be opposed to all the microribbons 39 so as to hold a required gap between the microribbons 39 and the microribbon 39. .

These microribbons 39 are transferred and held at a predetermined distance from the substrate 36 by applying a required voltage between every other ribbon 39 and the counter electrode 38, for example. As shown in the schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 5, the first-order diffracted light Lr (−1) and Lr (+1) are generated by making the incident light Li incident on the microribbon 39 of each pixel.
In this manner, the light from the light source is modulated by the light modulation element 33 to the presence / absence or intensity (gradation) as ± first-order diffracted light.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic configuration when the light source unit 1 is configured using such a light modulation element 33.
RGB (red, green, and blue) laser light L0 is irradiated from the light source 40 through the illumination lens 41 to the light modulation element 33 in a slit shape. The light whose intensity is modulated by the light modulation element 33 is scanned by the scanning mirror 43 through the projection lens 42 as indicated by an arrow c, and is irradiated to the light beam deflecting unit 2 as indicated by an arrow s. In FIG. 6, Ls indicates the projected light.

  Here, for example, assuming that it is compatible with full HD (High Definition), a two-dimensional screen is formed by scanning a one-dimensional image of 1080 pixels in the horizontal direction (direction indicated by the arrow s) by the scanning mirror 43. In the example of FIG. 6, a configuration using the monochromatic light source 40 is shown, but a configuration in which the light modulation element 33 is arranged for each of RGB light can also be used.

  In addition, as the light source unit 1, as described above, two-dimensional image display means such as a liquid crystal projector and a CRT (cathode ray tube) projector, and various light modulations such as DMD (Digital Micromirror Device, Texas Instruments). It goes without saying that a light source unit that displays a two-dimensional image by an element can be applied.

  Then, the light beam that has reached the light beam deflecting unit 2 is scanned in the viewing zone around the pixel, as shown in FIGS. As described above, assuming that full HD is supported, the number of pixels in the horizontal direction is 1920, and when scanning at 60 Hz, approximately 8 μs (microseconds) per pixel remains.

  In each deflection pixel of the light beam deflecting unit 2, the viewing zone is scanned during this 8 μs. For example, in the case of 4 viewpoints, the calculation stays 2 μs at each viewpoint, and as the number of viewpoints increases, the time spent in the direction of each viewpoint decreases as the number of viewpoints increases. A stereoscopic image can be reproduced by modulating the intensity of the light beam corresponding to the direction of each light beam.

  The deflection means in the deflection pixel, that is, the beam deflection unit, can be realized by using, for example, a mirror array in which one movable mirror corresponds to one pixel. FIG. 7 shows a schematic configuration diagram in this case. In FIG. 7, parts corresponding to those in FIG. By moving the mirror of each pixel of the light beam deflecting unit 2 minutely in synchronism with the intensity modulation of the light source unit 1, an observer who enters the reflected light into the field of view can see a stereoscopic image.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to use a deflecting means 22 made of a polyhedral mirror. For example, it is possible to provide a deflecting means 22 composed of such a polyhedral mirror for each deflection pixel 21 in FIG. 2 and to deflect it by the rotation of this polyhedral mirror.

  3 to 6 described above, when a two-dimensional image is displayed by scanning light from a light source using a light modulation element having a one-dimensional configuration such as GLV, As shown in FIG. 8, by changing the incident position while the light Lm incident on the polyhedral mirror is scanned within one pixel, the intensity is respectively increased from each corresponding mirror surface as indicated by arrows Lm <b> 1 to Lm <b> 7. The modulated light can be emitted and can be deflected without rotating the mirror.

  The polyhedral mirror type deflecting means 22 can use, for example, a columnar mirror having a cross-sectional polyhedron and extending in a direction orthogonal to the deflection direction, thereby further simplifying the apparatus configuration.

  When the light deflection unit 2 has a light transmission type configuration, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, a schematic configuration of the light deflection unit 2, first and second positions are respectively provided at positions corresponding to the respective pixels of the light deflection unit 2. By providing the mirrors 51 and 52 and moving the second mirror 52 minutely as indicated by an arrow m, for example, the light L1 emitted from the light source unit 1 is reflected by the first mirror 51 and indicated by the arrow As indicated by L1 ′, the second mirror 52 is directed toward the second mirror 52, and the second mirror 52 can emit light in each deflection direction as indicated by arrows L11 to L15, for example. The same applies to the light indicated by the arrows L2 to Ln.

  In the case of such a transmissive configuration, it is possible to provide a three-dimensional image display device that can be observed from a wider field of view without restriction of the arrangement position of the light source unit.

  In each of the above examples, the deflection direction by the light beam deflecting unit 2 can be, for example, one direction in the horizontal scanning direction. For example, the above-described deflecting means such as a mirror array, a polyhedral mirror, or a plurality of mirrors can be provided in two stages. As a configuration, for example, two directions of a horizontal scanning direction and a vertical scanning direction may be employed. In this case, a stereoscopic three-dimensional image in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction can be displayed.

  As described above, with the configuration of the present invention, the light intensity modulation function and the light deflection function are separated in the light source unit and the light beam deflection unit without preparing a plurality of light sources, thereby reducing the size of the device configuration. Simplification can be achieved. It is also possible to achieve high resolution without incurring high costs.

  In addition, since it is easy to increase the resolution, by adjusting the intensity modulation of the 3D image display to the information on the back side as well as the side, when the viewing position is changed, the side and back of the video can be seen, It is possible to provide a compact three-dimensional image reproduction apparatus that does not sacrifice resolution even if it corresponds to the viewpoint.

It is a schematic block diagram of an example of the three-dimensional image display apparatus by this invention. It is a section lineblock diagram of an important section of an example of a three-dimensional image display device by the present invention. It is a schematic plan view of an example of a light modulation element. It is a schematic perspective view of an example of a light modulation element. It is sectional drawing explaining the diffraction aspect of an example of a light modulation element. It is a schematic block diagram of an example of the three-dimensional image display apparatus by this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of an example of the three-dimensional image display apparatus by this invention. It is a cross-sectional block diagram of the principal part of an example of a light beam deflection | deviation part. It is a schematic block diagram of an example of the three-dimensional image display apparatus by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light source part 2 Light beam deflection part 21 Deflection pixel 22 Deflection means 33 Light modulation element 36 Substrate 37 Pixel 38 Counter electrode 39 Micro ribbon 40 Light source 41 Illumination lens 42 Projection lens 43 Scanning mirror 51 1st mirror 52 2nd mirror

Claims (5)

A light source unit that emits light corresponding to at least a two-dimensional image, and a light beam deflecting unit that deflects light from the light source unit in a plurality of emission directions for each pixel of the two-dimensional image,
A three-dimensional image display device, wherein intensity modulation corresponding to a three-dimensional image is performed on light for each pixel of a two-dimensional image in the light source unit in synchronization with a deflection direction in the light beam deflecting unit. 2. The three-dimensional image display device according to claim 1, wherein the light source unit displays a two-dimensional image as laser light. 3. The three-dimensional image according to claim 2, wherein the light for displaying a two-dimensional image in the light source unit is light-modulated by a one-dimensional light modulation element, then scanned and irradiated to the light beam deflecting unit. Image display device. 4. The three-dimensional image according to claim 3, wherein the light modulation element is provided with a plurality of microribbons constituting a diffraction grating, and the diffraction state is modulated and the intensity is modulated by relative movement of the microribbons. Display device. While deflecting light for displaying a two-dimensional image in a plurality of emission directions for each pixel in the light beam deflecting unit,
A three-dimensional image characterized by performing intensity modulation corresponding to a three-dimensional image in synchronization with a deflection direction of the light beam deflecting unit before the light beam deflecting unit is incident on the light for displaying the two-dimensional image. Display method.

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