JP2010134050A - Image display apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image display apparatus which allows a wide diopter control range to be large even when an eyepiece is moved along the optical axis to control the diopter. <P>SOLUTION: The display device includes an image light emission means for emitting light having an intensity in accordance with image information, an eyepiece 50 guiding the light emitted from the image light emission means to the pupil 81 of a user's eye 80, and an eyepiece moving mechanism 60 that can move the position of the eyepiece 50 in the optical axis direction in order to control the diopter, wherein a diopter correction lens 63 can be disposed at a position substantially optically conjugate to the pupil 81 of the user's eye 80. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image display device, and in particular, scans light having an intensity according to image information, enters the pupil, projects an image on the retina by the incident light, and displays an image according to the image information to the user. The present invention relates to an image display device to be visually recognized.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been an image display device that scans light with intensity according to image information, enters the pupil, and projects an image on the retina with the incident light, thereby allowing the user to visually recognize the image according to the image information. It has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  This type of image display device includes, for example, a light emitting unit that emits light whose intensity is modulated according to image information, a scanning unit that scans light emitted from the light emitting unit, and a light that is scanned by the scanning unit. The eyepiece lens is made to enter the pupil of the user who is an observer.

Then, the light scanned by the scanning unit is incident on the pupil of the user's eye, and an image corresponding to the image information is directly projected on the user's retina. An image corresponding to the image information can be visually recognized as a display image.
JP 2007-178941 A

  However, in the conventional image display device, the position of the exit pupil may not match the position of the pupil depending on the position of the eyepiece.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to adjust the diopter by providing an eyepiece moving mechanism that can move the position of the eyepiece in the optical axis direction and moving the position of the eyepiece in the optical axis direction.

  However, if the eyepiece is moved in the direction of the optical axis, the exit pupil will not match the position of the pupil, and some of the light emitted from the eyepiece toward the user's eye will not be incident on the pupil due to the iris. There is a risk of coming. For this reason, it is difficult to increase the diopter adjustment range.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an image display device capable of taking a wide diopter adjustment range even when the diopter is adjusted by moving an eyepiece lens or the like along the optical axis. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to an image light emitting unit that emits light having an intensity corresponding to image information, and light emitted from the image light emitting unit. An eyepiece that leads to the pupil of the eye, and an eyepiece moving mechanism that allows the position of the eyepiece to move in the direction of the optical axis for diopter adjustment, and optically approximately the pupil of the user's eye A diopter correcting lens can be arranged at a conjugate position.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image light emitting unit that emits light having an intensity according to image information, and an eyepiece that guides light emitted from the image light emitting unit to a pupil of a user's eye. A variable focus lens for diopter adjustment, and a variable focus lens moving mechanism that allows the position of the variable focus lens to move in the optical axis direction, and is optically substantially conjugate with the pupil of the user's eye A diopter correcting lens can be arranged at a proper position.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image display device according to the first or second aspect, an attachment / detachment mechanism for attaching / detaching the diopter correction lens is provided, and the diopter correction lens is replaceable. It is a thing.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image display device according to the first or second aspect, the diopter correction lens is moved to a position optically conjugate with the pupil of the user's eye. A diopter correcting lens moving mechanism is provided.

  Further, the invention according to claim 5 is the image display device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein a diffraction grating is formed on an intermediate image plane between the image light emitting means and the eyepiece. And a diffraction grating moving mechanism that enables the diffraction grating to move in the optical axis direction.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image display device according to the fifth aspect, the diffraction grating moving mechanism operates in conjunction with the attachment / detachment mechanism or the diopter correction lens movement mechanism, and the attachment / detachment is performed. Mechanism or the diopter correction lens moving mechanism, and the intermediate image is placed from a state where the diopter correction lens is not placed at a position optically conjugate with the pupil of the user's eye. When the plane is shifted, the diffraction grating moving mechanism moves the diffraction grating to the position of the intermediate image plane.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image display device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the diopter correcting lens is for astigmatism.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in addition to the eyepiece moving mechanism that enables the position of the eyepiece to move in the optical axis direction for diopter adjustment, it is optically substantially conjugate with the pupil of the user's eye. Since the diopter correcting lens can be disposed at the position, the diopter adjustment range can be increased even when the diopter is adjusted by moving the eyepiece lens to the optical axis.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the variable focus lens moving mechanism that enables the position of the variable focus lens to be moved in the optical axis direction for diopter adjustment, the pupil of the user's eye and optical Since the diopter correcting lens can be disposed at a position almost conjugate to the diopter, the diopter adjustment range can be increased even when the diopter is adjusted by moving the variable focus lens to the optical axis.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the diopter correcting lens can be exchanged by providing an attaching / detaching mechanism for attaching / detaching the diopter correcting lens, the diopter correcting lens can be easily changed.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, since the diopter correction lens moving mechanism is provided that enables the diopter correction lens to move to a position optically conjugate with the pupil of the user's eye. It becomes easy to arrange the diopter correcting lens.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the diffraction grating is provided on the intermediate image plane between the image light emitting means and the eyepiece, and the diffraction grating moving mechanism that allows the diffraction grating to move in the optical axis direction. Therefore, the exit pupil can be enlarged, and adjustment can be performed even when the position of the intermediate image plane is shifted by the diopter correcting lens.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the diffraction grating moving mechanism operates in conjunction with the attaching / detaching mechanism or the diopter correcting lens moving mechanism, and the user can use the attaching / detaching mechanism or the diopter correcting lens moving mechanism. When the intermediate image plane is shifted from the state in which the diopter correcting lens is not disposed at a position optically conjugate with the pupil of the eye, the diffraction grating moving mechanism moves the diffraction grating to the intermediate image. Since it moves to the position of the surface, the user's troublesomeness can be avoided.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the diopter correction lens is for astigmatism, and therefore effective when the user is astigmatism.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the image display apparatus of the present invention will be described. Here, as an example of an image display device, a retinal scanning display that projects scanned image light onto the retina of at least one eye of the user to allow the user to visually recognize the image will be described.

[1. Overall configuration of retinal scanning display]
Hereinafter, a retinal scanning display according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a retinal scanning display in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the retinal scanning display 1 according to the present embodiment includes a display control unit 10, a light source unit 20, an optical fiber 30, an optical scanning unit 40, an eyepiece 50, and a diopter adjustment unit 60. Then, the light emitted from the light source unit 20 is scanned by the optical scanning unit 40, and the pupil 81 of at least one eye 80 of the user is projected as a projection target via the eyepiece 50, so that the user's retina 82 is projected. An image is projected and displayed on the screen, and allows the user to visually recognize an image corresponding to the image information. The display control unit 10, the light source unit 20, the optical fiber 30, and the optical scanning unit 40 constitute an image light emitting unit that emits light having an intensity corresponding to image information.

  An image signal S that is image information is input to the display control unit 10 from the outside. The image signal S includes information (information such as luminance and color) of each pixel for generating a two-dimensional image in which a plurality of pixels are arranged in a matrix. The display control unit 10 includes an image signal supply circuit 11 that generates signals serving as elements for combining images based on the image signal S, and an R laser driver 13R, a G laser driver 13G, and a B laser driver 13B. Provided. The image signal supply circuit 11 outputs the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) image signals 12R, 12G, and 12B, the horizontal drive signal 18, the vertical drive signal 19, and the like, and the light source unit 20 and The optical scanning unit 40 is controlled. The image signals 12R, 12G, and 12B are output from the image signal supply circuit 11, respectively. Further, each laser of the light source unit 20 is output by the R laser driver 13R, the G laser driver 13G, and the B laser driver 13B so that the intensity of light according to the image signals 12R, 12G, and 12B output from the image signal supply circuit 11 is obtained. Drive.

  The light source unit 20 includes an R laser 21, a G laser 22, and a B laser 23, and emits laser light corresponding to the image signals 12R, 12G, and 12B. That is, the R laser 21, the G laser 22, and the B laser 23 are intensity-modulated according to the image signals 12R, 12G, and 12B by the drive signals output from the R laser driver 13R, the G laser driver 13G, and the B laser driver 13B. A laser beam is emitted. Further, the light source unit 20 includes a collimating optical system 24 provided so as to collimate the laser light emitted from each of the lasers 21 to 23 into parallel light, and a dichroic mirror 25 for combining the collimated laser lights. A coupling optical system 26 that guides the combined laser light to the optical fiber 30 is provided.

  Laser light guided from the light source unit 20 to the optical fiber 30 is incident on the optical scanning unit 40. The optical scanning unit 40 includes a collimating optical system 41 that collimates the laser light emitted from the optical fiber 30, a horizontal scanning unit 42 that scans the collimated laser light in the horizontal direction (first scanning direction), A relay optical system 43 that guides a laser beam scanned in the horizontal direction to a vertical scanning unit 44 described later, and a vertical direction (second scanning direction) in which the laser beam incident through the relay optical system 43 is substantially orthogonal to the horizontal direction. And a vertical scanning unit 44 that scans in the vertical direction.

  The horizontal drive circuit 42 c drives the reflection mirror 42 b of the optical scanning element 42 a based on the horizontal drive signal 18 output from the display control unit 10. The optical scanning element 42a is a resonant optical scanning element, and the horizontal drive signal 18 output from the display control unit 10 is, for example, a sinusoidal signal, and the horizontal drive circuit 42c drives the reflection mirror 42b in a resonant state. Thus, the laser light emitted from the light source unit 20 is scanned in the horizontal effective scanning range.

  The vertical drive circuit 44 c drives the reflection mirror 44 b of the optical scanning element 44 a based on the vertical drive signal 19 output from the display control unit 10. The vertical drive signal 19 output from the display control unit 10 is, for example, a sawtooth signal, and the vertical drive circuit 44c forcibly drives the reflection mirror 44b in a non-resonant state and scans in the horizontal direction by the horizontal scanning unit 42. The laser beam thus scanned is scanned in the vertical effective scanning range.

  The laser beam scanned by the optical scanning unit 40 in this way is used as light forming a two-dimensional image (hereinafter also referred to as “image light”) via the eyepiece 50 and the pupil 81 of the user's eye 80. The two-dimensional image formed by the image light is projected onto the retina 82 of the user's eye 80.

[2. Diopter adjustment unit 60]
The retinal scanning display 1 in the present embodiment enables diopter adjustment by the diopter adjustment unit 60, and the configuration of the diopter adjustment unit 60 will be specifically described below. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the optical relationship between the optical scanning element 44a and the user's pupil 81, and FIG. 3 shows optical characteristics when the eyepiece is moved in the optical axis direction without arranging a diopter correction lens. 4 and FIG. 4 are views showing a state in which a diopter correcting lens is disposed between the optical scanning element 44a and the eyepiece lens 50, FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing the configuration of an attaching / detaching mechanism, and FIG. 7 is a diopter correcting device. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the diffraction grating moving mechanism, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the focusable lens and the focusable lens moving mechanism.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the diopter adjustment unit 60 includes an eyepiece moving mechanism 61 that enables the position of the eyepiece 50 to move in the direction of the optical axis Ls for diopter adjustment. The diopter correcting lens 63 can be disposed at a position optically conjugate with the pupil 81 of the lens. The eyepiece moving mechanism 61 is provided with a slide lever 62 that can be operated by the user. When the user moves the slide lever 62, the eyepiece 50 moves in the direction of the optical axis Ls.

  First, the optical characteristics when the eyepiece is moved in the optical axis direction without disposing the diopter correcting lens 63 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The display control unit 10 sequentially emits light having an intensity corresponding to the input image signal S from the light source unit 20 in units of pixels of the display image M corresponding to the image signal S, and scans by the optical scanning unit 40 to the eyepiece. 50. As shown in FIG. 2, the eyepiece 50 is disposed so that the reflection mirror 44b of the optical scanning element 44a and the pupil 81 of the user are in a conjugate relationship, and the exit pupil of the retinal scanning display 1 is the user. This is the position of the pupil 81. Accordingly, the display image M is formed on the retina 82 of the first user's eye 80 by the eyepiece 50. A conjugate such as the relationship between the reflection mirror 44b of the optical scanning element 44a and the pupil 81 of the user is referred to as “pupil conjugate” here.

Here, an intermediate image plane (an image plane optically conjugate with the retina 82 of the user's eye 80) between the reflection mirror 44b of the optical scanning element 44a and the eyepiece 50 and the reflection mirror 44b. The distance between the intermediate image plane and the eyepiece lens 50 is “S1”, the distance between the reflection mirror 44b and the eyepiece lens 50 is “S2”, and the eyepiece lens 50 When the focal position of “f” is “f”, these relationships can be expressed by the following equations (1) to (3).
1 / f = 1 / S1′−1 / S1 (1)
1 / f = 1 / S2′−1 / S2 (2)
S1-a = S2 (3)

  The characteristics when the eyepiece 50 is moved to the reflection mirror 44b along the optical axis Ls direction by the eyepiece moving mechanism 61 are as shown in FIG. As can be seen from this figure, the position of the exit pupil of the retinal scanning display 1 that is optically conjugate (pupil conjugate) with the reflection mirror 44b moves away from the position of the reflection mirror 44b.

  Therefore, the position of the exit pupil of the retinal scanning display 1 becomes inconsistent with the position of the pupil 81, and a part of the light emitted from the eyepiece lens toward the user's eye is not incident on the pupil due to the iris. There is a fear.

  Therefore, in the retinal scanning display 1 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the diopter correction lens 63 can be disposed at a position optically conjugate with the pupil 81 of the user's eye 80.

  By arranging the diopter correcting lens 63 at a position optically conjugate with the pupil 81 of the user's eye 80, the distance between the reflecting mirror 44b of the optical scanning element 44a and the pupil 81 of the user's eye 80 is reduced. The diopter adjustment range can be changed without affecting the optical pupil conjugate relationship.

  Accordingly, when the diopter is adjusted largely, the diopter correcting lens 63 is arranged, and fine adjustment is performed by moving the eyepiece lens 50 in the optical axis direction, so that the diopter is compared with the case where only the eyepiece lens 50 is used. The range of adjustment can be expanded.

  In addition, by preparing a plurality of diopter correcting lenses 63 having different diopter adjustment ranges, the diopter adjustment range can be expanded step by step. As a matter of course, the diopter correcting lens 63 may be an astigmatic diopter correcting lens.

  In the above description, the eyepiece lens 50 is a variable focus lens for diopter adjustment, and the eyepiece lens moving mechanism 61 that allows the position of the eyepiece lens 50 to move in the optical axis direction is provided. 50, without adjusting the diopter, a variable focus lens 64 (see FIGS. 9A and 9B) and a variable focus lens moving mechanism 68 that can move the position of the variable focus lens in the optical axis direction. (See FIGS. 9A and 9B), and diopter adjustment may be performed.

  Here, in the retinal scanning display 1 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, an attaching / detaching mechanism 51 for attaching / detaching the diopter correcting lens 63 is provided. The attachment / detachment mechanism 51 includes a support base 53 having an insertion groove 54 for inserting the diopter correction lens 63. The attachment / detachment mechanism 51 is detachably fitted by inserting the diopter correction lens 63 into the insertion groove 54. Accordingly, the diopter correcting lens 63 is disposed at a position where the center of the diopter correcting lens 63 passes through the optical axis Ls.

  Further, an attachment / detachment mechanism 51 'as shown in FIG. 6 may be used. The attachment / detachment mechanism 51 ′ includes a support base 53 ′ and a diopter correction lens unit 56. The support base 53 ′ includes an insertion groove 54 ′ for inserting the diopter correction lens unit 56 and convex portions 55 a and 55 b for locking the diopter correction lens unit 56. The diopter correction lens unit 56 includes a plate-like base 57 having openings 58a to 58c, and grooves 59a to 59d that are detachably fitted to the convex portions 55a and 55b. Further, diopter correction lenses 63a and 63b having different diopter adjustment ranges can be arranged in the openings 58b and 58c, respectively.

  In this attachment / detachment mechanism 51 ′, a diopter correcting lens is not disposed on the optical axis Ls, and a diopter correcting lens 63a is disposed depending on which groove portions 59a to 59d are fitted with the convex portions 55a and 55b. The dioptric correction lens 63b can be switched to three states.

  Further, instead of the attaching / detaching mechanisms 51 and 51 ′, a diopter correcting lens moving mechanism capable of moving the diopter correcting lens 63 may be provided.

  For example, the diopter correction lens moving mechanism 70 shown in FIG. 7 includes a diopter correction lens unit 71 and a diopter correction lens unit moving mechanism 73. The diopter correction lens unit 71 includes an opening 72a without the diopter correction lens and an opening 72b in which the diopter correction lens 63 is mounted. Then, the diopter correction lens unit moving mechanism 73 moves the diopter correction lens unit 71 in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis Ls, and moves either the opening 72a or the diopter correction lens 63 on the optical axis Ls. Deploy.

  Further, in order to enlarge the exit pupil of the retinal scanning display 1, a diffraction grating 65 can be disposed on an intermediate image plane between the vertical scanning unit 44 and the eyepiece lens 50. For example, the diffraction grating 65 may be a two-dimensional diffraction grating that diffracts light incident in a primary direction and a secondary direction substantially orthogonal to the primary direction, thereby expanding the exit pupil in the two-dimensional direction. it can.

  When the diopter correction lens 63 is arranged as described above, the position of the intermediate image plane between the vertical scanning unit 44 and the eyepiece lens 50 is shifted. Therefore, in the retinal scanning display 1 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, a diffraction grating moving mechanism 66 that allows the diffraction grating 65 to move in the optical axis direction is provided.

  In the diffraction grating moving mechanism 66, a moving position scale for each diopter correction lens 63 is displayed so that the user can visually recognize the moving position scale, and the user can move the moving position scale according to the type of the diopter correction lens 63. The diffraction grating 65 can be moved to the intermediate image plane by operating the slide lever 67 according to (see FIGS. 8A and 8B).

  Note that the diffraction grating moving mechanism 66 may automatically move the diffraction grating 65 to the displaced intermediate image plane in accordance with the mounting of the diopter correction lens 63. By doing in this way, a user's convenience can be improved.

  For example, the diffraction grating moving mechanism 66 operates in conjunction with the attaching / detaching mechanisms 51 and 51 ′, and the attaching / detaching mechanisms 51 and 51 ′ are used for diopter correction at a position optically conjugate with the pupil 81 of the user's eye 80. When the intermediate image plane is shifted from the state in which the lens 63 (63a, 63b) is not arranged, the diffraction grating 65 is moved to the displaced position of the intermediate image plane.

  Further, the diffraction grating moving mechanism 66 operates in conjunction with the diopter correction lens moving mechanism 70, and the diopter correction lens moving mechanism 70 is optically conjugate with the pupil 81 of the user's eye 80. When the position of the intermediate image plane is changed from the state in which the diopter correcting lens 63 is not arranged, the diffraction grating 65 is moved to the displaced position of the intermediate image plane.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, these are merely examples, and the present invention can be implemented in other forms that are variously modified and improved based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. It is possible to implement.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the retinal scanning display in one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the optical relationship between an optical scanning element and a user's pupil. It is a figure which shows the optical characteristic when an eyepiece lens is moved to an optical axis direction, without arrange | positioning the diopter correction lens. It is a figure which shows a mode that the lens for diopter correction was arrange | positioned between the optical scanning element and the eyepiece lens. It is a figure which shows the structure of an attachment / detachment mechanism. It is a figure which shows the structure of an attachment / detachment mechanism. It is a figure which shows the structure of the diopter correction lens moving mechanism. It is a figure for demonstrating a diffraction grating moving mechanism. It is a figure which shows a focus lens and a focus lens moving mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Retina scanning display 10 Display control part 11 Image signal supply circuit 14 Control part 20 Light source part 30 Optical fiber 40 Optical scanning part 50 Eyepiece 51,51 'Attachment / detachment mechanism 61 Eyepiece moving mechanism 63 Diopter correction lens 64 Focusing lens 65 Diffraction Grating 66 Diffraction Grating Moving Mechanism 67 Focusable Lens Moving Mechanism 70 Diopter Correction Lens Moving Mechanism 80 User's Eye 81 User's Eye Pupil 82 User's Eye Retina

Claims (7)

Image light emitting means for emitting light of intensity according to image information;
An eyepiece for guiding the light emitted from the image light emitting means to the pupil of the user's eye;
An eyepiece moving mechanism capable of moving the position of the eyepiece in the direction of the optical axis for diopter adjustment,
An image display device characterized in that a diopter correcting lens can be disposed at a position optically conjugate with the pupil of the user's eye. Image light emitting means for emitting light of intensity according to image information;
An eyepiece for guiding the light emitted from the image light emitting means to the pupil of the user's eye;
Variable focus lens for diopter adjustment,
A variable focus lens moving mechanism that allows the position of the variable focus lens to move in the direction of the optical axis,
An image display device characterized in that a diopter correcting lens can be disposed at a position optically conjugate with the pupil of the user's eye.   The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an attachment / detachment mechanism for attaching / detaching the diopter correction lens is provided so that the diopter correction lens is replaceable.   3. A diopter correction lens moving mechanism that enables the diopter correction lens to move at a position optically conjugate with the pupil of the user's eye. The image display device described. A diffraction grating on an intermediate image plane between the image light emitting means and the eyepiece;
The image display apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a diffraction grating moving mechanism that enables the diffraction grating to move in an optical axis direction.   The diffraction grating moving mechanism operates in conjunction with the attachment / detachment mechanism or the diopter correction lens movement mechanism, and is optically coupled to the pupil of the user's eye by the attachment / detachment mechanism or the diopter correction lens movement mechanism. When the intermediate image plane is shifted from a state in which the diopter correcting lens is not disposed at a substantially conjugate position, the diffraction grating moving mechanism moves the diffraction grating to the position of the intermediate image plane. The image display device according to claim 5, wherein   The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the diopter correction lens is for astigmatism.