JP3434163B2 - 3D image display device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention performs stereoscopic viewing utilizing the parallax between two images entering the left and right eyes, and when displaying a normal two-dimensional image, the resolution of the two-dimensional image is reduced. The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image display device that can be displayed without a display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a parallax barrier system has been known as a typical method for displaying a stereoscopic image using an image display device for displaying a two-dimensional image. This is to enable stereoscopic viewing by providing a band (barrier) in which light transmitting parts and light blocking parts are alternately arranged on the front surface of the image display device and observing the display surface through the barrier.

FIG. 8 shows a liquid crystal display device (Liquid Crystal D).
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional stereoscopic image display device in which a parallax barrier is provided in isplay: hereinafter, referred to as an LCD) as seen from the horizontal direction of the screen.

In FIG. 8, the LCD 1 is a backlight 2.
As illumination light, a large number of pixels including a source line, a gate line, a color filter, a BM (black matrix), a pixel electrode, and a TFT (thin film transistor) are provided in a gap between the glass substrates 3 and 4. A liquid crystal is enclosed between the substrates 3 and 4 to form a liquid crystal layer 5. Further, the glass substrates 3 and 4 are sandwiched by a pair of polarizing plates 6 and 7, respectively, and image display is performed by utilizing polarized light.

Here, in FIG. 8, the left eye video signal is displayed on the pixel marked with "left" and the right eye video signal is displayed on the pixel marked with "right". Parallax barrier 8
Since the light-shielding portion 9 shields the light from the LCD 1, the image is externally observed only through the transmitting portion 10.

At this time, by appropriately setting the pattern and arrangement of the parallax barrier 8, the observer's right eye can see only the "right" pixels and the left eye can see only the "left" pixels. Stereoscopic vision is performed by the parallax given to the images displayed in the "left" and "right" pixels, respectively.

Further, the position where the image exists is not on the surface of the light emitting side polarization plate 7 of the LCD 1, but on the glass substrates 3 and 4.
In between, that is, it is considered to be a part of the liquid crystal layer 5. In FIG. 8, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 5 is emphasized for convenience of explanation, but in reality, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 5 is on the order of several μm,
It is very small as compared with the thickness of the glass substrates 3 and 4 on the order of mm. The light-shielding portion 9 of the parallax barrier is also made of a metal mask or the like having a low reflection film, so that it is actually thinner than that shown in the drawing.

[0008]

As described above, the parallax barrier system is a simple stereoscopic image display system, but has the following problems.

First, when the parallax barrier type stereoscopic image display device is intended to be used for both three-dimensional image display and two-dimensional image display, a two-dimensional image can be displayed only at half the resolution of the LCD used. It is something that cannot be observed.

In other words, in order to perform two-dimensional display with a parallax barrier LCD, it is sufficient to apply the same signal to a pair of left eye pixel and right eye pixel to display an image without parallax. Due to the presence of the barrier, half of the total number of pixels of the LCD can be seen only by the left eye, and the other half remains visible only by the right eye. Therefore, the resolution that the LCD alone has no parallax barrier has. Only half of that will contribute to the display.

On the contrary, in the parallax barrier system LCD,
In order to realize a display with a predetermined resolution when displaying a two-dimensional image, it is necessary to provide the number of pixels in the horizontal direction of the LCD that is twice the desired resolution. For example, when displaying a two-dimensional image as a computer display, VGA (vertical 480
In order to enable three-dimensional image display after securing dots × 640 dots (× RGB)), an LCD of 480 dots × 1280 dots (× RGB) must be prepared. That is, the VGA LCD cannot be used as it is, and it is necessary to manufacture a new high-resolution LCD for displaying a stereoscopic image.

However, since the manufacturing yield of LCDs generally decreases as the number of pixels increases, the cost of an image display device including LCDs rises if a high-resolution LCD is manufactured purposely. Therefore, the current product L
It is desirable to realize a stereoscopic image display device which uses a CD and whose resolution does not decrease even when displaying a two-dimensional image.

Here, as a method for avoiding the deterioration of the resolution at the time of displaying the two-dimensional image, (1) a method in which the parallax barrier can be physically attached / detached, and (2) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-312058.
The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 198889 is known. Hereinafter, these methods will be described.

First, in the method (1), the parallax barrier is removed when the two-dimensional image is displayed, and the parallax barrier is attached again when the three-dimensional image is displayed.

However, according to this method, in order to display the three-dimensional image again after the two-dimensional image is displayed, it is necessary to position the parallax barrier so as to bring it into a predetermined state with great care. . That is, the parallax barrier pattern and LC can be adjusted by simply rotating or shifting the parallax barrier with respect to the LCD.
Interference occurs with the D pixel array, and moire fringes are generated, which hinders stereoscopic viewing. Although it is possible to fabricate a mechanism that can perform accurate alignment that does not cause moire fringes, a precise design and precise processing technology are required for that purpose, so the manufacturing cost must rise sharply. It was

On the other hand, the method (2) is for LC for image display.
The second LCD is overlaid on D, and this second LCD
In the above, the parallax barrier is constructed by electrically controlling the presence or absence of the light shielding portion. Figure 9
FIG. 8 shows a sectional view of the stereoscopic image display device of this system cut in the horizontal direction of the screen as in FIG. In the stereoscopic image display device of FIG. 9, the LCD 11 is used instead of the parallax barrier 8 of FIG.
Are stacked. The structure of the LCD 11 is almost the same as that of the LCD 1, but is different in that the pixel structure is similar to the pattern of the light shielding portion and the opening portion of the parallax barrier. It is also different in that the light exit side polarization plate 7 of the LCD 1 and the light incidence side polarization plate of the LCD 11 can be shared.

However, in the method (2), since the light transmission state of the parallax barrier can be electrically controlled,
Positioning during use is easier than mechanical control, and a two-dimensional image can be displayed at full resolution when the parallax barrier is turned off. There is a drawback in that the distance from the device to the observer's viewpoint) is very far compared to the other conventional stereoscopic image display devices described above. less than,
The reason for this will be described. Explaining with reference to FIG. 8, the surface distance d from the image to the parallax barrier, the observation distance L, the pixel pitch p of the LCD and the distance E between the eyes of the observer.
Has a relationship of L = d · E / p (Equation 1). This is derived from the fact that similar triangles are formed with E and p as the bases and the transmission part of the parallax barrier as the apex.

According to (Equation 1), the smaller the pixel pitch p or the larger the surface distance d, the larger the observation distance L that allows stereoscopic viewing. The distance E between the eyes may vary from person to person, but a constant value may be considered. Here, it is about 65 mm.

Applying this to FIG. 9, it is in the liquid crystal layer portion of the LCD 11 that the parallax barrier exists, and in comparison with FIG. 8, the surface spacing d is equal to the thickness of the glass substrate.
And the observation distance L has become longer. In other words, the stereoscopic image can be observed only from a distant place, and the apparent image size is reduced accordingly, and the power of the stereoscopic image is lacking, and the observation distance when used as a two-dimensional image display device (especially when displaying a two-dimensional image No problem).

For example, in the 10.4 type VGA LCD, the pixel pitch p is 110 μm (each of the three primary colors of RGB is 1
(It is counted as a pixel), and the standard glass plate thickness is 1.1 mm. Assuming that the thickness of the polarizing plate is about 0.2 mm and the plate thickness is divided by the refractive index n = 1.52 for air conversion, the observation distance L in the case of FIG. 8 is (1.1 mm + 0.2 mm). /1.52 x 65 mm / 1
10 μm = 505 mm On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 9, d is increased by one glass substrate, so (1.1 mm × 2 + 0.2 mm) /1.52×65 mm
/ 110 μm = 933 mm. The 10.4 type VGA LCD is also used in a notebook computer, but the value of 933 mm is such a distance that the keyboard cannot be reached.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and can be used as a two-dimensional image display device, and two-dimensional image can be obtained by using a normal LCD for two-dimensional image display. An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive stereoscopic display device that does not cause a reduction in resolution during image display.

[0022]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stereoscopic image display device in which pixels for displaying a left-eye image and pixels for displaying a right-eye image are alternately arranged. In a stereoscopic image display device comprising a liquid crystal display device and a parallax barrier corresponding to the arrangement of the pixels, light transmissive regions and light shielding regions being alternately arranged, the parallax barrier being the liquid crystal display device. A first component provided on a surface and provided with a polarization axis rotating optical element that rotates a polarization axis of light by 90 ° in a predetermined pattern, and the liquid crystal display device and the first component are arranged further above the first component. Ri Do from a second component consisting of polarizing plates, the second component der
The polarizing plate to be removed manually or mechanically.
The present invention is characterized in that a two-dimensional image can be displayed, which can solve the problem that the observation distance becomes distant and the problem that the resolution at the time of displaying the two-dimensional image decreases.

The polarization axis rotating optical element of the first constituent element is provided in a region serving as a light shielding portion of the parallax barrier, and the polarization axis of the second constituent element is the output of the liquid crystal display device. It is preferably arranged in a direction parallel to the polarization axis of the emitted light.

Further, the polarization axis rotating optical element of the first constituent element is provided in a region which becomes a light transmitting portion of the parallax barrier, and the polarization axis of the second constituent element is
It may be arranged in a direction orthogonal to the polarization axis of the emitted light of the liquid crystal display device.

The polarization axis rotating optical element is a half-wave plate, and the optical axis of the half-wave plate is inclined by 45 ° with respect to the polarization axis on the light emitting side of the liquid crystal display device. Is preferred.

The polarization axis rotating optical element may be a liquid crystal polymer layer.

Further, the polarizing plate which is the second component of the parallax barrier performs two-dimensional image display by being manually or mechanically removed, whereby the LCD is displayed when the two-dimensional image is displayed. It is possible to solve the problem that the original resolution is lowered and the problem that it is difficult to switch between two-dimensional image display and three-dimensional image display.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, of the linearly polarized light emitted from the LCD, the light component that has passed through the polarization axis rotating optical element that is the first component of the parallax barrier has a polarization axis of 90 °. The light component that rotates and does not pass through the other optical element proceeds while maintaining the polarization axis at the time of exiting the LCD. One of these two light components is blocked because the polarization axes are orthogonal to each other when passing through the polarizing plate which is the second component of the parallax barrier provided on the light emitting side, and the other is the same polarized light. Pass to have an axis. As a result, a parallax barrier having a predetermined pattern is reproduced, which enables stereoscopic viewing.

The light-shielding portion and the light-transmitting portion of the parallax barrier are apparently formed on the surface on which the polarization axis rotating optical element is arranged. If the optical element is formed close to the LCD, the LCD will be removed. The distance to the polarizing plate, which is the second component of the parallax barrier, is irrelevant, and the problem that the observation distance becomes distant does not occur. Also, Parara
Remove the second component of the X-barrier, the polarizer
Once it is finished, the polarizing plate will not block the light.
, The function as a parallax barrier disappeared, and LC
2D image display can be performed with the resolution of D
It At this time, the pattern of the parallax barrier is decided.
Since the above optical element to be set remains on the LCD,
Parallax when switching between 3D image display and 3D image display
There is no need to align the X-barrier, just use the polarizing plate.
All you have to do is remove it.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the light component whose polarization axis is rotated by 90 ° by the optical element is blocked by the polarizing plate, while the light component which has not passed through the optical element passes through the polarizing plate. A parallax barrier is formed by passing.

According to the invention of claim 3, a light component whose polarization axis is rotated by 90 ° by the optical element passes through the polarizing plate, while a light component which does not pass through the optical element is guided by the polarizing plate. The parallax barrier is formed by being almost completely blocked.

According to the invention of claim 4, when the light emitted from the LCD passes through the half-wave plate having an optical axis inclined by 45 ° with respect to the polarization axis, the polarization axis is rotated by 90 °, and the half-wave plate is rotated. Light that does not pass through travels with the same polarization axis. Further, when passing through the front polarizing plate, the linearly polarized light having any polarization axis is blocked by the polarizing plate.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the polarization axis rotating optical element is formed of a liquid crystalline polymer layer.
It has the same effect as that of the above invention and can be easily formed by irradiation with UV light.

[0035]

[0036]

[0037]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the stereoscopic image display device of this embodiment in the horizontal direction of the screen. In FIG. 1, the LCD 1 is provided with polarizing plates 6 and 7 on both sides, and the surface of the polarizing plate 7 is sequentially patterned into a predetermined shape (described in detail later) as a polarization axis rotating optical element. A wave plate 12, a glass substrate 13 that supports and protects the half-wave plate 12, and a polarizing plate 14 that serves as a parallax barrier component are provided. Further, the backlight 2 is provided on the polarizing plate 6 side. The present invention is characterized in that the light-shielding portion 9 of the parallax barrier 8 is formed by the half-wave plate 12, and that the polarizing plate 14 is not fixed and can be detached from the image display surface. In addition, LC
As D1, it is possible to use the same structure as the above-mentioned conventional LCD.

In the above structure, the polarization axes of the polarization plates 6, 7 and 14 are, as shown in FIG. 2, the polarization axes of the polarization plates 6 and 7 sandwiching the TN (twisted nematic) type liquid crystal layer 5 as in the prior art. , And the polarization axes of the polarizing plate 7 and the polarizing plate 14 are in the same direction. The arrow in FIG. 2 indicates the polarization axis.

Further, in FIG. 1, the band width and the arrangement pitch of the light shielding part 9 (half-wave plate 12 in this embodiment) are not different from those of the conventional parallax barrier, and the half-wave plates 12 adjacent to each other are not changed. The barrier transmissive portion 10 is provided between the two pixels in the horizontal direction of the screen. The width of the band is the brightness of the three-dimensional image seen through the parallax barrier,
Although it affects the stereoscopic viewing range that is parallel to the display surface of the image display device and that corresponds to the horizontal direction, no new restriction is imposed on the design conditions when implementing the present invention.

Further, as the material of the glass substrate 13,
The glass substrates 3 and 4 are arranged so that the arrangement pitch of the parallax barriers 8 does not shift due to thermal expansion (or contraction) due to temperature change.
It is better to select the same material as or the one with a small difference in coefficient of thermal expansion from them.

The parallax barrier 8 of this embodiment will be described below. As an example of the manufacturing method,
First, after the half-wave plate is attached to the entire surface of the glass substrate 13, the half-wave plate is patterned. In this embodiment, a mechanical method, chemical etching, or the like is performed so as to leave a region (half-wavelength plate 12) to be the light-shielding portion 9 of the parallax barrier 8 and remove a portion to be the transmission portion 10 of the barrier. By doing so, patterning is performed. If possible, it is also possible to use a photoresist process by mask exposure when manufacturing the LCD 1. When the patterning is completed, alignment is performed so that the positional relationship with the pixels of the LCD 1 becomes a predetermined one, and the LCD 7 is attached to the surface of the polarizing plate 7 with an adhesive or the like. As the adhesive, for example, a UV curable resin that hardens when irradiated with ultraviolet rays can be used. The half-wave plate 12 is arranged so that the optical axis of the half-wave plate 12 is inclined by 45 ° with respect to the polarization axis of the polarizing plate 7 when they are bonded together.

The image display principle of the stereoscopic image display device having the above configuration will be described below. In FIGS. 1 and 2, first, the illumination light from the backlight 2 is modulated into linearly polarized light by the incident side polarization plate 6 of the LCD 1, and when passing through the liquid crystal layer 5, the polarization axis is changed depending on the presence or absence of an applied voltage. . Of these, only light having the same polarization axis component as that of the exit side polarization plate 7 can pass through the polarization plate 7. Furthermore, of the light components that have passed through the polarizing plate 7, the light components that have passed through the half-wave plate 12 are converted into linearly polarized light that is polarized in a direction orthogonal to the polarization axis of the polarizing plate 7 ( Since the optical axis is installed in a state of being inclined by 45 ° with respect to the polarization axis of the polarizing plate 7, the polarizing plate 1
It is shaded by 4. On the other hand, the light component that has passed through the transmission part 10 of the barrier is polarized in the same direction as the polarization axis of the polarizing plate 14, and therefore passes through the polarizing plate 14 and enters the eyes of the observer.

According to this embodiment, a parallax barrier is generated with the polarizing plate 14 placed, and stereoscopic display is possible. If the polarizing plate 14 is removed from the display surface, the parallax barrier disappears and a two-dimensional image can be displayed without loss of resolution of the LCD. Further, at this time, since the polarizing plate 14 having the same polarization axis is used on the entire surface, there is no need for precise alignment as in the conventional case, and the two-dimensional image display and the three-dimensional image display can be inexpensively and easily performed. Has the advantage of being compatible with.

The polarizing plate 14 may be manually attached and detached by a person, or may be mechanically put in and taken out. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the polarizing plate 14 is mechanically incorporated so as to be taken in and out.

According to the structure shown in FIG. 3, the polarizing plate 14 is moved in and out by rotating the roller 19 between the LCD 1 incorporated in the housing 18 and the front surface of the half-wave plate (not shown) provided on the surface thereof. It is a mechanism. Even in the case of manual operation, the guide groove for inserting the polarizing plate 14 is LC as shown in FIG.
It may be provided on both sides of the D display surface. At that time, a micro switch for detecting the presence or absence of the polarizing plate 14 may be attached to automatically switch to the three-dimensional image display.

(Embodiment 2) Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in the horizontal direction of the screen of the stereoscopic image display device according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a view showing the polarization axis direction of each polarizing plate in FIG. Further, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a method of manufacturing the parallax barrier in the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, a liquid crystal polymer 15 is used in place of the half-wave plate 12, and the liquid crystal polymer 15 is provided in a portion corresponding to the transmission portion 10 of the parallax barrier.
6 is different from that of the first embodiment in that the polarization axis is arranged so as to be orthogonal to the emission side polarization plate 7 of the LCD 1 as shown in FIG.

The structure of the LCD 1 is the same as that of the first embodiment.

A method of manufacturing the polarization axis rotating optical element will be described with reference to FIG. The liquid crystalline polymer used in this embodiment can be cured by irradiation with ultraviolet rays while maintaining the alignment state of liquid crystal molecules.

First, as shown in FIG. 7A, an alignment film (not shown) is attached to the surfaces of the glass plate 13 and the other glass plate 16 and rubbed. Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, a transparent resin film 17 that does not disturb the polarization axis is applied to the surface of the glass plate 13 on which the alignment film is attached, and then a photoresist is applied as shown in FIG. 7C. Patterning is performed such as by performing the etching used so that the transparent resin film 17 remains in the portion corresponding to the light-shielding portion of the parallax barrier.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7 (d), the liquid crystalline polymer 15 is hung on the glass plate 13 and stacked so as to be orthogonal to the rubbing direction of the glass plate 16 as shown in FIG. 7 (e), and ultraviolet rays are applied. Irradiation is performed to cure the liquid crystalline polymer 15 in a state where the liquid crystalline polymer 15 is twisted by 90 ° and aligned.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 7 (f), the glass plate 13 is
The polarization axis rotating optical element is completed by peeling off the glass plate 16 while leaving the liquid crystal polymer 15 and the transparent resin film 17 on the surface. This polarization axis rotating optical element is aligned with the LCD, and the liquid crystal polymer 15 surface is bonded to the light emitting side polarization plate 7 of the LCD so as to face it, and fixed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

Also in this embodiment, when the polarizing plate 14 is installed, a parallax barrier is generated, and a stereoscopic image can be displayed for stereoscopic viewing.
A two-dimensional image can be displayed with the full resolution of the CD 1.

A liquid crystal polymer may be used as the polarization axis rotating optical element in place of the half-wave plate in the first embodiment.
On the contrary, in this embodiment, a half-wave plate may be used instead of the liquid crystalline polymer. When the liquid crystal polymer 15 is used as the polarization axis rotating optical element, it may be difficult to completely align the rotation angle of the polarization axis of the light passing therethrough to 90 ° depending on the manufacturing conditions. There is. This may occur due to wavelength dependence even when a half-wave plate is used. In this way, when the polarization axis cannot be completely rotated by 90 ° as the polarization axis rotating optical element, the light shielding portion 9 of the parallax barrier 8 does not have a sufficient light shielding property in the method of the above-described first embodiment, and light leakage is prevented. May occur. When the polarization axes of the polarizing plate 7 on the light emission side of the LCD 1 and the polarizing plate 14 are made orthogonal to each other as in the present embodiment, the light in the state where the polarization axes are aligned is surely made by the polarizing plate having the polarization axis orthogonal to this. The light can be shielded from light and the transmittance of the light shield 9 of the parallax barrier 8 is minimized. As a result, the degree of separation between the left and right images can be increased, and the quality of stereoscopic video can be improved.

Particularly, in a TN liquid crystal LCD, in the normally black system in which the polarizing axes of two polarizing plates on both sides are arranged in parallel, the transmittance of black display is not lowered and the contrast cannot be obtained. This is also the reason why the normally white method installed in the is selected.

In the present embodiment, there is no problem in using the method of mechanically controlling the presence or absence of the polarizing plate 14 as described in the latter half of the first embodiment.

Regarding the position where the polarizing plate 14 is installed, it is not necessary to bring the polarizing plate 14 close to the LCD 1. For example, stereoscopic viewing is possible even if glasses having a polarizing plate function are attached to the lens portion. In this case, the left and right images are made with the light components of the polarization axes orthogonal to each other, and this is different from the method of stereoscopically viewing the images with the glasses of the polarizing plates with the polarization axes orthogonal to each other, and both eyes have the same direction. It is necessary to use a polarizing plate having a polarization axis.

Further, even when the polarizing plate 14 is placed at a distant position, the position where the light-shielding portion and the transmitting portion of the parallax barrier are generated is the surface on which the polarization axis rotating optical element exists, so that the observation distance becomes distant. There is no problem.

On the other hand, the method of realizing the parallax barrier according to the present invention is not limited to the twin-lens system in which the images of the left and right eyes are prepared one by one, and three or more images are respectively obtained from one transmission part of the parallax barrier. It can also be applied to a multi-view stereoscopic display device in which the viewing viewpoint range is widened by making it possible to view only from the direction. At this time, the parallax barrier pattern is changed according to each method.

According to the present invention, a drive unit for slightly moving the polarization axis rotating optical element in the horizontal direction of the screen and a viewpoint detection mechanism for detecting the position of the viewpoint of the observer of the stereoscopic image are provided, and the viewpoint of the observer is changed. It is also possible to apply a head tracking method in which the drive unit is controlled according to the position and the parallax barrier unit follows the movement of the observer.

As a result, the observation range of the stereoscopic image can be widened in the horizontal direction of the screen. In that case, the glass 13 for forming the polarization axis rotating optical element is not fixed to the polarizing plate 7, but is slightly floated to slightly move the parallax barrier on the rail in parallel so that θ rotation does not occur and head tracking is performed. Is the same as.

[0063]

According to the present invention, when linearly polarized light emitted from an LCD passes through a polarization axis rotating optical element provided in a predetermined pattern, the polarization axis rotates by 90 ° while passing through the optical element. The light component that has not proceeded while maintaining the polarization axis at the time of exiting the LCD. One of these two light components is blocked because the polarization axes are orthogonal to each other when passing through the polarizing plate provided on the light emission side, and the other is transmitted because it has the same polarization axis. As a result, a parallax barrier having a predetermined pattern is reproduced, which enables stereoscopic viewing. There is an advantage that it is possible to switch between two-dimensional image display and three-dimensional image display only by attaching and detaching the polarizing plate, and no special alignment is required for attaching and detaching. Further, in order to switch between the two-dimensional image display and the three-dimensional image display, it is only necessary to detach the polarizing plate closest to the viewer. In particular, when displaying a two-dimensional image, there is no loss of resolution of the LCD.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a stereoscopic image display device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining directions of polarization axes of respective polarizing plates in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method (mechanical) for attaching and detaching a polarizing plate according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method of attaching and detaching a polarizing plate according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a stereoscopic image display device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining directions of polarization axes of respective polarizing plates in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method of manufacturing the parallax barrier according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of a conventional parallax barrier stereoscopic image display device.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of a conventional parallax barrier stereoscopic image display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 LCD 2 backlight 3, 4, 13 glass substrate 5 Liquid crystal layer 6, 7, 14 Polarizing plate 8 parallax barriers 9 (parallax barrier) light shield 10 Transparent part (of parallax barrier) 11 LCD (as parallax barrier) 12 Half-wave plate 15 Liquid crystalline polymer 16 (for parallax barrier fabrication) glass plate 17 Transparent resin film 18 housing 19 roller

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Masuda 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Sharp Corporation (56) References JP-A-8-76139 (JP, A) JP-A-8- 101367 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 27/22 G02B 27/28 G02F 1/13

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A liquid crystal display device in which pixels for displaying an image for the left eye and pixels for displaying an image for the right eye are alternately arranged, and a light transmitting region corresponding to the arrangement of the pixels. A stereoscopic image display device including a parallax barrier in which light-shielding regions are alternately arranged, wherein the parallax barrier is located on the surface of the liquid crystal display device and a polarization axis rotation for rotating a polarization axis of light by 90 °. a first component provided with optical elements in a predetermined pattern, Ri Do the second component consisting of polarizing plates disposed further to the upper than to the liquid crystal display device wherein the first component, the second The polarizing plate, which is the second component, is either manually or mechanically
A stereoscopic image display device characterized by being able to display a two-dimensional image when detached . 2. The polarization axis rotating optical element of the first constituent element is provided in a region serving as a light shielding portion of the parallax barrier, and the polarization axis of the second constituent element is the liquid crystal display device. The three-dimensional image display device according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional image display device is arranged in a direction parallel to the polarization axis of the emitted light. 3. The polarization axis rotating optical element of the first component is provided in a region that becomes a light transmitting portion of the parallax barrier, and the polarization axis of the second component is the liquid crystal display. The three-dimensional image display device according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional image display device is arranged in a direction orthogonal to a polarization axis of emitted light of the device. 4. The polarization axis rotating optical element is a half-wave plate, and the optical axis of the half-wave plate is inclined by 45 ° with respect to the polarization axis on the light emitting side of the liquid crystal display device. The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 1, wherein the stereoscopic image display device is a stereoscopic image display device. 5. The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 1, wherein the polarization axis rotating optical element is composed of a liquid crystalline polymer layer.