JP3999079B2 - Display device and terminal device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a display device that reproduces a planar image or a stereoscopic image.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A display device capable of stereoscopic display is assumed to be used in various fields such as amusement, Internet shopping, portable terminals, medical care, virtual reality, and advertising billboards, and research and development are in progress every day.
[0003]
As one of methods for enabling stereoscopic display, there are a stereoscope method and an integral photography method for displaying right-eye and left-eye planar images on a display.
[0004]
The integral photography method includes a method of constructing and reproducing a stereoscopic image using a large number of parallax images, and is described in, for example, Patent Document 1 and the like.
[0005]
The term “integral photography method” is based on almost the same principle as the light beam reproduction method, although the exact meaning as a stereoscopic image display method has not been established accurately. In the following description, the term “integral photography method” is used as a general term for what conceptually includes a light beam reproduction method. As an example of the light beam reproduction method, there is a method using a pinhole array plate.
[0006]
FIG. 7 is a side view of a conventional example of a stereoscopic image reproducing apparatus to which this integral photography method is applied. As shown in the figure, a natural three-dimensional image can be reproduced by a simple optical system composed of a display device 702 composed of a liquid crystal display or the like and an array plate 701 having two-dimensionally arranged pinholes. is there.
[0007]
A large number of patterns (referred to as multi-viewpoint images) are displayed on the display device 702 corresponding to each pinhole. This multi-viewpoint image constitutes a parallax image group that looks slightly different depending on the angle. The light emitted from the multi-viewpoint image passes through the corresponding pinhole and is then condensed, thereby forming a real image 704 having a spatial three-dimensional region on the front surface of the array plate 701. This is the principle of displaying a stereoscopic image by the integral photography method. Thus, the integral photography method can form a natural stereoscopic image with a simple configuration. In addition, the integral photography method does not require polarized glasses and reproduces a stereoscopic image equivalent to a spatial three-dimensional region. Therefore, when the observer changes the viewing direction, the stereoscopic image that can be seen by the observer accordingly. Also changes. Accordingly, it is possible to reproduce a stereoscopic image that has a more realistic feeling than stereoscopic viewing by the stereoscope method.
[0008]
The amount of light emitted from each point of the reproduced stereoscopic image, that is, the amount of parallax information is determined by the amount of multi-viewpoint images corresponding to each pinhole. That is, natural motion parallax can be obtained by increasing the number of multi-viewpoint images. The number of pinholes means the number of planar pixels of a stereoscopic image. In order to reproduce a stereoscopic image having high definition and natural motion parallax, a high definition display is required as an image display element. As such an image display element, a liquid crystal display (LCD) whose remarkably high definition has recently been used.
[0009]
In addition, there has been proposed a method of switching between a three-dimensional image and a two-dimensional image by making some changes to the hardware. For example, a plurality of methods are described in Non-Patent Document 1, “stereoscopic display capable of achieving both planar display and performance evaluation”. In particular, the reversal type (page 67) uses both sides of the liquid crystal display for one-dimensional display, and the other side is used for two-dimensional display. Has been.
[0010]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-56450 A
[Non-Patent Document 1]
Proceedings of the 3D Image Conference 2002, July 4-5, 2002, 65-68 pages [0012]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When an LCD is used, it is necessary to provide a light source in order to emit a sufficient amount of light from each pinhole. Thus, there is a method of providing a backlight on the entire surface of the LCD, but there is also a method of providing a light source at the edge of the LCD and guiding light from the light source to the entire surface of the LCD by a light guide plate.
[0013]
The relationship between the position of the pinhole and the pixel for reproducing the three-dimensional image is strictly determined. If the light guide plate is simply sandwiched between them, light is scattered and the image is distorted. Dimensional image could not be reproduced.
[0014]
Further, when displaying a stereoscopic image, it is rare that the purpose is to display the details, and resolution degradation is not necessarily a problem, but a planar image such as a character string is displayed using such a device. In some cases, the resolution was greatly deteriorated from the original resolution, which was a problem.
[0015]
In general, in the display for reproducing a stereoscopic image, the resolution is lowered as compared with the case of non-stereoscopic image display. For example, when an XGA (Extended Graphics Array: pixel number: 1024 × 768, pixel pitch: 150 μm) type LCD is applied to a 3D video playback device, if the number of light rays in the horizontal direction per pinhole is 10, As an image reproducing device, the number of pixels in the horizontal direction is 102, and the pixel pitch is 1.5 mm.
[0016]
Therefore, a display capable of displaying a three-dimensional image and a two-dimensional image has been demanded, but there has been no specific solution.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
Accordingly, the present invention provides a transflective liquid crystal display having a first main surface and a second main surface, a front light guide plate provided on the first main surface of the transflective liquid crystal display, and the front light guide. And an array plate provided on the opposite side of the transflective liquid crystal display and spaced apart from the optical plate, and the transflective liquid crystal display has pinholes, slits, and lenticular lenses formed on the array plate with multi-viewpoint images. Or a pinhole formed in the array plate and a pitch of a periodic structure formed so as to correspond to the microlens and guide light from the light source to the transflective liquid crystal display side on the front light guide plate The display device is characterized in that the pitch of the slit, the lenticular lens, or the micro lens coincides.
[0018]
Further, a front light guide plate may be provided on the second main surface.
[0019]
A transflective liquid crystal display having a first main surface and a second main surface; an array plate spaced apart on the first main surface of the transflective liquid crystal display; and the transflective liquid crystal display. and a front light the light guide plate provided on the second major surface, corresponding to the semi-transmission type liquid crystal displays pinholes formed a multi-view image on the array plate, a slit, a lenticular lens, or microlens to display, the front light pitch and the pin hole formed in the array plate of the formed periodic structure as on the light guide plate guides light from the light source to the transflective liquid crystal display side, a slit, a lenticular lens, Alternatively, the display device is characterized in that the pitch of the microlenses coincides.
[0020]
The ridge line direction of the periodic structure formed on the front light guide plate may be a horizontal direction.
[0021]
Provided is an open / close type terminal device characterized in that the above-described display device is fitted into the lid so that it can be seen from both sides of the lid.
[0022]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0023]
FIG. 1 is a side view of the display device of the present embodiment. The stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present embodiment mainly includes a transflective liquid crystal display 103.
[0024]
The liquid crystal display 103 has a color liquid crystal display screen in which subpixels of RGB three primary colors are arranged in a matrix plane. The liquid crystal display 103 is electrically driven by a driving device and can display a planar image or display parallax information on each pixel.
[0025]
A front light light guide plate 102 is disposed on the left side of the liquid crystal display 103, and an array plate 101 having two-dimensionally arranged pinholes is disposed on the left side of the light guide plate 102. If the back surface on the right side of the array plate 101, that is, the liquid crystal display 103 side is made to be a reflection plate, light can be used effectively.
[0026]
On the other hand, the right side of the liquid crystal display 103 is open, and the liquid crystal display 103 can be directly seen from the right side.
[0027]
The light guide plate 102 makes light 104 of the light source incident on the liquid crystal display 103 from the edge portion. A part of the light incident on the liquid crystal display 103 is reflected and emitted to the array plate 101 on the left side of the drawing, and a part of the light is transmitted through the liquid crystal display 103 and emitted to the right side of the drawing. That is, when the liquid crystal display 103 is viewed from the right side of the drawing, the liquid crystal display 103 functions as a backlight.
[0028]
As a light source, a light-emitting diode that can be easily switched can be used in addition to a fluorescent tube.
[0029]
As shown in FIG. 2, the most commonly used light guide plate 102 has periodic structures 401 and 402 for guiding light to the surface. For example, when the light 104 enters from the lateral direction of the light guide plate 102, it is reflected by the steep surface 402, guided to the flat surface 403, and emitted to the liquid crystal display 103. With such a saw-shaped surface, the light 104 incident from the lateral direction spreads over the entire light guide plate 102 and is emitted from the flat surface 403.
[0030]
The light once incident on the liquid crystal display 103 is reflected according to the display image on the liquid crystal display 103 and returns to the light guide plate 102 again.
[0031]
Light incident from the flat surface 403 is emitted to the array plate 101 without being affected by the light guide plate 102. Therefore, the position of the pinhole 1011 on the array plate 101 is aligned with the gentle slope 401 of the light guide plate 102. For example, the length of the gentle surface region is set to 200 microns, the length of the steep flat region is set to 40 microns, and the pitch is adjusted so that the pinhole is positioned near the center of the gentle plane region.
[0032]
With such a configuration, the multi-viewpoint image displayed on the liquid crystal display 103 can be emitted to the array plate 101 without distortion, and a good stereoscopic image can be displayed.
[0033]
In addition, it is more preferable that the gentle surface 401 and the steep surface 402 are connected vertically in the screen, that is, the ridgeline 404 and the valley line 405 formed by the gentle surface 401 and the steep surface 402 extend in the horizontal direction of the screen. This is because it is preferable that human beings move a lot in the horizontal direction on a daily basis, so that when a stereoscopic image is displayed, the movement in the horizontal direction is more smoothly followed. However, the position of the light source may be provided in the vertical direction of the screen, and the incident light 104 may be input from either the top or the bottom.
[0034]
Next, a method for displaying a stereoscopic image using the stereoscopic display device of the present embodiment will be described. This stereoscopic image display method itself is the same as the conventional integral photography method, and will be briefly described here.
[0035]
A multi-viewpoint image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 103 corresponding to each pinhole on the array plate 101. This multi-viewpoint image is a group of parallax images that look slightly different depending on the angle.
[0036]
The light emitted from the multi-viewpoint image passes through the corresponding pinhole and then is collected, whereby an image 105 having a spatial three-dimensional region is formed on the front surface of the array plate 101.
[0037]
Thus, the integral photography method can form a natural stereoscopic image with a simple configuration. The integral photography method does not require polarized glasses and reproduces a three-dimensional image corresponding to a spatial three-dimensional region. Therefore, when the observer 106 changes the observation direction, the three-dimensional image that can be seen by the observer accordingly. The image also changes.
[0038]
On the other hand, light emitted from the light guide plate 102 to the right side in FIG. 1 passes through the liquid crystal display 103 and reaches the viewer on the right side. Since the liquid crystal display 103 is exposed on the right side, a normal two-dimensional image can be seen. Therefore, a fine planar image can be observed from the observer 107 on the right side.
[0039]
The liquid crystal display 103 can display both a multi-viewpoint image for a three-dimensional image and a normal two-dimensional image by a driving circuit. Display an image.
[0040]
The array plate 101 and the front light light guide plate 102 may be integrally formed. The transmittance of the transflective liquid crystal display 103 can be set as appropriate. For example, since a three-dimensional image generally tends to be darker than a two-dimensional image, it is preferable to set a low transmittance, that is, a high reflectance.
[0041]
The above description is based on the configuration in which the liquid crystal display 103 is viewed from both sides. However, in order to reproduce a three-dimensional image, the configuration of the liquid crystal display 103, the light guide plate 102, and the array plate 101 is sufficient. If only the reproduction is performed, the liquid crystal display 103 does not need to be a transflective type. For example, in FIG. 1, a configuration in which a reflection plate is provided on the opposite side of the light guide plate 102 and the liquid crystal display 103 cannot be directly viewed may be used.
(Second Embodiment)
The present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the positional relationship between the front light guide plate and the transflective liquid crystal display.
[0042]
FIG. 3 is a side view of the display device according to the present embodiment, but the same reference numerals are used for portions common to FIG. 1 and the description thereof is omitted.
[0043]
Light guide plates 301 and 303 and light sources for allowing light to enter the light guide plates are provided on both surfaces of the liquid crystal display device 103.
[0044]
When the light 305 enters the right light guide plate 303, the light travels to the left side, and the three-dimensional image 105 is observed by the left viewer 106. At this time, the light 304 may or may not be incident on the left light guide plate 301, but the light 304 is turned off to reduce power consumption.
[0045]
When light 304 is incident on the left light guide plate 301, the light travels to the right side, and a planar image is observed by the right viewer 107. At this time, the light 305 may or may not be incident on the right light guide plate 303, but the light 305 is turned off to reduce power consumption.
[0046]
Also in this case, a good image can be obtained for both the stereoscopic image and the planar image.
(Third embodiment)
Further, a modification will be described with reference to FIG.
[0047]
In this embodiment, a slit array plate 503 provided with slits 504 is used instead of the array plate 101 provided with pinholes.
[0048]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the light guide plate 102 and the array plate 503 according to this modification. In addition, about the part which is common in FIG. 3, the same quotation mark is provided and the description is abbreviate | omitted.
[0049]
The light guide plate 102 used in the present embodiment is arranged such that a ridge line 404 and a valley line 405 formed by the gentle surface 401 and the steep surface 402 extend in the horizontal direction of the screen.
[0050]
On the other hand, the slit 504 is provided so as to extend in the vertical direction of the screen, and is orthogonal to the ridgeline 404.
[0051]
By arranging in this way, the light in the horizontal direction important for stereoscopic vision is not scattered, and a good stereoscopic image is reproduced.
(Fourth embodiment)
The present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the positional relationship between the front light guide plate and the transflective liquid crystal display.
[0052]
FIG. 5 is a side view of the display device according to the present embodiment, but the same reference numerals are used for portions common to FIG. 1 and description thereof is omitted.
[0053]
A front light guide plate 102 is disposed on the right side of the liquid crystal display 103, and light 104 of the light source is incident from the edge portion. Part of the light incident on the front light guide plate travels to the left and functions as a backlight for the liquid crystal display. Therefore, the stereoscopic image 105 can be observed from the left viewer 106. Part of the light incident on the transflective liquid crystal display 103 is reflected to the right by the internal reflector. That is, a fine planar image is observed by the right observer 107. In this configuration, external light such as sunlight and illumination can be effectively used.
(Fifth embodiment)
The fifth embodiment of the present application will be described with reference to FIG.
[0054]
In the present embodiment, the display device 601 is used for the terminal device 603. A display is provided so that a three-dimensional image is displayed on the front side of the lid of the openable terminal device 603 and a planar image is displayed on the back side of the lid.
[0055]
6A and 6B are schematic views of the openable terminal device according to the present embodiment, in which FIG. 6A shows a state where the lid is closed, and FIG. 6B shows a state where the lid is opened.
[0056]
The display 601 as in the first embodiment is fitted in the lid of the openable terminal device 603 so that it can be seen from the outside and the inside of the lid. Here, the terminal device 603 is normally stored and carried with the lid closed (FIG. 6A), and the terminal device 603 is used with the lid opened when the terminal is used (FIG. 6B).
[0057]
In the present embodiment, a stereoscopic image such as the logo 602 can be displayed on the display 601 with the lid closed. For example, it is possible to run automatic execution software, close the lid, and display a stereoscopic image.
[0058]
In addition, when used with the lid open, a function as a normal portable terminal can be exhibited by displaying a two-dimensional image on the display 601.
[0059]
Further, a switch for knowing the open / closed state of the lid can be provided so that the outside display is performed when the lid is closed, and the inside display is performed when the lid is open. It is also possible to put an identification code indicating whether the image is a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image into the image data, read the identification code, and switch between displaying the identification data on the outside and displaying the identification data on the inside. In addition, it is conceivable that the lid portion is horizontally rotated to enable stereoscopic display on the inside.
[0060]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, although the embodiments have been described using openings such as slits and pinholes, lenticular lenses and microlenses may be used instead.
[0061]
In addition to the above-described liquid crystal display, a transflective EL (electroluminescence) display can also be used as a display device.
[0062]
Further, the position of the observer can be detected, and the image to be automatically displayed can be switched to a flat surface or a solid image according to the position.
[0063]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a display device that can reproduce a stereoscopic image using a color liquid crystal display or the like and that does not cause resolution degradation when displaying a planar image.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a light guide plate. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a switchable terminal device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a conventional stereoscopic image reproducing apparatus.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Opening array board 102 ... Front light light-guide plate 103 ... Semi-transmissive liquid crystal display 104 ... Light 105 from the light source ... Reproduced three-dimensional real image 301 ... Light guide plate 303 ... Light guide plate 304 ... Light from the light source 305 ... From the light source Light 401 ... Periodic gentle surface 402 ... Periodic steep plane 403 ... Flat surface 404 ... Ridge line 405 ... Valley line 503 ... Slit array plate 504 ... Slit 601 ... Display device 602 ... Logo three-dimensional image 603 ... Terminal equipment 701 ... Pin Array plate 702 having holes ... Display device 704 ... Three-dimensional real image

Claims (5)

A transflective liquid crystal display comprising a first main surface and a second main surface;
A front light guide plate provided on the first main surface of the transflective liquid crystal display;
An array plate provided on the opposite side of the transflective liquid crystal display apart from the front light guide plate;
The transflective liquid crystal display displays multi-viewpoint images corresponding to pinholes, slits, lenticular lenses, or microlenses formed on the array plate,
The pitch of the periodic structure formed to guide light from the light source to the transflective liquid crystal display side on the front light guide plate and the pitch of pinholes, slits, lenticular lenses, or microlenses formed on the array plate Is a display device characterized by matching. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising a front light guide plate provided on the second main surface. A transflective liquid crystal display comprising a first main surface and a second main surface;
A said semi-transmissive said liquid crystal display wherein the first major surface on an array provided spaced plates of a transflective liquid crystal display front light light guide plate provided on the second main surface of
The transflective liquid crystal display displays multi-viewpoint images corresponding to pinholes, slits, lenticular lenses, or microlenses formed on the array plate,
The pitch of the periodic structure formed to guide light from the light source to the transflective liquid crystal display side on the front light guide plate and the pitch of pinholes, slits, lenticular lenses, or microlenses formed on the array plate Is a display device characterized by matching. 4. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a ridge line direction of the periodic structure formed on the front light guide plate is a horizontal direction. An open / close type terminal device, wherein the display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is fitted in the lid so that the lid can be seen from both sides.

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