JP4483181B2 - 3D image display device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic video display apparatus that provides a stereoscopic video, and more particularly to a stereoscopic video display apparatus that obtains a stereoscopic video by binocular parallax and does not use special glasses.
[0002]
[Prior art]
There has been proposed a stereoscopic video display device that displays two video images with parallax and provides a stereoscopic video image by guiding one video light to the left eye and the other video light to the right eye. In order to provide stereoscopic images, it is necessary that the image light for the left eye is incident only on the left eye, and the image light for the right eye is incident only on the right eye. A barrier that regulates the course is used. It is possible to display the image for the left eye and the image for the right eye side by side, and the path of the image light can be regulated by a large barrier, but in this case, the image light for the left eye and the image light for the right eye It is difficult to provide a natural 3D image due to an excessive angle difference in the traveling direction.
[0003]
Therefore, a parallax barrier type stereoscopic image display device that uses a barrier having a plurality of openings corresponding to each part of both images, and displaying a left-eye image and a right-eye image alternately one by one is known. It has been. The configuration of such a stereoscopic video display apparatus is schematically shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG.
[0004]
The stereoscopic image display apparatus in FIG. 1A includes a display 11, a barrier 12, and an illuminator 13. The display 11 is a transmissive liquid crystal display, and has a large number of pixels 11p, and alternately displays the left-eye video L and the right-eye video R for each pixel arranged in the left-right direction. . The barrier 12 has an opening 12a having the same width as the pixel 11p of the display unit 11 for each of the two pixels 11p, and blocks image light from the display unit 11 other than the light incident on the opening 12a. The illuminator 13 is disposed on the back side of the display unit 11 and emits a backlight that illuminates the display unit 11 from the back side. The display 11 modulates the light from the backlight to produce image light representing an image.
[0005]
There is a difference between the position of the left-eye image L and the right-eye image R with respect to the opening 12a of the barrier 12, and accordingly, the traveling direction of the image light of the left-eye image L and the right eye after passing through the opening 12a. Difference in the traveling direction of the image light of the image R for the image R, only the image light of the image L for the left eye enters the left eye of the observer, and the image light of the image R for the right eye enters the right eye Only incident.
[0006]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 1B, the barrier 12 can be disposed between the display 11 and the illuminator 13. The path of the light from the illuminator 13 is restricted by the barrier 12, and an angle difference is generated between the traveling directions of the illumination light incident on the left-eye image L and the illumination light incident on the right-eye image R. This angle difference is maintained even after the image light is obtained, and only the image light of the left-eye image L is incident on the left eye of the observer, and only the image light of the right-eye image R is incident on the right eye. Incident.
[0007]
A front view of the barrier 12 is schematically shown in FIG. In general, the opening 12a has a long stripe shape that extends from the upper end to the lower end of the barrier 12 (for example, JP-A-2000-78617). The width of the openings 12a is constant, and the arrangement pitch of the openings 12a is also constant.
[0008]
There is also known what is called an oblique barrier system for suppressing a decrease in resolution in the horizontal direction and enabling a higher quality display. As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the openings 12b are arranged in a staircase pattern as short striped (rectangular) openings 12b. In this case, not only the width but also the length of the opening 12b is constant, and the arrangement pitch in which the pair of openings and the light-shielding portion exists is always constant in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction as a whole. In this example, the length (vertical size) of the pixel 11p of the display 11 is about three times the width, and the size of the opening 12b corresponds to the size of one pixel of the display 11. . In the left-right direction, an opening 12b is provided at a rate of one for every four pixels, and a so-called multi-view type in which four different images are alternately displayed on the display 11 is shown.
[0009]
As the barrier 12, a metal plate can be used, or a liquid crystal panel can be used, and a part of the barrier 12 can have openings 12 a and 12 b as an alignment for transmitting light. When the liquid crystal panel is used, it is possible to set the whole so as to transmit light and set it not to function as a barrier, providing a stereoscopic image and providing a non-stereo normal image, Can be switched.
[0010]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-78617 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In a stereoscopic video display device including a barrier having an opening, the quality of the provided stereoscopic video may be deteriorated. As a result of investigating the cause, the light after passing through the aperture interferes with the conventional barriers because the apertures are regularly arranged and the aperture shape is only a simple shape such as a rectangular shape. It turns out that interference fringes occur.
[0012]
The present invention has been made in view of this problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stereoscopic video display device in which the generation of interference fringes is suppressed.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a display that alternately displays images with parallax and a barrier that has a plurality of openings and blocks light at portions other than the openings. In a 3D image display device that provides a 3D image by restricting the path of image light from the vessel and guiding different image light to the left and right eyes, the openings of the barriers are arranged at a certain pitch. It is set as a structure, or it is set as the structure which provided the unevenness | corrugation in the edge of the opening of the said barrier, or it is set as the structure where the shape of the said opening of a barrier is uneven, or it is set as the structure where the shape of the said opening of a barrier is a refractive shape. With such a configuration, it is difficult for the image light after passing through the aperture to interfere, and generation of interference fringes can be suppressed.
[0014]
The present invention further includes a liquid crystal display that alternately displays images with parallax, an illuminator that provides illumination light to the liquid crystal display, and a barrier that has a plurality of openings and blocks light at portions other than the openings. A stereoscopic video display device that provides a stereoscopic video by regulating the path of illumination light from the illuminator by the barrier and guiding different video light from the liquid crystal display to the left and right eyes, The structure is such that the openings of the barriers are arranged at a certain pitch, or the edges of the openings of the barriers are uneven, or the shapes of the openings of the barriers are uneven, or the barriers The opening has a refractive shape. With such a configuration, it is difficult for the image light after passing through the aperture to interfere, and generation of interference fringes can be suppressed.
[0015]
Further, in the present invention, the barrier is configured to be a barrier capable of switching and displaying a display image of the stereoscopic image display device between a stereoscopic image and a non-stereoscopic image.
[0016]
In the present invention, the barrier is formed by sandwiching liquid crystal between a pair of transparent substrates.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Several embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Since the overall configuration of the stereoscopic video display device of each embodiment is substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 1, different points will be described.
[0018]
The barrier 12 used in the stereoscopic video display apparatus according to the first embodiment is schematically shown in FIG.
[0019]
In the present embodiment, a switch liquid crystal panel is used for the barrier 12 in order to switch between providing a stereoscopic video and providing a non-stereo normal video. .
[0020]
The barrier 12 using the switch liquid crystal panel may be a simple matrix drive type or an active matrix drive type liquid crystal panel used in a normal liquid crystal display device, but a complicated wiring or the like may be formed on the substrate. Because it is necessary, there is a high risk of reducing the yield.
[0021]
Therefore, the barrier 12 has a transparent electrode such as ITO formed entirely on one of the pair of transparent substrates sandwiching the liquid crystal, and a transparent electrode formed on the other substrate other than the opening. When no driving voltage is applied to the electrodes, the liquid crystal is set so as to transmit all light. In this way, when the drive voltage is applied, the position where the transparent electrode is formed on both substrates becomes a light shielding portion, and the portion where the transparent electrode is formed only on one substrate is an aperture that transmits light. It becomes.
[0022]
Such a barrier 12 can be manufactured by a relatively simple process as compared with a barrier using a liquid crystal panel of an active matrix driving type or the like because it is not necessary to form a transparent electrode only at a position where an opening is to be formed. Furthermore, by changing the shape or the like of the non-formed portion of the transparent electrode, the shape and position of the opening can be changed relatively freely.
[0023]
The barrier 12 of the present embodiment has a plurality of short stripe-shaped (rectangular) openings 12c arranged in a staircase pattern, similar to that shown in FIG. The opening 12c has a length corresponding to one pixel 11p that is long in the vertical direction of the display 11 (FIG. 1), and is provided at a rate of one for every four pixels in the horizontal direction. Although the length and width of the opening 12c are constant, the arrangement pitch of the pair of openings and the light-shielding portions is not constant both in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction.
[0024]
FIG. 3B shows the opening 12c of the present embodiment and the conventional barrier opening 12b shown in FIG. A solid line is the opening 12c of this embodiment, and a dotted line is the conventional opening 12b. Although the conventional openings 12b are arranged at a constant pitch in both the left and right directions and the vertical direction, in this embodiment, the openings 12c are slightly smaller than the openings 12b, and the corners thereof coincide with the corners of the conventional openings 12b. Provided in position. There are four relative positions of the openings 12c with respect to the openings 12b (indicated by A to D), so that the arrangement pitch is not constant both in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction. Since the arrangement pitch of the openings 12c is not constant, even if the shape of the openings 12c is rectangular, it is difficult for light that has passed through the different openings 12c to interfere, and the generation of interference fringes is suppressed.
[0025]
The barrier 12 of the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the second embodiment is schematically shown in FIG. The barrier 12 of the present embodiment is macroscopically rectangular, and has an opening 12d having an uneven edge. The size of the opening 12d is constant and is substantially equal to the opening 12c of the first embodiment.
[0026]
FIG. 4B shows the opening 12d of the present embodiment and the conventional barrier opening 12b shown in FIG. Similarly to the opening 21c of the first embodiment, the opening 12d is provided at a position where the corner coincides with the corner of the conventional opening 12b, and there are four relative positions (indicated by AD) with respect to the opening 12b. . In the barrier 12 of the present embodiment, the arrangement pitch of the openings 12d is not constant, and there are few portions of the edges of the different openings 12d that are parallel to each other. Therefore, the occurrence of interference fringes can be suppressed more than in the first embodiment.
[0027]
A barrier 12 of the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the third embodiment is schematically shown in FIG. The barrier 12 of the present embodiment has three types of openings 12e: a circle, a triangle, a square, and a trapezoid, and the shapes of the openings 12e are not uniform. Each of these openings 12e corresponds to the conventional barrier opening 12b.
[0028]
FIG. 5B shows the opening 12e of the present embodiment and the conventional barrier opening 12b shown in FIG. Each set of the three openings 12e is set so as to be substantially inscribed in the edge of the conventional opening 12b, and the directions of the trapezoidal three openings 12e (D) are different. The set of three openings 12e is arranged at a constant pitch in the left-right direction and the up-down direction as in the case of the conventional opening 12b, but there are few portions that are parallel to each other at the edges of the different sets of openings 12e. Generation of fringes can be suppressed.
[0029]
The shape of the opening 12e may be arbitrarily set, and is not limited to that shown here. For example, a rectangular shape as a whole as in the first embodiment, a macroscopic rectangular shape having irregularities at the edges as in the second embodiment, and a set of circular or polygonal shapes as in this embodiment. It is also possible to combine them.
[0030]
In addition, when the shape of the opening is viewed macroscopically, for example, even if it is a refractive shape such as a dogleg shape, the generation of interference fringes can be suppressed.
[0031]
When the path of the image light from the display 11 is restricted by the barriers 12c, 12d, and 12e as shown in FIG. 1A, the display 11 is not limited to a transmissive liquid crystal display, but a PDP or an organic EL. An element that emits image light itself, such as the display used, can be employed.
[0032]
In addition, the barrier 12 of each of the embodiments described above is provided with a switch liquid crystal panel so as to be able to switch between providing a stereoscopic image and providing a non-stereo normal image. Although shown, it may be a fixed barrier that is formed of a metal plate or the like and always keeps the opening and the other part.
[0033]
When the arrangement pitch of the openings 12c and 12d is not constant as in the first and second embodiments, the degree of shifting the openings 12c and 12d from the constant pitch depends on the wavelength of light passing through the openings 12c and 12d. It is preferable to define. For example, it is preferable to set the arrangement pitch of the openings 12c and 12d depending on whether the light to be transmitted is red light, green light, or blue light.
[0034]
Making the arrangement pitch of the openings constant and making the shapes of the openings irregular can also be applied to a barrier in which long stripe-shaped openings as shown in FIG. This is effective for suppressing interference fringes.
[0035]
The present invention is not limited to a so-called binocular stereoscopic image display device that alternately displays a left-eye image L and a right-eye image R for each pixel arranged in the left-right direction, but also from multiple directions. It can also be used in a so-called multi-view stereoscopic image display device capable of obtaining information. In this case, a plurality of images with parallax are alternately displayed on the display. For example, in the case of a four-eye system, four images are alternately displayed for each pixel.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
According to the three-dimensional image display device of the present invention, the lights after passing through the openings with different barriers are unlikely to interfere with each other, and the generation of interference fringes can be suppressed. Therefore, a high-quality stereoscopic image can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a general configuration of a stereoscopic image display device that regulates the path of light by a barrier.
FIG. 2 is a front view schematically showing a barrier of a conventional stereoscopic image display device.
FIG. 3 is a front view schematically showing a barrier and an opening of the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a front view schematically showing a barrier and an opening of the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a front view schematically showing a barrier and an opening of a stereoscopic image display apparatus according to a third embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
11 Display 11p Pixel 12 Barrier 12a-12e Aperture 13 Illuminator

Claims (2)

A display for alternately displaying images with parallax;
A barrier having a plurality of openings and blocking light at a portion other than the openings;
In a stereoscopic video display device that provides a stereoscopic video by regulating the path of video light from the display by the barrier and guiding different video lights to the left and right eyes,
The barrier sandwiches the liquid crystal between a pair of transparent substrates, and a transparent electrode is formed on one substrate as a whole, and a transparent electrode is formed on the other substrate other than the opening,
The barrier enables the display image of the stereoscopic image display device to be switched between a stereoscopic image and a non-stereoscopic image,
3. The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 1, wherein the openings of the barrier have the same size and are shifted from a certain pitch depending on the shape of the transparent electrode formed on the other substrate. The stereoscopic image display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an illuminator that provides illumination light to the display.

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