JPH0738926A - Three-dimensional display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To extend a stereoscopic vision region and to allow an observer to observe a parallax image in response to the movement without deterioration in the horizontal resolution by providing a device selecting a stereoscopic signal outputted from plural stereoscopic signal sources based on a head position of the observer detected by a head detector so as to eliminate an area in which an inverted stereoscopic image is observed. CONSTITUTION:A lenticular lens 11 is adhered to a front face of a liquid crystal display panel 10. In this case, the lenticular lens 11 is the same as that used for a 2-eye type 3-dimension display device. At first, a left eye of an observer is set in a space C and a right eye is set in a space D, as the basic position. In this case, a stereoscopic signal selector 43 selects an image 2 of a signal source 34 as a left eye signal and selects an image 3 of a signal source 35 as a right eye signal and a stereoscopic signal synthesizer 42 displays the image 2 on a picture element Di1 and displays the image 3 on a picture element Di2. When the observer moves to the right and the left eye comes to the space D and the right eye comes to a space E, the selector 43 selects the image 3 as the left signal and the image 4 of the signal source 36 as the right eye signal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional display device capable of reproducing stereoscopic images without the need for special glasses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A three-dimensional display using a lenticular lens is known as a conventional device for viewing a stereoscopic image without glasses. This three-dimensional display is realized in combination with a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display because the lenticular lens and the display pixel are easily aligned and the distance between the display surface and the lenticular lens is short.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional example of a direct-view type three-dimensional display device in which a lenticular lens is directly attached to the display surface of a liquid crystal panel. FIG. 6 shows an example of the twin-lens type.

A part of the parallax image for the left eye is displayed on the pixel DDi1 of the liquid crystal panel 110, and a part of the parallax image for the right eye is displayed on the pixel DDi2 (hereinafter, i indicates i = 1 to n). The stereoscopic signal sources 131 and 132 are the sources of the respective parallax images. The cylindrical lens LLi corresponds to the pair of pixels DDi1 and DDi2. The light transmitted through the pixels DDi1 and DDi2 is separated into the space CC and the space DD of the observation area by the action of the cylindrical lens LLi. Space C
A stereoscopic image can be observed by bringing the left eye and the right eye into C and space DD, respectively.

In FIG. 6, the shape of each cylindrical lens LLi is the same, but the pitch of the pair of pixels DDi1 and DDi2 and the pitch of the cylindrical lens LLi are different. The pitch of the cylindrical lens is set to be slightly smaller. Therefore, in the periphery of the liquid crystal panel, the center of the pair of pixels and the center of the corresponding cylindrical lens deviate, and the amount of deviation increases toward the periphery. Due to this shift, the incident angle of the transmitted light from each pixel to the cylindrical lens is different between the center and the periphery of the liquid crystal panel 110, so that the transmitted light from the peripheral pixels of the liquid crystal panel 110 becomes the specific space CC of the observation area. Can be collected in space DD.

At this time, a part of the light emitted from the pixel DDi1 passes through the cylindrical lens LLi-1. This light reaches the space EE. That is, when the light emitted from the pixel for the left-eye image passes through the cylindrical lens on the right side (viewed by the observer) of the corresponding lens, it converges into the space EE different from the space CC that is the original convergence space. . Therefore,
In the space EE, the same image as the space CC can be observed.

Similarly, the light emitted from the pixel for the left-eye image is adjacent to the left of the corresponding lens (as viewed by the observer).
After passing through the cylindrical lens of, the light converges on a space AA different from the space CC which is the original convergence space. Therefore, the same image as the space CC can be observed in the space AA.

On the other hand, when the light emitted from the pixel for the right-eye image passes through the cylindrical lens on the right side of one of the corresponding lenses (viewed by the observer), a space different from the space DD which is the original converging space. It converges to FF. Therefore, the space F
In F, the same image as the space DD can be observed.

Similarly, the light emitted from the pixels for the right-eye image is located on the left side of one of the corresponding lenses (viewed by the observer).
After passing through the cylindrical lens of, the light converges to a space BB different from the space DD which is the original convergence space. Therefore, the same image as the space DD can be observed in the space BB. Such light is called primary sidelobe light.

Further, when the light emitted from a certain pixel passes through a cylindrical lens adjacent to the corresponding two lenses, it becomes a secondary sidelobe light. Generally, the cylindrical lens adjacent to the nearest N lenses is used. The light that has passed through becomes N-th sidelobe light. The spaces where the sidelobe light converges appear in the horizontal direction at substantially equal intervals, and the images for the left eye and the images for the right eye are spatially presented alternately.

FIG. 7 shows a conventional example of a three-dimensional display device in which a direct-viewing type three-dimensional display device and a head detecting device are combined.

In principle, a three-dimensional display device having a shape as shown in FIG. 7 is of a twin-lens type.

The device shown in FIG. 7 is roughly divided into a stereoscopic image display device, a head detecting device, and a stereoscopic signal synthesizing device.
The stereoscopic image display device has the same structure as the above-mentioned conventional device, and the lenticular lens 1 is provided on the front surface of the liquid crystal panel 110.
11 is a direct-view type three-dimensional display device in which 11 are bonded. The head detecting device 141 detects the head position of the observer by irradiating the observer's head with near infrared rays and measuring the reflection intensity thereof. The stereoscopic signal synthesizing device 142 sorts the left-eye signal and the right-eye signal into even-numbered fields and odd-numbered fields when the observer exists at a position where the left eye is in the space CC and the right eye is in the space DD, for example. Enable vision. This is the same as the display state of the conventional device described above. However, when the observer moves to a position where the left eye is in the space DD and the right eye is in the space EE, the left eye observes the right-eye parallax image and the right eye observes the left-eye parallax image. Becomes impossible. Therefore, when an observer exists at such a position, the stereoscopic signal synthesizer 142 exchanges the contents of the even field and the odd field to enable stereoscopic viewing at this position.

FIG. 8 shows a conventional example of a three-dimensional display device in which a direct-viewing type three-dimensional display device and a head detecting device are combined and a lenticular lens is moved according to the head position.

In principle, a three-dimensional display device having a shape as shown in FIG. 8 is also of a twin-lens type.

The conventional device shown in FIG. 8 is roughly divided into a stereoscopic image display device, a head detecting device, and a lens moving device. The stereoscopic image display device has the same structure as the device of the conventional example shown in FIG. 6 described above, and a lenticular lens 111 is arranged on the front surface of the liquid crystal panel 110. However, in the apparatus of FIG. 8, this lenticular lens 111 can be moved by the lens moving device 151. The head detecting device 141 is the same as the conventional example shown in FIG. In the conventional example of FIG. 8, the position of the observer is detected by the head detecting device 141, the movement amount of the lenticular lens 111 is calculated by the lens movement control device 152 according to the movement of the observation position in the horizontal direction, and the position is set at that position. The lenticular lens 111 is moved in the horizontal direction so that a parallax image for the left eye or a right eye is formed, and stereoscopic vision is possible in a wide range of observation positions.

In the conventional example shown in FIG. 8, the lenticular lens 1 is used.
The stereoscopically viewable area is expanded by moving 11 in the horizontal direction. The principle will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a twin-lens type, but a liquid crystal panel 1
It is necessary to pay attention to the relative position between the set of 0 pixels and the mountain portion of the lenticular lens 11 (center position of the cylindrical lens). Here, attention is paid to the relative position of the pixel pair of DDi1 and DDi2 and the cylindrical lens LLi. In FIG. 9A, the center lines of the pixel pairs DDi1 and DDi2 and the center line of the cylindrical lens LLi overlap. In such a case, a right-eye parallax image is formed on the right side and a left-eye parallax image is formed on the left side of the center line. If the lenticular lens 111 is moved slightly to the left from this state, as shown in FIG. 9B, the cylindrical lens L
The center line of Li comes to the left of the center lines of the pixel pairs DDi1 and DDi2. In such a case, the positions where the right-eye and left-eye parallax images are formed move to the left as a whole. By controlling the amount of movement of the lenticular lens 111 according to the amount of movement of the observer, the observer can always see the parallax image for the right eye with the right eye and the parallax image for the left eye with the left eye even when moving left and right. A wide range of stereoscopic vision is possible.

In the conventional three-dimensional display device shown in FIG. 6, parallax images for the left eye are formed in the spaces AA, CC, EE, and parallax images for the right eye are formed in the spaces BB, DD, FF. Therefore, the observer can see the left eye in space CC and the right eye in space D.
When you bring it to D, a normal stereoscopic image is observed,
For example, when the left eye moves to the space DD and the right eye moves to the right so as to be in the space EE, the left eye observes the right-eye parallax image and the right eye observes the left-eye parallax image, and a normal stereoscopic image cannot be observed ( Such an image becomes a stereoscopic image with the depth reversed, and this is called an inverse stereoscopic image). The same applies when moving to the left such that the left eye is in the space BB and the right eye is in the space CC. That is, in such a three-dimensional display device, the ratio of the area in which a normal stereoscopic image is observed and the area in which an inverse stereoscopic image is observed are almost equal, and the stereoscopically viewable area is limited to a narrow range.

In addition, between each parallax image, there is a non-display space due to the fact that the wiring portion of the liquid crystal panel does not transmit light, and when the observer moves, it is observed as a black band and a continuous stereoscopic image is obtained. Obstacles in observing.

In order to solve this problem, a three-dimensional display device like the conventional example shown in FIG. 7 or a three-dimensional display device like the conventional example shown in FIG. 8 was devised. These devices are characterized by performing head tracking. In the device of the conventional example shown in FIG. 7, when the observer moves to a region where an inverse stereoscopic image is observed, the positions of the left-eye parallax image and the right-eye parallax image on the display panel are switched, Allow normal stereoscopic images to be observed. In the apparatus of the conventional example shown in FIG. 8, the lenticular lens is moved according to the movement of the observer, so that the area where a normal stereoscopic image can be observed is moved together with the observer. With such a device, the observer does not observe the inverse stereoscopic image in these conventional examples.

Further, in the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 8, the space itself for displaying the parallax image is moved by tracking the head, so that the observer does not observe the above-mentioned black band.

However, in these conventional examples, only the two-lens type can be used in principle, and when the observer moves,
What is supposed to be different sides of the projected object should always be able to see only the same image. Since such a phenomenon cannot occur in the real world, it is difficult for the observer to perceive that the projected image is exactly there in the conventional apparatus shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

On the other hand, as an example of a three-dimensional display device in which different sides of an imaged object can be seen when an observer moves, there is a multi-view three-dimensional display device as shown in FIG. FIG. 10 shows an example of a four-eye system.

In the device of FIG. 10, the display pixels DDi1, DD
Cylindrical lens L for i2, DDi3, DDi4
Li corresponds, and display pixels DDi1, DDi2, DDi3, DD
The light emitted from i4 is converted into space BB, space CC, and space D, respectively.
D, separated into space EE. As a method of obtaining a stereoscopic signal used in the apparatus of FIG. 10, for example, an imaging system having a configuration as shown in FIG. 11 is used. That is, the cameras are arranged at regular intervals, and each camera is angled so that its central axis faces the object. In this way, four different parallax images are obtained, and stereoscopic viewing is possible by observing the image of the left camera with the left eye and the image of the right camera with the right eye of the two adjacent images. Therefore, FIG.
In the above device, the display pixels DDi1, DDi2, DDi3, DDi4
In contrast, the camera 121 to the camera 124 shown in FIG.
By assigning the images 11 to 14 obtained by, three different stereoscopic images can be observed. Here, the three different stereoscopic images are stereoscopic images observed when viewing (image 11 and image 12), (image 12 and image 13), and (image 13 and image 14) with the left eye and the right eye, respectively. This also means that the stereoscopic viewable area covers a wide range.

[0026]

However, in the conventional multi-lens type three-dimensional display device shown in FIG. 10 described above, the resolution in the horizontal direction deteriorates. Generally, in the case of the N-eye type, the horizontal resolution is 1 when used as an ordinary display without using a lenticular lens.
/ N. There is a problem in that such deterioration of image quality greatly hinders the stereoscopic viewing, and when the deterioration is severe, the stereoscopic effect cannot be obtained at all.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate a region where an inverse stereoscopic image is observed, to enlarge a stereoscopically visible region, and to make a parallax image different according to the movement of an observer without deteriorating the horizontal resolution. It is to provide a three-dimensional display device that can be observed.

[0028]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is a three-dimensional display device having a display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed and a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses. A head detecting device for detecting the spatial position of the head of the, and a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for outputting stereoscopic signals for multi-view display,
And a stereoscopic signal selecting device that selects stereoscopic signals output from a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources based on the position of the observer's head detected by the head detecting device.

An object of the present invention is a three-dimensional display device having a display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are displayed at the same time and a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses. A head detecting device for detecting a position, a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for outputting a stereoscopic signal for multi-view display, and a plurality of stereoscopic signals based on the head position of the observer detected by the head detecting device. It is also achieved by a three-dimensional display device including a stereoscopic signal selection device that selects a stereoscopic signal output from a source, a lens moving device that moves a lenticular lens in the left-right direction, and a lens movement control device that controls the lens moving device. It

An object of the present invention is to have a transmissive display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed, and a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses.
A three-dimensional display device, including a light source for illuminating a display panel from the back side, an optical lens for converting light emitted from the light source into light substantially orthogonal to the display panel, and a space for a viewer's head. Head detection device for detecting the target position, a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for outputting stereoscopic signals for multi-view display, and a plurality of stereoscopic images based on the position of the head of the observer detected by the head detection device. A three-dimensional display including a stereoscopic signal selection device that selects a stereoscopic signal output from a signal source, a light source moving device that changes a spatial relative position of a light source and an optical lens, and a light source movement control device that controls the light source moving device. It is also achieved by the device.

The three-dimensional display device of the present invention may be configured to include a projection lens and a diffusion layer between the display panel and the lenticular lens.

[0032]

In the three-dimensional display device of the present invention, the left-eye parallax image and the right-eye parallax image are spatially divided by the display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed and the lenticular lens composed of the array of cylindrical lenses. To separate. At this time, multi-view display is performed for an image reproduced in a stereoscopic image display space formed by a twin-lens lenticular lens according to the spatial position of the observer's head detected by the head detecting device. A stereoscopic signal selecting device to which a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources are connected to present a stereoscopic image according to the position of the observer.

In the three-dimensional display device of the present invention, a parallax image for the left eye and a parallax image for the right eye are spatially spatially formed by a display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed and a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses. To separate. At this time, according to the spatial position of the observer's head detected by the head detection device, the twin-lens lenticular lens is moved to move the stereoscopic image display space formed by the lenticular lens, A reproduced image is selected by a stereoscopic signal selection device connected to a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for performing multi-view display, and a stereoscopic image according to the position of the observer is presented.

In the three-dimensional display device of the present invention, a transmissive display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed, a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses, and a back surface for illuminating the display panel are provided. A parallax image for the left eye and a parallax image for the right eye are spatially separated by a light source and an optical lens that converts light emitted from the light source into light that is substantially orthogonal to the display panel. At this time, the spatial relative position between the light source and the optical lens is moved according to the spatial position of the observer's head detected by the head detecting device, and the stereoscopic image formed by the twin-lens lenticular lens is moved. While moving the display space, a reproduction image is selected by a stereoscopic signal selection device to which a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for performing multi-view display are connected, and a stereoscopic image according to the position of the observer is presented.

In the three-dimensional display device of the present invention, a display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed, a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses, and a display panel and the lenticular lens are arranged between the display panel and the lenticular lens. The parallax image for the left eye and the parallax image for the right eye are spatially separated by the projection lens and the diffusion layer. At this time, multi-view display is performed for an image reproduced in a stereoscopic image display space formed by a twin-lens lenticular lens according to the spatial position of the observer's head detected by the head detecting device. A stereoscopic signal selecting device to which a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources are connected to present a stereoscopic image according to the position of the observer.

In the three-dimensional display device of the present invention, a display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed, a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses, and a display panel and the lenticular lens are arranged between the display panel and the lenticular lens. The parallax image for the left eye and the parallax image for the right eye are spatially separated by the projection lens and the diffusion layer. At this time, according to the spatial position of the observer's head detected by the head detection device, the twin-lens lenticular lens is moved to move the stereoscopic image display space formed by the lenticular lens, A reproduced image is selected by a stereoscopic signal selection device connected to a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for performing multi-view display, and a stereoscopic image according to the position of the observer is presented.

[0037]

Embodiments of the three-dimensional display device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the first embodiment of the three-dimensional display device of the present invention.

The three-dimensional display device of FIG. 1 is a direct-view type three-dimensional display device in which a lenticular lens is placed on the front surface of a liquid crystal panel. FIG. 1 shows the case of four-eye display.

In the three-dimensional display device of FIG. 1, the lenticular lens 11 is attached to the front surface of the liquid crystal panel 10. In an actual device, a display illumination light source is placed on the back surface of the liquid crystal panel 10, but it is omitted in FIG.

Although the liquid crystal panel is used as the image display panel in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a flat panel display such as an electroluminescence (EL) panel, a plasma display and a light emitting diode (LED) array may be used. At that time, the display illumination light source is not required.

A color liquid crystal panel is usually used as the liquid crystal panel 10. At this time, the array of color filters of the liquid crystal panel is the same as the longitudinal direction (vertical direction) of the lenticular lens so that the color images are not separated by the action of the lens.

The lenticular lens 11 is an array of cylindrical lenses. Lenticular lens 1 in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 represents a cross section of an array of cylindrical lenses elongated in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. Lenticular lens 11
Is usually made of a plastic material such as acrylic or vinyl chloride. The lenticular lens 11 is formed into a shape in which cylinders having a preset radius of curvature are arranged in a horizontal direction. Further, the thickness thereof is set so as to focus on the liquid crystal panel 10.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the four-eye type is capable of displaying four different parallax images, but two different parallax images are simultaneously displayed. Therefore, the lenticular lens used in the present embodiment is the same as that used in a two-lens type three-dimensional display device. That is, the lenticular lens 1 for the pair of display pixels Di1 and Di2
A cylindrical lens Li in 1 is placed correspondingly (hereinafter i represents i = 1 to n). The light transmitted through the pixels Di1 and Di2 is caused by the function of the cylindrical lens Li.
The observation area is divided into a space C and a space D. When the left-eye parallax image is displayed in the pixel Di1 and the right-eye parallax image is displayed in the pixel Di2, a stereoscopic image can be observed by bringing the left eye and the right eye into the spaces C and D, respectively.

In FIG. 1, the shape of each cylindrical lens Li is the same, but the pitch of the pair of pixels Di1 and Di2 and the pitch of the cylindrical lens Li are different. The pitch of the cylindrical lens is set to be slightly smaller. Therefore, in the periphery of the liquid crystal panel, the center of the pair of pixels and the center of the corresponding cylindrical lens deviate, and the amount of deviation increases toward the periphery. Due to this shift, the incident angle of the transmitted light from each pixel to the cylindrical lens differs between the center and the periphery of the liquid crystal panel 10, so that the transmitted light from the peripheral pixels of the liquid crystal panel 10 becomes a specific space C in the observation area. Can be collected in space D.

At this time, part of the light emitted from the pixel Di1 passes through the cylindrical lens Li-1 and converges in the space E. That is, when the light emitted from the pixel Di1 passes through the cylindrical lens on the right side of one of the corresponding lenses (viewed by the observer), it converges on the space E different from the space C which is the original convergence space. Therefore, the same image as the space C can be observed in the space E.

Similarly, when the light emitted from the pixel Di1 passes through the cylindrical lens to the left of the corresponding lens (as viewed by the observer), the space different from the space C which is the original convergence space. Converge to A. Therefore, the same image as the space C can be observed in the space A.

On the other hand, when the light emitted from the pixel Di2 passes through the cylindrical lens on the right side (viewed by the observer) of the corresponding lens, it enters a space F different from the original space D which is the converging space. Converge. Therefore, the same image as the space D can be observed in the space F.

Similarly, when the light emitted from the pixel Di2 passes through the cylindrical lens to the left of the corresponding lens (viewed by the observer), the space different from the space D which is the original convergence space. Converge to B. Therefore, the same image as the space D can be observed in the space B. Such light is called primary sidelobe light.

Further, when light emitted from a certain pixel passes through a cylindrical lens adjacent to the corresponding two lenses, it becomes a secondary sidelobe light. Generally, the cylindrical lens adjacent to the nearest N lenses is used. The light that has passed through becomes N-th sidelobe light. The spaces where the sidelobe light converges appear in the horizontal direction at substantially equal intervals, and the images for the left eye and the images for the right eye are spatially presented alternately.

As a means for obtaining the parallax image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10, for example, as shown in FIG.
An imaging system as shown in FIG. Since the present embodiment is of a four-lens type, the camera 121 to the camera 124 of FIG.
The cameras are arranged at regular intervals with their central axes facing the target object. As a result, four different images can be obtained, but the image obtained by the camera 121 is referred to as image 1 and is used as the stereoscopic signal source 33 in FIG. Similarly, the image 2 obtained by the camera 122 is supplied to the stereoscopic signal source 34,
The image 3 obtained by the camera 123 is converted into the stereoscopic signal source 35.
The image 4 obtained by the camera 124 is
Corresponds to 6. By observing the image of the left camera with the left eye and the image of the right camera with the right eye of two adjacent images, stereoscopic vision becomes possible. In the case of the four-eye type as in the present embodiment, three different stereoscopic images can be observed. Here, the three different stereoscopic images are
It is a stereoscopic image observed when viewing (image 1 and image 2), (image 2 and image 3), and (image 3 and image 4) with the left eye and the right eye, respectively. There is also a method of using computer graphics as a means for generating four different images. Also,
The stereoscopic signal source may be one that moves in real time or one that is recorded in a storage system such as an optical disc.

The head detecting device 41 is a position for detecting a spatial position on the observer's head. There are several methods of head detection. As a first method, a head detecting device is provided with an infrared light emitting and receiving element, a near infrared ray is applied to the head of an observer, and the reflection intensity is measured to detect the head position of the observer. There is.

As a second method, there is a method of always capturing an observer with a video camera or a charge coupled device (CCD) camera, recognizing the pupil by image processing, and detecting the spatial position thereof. In this case, the head detecting device includes a video camera, an image processing / recognizing device, and a position detecting device.

A third method is to attach a magnetic field generator to the observer's head and detect the spatial position of the magnetic field generator using a plurality of magnetic field detectors. In this case, the head detecting device includes a magnetic field generator, a plurality of magnetic field detectors, a processing device for signals from the magnetic field detectors, and the like. In this method, a magnetic field detector may be attached to the observer's head and a magnetic field generator may be placed on the panel side.

Other methods include a mechanical method, a method using ultrasonic waves, and a method using inertial force.

The position information of the head detected by the head detecting device 41 is sent to the stereoscopic signal selecting device 43. The three-dimensional signal selection device 43 is connected to four three-dimensional signal sources (33 to 36) obtained by the imaging system as shown in FIG. 11, and among the four three-dimensional signal sources based on the head position information. One is assigned to the signal for the left eye and the other one is assigned to the signal for the right eye.

The three-dimensional signal synthesizing device 42 distributes the two signals selected by the three-dimensional signal selecting device 43 into even fields and odd fields, and the liquid crystal panel 1
On 0, the left-eye parallax image and the right-eye parallax image are displayed alternately line by line.

In the present invention, the relationship between the observer's head position and the selected stereoscopic signal source is important. This point will be described in detail below.

First, the case where the observer's left eye is in the space C and the right eye is in the space D is the basic position. In this case, the stereoscopic signal selection device 43 uses the image 2 (stereoscopic signal source 34) as the left eye signal and the image 3 (stereoscopic signal source 35) as the right eye signal.
And the stereoscopic signal synthesizer 42 displays the image 2 on the pixel Di1 and the image 3 on the pixel Di2. The light emitted from the pixel Di1 enters the space C (and the spaces A and E) and the pixel Di2
Since the light emitted from the light source converges on the space D (and the spaces B and F) as described above, the observer sees the image 2 with the left eye and the image 3 with the right eye. Is observed. This state is referred to as state (2).

Next, it is assumed that the observer moves to the right and the left eye comes to the space D and the right eye comes to the space E. In this case, the stereoscopic signal selection device 43 uses the image 3 as the left-eye signal.
The stereoscopic signal source 35 is selected as the image 4 (stereoscopic signal source 36) as the signal for the right eye, and the stereoscopic signal combining device 42
The image 4 is displayed on the pixel Di1 and the image 3 is displayed on the pixel Di2. By doing so, the observer sees the image 3 converged in the space D by the left eye and the image 4 converged in the space E by the right eye, and a stereoscopic image is observed. This state is referred to as state (3). In this state, unlike the state (2), the right-eye parallax image is displayed in the pixel Di1.
Note that the parallax image for the left eye is displayed on the pixel Di2.

From here, when the observer moves to the left and returns to the basic position, the state is switched to the state (2).

It is further assumed that the observer further moves to the left and the left eye comes to the space B and the right eye comes to the space C. In this case, the stereoscopic signal selection device 43 uses the image 1
The image 2 (stereoscopic signal source 34) is selected as the stereoscopic signal source 33 as the right-eye signal, and the stereoscopic signal synthesizing device 42
The image 2 is displayed on the pixel Di1 and the image 1 is displayed on the pixel Di2. In this case, the observer sees the image 1 converged in the space B with the left eye and the image 2 converged in the space C with the right eye, and a stereoscopic image is observed. This state is referred to as state (1). Note that in this state, as in the case of the state (3), the right-eye parallax image is displayed on the pixel Di1 and the left-eye parallax image is displayed on the pixel Di2.

As described above, by switching the display state according to the position of the observer, a normal stereoscopic image can be observed even if the observer moves left and right, and further, depending on the place where the observer moves. Different stereoscopic images can be observed.
At the same time, the stereoscopic viewable area is also expanding.

Further, since the lenticular lens for the two-lens type is used in this embodiment, the resolution in the horizontal direction is the minimum required for stereoscopic viewing even though multi-lens display is performed. Is the same as in.

Since the present embodiment is a four-lens system, when the left eye moves to the space E and the right eye moves to the space F, for example, the contents of the even field and the odd field are exchanged to reverse. Although it is possible to prevent the formation of a stereoscopic image, a stereoscopic image different from the state (3) (viewed from another angle) cannot be presented. This problem can be solved by increasing the number of images. That is, by increasing the number of stereoscopic signal sources, it is possible to cope with a wide range of movement of the observer, and it is possible to further expand the stereoscopic viewable region.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the second embodiment of the three-dimensional display device of the present invention.

The three-dimensional display device of FIG. 2 is a direct-view type three-dimensional display device in which a lenticular lens is placed on the front surface of a liquid crystal panel. The device of the present embodiment has a configuration in which a lens moving device and a lens movement control device are added to the three-dimensional display device of the first embodiment described above, and the lenticular lens moves to the left and right.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the four-eye type is capable of displaying four different parallax images, but two different parallax images are simultaneously displayed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, the lenticular lens used in this embodiment is the same as the one normally used in a two-lens type three-dimensional display device as in the first embodiment of FIG. Therefore, the positional relationship between the display pixels of the liquid crystal panel 10 and the lenticular lens 11 and the way of converging the light rays are the same as in the case of the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

By moving the lenticular lens 11 in the horizontal direction using the lens moving device 51, the stereoscopic viewable area can be enlarged. The principle will be described with reference to FIG. 9 described above. Since the description will be given based on the configuration of the present embodiment, it is necessary to read the reference numbers and reference numerals as shown below. That is, reference numeral 110 in FIG.
111 to 10 and 11, respectively, and reference symbols DDi1 and DD
Let i2 and LLi be Di1, Di2 and Li, respectively.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a twin-lens type, but the liquid crystal panel 1
It is necessary to pay attention to the relative position between the set of 0 pixels and the mountain portion of the lenticular lens 11 (center position of the cylindrical lens). Here, attention is paid to the relative position between the pixel pair Di1 and Di2 and the cylindrical lens Li. In FIG. 9A, the center lines of the pixel pairs Di1 and Di2 and the center line of the cylindrical lens Li overlap. In such a case, a right-eye parallax image is formed on the right side and a left-eye parallax image is formed on the left side of the center line. If the lenticular lens 11 is moved slightly to the left from this state, FIG.
As shown in, the center line of the cylindrical lens Li comes to the left of the center lines of the pixel pairs Di1 and Di2. In such a case, the positions where the right-eye and left-eye parallax images are formed move to the left as a whole. By controlling the amount of movement of the lenticular lens 11 according to the amount of movement of the observer, the observer can always see the right-eye parallax image with the right eye and the left-eye parallax image with the left eye even when moving left and right. A wide range of stereoscopic vision is possible.

Returning to FIG. 2 again, there is a close relationship (approximately proportional relationship) between the amount of movement of the observer and the amount of movement of the lenticular lens 11 corresponding thereto.
The lens movement control device 52 controls this. The lens movement device 51 moves the lenticular lens 11 in the left-right direction by the movement amount calculated by the lens movement control device 52.

At this time, if the lenticular lens 11 is simply moved, the stereoscopic image observed by the observer does not change. Therefore, the parallax image to be displayed is switched in synchronization with the movement of the lenticular lens 11.

Since this embodiment is of a four-lens type, as described in the first embodiment, four parallax images (stereoscopic signals) of different images 1 to 4 are obtained by the image pickup system as shown in FIG. 11, for example. Sources 33-36). In addition, a boundary is set in advance so as to divide the observation area into four. In FIG. 2 (a), the divided regions are divided into spaces W, X, Y, from the left, respectively.
Let Z. At this time, the width of the region other than the outermost region (here, other than the spaces W and Z) is the distance between both eyes of a human (about 6 mm).
5 mm). The set boundary position information is stored in the stereoscopic signal selection device 43.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of control of the movement of the observer, the movement of the lenticular lens 11, and the switching of the displayed image.
It will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the head position of the observer is detected by the head detecting device 41 (301). Lens movement control device 5
2 calculates the amount of movement ΔL of the lenticular lens 11 from the detected head position of the observer (302), and causes the lens moving device 51 to move the lenticular lens 11 by ΔL (303). On the other hand, the stereoscopic signal selection device 43 switches the image to be selected according to the detected head position of the observer. That is, if the left eye is in the space W and the right eye is in the space X, the images 1 and 2 (304, 305) are displayed. If the left eye is in the space X and the right eye is in the space Y, the images 2 and 3 (306, 306, 307)
If the left eye is in the space Y and the right eye is in the space Z, images 3 and 4 are selected (307). The stereoscopic signal synthesizer 42 allocates the selected two signals to the left eye and the right eye and displays them on the liquid crystal panel (309).

Here, consider a case where the width of the region is set to be half or less of the distance between both eyes of a human. At this time, the camera interval of the image pickup system must also be narrowed (actually, only the convergence angle formed by each camera matters). In such a case, the stereoscopic signal selection device 43 does not select two adjacent images but may select images separated by three or more. By doing so, the stereoscopic image observed as the observer moves is switched very finely. What is important in this embodiment is that the parallax at the time of imaging and the parallax at the time of imaging are not significantly different, and the camera interval (convergence angle) at the time of imaging is determined in consideration of the width of each observation region. To do.

By doing so, the observer can observe different stereoscopic images by moving left and right. Moreover, the width of the region where the stereoscopic image is switched can be arbitrarily determined in consideration of the conditions at the time of image capturing, and is not affected by the characteristics of the lenticular lens as in the first embodiment. Further, in the first embodiment, there is a non-display space due to the fact that the wiring portion of the liquid crystal panel does not transmit light between each parallax image, and it is observed as a black band when the observer moves. In this embodiment, since the space itself for displaying the parallax image is moved, the observer does not observe this black band.

Since the present embodiment is of a four-lens type, stereoscopic viewing is not possible when both eyes are in the space Z, for example. This problem can be solved by increasing the number of images.
That is, by increasing the number of stereoscopic signal sources, it is possible to cope with a wide range of movement of the observer, and it is possible to further expand the stereoscopic viewable region.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the third embodiment of the three-dimensional display device of the present invention.

The three-dimensional display device of FIG. 4 is a direct-view type three-dimensional display device in which a lenticular lens is placed on the front surface of a liquid crystal panel. In FIG. 4, the case of the twin-lens type is illustrated. The present embodiment is characterized in that the spatial relative position of the light source that illuminates the liquid crystal panel from the back surface and the optical lens that converts the light emitted from the light source into the light that is substantially orthogonal to the display panel are changed. And

The liquid crystal panel 10 and the lenticular lens 11 of the device of this embodiment are the same as those of the device of the first embodiment, except that a diffusion plate 72 is attached to the front surface of the liquid crystal panel 10 and the lenticular lens 11 is further placed thereon. paste. Diffuser 7
2 is composed of a plastic film and has a function of diffusing incident light.

A Fresnel lens 71 is arranged near the back surface of the liquid crystal panel 10. The optical axis of the Fresnel lens 71 is
It is perpendicular to the liquid crystal panel 10. Fresnel lens 7
1 has a function of one cylindrical lens. The longitudinal direction of the Fresnel lens 71 is the lenticular lens 11
It is the same as the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical lens inside. Instead of the Fresnel lens 71, a normal cylindrical lens or a convex lens may be used.

The light source 74 is installed at a position approximately at the focal length of the Fresnel lens 71. The light source 74 may be a point light source such as a halogen lamp or a line light source such as a fluorescent lamp. In the case of a line light source, its longitudinal direction is made to coincide with the longitudinal direction of the Fresnel lens 71. The position of the light source 74 can be changed in a plane parallel to the Fresnel lens 71 by the light source moving device 62.

The head detecting device 41 is a device for detecting the spatial position of the observer's head, and the same device as that described in the first embodiment is used. The position information of the head detected by the head detecting device 41 is sent to the light source movement control device 61. The light source movement control device 61 calculates the optimum position of the light source 74 based on the position information, and sends the position signal of the light source to the light source movement device 62.

Since the light source 74 is located almost at the focal point of the Fresnel lens 71, the light emitted from the light source 74 is
After passing through the Fresnel lens 71, the action of the Fresnel lens 71 turns the light into substantially parallel light. For example, when the light source 74 is located on the optical axis of the Fresnel lens 71, backlight light that is substantially perpendicular to the panel is incident on the liquid crystal panel 10. Therefore, the stereoscopic image is reproduced almost in front of the liquid crystal panel. At this time, the right eye is point B and the left eye is D
If you bring it to a point, you can observe a normal stereoscopic image.

If the light source 74 is moved to the position of 74a, the position of the light source 74 is slightly displaced from the optical axis of the Fresnel lens 71, and the liquid crystal panel 10 is slightly angled from the direction perpendicular to the panel. The backlight light is incident. As a result, the position where the stereoscopic image is reproduced is slightly deviated from the front surface of the liquid crystal panel and reproduced at the positions of points A and C. At this time, a normal stereoscopic image can be observed by bringing the right eye to the point A and the left eye to the point C.

As described above, the head position of the observer is detected by the head detecting device 41, and the position of the light source 74 is controlled so that the stereoscopic image is reproduced at that position. Even if you move, you can always observe a normal stereoscopic image.

What is important in this embodiment is the liquid crystal panel 10.
The angle of incidence of the backlight light incident on is changed, but the means is not limited to changing the position of the light source 74. Even if the Fresnel lens 71 is moved, the incident angle of the backlight light can be changed. However, in this case, since a large Fresnel lens has to be moved, the moving device becomes large.

Next, FIG. 5 shows the structure of a three-dimensional display device which realizes the above-described first and second embodiments using a rear projection type projector.

The three-dimensional display device of FIG. 5 is a rear projection type three-dimensional display device in which a projector is placed behind the screen. In FIG. 5, the case of four-eye display is illustrated.

First, a method for realizing the second embodiment using a rear projection type projector will be described.

A rear projection type diffusion plate screen 73 is used as a screen for projecting an image. The lenticular lens 11 is attached to the front surface. The lenticular lens 11 is the same as that used in a normal twin-lens type three-dimensional display device as in the second embodiment. The rear projection type projector 75 projects an image on the screen from the rear.

Head detecting device 41, stereoscopic signal selecting device 4
3, a stereoscopic signal synthesizer 42, a lens movement controller 52,
The point that the lens moving device 51 is provided is the same as the second embodiment.

In the three-dimensional display device having such a structure, what is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10 in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is only displayed on the diffusion plate screen 73. The other part is the above-mentioned second
Same as the example. Therefore, similar to the second embodiment, by moving the lenticular lens 11 left and right according to the position of the head of the observer, the same effect as the second embodiment can be exhibited.

Similarly, in order to realize the first embodiment of FIG. 1 by using the rear projection type projector, it is only necessary to replace the liquid crystal panel 10 of FIG. 1 with the diffuser screen and the rear projection type projector.

[0096]

The three-dimensional display device of the present invention is a three-dimensional display device having a display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed and a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses. Based on a head detecting device that detects a spatial position of the head, a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources that output stereoscopic signals for performing multi-view display, and an observer's head position detected by the head detecting device And a stereoscopic signal selection device that selects stereoscopic signals output from a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources, the head detection device detects the spatial position of the observer's head so that an inverse stereoscopic image is observed. When the observer moves to a different area, multiple stereoscopic signal sources for multi-view display are connected to the image reproduced in the stereoscopic image display space formed by the twin-lens lenticular lens. It was selected by three-dimensional signal selecting device, presenting a stereoscopic image according to the observer's position. As a result, the observer no longer observes the reverse stereoscopic image, and the stereoscopic viewable area is expanded. In addition, since the stereoscopic image observed changes as the observer moves, unnaturalness during stereoscopic image observation is eliminated. Moreover, since the twin-lens lenticular lens is used, the resolution in the horizontal direction is the same as that of the twin-lens display and does not deteriorate despite performing multi-lens display.

The three-dimensional display device of the present invention is a three-dimensional display device having a display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed and a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses. A head detecting device for detecting the spatial position of the head, a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for outputting a stereoscopic signal for performing multi-view display, and a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources based on the head position of the observer detected by the head detecting device. Since a three-dimensional signal selection device that selects a three-dimensional signal output from the three-dimensional signal source, a lens moving device that moves the lenticular lens in the left-right direction, and a lens movement control device that controls the lens moving device, head detection is performed. The device detects the spatial position of the observer's head and moves accordingly the stereoscopic image display space formed by the twin-lens lenticular lens. Together, select the playback image by stereo signal selecting device in which a plurality of three-dimensional signal source is connected for performing a multi-view display, to present a stereoscopic image according to the observer's position. As a result, the observer does not see the black band (non-display space) existing between the parallax images.

The three-dimensional display device of the present invention is a transmissive display panel for simultaneously displaying a plurality of different parallax images,
A three-dimensional display device having a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses, wherein a light source for illuminating a display panel from the back side and light emitted from the light source are converted into light substantially orthogonal to the display panel. An optical lens for conversion, a head detection device for detecting the spatial position of the observer's head, a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for outputting stereoscopic signals for multi-view display, and a head detection device for detection. Stereoscopic signal selection device for selecting stereoscopic signals output from a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources based on the position of the observer's head, a light source moving device for changing the spatial relative position of the light source and the optical lens, and a light source moving device Since the light source movement control device for controlling the stereoscopic image is provided, the position of the boundary for switching the stereoscopic image is not limited to the position of the stereoscopic image display space formed by the lenticular lens. Ri, with increasing degree of freedom in designing the three-dimensional display device, very smooth, and it is possible to present a continuously varying three-dimensional image.
Further, by using the rear projection type projector, in addition to the above effects, it is possible to achieve a large screen.

Since the three-dimensional display device of the present invention includes the projection lens and the diffusion layer between the display panel and the lenticular lens, it is possible to present a very smooth and continuously changing stereoscopic image. become.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of a three-dimensional display device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment of a three-dimensional display device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the 3D display device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a third exemplary embodiment of a three-dimensional display device of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a three-dimensional display device using a rear projection type projector in the second embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional three-dimensional display device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a conventional three-dimensional display device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a conventional three-dimensional display device.

FIG. 9 shows a conventional three-dimensional display device and the third embodiment of the present invention.
It is an explanatory view of movement of a stereoscopic image display field by movement of a lenticular lens in a two-dimensional display device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional multi-lens type three-dimensional display device.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional three-dimensional display device and a three-dimensional display device of the present invention, which is a parallax image capturing system used for multi-view display.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 liquid crystal panel 11 lenticular lens 21, 22, 23, 24 camera 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 stereoscopic signal source 41 head detecting device 42 stereoscopic signal synthesizing device 43 stereoscopic signal selecting device 51 lens moving device 52 lens moving device Control device 61 Light source movement control device 62 Light source movement device 71 Fresnel lens 72 Diffusing plate 73 Diffusing plate screen 74 Light source 75 Rear projection projector Li Cylindrical lens constituting a lenticular lens Dij Display pixel (where i is a set of display pixels) Number, j is the number of images.)

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional display device having a display panel for simultaneously displaying a plurality of different parallax images and a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses, the spatial position of the head of an observer being detected. A head detecting device, a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for outputting stereoscopic signals for performing multi-view display, and a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources based on a head position of an observer detected by the head detecting device. A three-dimensional display device, comprising: a stereoscopic signal selection device that selects an output stereoscopic signal. 2. A three-dimensional display device having a display panel for simultaneously displaying a plurality of different parallax images and a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses, the spatial position of the observer's head being detected. A head detecting device, a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for outputting stereoscopic signals for performing multi-view display, and a plurality of stereoscopic signal sources based on a head position of an observer detected by the head detecting device. A stereoscopic signal selecting device for selecting an output stereoscopic signal, and a lens moving device for moving the lenticular lens in the left-right direction,
A three-dimensional display device, comprising: a lens movement control device that controls the lens movement device. 3. A three-dimensional display device having a transmissive display panel on which a plurality of different parallax images are simultaneously displayed and a lenticular lens composed of an array of cylindrical lenses, which is for illuminating the display panel from the back surface. A light source, an optical lens that converts light emitted from the light source into light that is substantially orthogonal to the display panel, a head detection device that detects the spatial position of the observer's head, and a multi-view display. A plurality of stereoscopic signal sources for outputting stereoscopic signals for performing, and a stereoscopic signal for selecting stereoscopic signals output from the plurality of stereoscopic signal sources based on the position of the head of the observer detected by the head detecting device. A three-dimensional display including a selection device, a light source moving device that changes a spatial relative position of the light source and the optical lens, and a light source movement control device that controls the light source moving device. Ray device. 4. The three-dimensional display device according to claim 1, further comprising a projection lens and a diffusion layer between the display panel and the lenticular lens. 5. The three-dimensional display device according to claim 2, further comprising a projection lens and a diffusion layer between the display panel and the lenticular lens.