JPH0898218A - Stereoscopic picture display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a stereoscopic picture display device which is easily carried, installed, and maintained by separating the optical element, which expands or reduces a stereoscopic picture, from the enclosure, where this stereoscopic picture is stored, to make this enclosure compact. CONSTITUTION: Stereoscopic pictures displayed on transmission type liquid crystal display devices 10a and 10b are backlighted through lenses 11a and 11b by liquid crystal display panels 120a and 120b consisting of liquid crystal panels 121a and 121b and backlights 122a and 122b. Stereo pictures displayed on transmission type liquid crystal display devices 10a and 10b are synthesized by a half mirror 15 to form a stereoscopic picture. This constitution is stored in an enclosure 200, and the obtained stereoscopic picture is expanded (reduced) by a lens group 18. The lens group 18 can be attached and detached by a hood 201, and the enclosure 200 can be miniaturized, and the device is easily carried, installed, and maintained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image display device used for industrial, household or medical purposes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional stereoscopic image display device, an observer wears spectacles having a function of distributing left and right to display stereo images for the right eye and the left eye which are time-divisionally displayed on an image display surface. Those that can be observed only by the right and left eyes of the observer, respectively, or a lenticular plate is attached to the image display surface, the image distribution function of the lenticular plate, a stereo image for the right eye and the left eye It is general that the above can be observed only by the right and left eyes of the observer.

FIG. 16 shows an example of the configuration of the conventional stereoscopic image display device. Reference numeral 60 is spectacles having a left / right distribution function, 61a and 61b are liquid crystal shutters, and 62 is a liquid crystal shutter.
Is a synchronizing circuit, and 63 is a color CRT as an image display device.

The operation of the stereoscopic image display device in the first example of the prior art constructed as described above will be described. Color CR
At T63, stereo images for the right eye and the left eye are alternately displayed in a time division manner. Liquid crystal shutter 61a of glasses 60
Is synchronized by the synchronizing circuit 62 so that the stereoscopic image for the right eye is opened and becomes transparent only when the stereoscopic image for the left eye is opened, and the liquid crystal shutter 61b is opened and becomes transparent only when the stereoscopic image for the left eye is displayed. By controlling the open / closed state, the observer wearing the spectacles 60 performs stereoscopic vision by observing only the stereo image for the right eye with the right eye and observing only the stereo image for the left eye with the left eye. .

FIG. 17 shows a structure of a conventional stereoscopic image display device in a second example. Reference numeral 71 is a lenticular plate in which a large number of cylindrical lenses are formed in stripes, and 72 is a color CRT as an image display device. is there.

The operation of the conventional second example stereoscopic image display apparatus configured as described above will be described. On the color CRT 72, stereo images for the right eye and the left eye are simultaneously displayed alternately in a slit shape having a width that is approximately half the stripe width of the lenticular plate 71. The right eye of the observer observes only the stereo image for the right eye displayed in the slit shape through the respective cylindrical lenses of the lenticular plate 71, and similarly, the left eye displays the stereo image for the right eye in the slit shape. Stereoscopic viewing is performed by observing only the stereo image for eyes.

[0007]

However, according to the study by the present inventors, in the stereoscopic image display device in the first conventional example as described above, the stereo image is independent of the right and left eyes of the observer. Since eyeglasses having a left / right distribution function are indispensable for observing images, the observer feels annoyance, and the stereo image to be displayed needs to be switched between the right eye image and the left eye image in time division. Therefore, there is a problem that flicker occurs in an image, which becomes an obstacle in observing a stereoscopic image.

Further, in the stereoscopic image display device according to the second conventional example, since the stereoscopic image is observed through the stripe-shaped lens, the spatial tolerance of the observer capable of stereoscopic vision is narrow and the observer moves. In this case, the image is deteriorated, and it is difficult for a large number of people to observe it at an arbitrary position, and it is necessary to perform image processing for displaying the image in stripes. It had a problem of becoming expensive.

Further, in the medical field, when endoscopic surgery is performed, the surgery is usually performed by the operator observing a plane image of the patient's abdominal cavity projected by the endoscope on a monitor. However, the monitor image in the abdominal cavity has few features because the entire abdominal cavity has a single color, and it becomes difficult to confirm the perspective of the affected area, which tends to lengthen the operation time and burden the patient and the operator. Was also great. On the other hand, when the first and second stereoscopic image display devices of the related art are used, the left and right spectacles, the flickering of the image, the annoyance due to the limitation of the movement of the observer, and the like prevent the practical use. is the current situation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and does not require spectacles having a function of distributing left and right, and allows a stereoscopic image for a large number of people to simultaneously stereoscopically view regardless of the position of the observer. An object is to provide a display device.

Another object of the present invention is to display a stereoscopic image without imposing a burden on the observer and allow the observer to observe the displayed stereoscopic image in an enlarged or reduced state. An object is to provide a stereoscopic image display device.

Still another object of the present invention is to make an optical element for enlarging or reducing a three-dimensional image separate from a case for accommodating the three-dimensional image, thereby making the case compact and carrying the apparatus. Another object is to provide a stereoscopic image display device that can be easily installed and maintained.

[0013]

A stereoscopic image display device according to the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, in a stereoscopic image display device housed in a housing for observing different images to the left and right eyes of an observer, a spatial light modulator having a light transmissive property for displaying a stereoscopic image to be displayed, A light emitting display device for illuminating the spatial modulation element from the back surface, and a first optical element provided between the spatial modulation element and an observer for enlarging or reducing an image displayed on the spatial modulation element. And at least the first optical element is separated from the housing. Further, preferably, the stereoscopic image display device further includes, between the spatial modulation element and the light emitting display device, a directional second optical element for enlarging an image displayed on the light emitting display device. . In addition, preferably, each of the spatial modulation elements and the light emitting display device is provided two by two, and each further includes a synthesizing unit for displaying a stereoscopic image for the right eye and a stereoscopic image for the left eye and synthesizing the displayed stereoscopic images. Further, preferably, the spatial modulation element alternately displays a stereoscopic image for the right eye and a stereoscopic image for the left eye in a time division manner, and the light emitting display device time divisionally displays an image in synchronization with the time division display of the spatial modulation element. Switch with.

Further, preferably, the backlight means of the stereoscopic image display device is provided with a pair of illuminating devices for illuminating the observer from the left and right, and photographing means for photographing the illuminated observer.

The pair of illuminating devices in the stereoscopic image display device are infrared illuminating devices for illuminating the right or left face of the observer, and the photographing means selects the infrared wavelength of the illuminating device. It is preferable that the image can be imaged. This is because the infrared rays are not recognized by the observer, so that it is possible to easily obtain the half-face image of the observer's face without giving the observer discomfort and further eliminating the influence of the ambient light.

Further, the pair of illumination devices in the stereoscopic image display device illuminate the right face and the left face of the observer with two different wavelengths, and the photographing means has the infrared wavelengths of the pair of illumination devices. It is preferable to have a pair of imaging devices provided with wavelength filters that can selectively pass through each. This is because it is possible to eliminate the influence of the light on the other side or the ambient light and easily obtain the right facial image and the left facial image of the observer without making the observer uncomfortable.

In the stereoscopic image display device, it is preferable to remove the image other than the face of the observer by subtracting two observer images photographed by a pair of photographing devices. This is because by removing the image other than the observer's face, extra information in the periphery is deleted, and the influence of ambient light when the light emitting display device illuminates the spatial modulation element can be eliminated.

Further, in the three-dimensional image display device, the photographing means photographs either the right face or the left face of the observer by the photographing device, and one of the pair of light emitting display devices is photographed by the photographing device. It is also possible to display a half-face image of the face and a negative / positive inversion image of the half face of the face on the other side. This is because one imaging device can execute the functions of two devices, and the device can be made compact.

Further, the optical element having directivity may be any element that causes a selection action to the left and right, and is preferably a convex lens, a Fresnel lens, or a concave mirror.

In the stereoscopic image display device,
It is preferable that the image output surface of the light emitting display device is installed outside the focal length of the lens used as the optical element.

Further, in the stereoscopic image display device, it is preferable to use a transmissive liquid crystal display or a light transmissive film as the spatial modulation element. Further, preferably, the combining means in the stereoscopic image display device is a half mirror or a prism.

Furthermore, in the three-dimensional image display device, it is preferable to use a lamp unit that emits infrared rays or an LED having an emission wavelength in the infrared region as the illumination device.

[0023]

According to the above structure, the right eye image displayed on one of the spatial modulation elements is illuminated on the back side by illuminating a figure corresponding to the right facial image of the observer displayed on the light emitting display (right). Illuminated from. Since the illuminating light is incident only on the periphery of the right eye of the observer by the directional second optical element, the right eye of the observer sees a figure corresponding to the right facial image of the observer as a virtual image. At this time,
The left face of the observer image displayed on the light emitting display device (right) is incident on the left eye of the observer by the optical element having the directivity, but the left face of the light emitting display device (right) is incident on the left face portion. Since the part corresponding to the face does not emit light,
The image for the right eye is not visible to the observer's left eye.

The same applies to the case of the image for the left eye. The image for the left eye displayed on the other side of the spatial light modulator is illuminated from the back side with a figure corresponding to the left facial image of the observer displayed on the light emitting display device as illumination. The illuminating light is incident only around the left eye of the observer by the directional second optical element. Therefore, the observer's left eye sees a figure corresponding to the observer's left face image as a virtual image, and the observer's right eye cannot observe the image for the left eye.

Further, with the above structure, it is possible to observe the image displayed on the spatial modulation element by enlarging or reducing it through the first optical element. Then, by arranging the first optical element separately from the housing that houses the image processing apparatus, enlargement of the housing is prevented. Further, by considering the position of the first optical element, the first optical element can also serve as the second optical element.

These right-eye image and left-eye image are
Although they are combined into one by a combining means such as a half mirror, only the image for the right eye is illuminated to the right eye and only the image for the left eye is illuminated to the left eye from the back side by the selection action of the second optical element having the directivity. Since it is recognized as an image, the observer can observe a flicker-free stereoscopic image.

Further, when the observer moves, the half plane image of the observer himself displayed on the light emitting display device also follows, so that the above-mentioned stereoscopic viewing condition is maintained. For the same reason, even when there are a large number of observers, each observer can perform stereoscopic viewing.

Further, according to the stereoscopic image display device of another configuration of the present invention, the image for the right eye and the image for the left eye are displayed on one spatial modulation element in a time division manner. By synchronizing the time-division display with the right and left facial images of the observer on one light-emitting display device, the images can be used as backlight illumination for the spatial modulation element. It is possible to observe a stereoscopic image with one light emitting display element. Therefore, by separating the second optical element, the stereoscopic display device can be made more compact.

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Prior to this description, some examples included in the prior application of the same applicant will be cited and described as reference examples.

Reference Example 1 In the reference example of FIG.
a and 10b are transmissive liquid crystal displays as spatial modulation elements, and 11a and 11b are focal lengths 150 as lenses located on the back surfaces of the spatial modulation elements 10a and 10b.
mm Fresnel lens. Reference numerals 12a and 12b are black and white CRTs as a display device having a light emitting function, and the lens 1
Spatial modulators 10a and 1a sandwiching 1a and 11b, respectively.
It is located on the opposite side of 0b, is farther than the focal length of the lenses 11a and 11b, and is located 160 mm away from the lenses 11a and 11b. 13a and 13b are illumination devices, LED lights having wavelengths of 850 nm and 950 nm, 14a and 14b are black and white CCD cameras as photographing devices, and 15 is a half for combining images displayed on the spatial modulation elements 10a and 10b into one. Mirrors 16 and 17 respectively represent an observer who observes a stereoscopic image.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the observers 16 and 17 are illuminated from the front by the LEDs 13a and 13b, and 20a and 20b indicate areas where the lights of the LEDs 13a and 13b are respectively applied.

The pair of LEDs 13a and 13b are arranged at positions separated from each other to the left and right, in view of the fact that the human head has an elliptical shape when viewed from above, and the left and right sides of the person's face are two.
When two illumination lights are applied, the LE on the right side is shown in Fig. 2.
Face part 20b illuminated on D13b and left LED
And a face portion 20a illuminated by 13a is formed,
This is because it is necessary to correspond to the right and left eyes of the observer in consideration of the crossing of the lines of sight when the regions 20a and 20b are viewed through the lenses 11a and 11b. In other words, if the image areas 20a and 20b can be taken out separately from each other, the image area 20a is a backlight light source for the right eye of the observer (a backlight light source of a liquid crystal display), and the image area 20b is for the left eye of the observer. It can be used as a backlight source.

FIG. 3 shows the emission wavelength characteristics of the LEDs 13a and 13b.
5b shows the wavelength distribution of the LED 13b, and 26a, 2
Reference numeral 6b indicates a region selectively transmitted by the wavelength filters mounted on the black and white CCD cameras 14a and 14b, respectively.

FIG. 4 shows the black and white CCD cameras 14a and 14b.
3 is a cross-sectional view of the image pickup device, 30 is an imaging lens, 31a and 31b are interference filters as wavelength filters, and 32 is a CCD.
An image pickup device containing a chip, 33 is a drive circuit of the image pickup device,
Reference numeral 34 indicates a subject. At this point, the observer is asked to use the wavelength filter 3
If the image is taken by the CCD camera 14a equipped with 1a, the obtained image is only the region 20a where the wavelength band is concentrated in 26a, and the CCD camera 1 equipped with the wavelength filter 31b.
If the image is taken at 4b, the obtained image is only the region 20b in which the wavelength band is concentrated in 26b.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the observer observes his / her own face image (taken by the CCD cameras 14a and 14b) as a virtual image in FIG. Graphic display device (monochrome CRT 12a, 1
Only one set of 2b) and lenses (11a, 11b) is shown. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the observer's face image displayed on the CRT 12a, 12b is converted into a virtual image by the lenses 11a, 11b and acts as a backlight of the liquid crystal display. A half mirror and a liquid crystal display are not necessary for the description of how they are visible, and therefore the illustration in FIG. 5 is omitted.

In FIG. 5, 11a is a lens, 12a is a monochrome CRT, 16 and 17 are two observers for observing a stereoscopic image, and 40, 41, 42 and 43 are monochrome CRTs 12.
The area actually observed by the observer in the observer image displayed on the screen a is shown.

Further, in FIG. 5, four image areas 4
0, 41, 42, 43 are shown for convenience as being displayed on one CRT, but in the system of FIG. 1, the backlight light source for the right eye and the backlight light source for the left eye depend on the wavelength. Areas 40 and 41 because they are divided
, And areas 42 and 43 cannot be displayed on the same display device at the same time.

The operation of the stereoscopic image display device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

The image of the stereoscopic display object to be observed by the observers 16 and 17 in FIG. 1 is a mirror image state in which the image for the right eye is displayed on the liquid crystal display 10a and the image for the left eye is reversed left and right. Is displayed on the liquid crystal display 10b. The two images displayed on each display are combined by the half mirror 15 into one screen. The reason for horizontally reversing the image for the left eye in the display 10b is that the image for the right eye is transmitted through the mirror 15, whereas the image for the left eye is inverted by the mirror 15, so that the observer can see the left and right correctly. This is because it is necessary to display the display 10b by horizontally reversing it in advance in the display 10b.

More specifically, referring to FIG.
For example, the image on the right side of the face displayed on the CRT 12a acts as a backlight of the liquid crystal display 10a, and the liquid crystal display 10a is driven by an image for the right eye to see. Similarly, the image of the left face of the observer 17 is also displayed on the CRT 12b as a backlight, and the liquid crystal display 10b is driven by an image for the left eye to see. Since these two images are combined by the half mirror, they appear as a stereoscopic image to the observer.

As described above, the LEDs 13a and 13b arranged on both sides of the front of the observers 16 and 17 are the same as those shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
Of the right half of the face of the observer 16 and the LED 13b of the left half of the face of the observers 16 and 17
It is necessary to position the LEDs 13a and 13b so as to illuminate b. The emission wavelengths of the LEDs 13a and 13b have distributions 25a and 25b centered on 850 nm and 950 nm, respectively, as shown in FIG. It can be used as a wavelength light source.

On the other hand, the CCD cameras 14a and 14b have
As shown in FIG. 4, since the interference filters 31a and 31b having the transmission characteristics of wavelengths 850 ± 20 nm and 950 ± 20 nm are inserted between the image pickup device 32 and the image pickup lens 30, respectively, the subject 34 is connected to the image pickup device 32. When imaging, only the portions illuminated in the wavelength regions 26a and 26b in FIG. 3 remain as an image. Therefore, according to the configuration described above,
The CCD camera 14a photographs only the area 20a in FIG. 2 and displays it on the monochrome CRT 12a.
4b is a black and white C image obtained by photographing only the area 20b in FIG.
It can be displayed on the RT 12b. Black and white CRT12
The images of the observers 16 and 17 taken by the CCD cameras 14a and 14b are displayed upside down on a and 12b, respectively. At this time, the black and white CRT 12a is displayed so that the face areas 20a and 20b are displayed in white and high brightness. , 12b brightness and contrast and CCD cameras 14a, 14b
Adjust the lens aperture of.

Next, the operation of the Fresnel lenses 11a and 11b will be described with reference to FIG. Fresnel lens 11
a is installed so that the observers 16 and 17 can observe the observer image displayed on the monochrome CRT 12a as a virtual image. The distance from the black and white CRT 12a is set to the Fresnel lens 11
By setting outside the focal length of a, only the areas 40 and 41 on the screen of the black and white CRT 12a for the observer 16 are displayed for the right eye and the left eye of the observer 16, respectively, and the screens of the monochrome CRT 12a for the right eye and the left eye of the observer 17 are set. Area 42, respectively, above
Only 43 can be independently observed and enlarged for observation with the effective diameter of the Fresnel lens 11a as a limit. Therefore, when the regions 40 and 42 are the light emitting surfaces, it is possible for the observers 16 and 17 to act as illumination having selectivity to the right eye having a size corresponding to the effective diameter of the Fresnel lens 11a. At this time, since the regions 41 and 43 do not emit light, the left eye does not receive light from the monochrome CRT 12a. The operation of the Fresnel lens 11a described above is the same as that of the Fresnel lens 11b.
The light from 2b enters only the left eye.

Therefore, the monochrome CRT as described above
The observers 16 and 17 in FIG.
The right half surface region 20a of the face of the
By making it correspond to the region of FIG. 5, the observers 16 and 17 observe a bright virtual image only in the right eye, and make the left half surface region 20b in FIG. 2 displayed on the monochrome CRT 12b correspond to the regions 41 and 43 in FIG. As a result, the observers 16 and 17 will observe a bright virtual image only in the left eye.
However, since the image displayed on the monochrome CRT 12b is observed through the half mirror 15 as shown in FIG.

By the operation of the present apparatus described above, the stereo image for the right eye displayed on the liquid crystal display 10a in FIG. 1 can be observed by being illuminated from the back surface only for the right eyes of the observers 16 and 17, and the liquid crystal can be observed. The stereo image for the left eye displayed on the display 10b is the observer 1
Since only the left eyes of 6 and 17 are illuminated from the back side for observation, the observers 16 and 17 can observe a pair of stereo images at the same time, and stereoscopic vision is possible. Even if the observers 16 and 17 move, the LE shown in FIG.
As long as the illumination condition of D is maintained, stereoscopic viewing is possible.

In the reference example, a transmissive liquid crystal display was used as the spatial modulation element, but the spatial modulation element may be any one that has optical transparency and can display a stereo image. It may be a recorded film. Further, the LED used as the light may be one that can emit two different wavelengths in the infrared wavelength region, and may be, for example, a halogen lamp equipped with a wavelength filter to limit the emission wavelength band.

Reference Example 2 FIG. 6 shows the structure of a stereoscopic image display device according to Reference Example 2 of the present invention.
a and 10b are transmissive liquid crystal displays 11a and 11b as spatial modulation elements, and focal lengths of 150 mm are lenses located on the back surface of the spatial modulation elements 10a and 10b, respectively.
It is a Fresnel lens of. Reference numerals 12a and 12b are black and white CRTs as a light emitting display device having a light emitting function.
Spatial modulators 10a and 1a sandwiching 1a and 11b, respectively.
It is located on the side opposite to 0b and is installed at a distance of 160 mm from the lenses 11a and 11b. 13a and 13b are illumination devices, LED lights having wavelengths of 850 nm and 950 nm, 14a and 14b are black and white CCD cameras as photographing devices, and 15 is a half for combining images displayed on the spatial modulation elements 10a and 10b into one. Mirrors, 16 and 17 are observers for observing stereoscopic images, respectively, and 18 is a difference processing device.

Since the operation of the stereoscopic image display device configured as described above is basically the same as that of the reference example 1 shown in FIG. 1, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Only different points will be described.

The image signals of the facial images of the observers 16 and 17 which are separately captured by the cameras 14a and 14b are input to the difference processing device 18 and are subtracted from each other, and then output to the black and white CRTs 12a and 12b, respectively. . Since the common part in the two images is canceled by the difference processing described above, it is possible to remove the image necessary for the configuration of the stereoscopic image display device such as the background of the observers 16 and 17.

Reference Example 3 FIG. 7 shows the configuration of a stereoscopic image display device according to Reference Example 3 of the present invention.
a and 10b are transmissive type influence displays as spatial modulation elements, and 11a and 11b are focal lengths of 150 m as lenses located on the back surface of the spatial modulation elements 10a and 10b, respectively.
m Fresnel lens. Reference numerals 12a and 12b are black and white CRTs as a light emitting display device having a light emitting function, and the spatial modulation elements 10a and 10a and 11b sandwich the lenses 11a and 11b, respectively.
It is located on the opposite side of 10b and is installed at a distance of 160 mm from the lenses 11a and 11b. 13 is a wavelength of 8 as an illuminating device
50nm LED light, 14 is black and white C
A CD camera, 15 is a half mirror for combining the images displayed on the spatial modulation elements 10a and 10b into one, 1
Reference numerals 6 and 17 are observers for observing stereoscopic images respectively, and 19 is an image processing device, which is a negative / positive reversal image forming unit for reversing the negative / positive from the right facial image obtained by the CCD camera 14 and further obtaining a mirror image. 119 and original right facial image in black and white CRT 12a
And a negative / positive inverted mirror image to the monochrome CRT 12b. 44a and 44b are monochrome CRT1
2a is a right facial image of the observers 16 and 17 displayed on 2a,
It is a light emitting portion of the black and white CRT 12a.

Since the operation of the stereoscopic image display device configured as described above is basically the same as that of the reference example 1 of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals. Will be omitted and only different points will be described. The video signals of the right facial images of the observers 16 and 17 picked up by the camera 14 are input to the image processing device 19, and the black and white CRT 12a display the images 44a and 44b as they are.
On the contrary, a mirror image of a figure corresponding to a light emitting portion except the portions 44a and 44b, that is, a mirror image of the right facial image negative-positive inverted by the image processing device 19 is displayed on b. In this case, one light and one camera are enough.

<First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

In the first embodiment, the two liquid crystal display screens are illuminated from the rear through a pair of lenses, the images displayed on the respective liquid crystal display screens are combined, and the combined images are observed. is there. In the following examples, a device based on the stereoscopic image display device described in Reference Example 1 will be described.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a stereoscopic image display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the same components as those in Reference Example 1 (FIG. 1) are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted here.

In the stereoscopic image display device shown in FIG. 1, the image displayed on the liquid crystal displays 10a and 10b is directly viewed by the observer, and therefore it is unsuitable for applications where enlarged display is sometimes required. There is a possibility that it will become a thing. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the lens group 18 for enlarging or reducing this image is provided.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 18 denotes a lens group for enlarging or reducing the images on the liquid crystal displays 10a and 10b. The lens group 18 is composed of a combination of a convex lens and / or a concave lens so that the image can be enlarged or reduced. Combination lenses are preferred for the purpose of reducing aberrations. In addition, if it is intended to view a magnified image, it may be practical to combine only convex lenses in terms of cost.

Further, in order to make the housing for accommodating the present stereoscopic image display device compact, liquid crystal display panels 120a and 120b with a backlight as a light emitting display device.
To use. The liquid crystal display panels 120a and 120b include liquid crystal panels 121a and 121b and a backlight 122a, respectively.
CRT described in the reference example.
Is the same as the light emitting display device according to.

FIG. 9 shows a state in which the observer observes his / her own face image (taken by the CCD cameras 14a and 14b) as a virtual image in this embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. 5 of the first reference example. It is a thing.

In FIG. 9, 40, 41, 42, 43
Is an image area that acts as a backlight. These areas include the lens 11a (11b) and the lens group 18
Is converted into a virtual image by and acts as a backlight. At this time, since the lens 11a (11b) and the lens group 18 act as one combined lens, the position of each element is set by assuming a virtual lens 11 'and considering its focal length and left and right separation effects. There is a need.

Next, the operation of the Fresnel lenses 11a and 11b will be described with reference to FIGS. The Fresnel lens 11a is installed so that the viewers 16 and 17 can observe the observer image displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 120a as a virtual image. The Fresnel lens 11a and the lens group 18 are combined with each other at a distance from the liquid crystal display panel 120a. By setting outside the focal length when it is regarded as a lens, only the regions 40 and 41 on the screen of the liquid crystal display panel 120a are provided to the right eye and the left eye of the observer 16 and the right eye of the observer 17, respectively. Only the regions 42 and 43 on the screen of the liquid crystal display panel 120a can be independently observed by the eye and the left eye, and the observation can be performed by enlarging the effective diameter of the Fresnel lens 11a as a limit.

Therefore, when the regions 40 and 42 are the light emitting surface, the Fresnel lens 1 for the observers 16 and 17 is the same.
It can act as an illumination having selectivity to the right eye having a size corresponding to the effective diameter of 1a. At this time, since the regions 41 and 43 do not emit light, the liquid crystal display panel 12 is provided to the left eye.
The light from 0a does not enter. The operation of the Fresnel lens 11a described above is the same for the Fresnel lens 11b, and the light from the liquid crystal display panel 120b enters only the left eye.

The positional relationship between the Fresnel lenses 11a and 11b, the lens group 18 and the liquid crystal display panel 120a (120b) is as shown in FIG.
If (120b) is out of the focus of the virtual lens 11 'when the lens 11a (11b) and the lens group 18 are regarded as a compound lens, the liquid crystal display panel 120a (120b)
The face image of the observer displayed on the screen acts as a backlight. On the other hand, the lens 18 is positioned so that the liquid crystal display 10a (10b) is within its focal length.
Actually, in order to change the magnification, the lens group 18 is a zoom lens, and its focal length can be changed from the outside. Further, by using the Fresnel lens, the thickness can be reduced, and the entire device can be made compact.

Each of the above-mentioned optical system parts is preferably housed in a casing in order to prevent the entry of ambient light into the optical path and to keep the above-mentioned optical positional relationship stable. . FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state in which the stereoscopic image display device is housed in one housing. It can be seen that when the lens group 18 is intended for enlarging a stereoscopic image, the larger the screen size is, the larger the size of the lens group 18 is, and the larger the size of the housing is. In the first embodiment, the lens group 18 is separated from the housing in order to prevent the housing of the stereoscopic image display apparatus from being enlarged.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a housing for housing the stereoscopic image display device by separating the lens group 18. 12
The lens group 18 is mounted via a hood 201 that covers the lens group 18. The optical positional relationship between the lens group 18 and other optical components is maintained by the hood 201.
The hood 181 also plays a role of preventing the entry of ambient light into the optical path.

Here, the portion composed of the hood 201 and the lens group 18 can be attached to and detached from the housing 200, and the housing 200 becomes compact by removing the hood 201, and the transportation and installation work can be performed. Will be easier.
Further, it becomes possible to mount various lens groups by using the common housing 200, and for example, it becomes possible to mount an appropriate lens group 18 according to the enlargement ratio or the like.

Further, in FIG. 13, the lens group 18 is mounted on a partition (wall or the like) of the room in order to further increase the enlargement ratio. At this time, in order to prevent ambient light from entering between the housing 200 and the lens group 18, the housing 200
It is preferable that the room in which is installed is a dark room. Further, in the above embodiment, the LEDs 13a and 13b and the CCD camera 14 are used.
Although a and b are installed outside the housing, they may be installed inside the housing. Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the liquid crystal display panel is used as the light emitting display device in order to make the housing compact, but a CRT may be used as in the above-mentioned reference example.

According to the three-dimensional image display device of the first embodiment having the above-mentioned structure, it becomes possible to perform stereoscopic viewing without bothering an observer. : Furthermore, the stereo image displayed on the liquid crystal display can be enlarged or reduced according to the purpose of the observer. : Since the lens for enlargement and reduction is separated,
By using the common housing 200, the lens may be exchanged according to the purpose of the observer, and it is possible to flexibly deal with the enlargement / reduction of the image. : Display drive system for stereoscopic image display device (portion housed in housing 200) and image magnifying system (magnifying lens and hood)
By separating the two, it is possible to make the display drive system casing composed of various precision components compact. Therefore, handling of the device such as transportation and installation becomes easy. : Since the backlight light source is the face image of the observer captured by the camera 14a (14b), even if the position of the observer moves, the face image also moves in accordance with the movement of the observer. In other words, even if the observer moves, the position of the backlight light source also moves correspondingly, so that the stereoscopic image can be continuously observed normally. The effect is obtained.

<Modification of First Embodiment> In the first embodiment, a transmissive liquid crystal display is used as the spatial modulation element, but the spatial modulation element has a light transmissive property and displays a stereo image. Any film can be used as long as it can be used. For example, a film on which an image is recorded may be used. Further, the LED used as the light may be one that can emit two different wavelengths in the infrared wavelength region, and may be, for example, a halogen lamp equipped with a wavelength filter to limit the emission wavelength band.

Further, the lens 11a (11b) and the lens group 18 can be replaced by a concave mirror.

Although the above embodiment has been described based on the stereoscopic image display device of the reference example 1, it is obvious that the above illumination device can be applied to the reference example 2 or the reference example 3 described above.

<Second Embodiment> Both of the above embodiments have two means for displaying images for the left and right eyes, and therefore are costly. Therefore, as a third embodiment, a time-division display control is introduced so that both the liquid crystal display for displaying a stereo image and the light emitting display device (liquid crystal display panel) as a backlight light source are provided together.

FIG. 14 shows this second embodiment. In the figure, 120 is a liquid crystal display panel, 11 is a Fresnel lens, and 10 is a color liquid crystal display. Reference numeral 90 denotes an operation of displaying a left-eye stereo image on the color liquid crystal display 10 while displaying a left-eye backlight image on the liquid crystal display panel 120, and a right-eye operation while displaying a right-eye backlight image on the liquid crystal display panel 120. To display a stereo image for the color liquid crystal display 10,
It is a controller for switching control by time division.
The liquid crystal display panel 120 has a liquid crystal panel 121 and a backlight 122, as in the liquid crystal display panel of the first embodiment.
Composed of and.

In the above structure, while the stereo image for the left eye is displayed on the color liquid crystal display 10, the backlight image for the left eye (the image captured by the camera 14b) is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 120, While the stereo image for the right eye is displayed on the color liquid crystal display 10, the backlight image for the right eye (the image captured by the camera 14a) is displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 120. By switching the backlight image, a stereoscopic image can be observed by setting the optical system so that the viewer's right eye sees the right-eye stereo image and the left eye sees only the left-eye stereo image. Become.

As in the first embodiment, a lens group 18 for enlarging or reducing a stereoscopic image is inserted in the optical path.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the storage state of the optical system parts according to the second embodiment. As shown in the figure, since the stereoscopic image display apparatus of the second embodiment requires only one set of optical systems, the housing 200 'is extremely compact. FIG.
In FIG. 5, the lens group 18 is mounted via the hood 201 ′, but it goes without saying that the lens group 18 may be installed in a partition or the like as described with reference to FIG. Further, as in the first embodiment, a CRT may be used as the light emitting display device instead of the liquid crystal display panel 120.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A large number of people can stereoscopically view at the same time without needing glasses having a function of sorting left and right.

Further, the stereoscopic image can be displayed without imposing a burden on the observer, and the observer can observe the displayed stereoscopic image in an enlarged or reduced state.

Further, since the optical element for enlarging or reducing the three-dimensional image is separated from the housing for accommodating the three-dimensional image, the housing can be made compact and the device can be easily transported, installed and maintained. . Also, using a common housing,
By exchanging the optical element for enlargement / reduction, it becomes possible to observe a stereoscopic image of a desired size.

[0079]

[Brief description of drawings] [Explanation of symbols]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a stereoscopic image display device according to a first reference example of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the stereoscopic image display device in Reference Example 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a characteristic diagram showing a light emission wavelength distribution of a light used in the stereoscopic image display device in Reference Example 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a photographing device used for a stereoscopic image display device in Reference Example 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the stereoscopic image display device in Reference Example 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a stereoscopic image display device according to a second reference example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a stereoscopic image display device according to a third reference example of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a stereoscopic image display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing how an observer observes his / her own face image as a virtual image in the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between an optical component and a liquid crystal display panel in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows a stereoscopic image display device according to the first embodiment.
It is a figure showing the state accommodated in one housing.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a housing for accommodating a stereoscopic image display device by separating the lens group 18 in the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a graph showing the enlargement ratio in the first embodiment.
It is a figure showing the state which attached the lens group 18 to the partition (wall etc.) of a room.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of a stereoscopic image display device in a second embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a stored state of optical system components according to the second example.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of a first conventional stereoscopic image display device.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of a conventional stereoscopic image display device of a second example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 10a, 10b Transmissive liquid crystal display 11, 11a, 11b Lens 120, 120a, 120b Liquid crystal display panel 121, 121a, 121b Liquid crystal panel 122, 122a, 122b Backlight 13a, 13b LED light 14a, 14b Monochrome CCD camera 15 Half Mirror 16,17 Observer 18 Lens group 90 Controller 200,200 'Housing 201,201' Hood

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A stereoscopic image display device housed in a housing for observing different images to the left and right eyes of an observer, wherein the spatial modulation element has a light transmissive property for displaying a stereoscopic image to be displayed. A light emitting display device for illuminating the spatial modulation element from the back surface; a first device provided between the spatial modulation element and an observer for enlarging or reducing an image displayed on the spatial modulation element; The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 1, wherein at least the first optical element is separated from the housing. 2. The three-dimensional image display device further includes a directional second optical element for enlarging an image displayed on the light emitting display device, between the spatial modulation element and the light emitting display device. The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 1, characterized in that. 3. The spatial light modulator and the light-emitting display device are provided for each two, each further includes a synthesizing means for displaying a stereoscopic image for the right eye and a stereoscopic image for the left eye, and synthesizing the displayed stereoscopic images. The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The spatial modulation element alternately displays a stereoscopic image for the right eye and a stereoscopic image for the left eye in a time division manner, and the light emitting display device time divisionally displays an image in synchronization with the time division display of the spatial modulation element. The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the stereoscopic image display device is switched by.