JPH11331877A - Attachment for stereoscopic image display - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the attachment for stereoscopic image display that is simple in the constitution, whose cost is easily reduced, and that is used as a conventional 2-dimensional display device without a problem while being mounted. SOLUTION: The attachment for stereoscopic image display consists of a 1st polarization plate 1 passing only a light polarized in a specific direction, a 2nd polarization plate 2 consisting of rectangular element polarization plates 2a, 2b whose polarization directions are orthogonal to each other alternately, and a polarization control plate 3 that is placed between the 1st polarization plate 1 and the 2nd polarization plate 2 and constituted with element polarization control sections arranged horizontally whose polarization plane of an incident light is rotated to an optional rotational angle by an electric signal. A stereoscopic vision by naked eyes is realized by attaching the attachment to a conventional 2-dimensional display device 4 such as a CRT and the display device 4 is used for the 2-dimensional display device without a problem even at a state of when the attachment is just attached to the display device 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image display technology and a multi-screen display technology applied to a three-dimensional television, a three-dimensional photograph, a three-dimensional game, a two-screen television, and the like. Display) attached to a screen of a display) to realize a stereoscopic image display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various methods have been proposed for displaying a stereoscopic image. For example, those using polarized glasses or liquid crystal shutter glasses, anaglyphs,
There are methods such as parallax barrier and lenticular.
In these methods, left and right eyes are given different image information to be recognized as a three-dimensional (three-dimensional) image.
For example, in a method using polarized glasses, a CRT (Catho
A polarizing plate and a liquid crystal polarization control plate are arranged in front of an image display (display) such as a de-Ray Tube, and a right-eye image and a left-eye image are alternately displayed on the image display. The left and right eyes are allowed to observe different images by rotating the surface by 90 degrees or transmitting the light as it is. This method has an advantage that an existing display (CRT or the like) can be easily improved to a three-dimensional display, but has a disadvantage that it cannot be observed with the naked eye.

On the other hand, the stereoscopic display method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-105341 discloses a strip-shaped polarization plane (A and B in FIG. 9) whose polarization directions are orthogonal to each other, as shown in FIG. Are arranged in front of the display by shifting the polarizing filters 11, 12, and 13 little by little laterally in order, and switching the polarization direction of the polarization control unit in synchronization with the screen, so that the It realizes stereoscopic vision.

[0004]

The above-mentioned JP-A-6-10
Although the stereoscopic display method described in Japanese Patent No. 5341 realizes stereoscopic vision of the naked eye simply by attaching to a normal two-dimensional display, it requires two polarization control plates using liquid crystal or the like. There are problems such as high cost and difficulty in using it as a normal two-dimensional display when it is attached (luminance differs depending on the observation position, or the entire screen cannot be observed).

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, has a simple structure, can easily reduce the cost, and has a problem in a state where it is mounted. It is an object (problem) to provide a three-dimensional image display attachment that can be used as a normal two-dimensional display without being attached.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention realizes stereoscopic vision of the naked eye only by attaching to a normal two-dimensional display such as a CRT, and at the same time, can be used as a two-dimensional display without any problem while attached. An attachment for stereoscopic image display is realized. The attachment for stereoscopic image display of the present invention includes a first polarizing plate that transmits only light polarized in a specific direction, and a strip-shaped element polarization in which polarization directions are orthogonal to each other. A second polarizing plate in which the plates are alternately arranged, and a second polarizing plate disposed between the first polarizing plate and the second polarizing plate, which can be controlled to rotate the polarization plane of the incident light to an arbitrary rotation angle by an electric signal. And a polarization control plate formed by arranging element polarization controllers in the horizontal direction (claim 1). Then, in order to enable high-speed polarization control, reduce flickering on the screen, and enable observation of a good three-dimensional image, the polarization control plate may be configured using a ferroelectric liquid crystal or the like.

[0007] In the attachment for stereoscopic image display of the present invention, in order for the entire screen to be observed well, the pitch when arranging the element polarizers of the second polarizer is determined by adjusting the pitch of the polarization controller. The configuration is smaller than the pitch at which the element polarization controllers are arranged (claim 2).

In the attachment for stereoscopic image display of the present invention, in order to improve the usability by adjusting the optimum observation position back and forth, either one or both of the second polarizing plate and the polarization control plate is required. It is configured to be movable in the vertical direction (front-back direction) with respect to the screen of the image display body.

Further, in the stereoscopic image display attachment of the present invention, in order to improve the usability by adjusting the optimum observation position to the left and right (lateral direction), either one of the second polarizing plate and the polarization control plate is required. Alternatively, both are configured to be movable in the horizontal direction (lateral direction) with respect to the screen of the image display body (claim 4).

It is to be noted that the stereoscopic image display attachment of the present invention can simultaneously realize stereoscopic display of the conventional polarized glasses system so that it can be used even when a plurality of persons view the same stereoscopic image. Is configured such that the second polarizing plate is removable.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration, operation and operation of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic perspective view showing an exploded state of a structure of a three-dimensional image display attachment. The attachment for displaying a stereoscopic image shown in FIG. 1 is a first attachment supported by a frame (not shown).
And a polarization control plate 3 and a second polarization plate 2 as shown in the figure, and as shown in the figure, a screen of an image display (display) 4 capable of displaying a normal two-dimensional image such as a CRT is provided. A three-dimensional image display is realized by arranging and mounting on the front surface. Here, the first polarizing plate 1 is a normal polarizing plate, and is used for transmitting only a component of light polarized in a specific direction from light from the display 4. The second polarizing plate 2 is formed by alternately arranging strip-shaped element polarizing plates 2a and 2b in which the polarization planes of light that can be transmitted are orthogonal to each other in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. It is used to block or transmit the light. The polarization control plate 3 is formed by patterning transparent electrodes 3b and 3d on glass substrates 3a and 3e as shown in FIG.
The electrode pattern divided into strips allows the polarization planes of light passing through adjacent element polarization controllers to be orthogonal to each other or to be transmitted in parallel. I have to.

When the stereoscopic image display attachment having such a configuration is arranged in front of the screen of the display 4 such as a CRT, the polarization is synchronized with the switching timing of the left-eye image and the right-eye image displayed on the screen. By operating the control plate 3, a stereoscopic image display is realized. Here, FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation principle of the stereoscopic image display attachment of the present invention viewed from above, for example,
As shown in FIG. 3, only the P-polarized light (vertical direction) component is transmitted by the first polarizing plate 1, and then the polarization plane is changed by the element polarization controller (white portion) indicated by b of the polarization controller 3. It is rotated by 90 degrees and transmitted in the state of S-polarized light (horizontal direction), transmitted in the same polarization state in the element polarization control unit (shaded area) indicated by a, and further, the element polarization plate of the second polarization plate 2 2
If a and 2b (P-polarized light transmission or S-polarized light transmission) are arranged in an arrangement as shown in the figure and light is transmitted, an image on the display 4 only to the left eye at the observation position of the observer 5 as shown in FIG. Image for the left eye) is observed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, in the element polarization control unit (white portion) indicated by a of the polarization control plate 3, the polarization plane is rotated by 90 degrees and transmitted in the state of S-polarized light (horizontal direction). When the light is transmitted in the same polarization state in the element polarization controller (shaded area) indicated by b, the image on the display 4 is displayed only to the right eye at the observation position of the observer 5 as shown in FIG. Is observed.

Therefore, if the left and right parallax images are alternately displayed on the display 4 and the display states of FIGS. 3 and 4 are switched in synchronization with this, the respective left and right eyes of the observer 5 shown in FIG. The parallax images can be observed alternately. The switching frequency at this time is 60 Hertz (Hz) when the stereoscopic image display attachment is attached to a normal television, but in order to reduce the flickering of the screen, a higher-speed operation (for example, about 120 Hertz) is performed. ) Is required. However, in order to perform such a high-speed operation exceeding 60 Hz with the polarization control plate 3, a normal TN liquid crystal is not sufficient, and a liquid crystal having a higher response speed is required. Therefore, in this embodiment, high-speed polarization control can be performed by using a ferroelectric liquid crystal as the liquid crystal used in the polarization control plate 3. The response speed of the ferroelectric liquid crystal is on the order of microseconds, and can sufficiently follow a refresh rate of about 120 Hertz. This enables high-speed screen switching without flickering (operation of alternately displaying images in the right-eye direction and the left-eye direction), and achieves good stereoscopic vision.

Although the operating principle of the stereoscopic image display has been described above, a normal two-dimensional image can also be observed while the stereoscopic image display attachment of the present invention is mounted on the display 4. For example, if the polarization control plate 3 is operated to rotate the polarization plane of the incident light by 45 degrees and emit the light, the light passing through the second polarization plate 2 does not have the directivity as in the stereoscopic display. It is possible to observe an image on the screen from any observation position.

Incidentally, the element polarizer 2 of the second polarizer 2
If the pitch (pitch 1) in which the a and 2b are arranged and the pitch (pitch 2) in which the element polarization controllers a and b in the polarization control plate 3 are set irrespective, the observer can observe the entire screen well. No (luminance unevenness occurs in the observed image, or the screen cannot be partially observed). Therefore, in the stereoscopic image display attachment of the present invention, the pitch 1 is made narrower than the pitch 2 so that the entire screen can be favorably observed in a specific observation region. FIG. 5 shows the state of light rays going from the screen to the observer 5 when the pitch is set as described above. At the observation position in the figure, light rays from the entire screen of the display 4 reach both eyes without waste. You can see that there is.
However, the position where such a good image can be observed is limited to a specific area.

Therefore, in the present invention, any one or both of the second polarizing plate 2 and the polarization control plate 3 can be moved in the front-back direction (the direction perpendicular to the screen of the display 4) so as to be arbitrary. A good image can be observed at an observation distance (claim 3). For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the observer 5 observes at a position closer to the display 4 than in the state of FIG. 5, as shown in FIG.
From the position in the state shown in FIG.
, The observer 5 can observe a good image.

Further, according to the present invention, either one of the second polarizing plate 2 and the polarization control plate 3 is provided so that a good image can always be observed even when the position of the observer 5 moves in the horizontal direction. Alternatively, both can be moved in the horizontal direction (the direction horizontal to the screen of the display 4). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the observer 5 moves to the right as compared with the state of FIG. 5, the polarization control plate 3 is moved leftward from the position in the state of FIG. By moving in the direction, the observer 5 can observe a good image.

In the attachment for displaying a three-dimensional image of the present invention, a favorable three-dimensional image can be observed at an arbitrary observation position by adopting the above-described configuration. However, it is difficult for a large number of observers to simultaneously observe a stereoscopic image at an arbitrary observation position. Therefore, a method of separating a parallax image into both eyes using polarized glasses as in the conventional method is effective against such a demand. That is, in the stereoscopic image display attachment of the present invention,
The configuration is such that the second polarizing plate 2 can be removed so that stereoscopic viewing using ordinary polarizing glasses is possible. FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of this configuration.

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the second polarizing plate 2 of the attachment for displaying a three-dimensional image is used after being detached, and an image for the right eye and an image for the left eye are alternately displayed on the screen of the display 4. In synchronization with this, the polarization direction is switched by 90 degrees in all the element polarization control units of the polarization control plate 3 so that the polarization direction is transmitted and the polarization state is transmitted in the same polarization state. The right-eye image and the left-eye image are observed as images having polarization directions orthogonal to each other. In this state, the observer 5 moves the polarized glasses 6
When the polarizers whose polarization directions are orthogonal to each other are positioned in front of both eyes of the observer 5 so as to match the polarization direction of the display image, the parallax image is observed by each eye, and thereby, the stereoscopic vision is obtained. Is realized. In this manner, by enabling the second polarizing plate 2 to be detached from the attachment for stereoscopic image display, it is possible to provide an environment for stereoscopic image display according to the purpose of use.

[0021]

As described above, in the attachment for displaying a three-dimensional image according to the present invention, the first polarizer that transmits only light polarized in a specific direction and the strip-shaped element polarizers whose polarization directions are orthogonal to each other are provided. A second polarizing plate alternately arranged,
Disposed between the first polarizing plate and the second polarizing plate,
It is characterized by comprising a polarization control plate configured by arranging in a lateral direction element polarization controllers capable of controlling the polarization plane of incident light to an arbitrary rotation angle by an electric signal. 1) Attachment for stereoscopic image display that realizes stereoscopic vision of the naked eye simply by being attached to an ordinary two-dimensional display such as a CRT, which is an image display body, and that can be used as a two-dimensional display without any problems while attached. Is realized. Also, since only one element (polarization control plate) requiring dynamic polarization control is used, a conventional stereoscopic image display method (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
No. 105341), the configuration is simpler, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. Furthermore, by configuring the polarization control plate using ferroelectric liquid crystal or the like, high-speed polarization control can be performed to reduce flickering on the screen, and a good stereoscopic image can be observed.

Further, in the stereoscopic image display attachment of the present invention, the pitch at which the element polarizers of the second polarizing plate are arranged side by side is narrower than the pitch at which the element polarization controllers of the polarization control plate are arranged. Thereby (claim 2), the entire screen can be observed well.

In the stereoscopic image display attachment of the present invention, one or both of the second polarizing plate and the polarization control plate can be moved in the vertical direction (front-back direction) with respect to the screen of the image display body. With this configuration (claim 3), the optimum observation position can be adjusted back and forth to improve usability, and a good stereoscopic image can be observed even if the observation distance is moved back and forth. .

Furthermore, in the attachment for stereoscopic image display of the present invention, one or both of the second polarizing plate and the polarization control plate are moved in the horizontal direction (lateral direction) with respect to the screen of the image display. By adopting a possible configuration (claim 4), the optimum observation position can be adjusted left and right (horizontal direction) to improve the usability, and good even if the observer moves left and right (horizontal direction). It becomes possible to observe a simple stereoscopic image.

In the attachment for stereoscopic image display of the present invention, by adopting a structure in which the second polarizing plate is removable, stereoscopic display of the conventional polarizing glasses system can be realized at the same time. It can also be used when many people look at the same stereoscopic image at an arbitrary observation position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic perspective view showing an exploded state of a configuration of an attachment for stereoscopic image display.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a principal part showing a configuration example of a polarization control plate used in the attachment for stereoscopic image display shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an operation principle showing the attachment for displaying a stereoscopic image of the present invention when viewed from above.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an operation principle showing the attachment for displaying a stereoscopic image of the present invention when viewed from above.

FIG. 5 is a view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and is an explanatory diagram showing a positional relationship between components of the attachment for displaying a three-dimensional image, a display and an observer, and a state of a light beam traveling from the screen of the display to the observer. It is.

FIG. 6 is a view showing another embodiment of the present invention, showing the positional relationship between the components of the attachment for stereoscopic image display, the display and the observer, and the state of the light beam from the display screen to the observer. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view showing still another embodiment of the present invention,
It is explanatory drawing showing the structural member of a 3D image display attachment, the positional relationship of a display and an observer, and the mode of the light beam which goes to an observer from the screen of a display.

FIG. 8 is a view showing still another embodiment of the present invention,
When the second polarizing plate of the stereoscopic image display attachment is removed and polarized glasses are used, the positional relationship between the constituent members of the stereoscopic image display attachment, the display, and the observer, and the light rays traveling from the display screen to the observer. It is explanatory drawing showing a situation.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional stereoscopic image display method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: First polarizing plate 2: Second polarizing plate 2a, 2b: Element polarizing plate 3: Polarization control plate 3a, 3e: Glass substrate 3b, 3d: Transparent electrode 3c: Liquid crystal layer 4: Display 5: Observer 6 ： Polarized glasses

Claims (4)

[Claims] An attachment for a three-dimensional image display mounted on a screen of an image display body to realize a three-dimensional image display,
A first polarizer that transmits only light polarized in a specific direction, a second polarizer in which strip-shaped element polarizers whose polarization directions are orthogonal to each other are alternately arranged, the first polarizer, and the second polarizer. A polarization control plate that is arranged between the two polarization plates and that is configured by arranging, in the horizontal direction, an element polarization control unit capable of controlling rotation of a polarization plane of incident light to an arbitrary rotation angle by an electric signal. A stereoscopic image display attachment characterized by the following. 2. The attachment for stereoscopic image display according to claim 1, wherein a pitch at which the element polarization plates of the second polarization plate are arranged side by side is narrower than a pitch at which the element polarization control sections of the polarization control plate are arranged. A stereoscopic image display attachment characterized by the following. 3. The attachment for displaying a three-dimensional image according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the second polarizing plate and the polarization control plate are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the screen of the image display body (front-back direction). (3) An attachment for displaying a stereoscopic image, wherein the attachment is movable. 4. The attachment for displaying a three-dimensional image according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the second polarizing plate and the polarization control plate are arranged in a horizontal direction with respect to a screen of the image display body. An attachment for displaying a three-dimensional image, wherein the attachment is capable of moving in a horizontal direction.