KR100856415B1 - Projection optical system and image projection apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A projection optical system and an image projection device using the same are disclosed. The disclosed projection optical system is provided with a reflective display element 3 for displaying a projected image on the image display region 3a and a light source disposed sequentially along the optical path between the screen 6 and the reflective display element 3. A projection optical system 4 having a first optical system 4A and a second optical system 4B, and projecting the image display region 3a in an enlarged position at an eccentric position with respect to the optical axis 4a of the first optical system 4A. When (4a) is used as the reference axis, the image display region 3a is arranged to be at least parallel and eccentric, and the second optical system 4B is arranged to be eccentrically arranged.

With such a configuration, when performing so-called offset projection, the aberration can be reduced by a simple configuration and a high quality image can be projected.

Description

Projection optical system and image projection apparatus using the same

1 is a schematic front view illustrating a schematic configuration of an image projector according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cross section including an optical axis showing the configuration of a projection optical system used in the image projector according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a schematic front view showing a schematic configuration of an image projector according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cross section including an optical axis showing the configuration of a projection optical system used in the image projector according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic optical path diagram of a cross section including an optical axis showing a schematic configuration of each example of the projection optical system according to the first embodiment of the present invention and its modification, and its optical path,

6 is a vector diagram illustrating distortion aberration of the comparative example,

7A and 7B are vector diagrams showing distortion aberrations of the first and second embodiments,

8A and 8B are vector diagrams showing distortion aberrations of the third and fourth embodiments,

It is a schematic diagram which shows the calculation position of the upper surface curvature of each Example and a comparative example.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

1, 10 ... projector (image projector) 2 ... lighting unit

3. Reflective display element (display element) 3a, 7a ... Image display area

3b, 7b ... center normal 4 ... projection optical system

4A ... first optical system 4B ... second optical system

4a ... optical axis (reference axis) 4b ... optical axis

5 ... projection light 6 ... screen (projection surface)

7.Transmissive display element (display element) 18 ... View lens

The present invention relates to a projection optical system and an image projection apparatus using the same. For example, the present invention relates to a projection optical system and an image projection device for offset projecting an image to a position off the optical axis.

In a conventional image projection apparatus, for example, in an image projection apparatus that enlarges and projects an image displayed on a display element such as a projector onto a screen, it is obliquely upward from the device installation position, such as when used on a tabletop or mounted on a ceiling. Many of them are used by projecting an image on a screen located below and arranged on a vertical plane, for example, along a wall or the like. In this case, since the optical axis of the projection optical system is set in the oblique direction toward the screen, the screen surface meets at an angle with respect to the optical axis. In this case, there is a problem that distortion occurs in the projected image and the image quality deteriorates.

For this reason, the structure which made it the so-called offset projection by which the optical axis of a projection optical system is arrange | positioned near horizontal, and is projected by shifting an image to the upper region of the effective image area of a projection optical system is known.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-249069 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) describes a conventional technology as DMD (Digital Micromirror Devicc), which is a display element, and the periphery of the display area is almost at the optical axis of the projection optical system. The display optical system (image projection apparatus) arrange | positioned so as to be parallel eccentric to a corresponding position, and projecting so that it may shift | deviate to one half, for example, an upper half part, of the projection area | region of a projection optical system is described.

In addition, the image is not projected so as to shift the image within the effective image area. However, as a related technique, the image displayed by the display element arranged eccentrically with respect to the optical axis of the projection optical system is well-positioned to correct the optical axis of the projection optical system and the image display. Techniques for projecting such that the centers of regions coincide are known.

For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-39585 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2) arranges an eccentric optical element largely eccentric between a reflective display element and a projection optical system, and parallel eccentric with respect to the optical axis of the projection optical system. And a projection display device for projecting the center of the image display area of the display surface of the reflective display element arranged obliquely eccentric to coincide with the optical axis of the projection optical system.

However, the above-described conventional projection optical system and image projection apparatus have the following problems.

In the prior art described in Patent Literature 1, even when projecting obliquely upward, since the image plane of the screen and the projection optical system can be set in parallel, distortion of the image as the image plane rotates with respect to the screen does not occur, but the effective image area The entire image display area of the display element must be projected on a portion, such as the upper half of the. That is, only the narrow angle of view including the high angle of view of the aberration of the projection angle of view can be used. For this reason, for example, the effective area of the projection optical system should be further expanded, or the number of optical elements should be increased to reduce aberration. As a result, there is a problem that the projection optical system becomes large, complicated, and expensive.

On the other hand, although the eccentric optical element is arrange | positioned between a display element and a projection optical system using the technique of patent document 2, and the projection area of the image of the eccentrically arranged display element can also be considered, the technique of patent document 2 Is to achieve good aberration by eccentrically arranging the eccentric optical element at a position where the center of the image projection area coincides with the optical axis center of the projection optical system. Therefore, the meaning of performing offset projection by parallel eccentricity of the display elements is lost. That is, there is a problem that it is not applicable to the projection optical system of offset projection.

If this technique is still to be applied, it is obvious that the side of the display area in the offset direction is doubled, and only half of the entire area in which the aberration is improved should be used, in which case the aberration is not improved to the same extent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a projection optical system capable of reducing aberration and projecting a high quality image by a simple configuration when performing so-called offset projection, and providing an image projection apparatus using the same. The purpose.

In order to solve the above problems, the projection optical system of the present invention includes a display element for displaying a projected image on an image display area, and a first optical system and a second one arranged sequentially along an optical path between the projection surface and the display element. A projection optical system having an optical system and expanding and projecting the image display area to a position eccentric with respect to the optical axis of the first optical system, wherein the image display area of the display element is at least when the optical axis of the first optical system is a reference axis The second optical system is arranged eccentrically and arranged in parallel.

According to the present invention, since the second optical system on the display element side is eccentrically arranged with the optical axis of the first optical system on the projection surface side as the reference axis, the state is eccentric from the image display region arranged at least parallel to the reference axis. The light beam direction of the diffused light beam proceeding to can be corrected according to the eccentricity of the second optical system.

In other words, when the image display area of the display element is arranged parallel to the reference axis and so-called offset projection, the aberration tends to increase because the light beam passes through the solid height portion of the projection optical system. Since the image display area and the reference axis do not coincide, asymmetrical aberration occurs in the projected image.

On the other hand, when the second optical system is parallel eccentric, an aberration having an axial shift component represented by the distortion aberration occurs in the parallel eccentric direction. Therefore, the second optical system is parallel eccentric in the same direction as the parallel eccentric direction with respect to the reference axis of the image display area, thereby eliminating distortion aberration and the like, thereby improving the size and symmetry of the distortion aberration and the like. Incidentally, when the second optical system is inclined eccentrically by the rotation of the axis which is perpendicular to the parallel eccentric direction of the reference axis and the image display area, an aberration occurs with an axial shift component representative of the distortion aberration, so that the second optical system is also obliquely eccentric. The distortion and the like can be eliminated to improve the size and symmetry of the distortion and the like.

As a result, aberration can be easily corrected in the range in which the image is projected, even in the state where aberration such as distortion aberration is left in the solid image height portion of the first optical system.

Moreover, the image projection apparatus of this invention is set as the structure which enlarges and projects the image of the said image display area using the projection optical system of this invention.

According to this invention, since the projection optical system of this invention is used, it has the same effect as the projection optical system of this invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In all the drawings, even when the embodiments are different, the same or corresponding members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions will be omitted. In addition, since each figure is a schematic diagram, a dimension and a shape may be exaggerated and are not necessarily showing the exact positional relationship.

[First Embodiment]

The projection optical system and the image projection device using the same according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

1 is a schematic front view showing a schematic configuration of an image projector according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the cross section containing the optical axis which shows the structure of the projection optical system used for the image projection apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention.

In the schematic configuration of the projector 1 of the present embodiment, the illumination unit 2, the reflective display element 3, and the projection optical system 4 are arranged in the housing 1a as shown in FIG. 1. Although not specifically shown, a power supply unit for driving the device and a device control unit for controlling the device are provided, and both are connected to the illumination unit 2 and the reflective display element 3.

In the following description, for convenience of explanation, when the housing 1a of the projector 1 is disposed on a horizontal plane, the projection light 5 is projected obliquely upward of the placement plane, and is provided perpendicularly to the placement plane (projection plane). Although the case where an image is projected on) will be described as an example, it is not limited to such an arrangement position and a projection direction. For example, it is natural that the installation surface may be an inclined surface or the projection direction may be an obliquely downward direction.

The illumination unit 2 is a light source which irradiates illumination light toward the image display area of the reflective display element 3. In this embodiment, since a full color image is displayed, wavelength light corresponding to red (R), green (G), blue (B) and white light, which are at least three primary colors of light, can be time-divided and sequentially irradiated. For example, it is possible to employ each of which is provided with wavelength light sources of R, G, and B which can be driven independently, and synthesizes them on the same optical path. Further, for example, a white light source may be provided and a movable filter of R, G, and B may be provided on the optical path.

The illumination light from the illumination unit 2 may be incident at any angle when the reflected light by the reflective display element 3 is incident on the projection optical system 4, but in this embodiment, it is irradiated upwardly obliquely below the projection surface. Then, the light enters the reflective display element 3 through the second optical system 4B which will be described later. However, depending on the situation of the device layout, a mirror or prism may be provided as appropriate to fold the optical path.

The reflective display element 3 spatially modulates the illumination light of the wavelength irradiated from the illumination unit 2 in accordance with the irradiation timing in accordance with the image signal, and covers the color-separated image by the cover glass 3c (see FIG. 2). It is displayed in the display area 3a.

Although the image display area 3a is not particularly shown, for example, a plurality of spatial modulation elements in the pixel unit of the image signal are arranged in a grid on the display plane. In this embodiment, the long side x short side is provided in the rectangular shape which is WxH, for example. The center normal 3b represents the normal of the display plane at the center of the image display area 3a.

The image display region 3a of the reflective display element 3 is opposite to the direction of the projection surface with respect to the optical axis 4a of the first optical system 4A, which is described later by the center normal 3b on the image surface of the projection optical system 4. It is arrange | positioned at the position which eccentrically paralleled by the distance (a).

The ratio of this eccentricity a with respect to half of the short side of the image display area 3a is shown by the axis offset (DELTA) h. That is, the axis offset Δh may be represented by Equation 1 below.

Δh = a / (H / 2)

Although the axis offset (DELTA) h can be set suitably according to the offset projection conditions, in this embodiment, it is set as the range of following formula (2).

0 <Δh≤2.0

In addition, axis offset (DELTA) h becomes like this. Preferably, it is the range of following formula (3).

1.0≤Δh≤1.5

As the reflective display element 3, for example, a device of a digital micromirror device (DMD) or a reflective liquid crystal panel (LCOS) which is a micromirror array can be adopted.

The projection optical system 4 is an optical system for enlarging and projecting the image displayed on the image display area 3a of the reflective display element 3 onto the screen 6, and the image display area 3a and the screen 6 are It's an airspace

In the configuration of the projection optical system 4, the second optical system 4B and the first optical system 4A are arranged in this order on the optical path between the reflective display element 3 and the screen 6.

The first optical system 4A is an enlarged projection optical system having an angle of view θ _o . In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the 1st lens 11, the 2nd lens 12, the 3rd lens 13, the 4th lens 14, the 5th lens 15 from the projection surface side, The sixth lens 16 and the seventh lens 17 are arranged on the optical axis 4a. The optical axis 4a is provided horizontally with the placement surface of the projector 1.

Each of these lenses can be set to a suitable shape and power that satisfies the performance as an enlarged projection optical system. For example, the following shapes can be adopted as an example.

Both the first lens 11 and the second lens 12 are concave meniscus lenses of which the projection surface side is convex.

The third lens 13 is a double-sided convex lens.

The fourth lens 14 is composed of a bonded lens in which the lenses 14A of the double-sided convex lens and the lenses 14B of the double-sided concave lens are arranged in this order and joined to each other from the projection surface side.

The fifth lens 15 is a double-sided concave lens.

The sixth lens 16 is a convex meniscus lens with a convex surface on the display surface side.

The seventh lens 17 is a double-sided convex lens.

And by these powers, the structure which has the power of (-), (-), (+), (+), (-), (+), (+) toward a display surface from the projection surface side is implement | achieved. .

The second optical system 4B is an optical system having positive power for adjusting the optical path and the condensing state of the light beam between the first optical system 4A and the reflective display element 3, and the optical axis 4a. It is arranged eccentrically with respect to. In the present embodiment, the reflective display element 3 is arranged in parallel with the distance b in the same direction as the eccentric direction. Reference numeral 4b denotes an optical axis of the second optical system 4B.

Since the size and direction of the parallel eccentricity b are different depending on the configuration of the projection optical system 4 or the like, the ray tracing is performed, for example, the amount of distortion aberration at the projection position where the image display area 3a is enlarged and projected. , The symmetry balance, etc. are set appropriately.

In general, even when the parallel eccentricity b is small compared to the parallel eccentricity a of the reflective display element 3, a sufficient effect can be obtained. Therefore, even if the second optical system 4B is eccentric, the screen 6 The image projection area on x) is not so changed, and the offset projection state is maintained.

In this embodiment, the structure of the 2nd optical system 4B consists only of the viewing lens 18 which is a double-sided convex lens in which a display surface side is nearly planar.

The viewing lens 18 is disposed to face the image display region 3a with the cover glass 3c having no power therebetween. For this reason, as an optical element with power, it is located in the position closest to the reflective display element 3.

Moreover, the 2nd optical system 4B of this embodiment is provided on the optical path between the illumination unit 2 and the reflective display element 3, and the illumination light from the illumination unit 2 is image-displayed area 3a. It is a structure which condenses a phase.

Next, the operation of the projector 1 will be described centering on the optical action of the projection optical system 4.

Illumination light emitted from the illumination unit 2 as a predetermined wavelength light in accordance with a predetermined timing is collected through the second optical system 4B as shown in FIG. 2. Then, the light penetrates the cover glass 3c and enters at an angle from the lower side to the center normal line 3b of the image display area 3a.

Each spatial modulation element on the image display area 3a is in an on state in which, for example, the illumination light is reflected in the direction of incidence into the projection optical system 4 according to an image signal according to a predetermined wavelength and timing, and the illumination optical system is projected. It is driven to the off state which guides in the direction which does not inject into (4).

For this reason, an image is displayed on the image display area 3a by the light reflected by the spatial modulation element of an on state. These reflected light passes through the cover glass 3c and enters the second optical system 4B. The reflected light is condensed under the refractive action of the second optical system 4B and emitted to the first optical system 4A.

At this time, since the viewing lens 18 is eccentrically parallel to the optical axis 4a by the distance b, the direction of refraction of the light is in the eccentric direction, compared with the case where the viewing lens 18 is coaxial with the optical axis 4a. It changes according to the amount of deflection. Therefore, the incidence position and incidence angle into the first optical system 4A are changed in accordance with the power and focal length of the viewing lens 18.

At this time, since the viewing lens 18 is an optical element having a power for the reflected light of the reflective display element 3 to pass first in the projection optical system 4 for enlarged projection, it is transmitted as light having a relatively small beam diameter. do. For this reason, the refractive action of the viewing lens 18 affects the aberration according to the geometrical deviation of the imaging position in the projection surface, such as distortion aberration and image curvature, rather than imaging performance such as spherical aberration. have. For example, parallel eccentricity mainly affects distortion aberration, and oblique eccentricity mainly affects top surface curvature.

By setting the parallel eccentricity b appropriately, the distortion aberration can be reduced or the symmetry can be improved even with a small eccentricity compared with the optical element of the rear stage.

By carrying out such eccentricity, it is conceivable that the aberration in the optical path toward the projection plane different from the image projection area becomes rather poor, but in the offset projection, since the image is not projected on such an area, there is no problem. Thus, in this embodiment, the aberration distribution in all angles of view of the projection optical system 4 is changed, and the aberration of the image projection area part is improved.

Light emitted from the second optical system 4B is incident on the first optical system 4A, and the seventh lens 17, the sixth lens 16, the fifth lens 15, and the fourth lens 14 along the optical path. ), The third lens 13, the second lens 12, and the first lens 11 are transmitted to each other to be refracted by each other, and as shown in FIG. 1, corresponding to the magnification of the projection optical system 4. And the image is formed on the screen 6 by extending the range of the angle of view θ1 around the projection center axis 5a extending obliquely upward with respect to the optical axis 4a.

In this way, the image displayed on the image display area 3a is enlarged and projected on the screen 6. At this time, the projection position on the screen 6 is approximately determined by the magnification of the projection optical system 4 and the parallel eccentricity a of the center normal 3b of the image display area 3a, and the distortion aberration at the projection position is This is improved by the amount of parallel eccentricity b of the second optical system 4B. As a result, the projector 1 can project offset images of high quality.

Next, the modification of this embodiment is demonstrated. All have the same structure as mentioned above, and the eccentricity of the optical element was changed.

In the first modification, instead of parallel eccentricity of the second optical system 4B, an inclination eccentricity of axial rotation orthogonal to the parallel eccentric direction of the reference axis and the reflective display element 3 is added. In this case, the distortion aberration caused by the parallel eccentricity of the reflective display element 3 can be improved by the rotational direction.

In the second modification, in the first embodiment described above, part of the optical element in the first optical system 4A is parallelly eccentric in addition to the second optical system 4B. In this case, fine aberration correction can be performed because the parallel eccentricity of another optical element having an influence on distortion aberration or the like is combined. In addition, by providing an optimal amount of eccentricity between a part of the optical element of the first optical system 4A and the second optical system 4B, the influence on other aberrations can be reduced.

In this case, the optical axis 4a of the first optical system 4A serving as the reference axis of the projection optical system 4 means the optical axis of the first optical system 4A except for the eccentric optical element.

In the third modification, in the first embodiment, the first modification, and the second modification, the inclination eccentricity of axial rotation perpendicular to the parallel eccentric direction of the reference axis and the reflective display element 3 is added.

In this case, the inclination eccentricity mainly affects the curvature of the image as described above, so that the blurring of the image due to the deviation of the image position and the like can be improved, and high-quality offset projection can be performed.

Incidentally, it is the optical element of the reflective display element 3, the 2nd optical system 4B, and a part of 1st optical system 4A which can be tilted.

The direction and the amount of eccentricity of the inclination eccentricity can be appropriately set in consideration of the influence on other aberrations depending on the configuration of the projection optical system 4. For example, even if the distortion aberration is improved by parallel eccentricity, the top surface curvature may deteriorate. In this case, by applying the inclination eccentricity in a direction to eliminate the deterioration of the top surface curvature, the distortion aberration and the top surface curvature may be improved. have.

Second Embodiment

The projection optical system and the image projector according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

It is a typical front view which shows schematic structure of the image projection apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the cross section containing the optical axis which shows the structure of the projection optical system used for the image projection apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the projector 10 of the present embodiment includes a transmissive display element 7 in place of the reflective display element 3 in the projector 1 of the first embodiment, and is provided with an illumination unit. The point which changed the irradiation direction of (2) to the back surface side of the display surface of the transmissive display element 7 differs. Hereinafter, a description will be given focusing on differences from the first embodiment.

The transmissive display element 7 spatially modulates the illumination light of the wavelength irradiated by the illumination unit 2 from the display surface rear surface side according to the irradiation timing in accordance with the image signal, and displays the color-separated image in the image display area 7a. It is. As the transmissive display element 7, a liquid crystal display device (LCD) can be adopted, for example.

In the present embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the transmissive display element 7 is configured as a single plate, but a transmissive spatial modulator such as a three-plate constitution LCD according to the illumination light R, G, and B is provided, and each transmissive type is provided. It is a general form to make the structure which color-combines the light which permeate | transmitted the space modulation element. In this case, although the color combining optical element is needed between the projection optical system 4 and the transmission type display element 7, it abbreviate | omitted in this description. Further, in such a configuration, the display surfaces of the three transmissive spatial modulation elements are each formed at an optically equivalent position by the color synthesizing optical element.

Although the image display area 7a is not particularly shown, for example, a plurality of spatial modulation elements corresponding to pixel units of the image signal are arranged in a lattice shape on the display plane. In this embodiment, the long side x short side is provided in the rectangular shape which is WxH, for example. The center normal 7b represents the normal of the display plane at the center of the image display area 7a.

The image display region 7a of the transmissive display element 7 is disposed in the same positional relationship with the reflective display element 3 of the first embodiment with respect to the projection optical system 4. That is, on the image plane of the projection optical system 4, the center normal line 7b is arrange | positioned at the position parallel eccentrically by distance a with respect to the optical axis 4a of the 1st optical system 4A on the opposite side to the direction of a projection surface.

The axis offset Δh is also defined in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

As described above, the projector 10 of the present embodiment uses the transmissive display element 7 instead of the reflective display element 3 as the display element.

For this reason, since illumination light can be irradiated from the back surface side of the transmissive display element 7, it is easy to arrange | position the illumination unit 2 so that it may not interfere with the projection optical system 4, and the freedom of device layout can be improved.

In addition, since the projection optical system differs only in that the illumination light from the illumination unit 2 is guided to the display element without passing through the second optical system 4B, the optical path from the display element to the screen 6 and the optical action are different. The effects are the same as in the case of the first embodiment.

Therefore, the image displayed on the image display area 7a is enlarged and projected on the screen 6 by the projection optical system 4. At this time, the projection position on the screen 6 is approximately determined by the parallel eccentricity a of the central normal line 7b of the image display area 7a, and the distortion aberration at the projection position is determined by the second optical system 4B. It is improved by the parallel eccentricity b. Therefore, the projector 10 can offset-project a high quality image.

In addition, each modification of 1st Embodiment is applicable also to this embodiment similarly.

In addition, in the above description of the first embodiment, the case where the illumination light from the illumination unit 2 is transmitted through the second optical system 4B to guide the image display area 3a has been described as an example. The configuration in the case of using the display element 3 is not limited to this. For example, the degree of convergence of the illumination light in the illumination unit 2 can be set appropriately, and the image display area 3a can be illuminated without transmitting the second optical system 4B.

In the above description, the case where the second optical system 4B is composed of a single lens has been described as an example, but the second optical system 4B may be composed of a lens group.

In the above description, the case where the display element is composed of one spatial modulation element or a plurality of spatial modulation elements and color combining optical elements, and the image display surface of these spatial modulation elements is an image display area has been described as an example. The image display area of the element may be formed, for example, by relaying an image of the image display surface of the spatial modulation element to another display surface.

In addition, in the above description, a front-projection type projector that projects an image onto a projection surface provided on the outside of the device as an image projection device has been described as an example, but the image is projected from the inside of the device on a transmissive screen provided on the outer periphery of the device. It can also be used for a so-called rear projection projector.

In the above description, the axial offset direction of the display element is described as the short side direction, but the axial offset direction is not limited to the short side direction. For example, even when the offset projection is performed by the axial offset in the long side direction or in any direction, the same effect can be obtained by changing the offset direction of the optical element in accordance with the axial offset direction.

In the above description, the eccentricity of the display element, the second optical system, and some optical elements of the first optical system is described as being constant. It may be. Such an eccentric variable mechanism may be a holder itself for fixing each of the display element, the second optical system, or some of the eccentric optical elements of the first optical system, or may be an angle or an arrangement position of the holder. Mechanisms for adjusting such a position or angle are well known and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Moreover, the component described in each said embodiment and each modified example can be implemented combining suitably within the range of the technical idea of this invention, if technically possible.

Here, the case where a name differs about the relationship of the term of each said embodiment and the term of a claim is demonstrated.

The projectors 1 and 10 are each one embodiment of an image projector. The reflective display element 3 and the transmissive display element 7 are each one embodiment of a display element. The optical axis 4a corresponds to the reference axis.

EXAMPLE

Next, the first to fourth examples of the projection optical system of the first embodiment and the modifications thereof described above, and the comparative examples of the projection optical system according to the prior art will be described. However, also in 2nd Embodiment, since the structure between a projection surface and a display surface is the same, each Example below may become an Example of 2nd Embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic optical path diagram of a cross section including an optical axis showing a schematic configuration of each example of the projection optical system according to the first embodiment of the present invention and its modification and the optical path thereof. Although some optical elements are eccentric in each embodiment, since each amount of eccentricity is very small, all the embodiments will be described using common drawings.

Hereinafter, in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis 4a, the Y axis is set with the parallel eccentric direction of the screen 6 (upper direction shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5) as the forward direction, and the direction orthogonal thereto and the front of the paper. Set the X axis to the forward direction. That is, the image display area 3a has a rectangular shape having a width W in the X-axis direction and a height H in the Y-axis direction, and the parallel eccentric b of the first embodiment is eccentric in the Y-axis reverse direction. It is.

The first embodiment is an embodiment in which the second optical system 4B is parallel eccentrically by 0.3 mm in the Y-axis reverse direction. This example is an example of the first embodiment.

The second embodiment is an embodiment in which the image display area (image surface) is inclined eccentrically by 6 minutes in the clockwise direction along with the cover glass 3c in the first embodiment. This example is an example of the third modification of the first embodiment.

The third embodiment is an embodiment in which the second optical system 4B is inclined eccentrically by 1.5 degrees (1 degree 30 minutes) in the clockwise direction of the paper. This example is an example of the first modification of the first embodiment.

The fourth embodiment is an embodiment in which the first lens 11 of the first optical system 4A is inclined eccentrically by 33 minutes in the clockwise direction in the third embodiment. This example is another example of the third modified example of the first embodiment.

The comparative example was calculated in order to calculate the aberration reduction ratio with respect to the conventional example. In the first embodiment, the parallel eccentricity of the second optical system 4B is arranged coaxially with respect to Omm, that is, the optical axis 4a.

In any case, the reflective display element 3 uses an O.55 inch DMD having an aspect ratio of 4: 3. That is, the size of the image display area 3a is W = 11.2 mm and H = 8.4 mm. In addition, the axis offset (DELTA) h is set to% display, and it sets (DELTA) h = 130%.

The focal length of these embodiments is 16.4 mm and the F value is 2.3.

Lens data having an infinite object distance is shown in Table 1 below. R _i and d _i (i is an integer) shown in FIG. 5 correspond to r _i and d _i in Table 1. The unit of length is mm. In addition, about refractive index, the thing with respect to d line | wire (wavelength 587.56 nm) is described.

Here, y ₁ represents the amount of parallel eccentricity, and α ₁ , α ₂ , and α ₃ represent the amount of inclination eccentricity, and the values in Table 2 below are taken according to the examples. Each direction is as described above (see FIG. 5 arrow).

y ₁ (mm) α ₁ (min) α ₂ (degrees) α ₃ (min) First embodiment 0.3 0 0 0 Second embodiment 0.3 0 0 6 Third embodiment 0 0 1.5 0 Fourth embodiment 0 33 1.5 0 Comparative example 0 0 0 0

Next, the calculation result of the distortion aberration and the image surface curvature of each Example and a comparative example is demonstrated.

These calculations were performed by back light tracing to obtain the values on the image display area 3a.

6 is a vector diagram illustrating distortion aberration of the comparative example. The horizontal axis of the vector diagram showing the distortion aberration represents the image height in the X-axis direction (hereinafter referred to as the X-phase height), and the vertical axis represents the image height in the Y-axis direction (hereinafter referred to as the Y-phase height), and each unit is mm. The calculation position of the distortion aberration is set to the lattice point of the start point of the arrow, indicates the direction of the distortion aberration in the direction of the arrow, and indicates the magnitude of the distortion aberration by the length of the arrow with respect to the scale in the figure (the same applies hereinafter). 7A and 7B are vector diagrams showing distortion aberrations of the first and second embodiments, respectively. 8A and 8B are vector diagrams showing distortion aberrations of the third and fourth embodiments, respectively. It is a schematic diagram which shows the calculation position of the upper surface curvature of each Example and a comparative example.

The maximum value Dmax (mm) and the improvement rate (%) of distortion aberration for each Example are shown in Table 3 below.

Here, the improvement rate is the ratio divided by Dmax of the comparative example by subtracting Dmax of each example from Dmax of the comparative example.

About each Example, the calculation result of top surface curvature is shown in following Table 4.

Here, each of the field curvature amount of _{C ++, C + -, C} - +, C -, C 00 is the value at each peak position and the center position of the image display area (3a), as shown in FIG. 9 Vertices 3d in the x-axis and Y-axis forwards, vertices 3e in the X-axis and Y-directions, vertices 3f in the X-axis and Y-directions, and vertices in the X- and Y-directions, respectively. It corresponds to the center position of the intersection of 3g) and the center normal 3b, and a unit is mm.

Max-min represents the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the upper surface curvature in the image display area 3a.

In addition, the improvement rate is the ratio which the value of each Example was subtracted from the value of a comparative example and divided by the value of the comparative example with respect to the deviation max-min of upper surface curvature.

As shown in Fig. 6, the distortion aberration of the comparative example has the smallest distortion aberration at the Y-phase height forward side of the center of the X-phase height, the Y-phase height is the (-) side, and the absolute value of the X-phase height is increased. Each has a larger distribution. For this reason, non-uniform distortion occurs over the up-down direction of the projected image, and image quality deteriorates.

The upper surface curvature of the comparative example has a large value at the vertices 3e and 3g of FIG. 9. For this reason, the focus in the vicinity did not match.

In the first embodiment, the distortion aberration is minimized at the center position of the image display region 3a as shown in Fig. 7A, and the symmetry of the amount of aberration generation in the vertical direction is good. As shown in Table 3, Dmax was also improved by 13.7% compared with the comparative example.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the distortion aberration is remarkably improved by parallel eccentricity of the second optical system 4B in the direction of generation of the distortion aberration.

On the other hand, according to Table 4, the upper surface curvature generally worsened compared with the comparative example.

In the second embodiment, the distortion aberration tends to be almost the same as in the first embodiment, as shown in Fig. 7B, and as shown in Table 3, the Dmax was also improved by 12.2% compared with the comparative example.

Therefore, even if the inclination eccentricity of the reflective display element 3 is applied, the distortion aberration is remarkably improved in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

On the other hand, according to Table 4, the upper surface curvature took a value closer to the comparative example than the first example, and the variation in the upper surface curvature was improved by 3.0% compared with the comparative example.

By combining parallel eccentricity and oblique eccentricity, both distortion aberration and top surface curvature were improved.

In the third embodiment, the distortion aberration tends to be almost the same as in the first embodiment, as shown in Fig. 8A, and as shown in Table 3, the Dmax was also improved by 3.6% compared with the comparative example.

For this reason, although the improvement degree of image distortion is slightly small, the symmetry of image distortion became favorable.

On the other hand, according to Table 4, upper surface curvature tends to deteriorate compared with a comparative example.

In the fourth embodiment, as shown in Table 3, the distortion aberration has almost the same result (-0.7%) as compared with the comparative example, and as shown in FIG. 8B, the symmetry in the vertical direction is almost the first embodiment. It was good like the example, and the symmetry of image distortion became favorable.

On the other hand, according to Table 4, the curvature of the upper surface was remarkably improved compared to the third example, and the result was almost the same as the comparative example (-0.6%).

From these results, it can be seen that the second optical system 4B can improve the distortion aberration with either parallel eccentricity or oblique eccentricity.

In addition, it can be seen that image curvature can be improved by applying oblique eccentricity to the reflective display element 3 and some optical elements of the first optical system 4A.

Therefore, by appropriately combining these parallel eccentricity and inclination eccentricity as needed, distortion aberration and image curvature can be improved, and image quality can be improved.

At this time, when the eccentric direction is reversed, the change direction of the aberration is also reversed, so that the overall aberration can be further optimized by changing the eccentric direction of the optical element as necessary.

According to the projection optical system of the present invention and the image projection apparatus using the same, the aberration of the portion for offset-projecting the image display area can be reduced by eccentricity of the second optical system arranged on the display element side, thereby reducing the aberration by a simple configuration. And an effect of projecting a high quality image.

The present invention, the projection optical system and the image projection apparatus using the same have been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings for clarity, but this is merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art can various modifications and equivalents therefrom. It will be appreciated that other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the appended claims.

Claims (11)

A display element for displaying a projected image in an image display area, and a first optical system and a second optical system sequentially arranged along an optical path between the projection surface and the display element, and the image display area of the display element is defined as the first optical element. A projection optical system for expanding and projecting at an eccentric position with respect to the optical axis of the optical system, When the optical axis of the first optical system is used as the reference axis, the image display area of the display element is disposed at least parallel to the eccentric, and the second optical system is arranged to be eccentric, And the second optical system includes at least one optical element eccentrically positioned in an image display area of the display element at a position closest to the display element and having power. The method of claim 1, And the image display area of the display element is eccentrically parallel to the side opposite to the direction of the projection plane with respect to the reference axis. The method of claim 1, The axis offset Δh with respect to the reference axis of the display element is given by a value obtained by dividing the parallel eccentric distance of the image display area by half the length of the side of the eccentric direction of the image display area. Projection optical system characterized in that. <Condition 1> 0 <Δh≤2.0 delete The method of claim 1, And said second optical system is disposed parallel to the reference axis in an eccentric manner. The method of claim 1, And the second optical system is disposed obliquely eccentric with respect to the reference axis. The method of claim 1, And an eccentric variable mechanism capable of manually or automatically adjusting the eccentricity of the second optical system. The method of claim 1, The first optical system includes a plurality of optical elements, At least one optical element of the plurality of optical elements is arranged eccentrically with respect to the reference axis. The method of claim 8, And an eccentric variable mechanism capable of manually or automatically adjusting the eccentricity of the at least one optical element arranged eccentrically among the plurality of optical elements. The method of claim 1, And an image display region of the display element inclined eccentrically with respect to the reference axis. The image projection apparatus which enlarges and projects the image of the image display area | region of the said display element using the projection optical system as described in any one of Claims 1-3 and 5-10.

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