KR20190085829A - Image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an image display device, which comprises: a scanning optical unit scanning laser light; a beam shaper in which laser light scanned by the scanning optical unit is substantially perpendicularly incident; two reflective optical elements with sculptured surfaces; one anamorphic lens; an illumination optical unit illuminating laser light emitted from the beam shaper with a display panel; a display panel displaying an image using the laser light illuminated from the illumination optical unit; three reflective optical elements having sculptured surfaces; and an eyepiece optical unit focusing image light emitted from the display panel on an eye of an observer.

Description

[0001] IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE [0002]

Hereinafter, a technique relating to an image display apparatus is provided.

The head-up display device displays a virtual image superimposed on a real scene in front of the vehicle, thereby generating an augmented reality (AR) to which information is added to the actual scene . The head-up display device can contribute to a safe and comfortable vehicle operation by providing the desired information to the observer accurately while suppressing the movement of the observer traveling the vehicle to the utmost.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-014861

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an image display apparatus includes a scanning optical unit for scanning a laser light; A beam shaper in which laser light scanned from the scanning optical unit is incident vertically; An illumination light classifier including two reflective optical elements having a free-form curve and one anamorphic lens, and illuminating a display panel with laser light emit- ted from the beam shaper; The display panel displaying an image using the laser light illuminated from the illuminating light unit; And an eyepiece optic that includes three reflective optical elements having a free-form surface and that condenses the image light emitted from the display panel onto an observer's eye.

The image display apparatus may further include a first control unit for controlling a position at which the scanned laser beam enters the beam shaper, based on the position information of the eye.

The scanning optical section includes a laser scanning section, and the first control section can control the position at which the scanned laser beam enters the beam shaper by controlling the laser scanning section.

The first control unit may condense the image light by controlling the position at which the scanned laser light enters the beam shaper in correspondence with the positional change in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the eye .

The image display apparatus may further include a second controller for controlling the position of the beam shaper based on the position information of the eye.

The second control unit can control the position of the beam shaper back and forth with respect to the optical axis.

The second control unit can condense the image light by controlling the position of the beam shaper in response to the case where the eye moves back and forth with respect to the optical axis.

The beam shaper may be a diffractive optical element (DOE), a holographic optical element (HOE), or a diffuser plate.

The image display apparatus may further include a third controller for controlling the content of the image based on the position information of the eye.

The third control unit may provide a right eye image and a left eye image which are distinguished from each other in terms of binocular vision.

The scanning optical unit may include: a light source unit emitting the laser light; A laser scanning unit scanning the laser beam emitted from the light source unit; And a mirror for reflecting the laser beam scanned by the laser scanning unit to cause the laser beam to enter the beam shaper.

The laser scanning unit is implemented by a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) scanner, and the mirror can be implemented as a parabolic mirror.

The light source unit may include a condensing lens that concentrates the laser light onto a diffusion plate; A diffusion plate for scattering laser light condensed by the condenser lens; A collimating lens that emits collimated light generated by collimating a laser beam scattered by the diffusion plate to the laser scanning unit; And a motor for rotating the diffuser plate.

The eyepiece optics may include a front end free-form surface mirror reflecting the image light emitted from the display panel; A back-end free-form surface mirror for additionally reflecting the image light reflected by the front-end free-form surface mirror; And a combiner for focusing the image light onto the eye by further reflecting the image light reflected by the free-form surface mirror at the subsequent stage.

The free-form curved mirror at the front end and the free-form curved mirror at the rear end may be arranged such that at least two image lights cross each other between the optical path from the free-form curved mirror of the front end to the free-

The free-form curved mirror and the combiner at the subsequent stage may be arranged so that at least two of the beams of the image light intersect between the optical path from the free-form curved mirror at the succeeding stage to the coupler.

The image display apparatus may be a head-up display (HUD) apparatus.

The display panel may be implemented as a hologram display device.

The light source unit can combine laser light of red light, green light, and blue light to generate white light.

The light source unit may include semiconductor laser light sources arranged in an array.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image display apparatus according to an embodiment.
2 is a view for explaining a configuration of an image display apparatus and a positional relationship between a windshield glass and a virtual image according to an embodiment.
3 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of an image display apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a view for explaining each control unit included in the image display apparatus according to one embodiment.
5 is a view for explaining a configuration of a scanning optical unit and a beam shaper according to an embodiment.
6 is a view for explaining a configuration of a light source unit according to an embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of an illumination illumination unit according to an embodiment.
8 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an eyepiece optical unit according to an embodiment.
Fig. 9 is a view for explaining a side where rays intersect in the eyepiece optics according to the embodiment; Fig.
10 and 11 are views for explaining the configuration of an image display apparatus according to one embodiment.
12 is a view for explaining a configuration of a scanning optical unit and a beam shaper according to another embodiment.
13 is a view for explaining a configuration of a light source unit according to another embodiment.
FIG. 14 is a view for explaining a configuration of a light source unit according to another embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the scope of the patent application is not limited or limited by these embodiments. Like reference symbols in the drawings denote like elements.

Various modifications may be made to the embodiments described below. It is to be understood that the embodiments described below are not intended to limit the embodiments, but include all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives to them.

The terms used in the examples are used only to illustrate specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the embodiments. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this specification, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like refer to the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this embodiment belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

In the following description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals, and redundant explanations thereof will be omitted. In the following description of the embodiments, a detailed description of related arts will be omitted if it is determined that the gist of the embodiments may be unnecessarily blurred.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image display apparatus according to an embodiment.

The image display apparatus 100 includes a scanning optical unit 110, a beam shaper 120, an illuminating optical unit 130, a display panel 140, And an eyepiece optical unit 150.

The scanning optical unit 110 can scan the laser light.

The beam shaper 120 can receive the scanned laser light from the scanning optical unit 110. [ For example, the laser light scanned from the scanning optical unit 110 may be incident on the beam shaper 120 substantially perpendicularly. The laser light scanned from the scanning optical unit 110 may be incident at an angle perpendicular or perpendicular to the plane of the beam shaper 120. [ An angle similar to vertical may indicate an angle where the angle difference to an angle perpendicular to the plane of the beam shaper 120 is less than a predetermined threshold angle.

The illumination unit 130 may illuminate the display panel 140 with laser light emit from the beam shaper 120. [

The display panel 140 may display an image using the laser light illuminated by the illumination light unit 130. For example, the display panel 140 may generate the image light corresponding to the image by passing the laser light illuminated by the illumination light section 130. [ The image light may represent light after the laser light has passed through any point of the display panel 140. [ The image light may comprise a bundle of rays emitted from any point of the display panel 140.

The eyepiece optical unit 150 can concentrate the image light emitted from the display panel 140 to the eye of the observer.

The image display apparatus 100 according to one embodiment is, for example, a head-up display device provided in a vehicle, and can display a virtual image superimposed on a real scene in front of the own vehicle. The image display apparatus 100 can generate an augmented reality in which information and the like are added to the actual scene. However, the image display apparatus 100 is applied to the head-up display apparatus as a simple example, and may be applied to other apparatuses.

The image display apparatus 100 according to one embodiment can efficiently condense the image light emitted from the head-up display device into the eyes of the observer. For example, the image display apparatus 100 can condense the image light to the observer's eye in order to display the image on the entire eye box. The image display apparatus 100 can condense the image light to the observer's eye, thereby collecting different image light in each of both eyes. Thus, the image display apparatus 100 can provide a stereoscopic image to the observer by providing a left-eye image in the left eye of the observer and a right-eye image in the right-eye image of the observer.

2 is a view for explaining a configuration of an image display apparatus and a positional relationship between a windshield glass and a virtual image according to an embodiment. 3 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of an image display apparatus according to an embodiment.

First, the scanning optical unit 110 can scan the laser beam with the beam shaper 120. The beam shaper 120 may emit laser light to the illumination light unit 130. The scanning of the laser beam by the scanning optical unit 110 and the beam shaper 120 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG.

The laser light emitted from the beam shaper 120 can be incident on the illumination light unit 130. The laser light may be transmitted through the anamorphic lens 131, the first free-form surface mirror 132, and the second free-form surface mirror 133 provided in the illumination unit 130 in this order.

The laser beam can be incident on the display panel 140 from the second free-form surface mirror 133. The display panel 140 can display an image using the laser light. For example, the display panel 140, as a transmissive panel, can receive laser light through the back surface and emit image light based on the received laser light. The image light emitted from the display panel 140 can be incident on the eyepiece optical unit 150.

Then, the image light can be propagated in the order of the third free-form surface mirror 151, the fourth free-form surface mirror 152, and the combiner 153 provided in the eyepiece optical unit 150. The image light reflected by the coupler 153 is focused on the observer's eye. Accordingly, the observer can recognize the virtual image displayed on the projection plane 11 by superimposing on the front real scene through the windshield glass 10, as shown in Fig.

According to one embodiment, the image display apparatus 100 can continuously focus the image light on the observer's eye by controlling the predetermined optical element. For example, when the position of the observer's eye changes, the image display apparatus 100 can control the movement or the position of the predetermined optical element based on the eye position information. The image display apparatus 100 can continuously focus the image light on the observer's eye by controlling the position of the optical element or the like in response to the change in the position of the eye. Here, the eye position information is information indicating the position of the eye of the observer generated by analyzing the predetermined sensing data, and the generation method is not particularly limited. In addition, generation of the eye position information may be realized by an external device or may be realized by the image display device 100. [ In addition, although the image light is described as being focused on both sides of the observer, it may be focused on only one eye.

The image display apparatus 100 can condense different image lights for each of the binocular. The image display apparatus 100 can provide the observer with a three-dimensional image by providing different image lights to each of the binocular. For example, the image display apparatus 100 can condense the image light of the left eye image and the image light of the right eye image into each eye, which have a disparity with each other.

Hereinafter, each configuration of the image display apparatus 100 will be described in detail.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining each control unit included in the image display apparatus according to one embodiment. 5 is a view for explaining a configuration of a scanning optical unit and a beam shaper according to an embodiment.

The scanning optical unit 110 may include a light source unit 111, a laser scanning unit (for example, a Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) scanner 112), and a parabolic mirror 113. In addition, the scanning optical unit 110 may be disposed in a dead space generated when the illumination optical unit 130 and the eyepiece optical unit 150 are disposed. The dead space may represent a space remaining in the space defined by the housing of the image display apparatus 100 other than the space occupied by the illumination optical system 130 and the eyepiece optics 150. [ Therefore, the image display apparatus 100 can be downsized.

The light source unit 111 is an optical element that generates laser light, and can generate, for example, white light. The specific structure of the light source 111 will be described with reference to FIG.

The MEMS scanner 112 is an optical element for scanning the laser light incident from the light source unit 111. [ For example, the MEMS scanner 112 may be placed at the focal position of the parabolic mirror 113. The laser light scanned by the MEMS scanner 112 is reflected by the parabolic mirror 113 and enters the beam shaper 120. Here, when the laser beam emitted from the focal position of the parabolic mirror 113 is reflected at each point on the parabolic mirror 113, the proceeding direction of each reflected light is characterized by being approximately parallel to the optical axis of the parabolic mirror 113 . The reflected light, which is substantially parallel to each other, is incident substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the beam shaper 120. In this specification, the optical axis can indicate a line indicating an optical path through which light passes.

The image display apparatus 100 may further include a first controller 191 for controlling the position of the laser beam incident on the beam shaper 120 based on the position information of the observer's eye. More specifically, the first controller 191 controls the position at which the laser beam reflected by the parabolic mirror 113 enters the beam shaper 120 by controlling the MEMS scanner 112. Also, in the beam shaper 120, the incident angle of the laser beam does not change even if the incident position of the laser beam is changed. The laser beam can still enter the beam shaper 120 at an angle substantially perpendicular to the plane of the beam shaper 120, even if the position at which the laser beam is incident on the beam shaper 120 is changed. The MEMS scanner 112 may operate as the first control unit 191. [

For reference, the beam shaper 120 according to one embodiment is in an optical system of the image display apparatus 100 in a coupling relationship with the position of the observer's eye. If the position of the laser beam incident on the beam shaper 120 is changed, the position at which the image light is finally condensed is also changed. Accordingly, the image display apparatus 100 can determine the position where the laser beam is incident on the beam shaper 120 according to the change in the position of the observer's eye. For example, the first control unit 191 controls the position of the scanned laser beam incident on the beam shaper 120 so as to correspond to a positional change in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the eye The image light can be condensed. It can be assumed that the position of the observer's eye moves in a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis. The first control unit 191 can control the MEMS scanner 112 such that the laser light is incident on the beam shaper 120 at a position corresponding to the changed position corresponding to the change in the position of the eyes of the observer. Accordingly, the image display apparatus 100 can continuously converge the image light on the observer's eyes.

In addition, the MEMS scanner 112 can generate the right eye image light corresponding to different right eye images and the left eye image light corresponding to the left eye image by adjusting the position where the laser light is incident on the beam shaper 120. For example, the MEMS scanner 112 may be driven at high speed to alternately time sequentially emit laser light in response to a point corresponding to the left eye and a point corresponding to the right eye on the beam shaper 120 can do. The laser light incident on the point corresponding to the left eye on the beam shaper 120 is converted into a left eye image light by the display panel 140 and can be condensed on the left eye of the observer. The laser light incident on the point corresponding to the right eye can then be converted into right eye image light by the display panel 140 and condensed into the right eye. Therefore, the MEMS scanner 112 can scan the laser light so that different right-eye images and left-eye images are provided to the observer while switching at high speed. The image display apparatus can allow the observer to recognize the three-dimensional image by providing the observer with the right-eye image and the left-eye image through high-speed driving of the MEMS scanner 112.

In FIG. 4, the scanning optics 110 is illustrated as including the MEMS scanner 112, but is not limited thereto. In addition to the MEMS scanner 112, the scanning optics 110 may include optical elements for scanning laser light. Further, in addition to the parabolic mirror 113, the scanning optical unit 110 may include an optical element that allows laser light to be incident substantially perpendicularly to the beam shaper 120. [

The beam shaper 120 is an optical element that transmits the laser light reflected by the parabolic mirror 113 to the illumination light unit 130. The beam shaper 120 can change the traveling direction of the laser light reflected by the parabolic mirror 113 through a diffraction phenomenon or the like. Further, the beam shaper 120 can change the beam shape of the laser beam. The beam shaper 120 may be implemented by a circuit optical element such as a diffractive optical element (DOE), a holographic optical element such as a holographic optical element (HOE), or a diffuser plate.

As described above, the laser light reflected by the parabolic mirror 113 can be incident substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the beam shaper 120. [ The beam shaper 120 can broaden the light beam diameter of the incident laser beam to a critical size and change the shape of the laser beam (for example, original circular shape) into a rectangular shape. The shape in which the laser beam is changed is not limited to the rectangular shape, but may be similar to the rectangular shape. The critical size may be determined according to the design and may be, for example, a size corresponding to the cone angle of the illumination light in the illumination section 130. The light flux diameter of the laser light can indicate the diameter of the laser light with respect to the traveling direction of the laser light.

The image display apparatus 100 may further include a second control unit 192 for controlling the position of the beam shaper 120 based on the position information of the observer's eye. For example, the second controller 192 can control the position of the beam shaper 120 back and forth with respect to the optical axis. The longitudinal direction with respect to the optical axis may be, for example, a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the beam shaper 120. The substantially vertical direction may be a direction perpendicular or perpendicular to the plane of the beam shaper 120.

As described above, in the optical system of the image display apparatus 100, the beam shaper 120 according to the embodiment is in a coupling relation with the position of the observer's eye. In response to the case where the position of the observer's eye moves back and forth with respect to the optical axis, the second control section 192 can change the position of the beam shaper 120 to a position corresponding to the change of the position of the observer's eye. Therefore, even when the observer's eye moves back and forth with respect to the optical axis, the image display apparatus 100 can continue to focus the image light on the observer's eyes. However, the method of changing the position of the beam shaper 120 is not limited to this.

Further, the image display apparatus 100 can control the content of the image based on the position of the observer's eye. For example, when the position of the observer's eye changes in a state where a three-dimensional image at a predetermined time is displayed, the image display apparatus 100 may change the content of the image into a three-dimensional image at a point in time after the change . For example, the image display apparatus 100 may further include a third control unit 193 for controlling the content of the image based on position information of an observer's eye. The third controller 193 can change the contents of the image by controlling the display panel 140. [ For example, it may be assumed that the position of the observer's eye changes to the second viewpoint in a state where the three-dimensional image with respect to the first viewpoint is visualized. In response to the user's eyes moving from the first viewpoint to the second viewpoint, the third controller 193 can change the content corresponding to the first viewpoint to the content corresponding to the second viewpoint. The content corresponding to the first viewpoint may represent the content observed at the first viewpoint of the 3D object and the content corresponding to the second viewpoint may represent the content observed at the second viewpoint of the 3D content. Therefore, the image display apparatus 100 can continue to provide an appropriate image to the observer at that point of time even if the position of the observer's eye changes.

6 is a view for explaining a configuration of a light source unit according to an embodiment.

The light source unit 111 may combine laser light of red light, green light, and blue light to generate white light. The coupling of laser light can also be referred to as multiplexing. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the light source unit 111 includes an R light source unit 111-1a, a G light source unit 111-1b, a B light source unit 111-1c, a collimating lens 111- 2a to collimation lens 111-2c, a dichroic mirror 111-3a, and a color selection mirror 111-3b.

Each of the R light source unit 111-1a, the G light source unit 111-1b, and the B light source unit 111-1c can emit laser light having a peak intensity in an individual band. The R light source unit 111-1a can emit red light as laser light having a peak intensity in a red wavelength band. The G light source unit 111-1b can emit green light as laser light having a peak intensity in the green wavelength band. The B light source unit 111-1c can emit blue light as laser light having a peak intensity in the blue wavelength band.

The laser light source used in the light source unit 111 is not limited. For example, a semiconductor laser light source may be used as the laser light source. For example, a GaInP quantum well structure laser diode using a GaInP semiconductor is used as the R light source unit 111-1a, and a GaInN semiconductor is used as the G light source unit 111-1b and the B light source unit 111-1c. A GaInN quantum well structure laser diode can be used. Since the laser light source is realized as a semiconductor laser light source, the light source unit 111 can be miniaturized.

Each of the laser beams emitted from the R light source section 111-1a, the G light source section 111-1b and the B light source section 111-1c is transmitted through the collimating lens 111-2a to the collimating lens 111-2c, So that the laser light becomes substantially parallel. Thereafter, the red light from the R light source unit 111-1a is transmitted through the color discriminating mirror 111-3a and the color discriminating mirror 111-3b. The optical path of the green light emitted from the G light source unit 111-1b is switched by the color selection mirror 111-3a. The color selection mirror 111-3a is a mirror having a characteristic of transmitting light of longer wavelength than red light and reflecting green light. And the green light whose optical path is switched by the color discriminating mirror 111-3a can be coupled to the red light. The bundle of rays combined with the green light and the red light passes through the color discriminating mirror 111-3b. The color discriminating mirror 111-3b is a mirror having a characteristic of transmitting light of longer wavelength than green light and reflecting blue light. The optical path of the blue light emitted from the B light source unit 111-1c can be switched by the color selection mirror 111-3b. The blue light whose optical path has been converted by the color discriminating mirror 111-3b can be combined with the red light and the green light. Accordingly, the light source unit 111 can generate white light by combining red light, green light, and blue light. The light source unit 111 emits the white light generated as described above to the MEMS scanner 112.

Further, the configuration of the light source 111 is not limited to the above. For example, the light source unit 111 may use a semiconductor laser light source including all of the R light source, the G light source, and the B light source instead. In addition, the light source unit 111 may emit laser light in a wavelength band other than red light, green light, and blue light.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of an illumination illumination unit according to an embodiment.

The illumination unit 130 may include an anamorphic lens 131, a first free-form surface mirror 132, and a second free-form surface mirror 133.

The anamorphic lens 131 is an optical element that expands the laser light incident from the beam shaper 120 and can extend the laser light along at least one of the short axis direction and the major axis direction of the anamorphic lens 131. [ The anamorphic lens 131 may be, for example, a half cylindrical lens (e.g., a lenticular lens). In the case where the anamorphic lens 131 is a lenticular lens, the uniaxial direction may indicate a direction corresponding to a line crossing a cross section of a half cylindrical lens among a plurality of semi-cylindrical lenses constituting the lenticular lens. For example, a direction corresponding to a line crossing a cross section orthogonal to the optical axis in the shortest distance may be a minor axis direction, and a direction corresponding to a line crossing the longest distance may be a major axis direction in the semi-cylindrical lens. For example, the optical characteristics (e.g., focal length) of the anamorphic lens 131 may be orthogonal to the optical axis and may have different curvatures in both directions orthogonal to each other. The beam shaper 120 and the anamorphic lens 131 can efficiently illuminate the display panel 140 to substantially the entire surface. One surface of the anamorphic lens 131 may have an anamorphic surface, and an equation defining the anamorphic surface of the anamorphic lens 131 is described below. The other surface of the anamorphic lens 131 may be planar, but is not limited thereto.

The first free-form surface mirror 132 is an optical element that reflects laser light incident from the anamorphic lens 131.

The second free-form curved mirror 133 is an optical element that emits a laser beam toward the display panel 140 by reflecting the laser beam incident from the first free-form curved mirror 132.

Through the above-described optical elements having free-form curves, the image display apparatus can appropriately control the reflection of light, and the image display apparatus 100 can be miniaturized. A free-form surface can represent a non-rotationally symmetric surface. The formulas defining the free-form surfaces of the first free-form surface mirror 132 and the second free-form surface mirror 133 are described below.

The display panel 140 forms an intermediate image by laser light incident from the second free-form surface mirror 133. The image light corresponding to the intermediate image can be transmitted to the combiner 153 through the various optical elements and can form a virtual image superimposed on the actual scene. The light formed on the display panel 140 is emitted from the emission side of the display panel 140 to the third free-form surface mirror 151 of the eyepiece optics part 150.

2 and 3, the display panel 140 is an optical path from the third free-form surface mirror 151 to the fourth free-form surface mirror 152, (153). With such a configuration, the eyepiece optical unit 150 can be miniaturized and exhibit high optical performance.

For reference, the display panel 140 may be implemented as a hologram display device such as an SLM (Spatial Light Modulator). The image display apparatus 100 can display a hologram image using the hologram display device. In this case, the image display apparatus 100 can display a three-dimensional hologram image to the observer by displaying different hologram images for each of the binocular.

8 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an eyepiece optical unit according to an embodiment.

The eyepiece optics 150 includes a third free-form surface mirror 151, a fourth free-form surface mirror 152, and a combiner 153.

The third free-form surface mirror 151 is an optical element (for example, a free-form curved surface mirror at the front end) that reflects the image light constituting the intermediate image emitted from the display panel 140.

The fourth free-form surface mirror 152 reflects the image light incident from the third free-form surface mirror 151 so that an optical element (for example, a free-form surface mirror at the subsequent stage) that emits the image light toward the combiner 153, to be.

The combiner 153 may receive the image light from the fourth free-form surface mirror 152 and may reflect a portion of the received image light to the observer's eye. For example, the image light emitted from the fourth free-form surface mirror 152 may be projected to the combiner 153. [ The combiner 153 can partially reflect the projection light projected onto the combiner 153 by the image light to allow the virtual image to be recognized by the observer. For example, the coupler 153 is formed by forming an evaporation film serving as a half mirror on a viewer-side surface (e.g., a reflecting surface) of a colorless resin transparent plate Device. Also, according to one embodiment, the reflective surface of the coupler 153 is concave, but the reflective surface of the coupler 153 may be convex. In place of the coupler 153, a windshield glass 10 may also be used.

9, the optical path in the eyepiece optical unit 150 will be described.

Fig. 9 is a view for explaining a side where rays intersect in the eyepiece optics according to the embodiment; Fig.

According to one embodiment, each optical element can be arranged so that at least two image lights cross between the optical paths from the third free-form surface mirror 151 to the fourth free-form surface mirror 152. For example, as shown in Fig. 9, the image light reflected at an arbitrary point of the third free-form surface mirror 151 is reflected by the image light reflected at another point of the third free- (20), and enters the fourth free-form surface mirror (152).

Thus, the optical system of the image display apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, in particular, the third free-form surface mirror 151 and the fourth free-form surface mirror 152 can be miniaturized. However, the form in which the image light intersects in the optical path from the third free-form surface mirror 151 to the fourth free-form surface mirror 152 is not particularly limited.

In addition, each optical element is disposed so that light rays of respective image heights intersect between optical paths from the fourth free-form surface mirror 152 to the coupler 153. For example, the fourth free-form surface mirror 152 and the coupler 153 are arranged such that at least two of the rays of image light intersect between the optical path from the fourth free-form surface mirror 152 to the coupler 153 . By intersecting the rays of the image light, aberration can be improved. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the rays of each image elevation emitted from the fourth free-form surface mirror 152 may be incident on the combiner 153 crossing the position 30. However, there is no particular limitation on the form in which the rays of each image intersect in the optical path from the third free-form curved mirror 152 to the coupler 153. The formulas defining the free-form surfaces of the third free-form surface mirror 151 and the fourth free-form surface mirror 152 are described below.

Accordingly, the diffusion angle of the light incident on the coupler 153 can be increased. The image light reflected by the coupler 153 can be effectively focused on the observer's eye. Therefore, the optical performance of the image display apparatus 100 can be improved. Also, even when the image display apparatus 100 according to one embodiment is applied to an optical system of a wide field of view (FOV), the optical system can be miniaturized.

Each configuration of the image display apparatus 100 has been described above. As described above, since the image display apparatus 100 is a reflection optical system, generation of chromatic aberration due to a difference in wavelength can be prevented. Therefore, the image display apparatus 100 can display a high-quality image without color bleeding.

10 and 11 are views for explaining the configuration of an image display apparatus according to one embodiment.

10 and 11 illustrate an example of a configuration in which all the optical elements of the image display apparatus 100 described above are arranged. 11 shows only a light beam propagating in a bundle of rays passing through each optical element of the image display apparatus 100 for propagating the center position of each optical element for convenience of explanation. However, the arrangement of the optical elements of the image display apparatus 100 is not limited to those shown in Figs. 10 and 11.

The following describes the formulas that define the free-form surface. For example, the first free-form surface mirror 132 and the second free-form surface mirror 133 of the illumination unit 130 and the third free-form surface mirror 151 of the eyepiece optical unit 150, The four free-form surface mirror 152, and the combiner 153 will be described. The free-form surface of each optical element is defined by the following equations (1), (2), and (3) when defining the orthogonal coordinate system (x, y, z) with respect to the vertex of the free- . The respective coefficients of the equation (1) for each optical element are shown in the following Table 1.

[Equation 1]

&Quot; (2) "

&Quot; (3) "

In the above-described equations (1) to (3), x denotes the x-coordinate of the surface, y denotes the y-coordinate of the surface, and z denotes the sag amount of the surface substantially parallel to the z-axis. C is the vertex curvature, which can represent 1 / radius of curvature. k is a conic constant, and C _j is a coefficient of the unary formula x ^m y ^m .

The eyepiece optics (150) Department of Illumination (130) The coupler (153) The fourth free-form surface mirror 152, The third free-form surface mirror (151) The second free-form surface mirror 133, The first free-form surface mirror 132, Vertex curvature 0 0 0 0 0 Conic coefficient 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of x 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of y 0 0 0 1.43. E-01 -7.54. E-01 coefficient of x ² -5.19. E-04 6.20. E-04 8.21. E-04 -1.53. E-03 -1.13. E-03 coefficient of xy 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of y ² -7.43. E-04 4.90. E-03 -3.21. E-03 3.46. E-03 1.16. E-03 coefficient of x ³ 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of x ² y 3.85E-07 -6.34E-06 -1.40E-06 -5.25E-05 2.00E-05 Coefficient of xy ² 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of y ³ 4.37E-07 2.16E-06 -7.30E-06 -9.95E-06 -1.32E-05 coefficient of x ⁴ -2.57E-10 3.50E-09 1.16E-08 1.99E-07 1.36E-08 Coefficient of x ³ y 0 0 0 0 0 the coefficient of x ² y ² -1.39E-09 -8.60E-09 7.02E-09 -1.29E-07 -4.60E-07 Coefficient of xy ³ 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of y ⁴ -7.71E-10 2.53E-07 -4.67E-09 -1.96E-07 1.14E-07 coefficient of x ⁵ 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of x ⁴ y 1.73E-12 -1.73E-11 -2.28E-10 2.48E-09 -1.94E-09 the coefficient of x ³ y ² 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of x ² y ³ 2.85E-12 -7.55E-10 -2.99E-10 9.53E-10 5.39E-09 Coefficient of xy ⁴ 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of y ⁵ 2.30E-12 1.47E-09 3.30E-12 -1.07E-09 7.12E-09 coefficient of x ⁶ 1.58E-15 5.07E-14 6.84E-13 -2.29E-12 1.57E-12 coefficient of x ⁵ y 0 0 0 0 0 the coefficient of x ⁴ y ² 1.94E-15 2.77E-13 1.68E-12 8.47E-12 3.81E-11 the coefficient of x ³ y ³ 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of x ² y ⁴ 0 -1.44E-12 5.44E-13 4.40E-12 -5.49E-11 Coefficient of xy ⁵ 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of y ⁶ 0 -3.87E-11 -1.29E-12 -1.74E-12 -1.67E-10 coefficient of x ⁷ 0 0 0 0 0 coefficient of x ⁶ y 0 1.11E-15 0 -1.76E-14 2.51E-13

In the above description, the definition formula of the free-form surface of each optical element has been described. Next, a mathematical expression for defining the anamorphic surface of the anamorphic lens 131 will be described. The anamorphic plane is defined by the following equation (4) when defining an orthogonal coordinate system (x, y, z) having the apex of the anamorphic plane as the origin. The respective coefficients in the equation (4) are shown in Table 2 below.

&Quot; (4) "

x: the x coordinate of the face

y: the y coordinate of the face

z: the amount of sag on the plane parallel to the z axis

CUX: Curvature of x

CUY: Curvature of y

KX: conic coefficient of x

KY: conic coefficient of y

AR: fourth-order coefficient of rotational symmetry

BR: 6th order coefficient of rotational symmetry

CR 8th order coefficient of rotational symmetry

DR: 10th order coefficient of rotational symmetry

AP: fourth-order coefficient of non-rotational symmetry

BP: sixth order coefficient of non-rotational symmetry

CP: 8th order coefficient of non-rotational symmetry

DP: 10th order coefficient of non-rotational symmetry

CUX 3.22.E-03 CUY -1.52.E-03 KY 0 AR 0 BR 0 CR 0 DR 0 KX 0 AP 0 BP 0 CP 0 DP 0

An anamorphic surface having the anamorphic lens 131 is described above. Next, an example of the positional coordinates of each optical element of the image display apparatus 100 will be described. For example, when an orthogonal coordinate system (x, y, z) (see Figs. 10 and 11) having the center point of the eye box as the origin is defined, the positional coordinates of each optical element are shown in Tables 3 to 5 below As shown in FIG. The position coordinates in Tables 3 to 5 below show the center position of each optical element. Eccentricity is also described in each optical element. In the eccentricity,?,?, And? Can represent the tilt angle when the rotation axis is the x-axis, the y-axis, and the z-axis, respectively. The amount of the inclination angle alpha and the amount of the inclination angle beta (for example, +) can indicate the angle when the lens is rotated in the counterclockwise direction with respect to the positive direction of the x-axis and the y-axis, respectively. The amount (for example, +) of the inclination angle? Represents the angle when rotated clockwise with respect to the positive direction of the z axis.

Coordinates (mm) Eccentricity (°) X Y Z alpha beta gamma Center point of eye box 0 0 0 0 0 0 The coupler (153) 0 0 800 32.4 0 0 The fourth free-form surface mirror 152, 0 -298.3 659.0 92.7 0 0 The third free-form surface mirror (151) 0 -211.6 607.5 149.7 0 0 In the display panel 140, 0 -212.4 643.5 178.7 0 0 The second free-form surface mirror 133, 0 -391.6 813.7 163.1 0 0 The first free-form surface mirror 132, 0 -277.9 767.6 -105.6 0 0 Anamorphic Lenses (131) 0 -513.5 766.9 1.2 0 0 Beam shaper 120, 0 -514.6 715.5 1.2 0 0

Coordinates (mm) Eccentricity (°) X Y Z alpha beta gamma Center point of eye box 0 0 0 0 0 0 The coupler (153) 0 0 750 32.4 0 0 The fourth free-form surface mirror 152, 0 -298.3 609.0 92.7 0 0 The third free-form surface mirror (151) 0 -211.6 557.5 149.7 0 0 In the display panel 140, 0 -212.4 593.5 178.7 0 0 The second free-form surface mirror 133, 0 -391.6 763.7 163.1 0 0 The first free-form surface mirror 132, 0 -277.9 717.6 -105.6 0 0 Anamorphic Lenses (131) 0 -513.6 712.1 1.2 0 0 Beam shaper 120, 0 -514.7 660.7 1.2 0 0

Coordinates (mm) Eccentricity (°) X Y Z alpha beta gamma Center point of eye box 0 0 0 0 0 0 The coupler (153) 0 0 850 32.4 0 0 The fourth free-form surface mirror 152, 0 -298.3 709.0 92.7 0 0 The third free-form surface mirror (151) 0 -211.6 657.5 149.7 0 0 In the display panel 140, 0 -212.4 693.5 178.7 0 0 The second free-form surface mirror 133, 0 -391.6 863.7 163.1 0 0 The first free-form surface mirror 132, 0 -277.9 817.6 -105.6 0 0 Anamorphic Lenses (131) 0 -513.4 821.5 1.2 0 0 Beam shaper 120, 0 -514.5 770.1 1.2 0 0

Among the optical elements described above, each of the optical elements disposed in front of the display panel 140 is an Off-Axis optical system (so-called "axis separation optical system") and the display panel 140 and the eyepiece optics 150 ) Is an On-Axis optical system. Thus, an optical system having high optical performance can be realized while satisfying the above-described definition formula, positional coordinates, and eccentricity. However, this is merely an example. As to whether each optical element is an Off-Axis optical system or an On-Axis optical system, it can be appropriately changed according to various conditions (definition formula, positional coordinate, eccentricity or required optical performance, 12 is a view for explaining a configuration of a scanning optical unit and a beam shaper according to another embodiment. 13 is a view for explaining a configuration of a light source unit according to another embodiment.

12 illustrates a light source unit 114 in which semiconductor laser light sources are arranged in an array instead of the light source unit 111 described in Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. The rest of the configuration other than the light source 114 may be realized by the same structure as described above with reference to FIGS.

Fig. 13 shows the light source unit 114 described in Fig. 13, the light source unit 114 includes a laser light source unit 114-1a to a laser light source unit 114-1d, a collimator lens 114-2a to a collimator lens 114-2d, a parabolic mirror 114- 3, and a collimating lens 114-4.

The laser light source part 114-1a to the laser light source part 114-1d are arranged in an array form and are a light source element that emits a predetermined laser light. 13 shows only four laser light source sections, namely the laser light source section 114-1a to 114-1d, but the number of laser light source sections is not limited, and the size of the parabolic mirror 114-3, And the like. For reference, in FIG. 12, a total of 16 laser light source portions arranged in four rows and four columns are shown. The wavelength of the laser light emitted by each laser light source portion is also not limited. The laser beams can be combined regardless of the wavelength of each laser beam.

The laser beams emitted from the laser light source sections 114-1a to 114-1d pass through the corresponding collimator lenses 114-2a to 114-2d, do. This approximately parallel laser light is combined by being condensed on the collimator lens 114-4 arranged at the focal position of the parabolic mirror 114-3 by being reflected to the parabolic mirror 114-3.

FIG. 14 is a view for explaining a configuration of a light source unit according to another embodiment.

The light source unit 115 shown in Fig. 14 can reduce the influence of speckle noise caused by laser light. The speckle noise is a phenomenon in which laser spots interfere with each other and bright spots (for example, bright spots) are generated when fine irregularities are present on the reflection surface or the transmission surface. If speckle noise occurs, it is not preferable since the image becomes flickering easily. Further, since the laser light is narrow band, the light emission wavelength is constant and interference easily occurs, and speckle noise is likely to occur.

14 includes a condenser lens 115-4, a diffusion plate 115-5, a motor 115-6, and a collimator lens 115-7 in place of the light source unit 111 described in Figs. 5 and 6 The light source unit 115 will be described. In addition, the configuration other than the light source unit 115 may be implemented in the same manner as the configuration described with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG.

Similar to the light source unit 111, the white light generated by combining the respective color lights by the color selection mirror 115-3a and the color selection mirror 115-3b is incident on the condenser lens 115-4. Each color light is generated by the R light source unit 115-1a, the G light source unit 115-1b, the B light source unit 115-1c, the collimating lens 115-2a, and the collimator lens 115-2c .

The condenser lens 115-4 converges the incident laser light on the diffusion plate 115-5. Thereafter, the laser light scattered by the diffuser plate 115-5 is transmitted through the collimator lens 115-7, thereby becoming approximately parallel laser light. In other words, it becomes a beam by the collimating lens 115-7. Being a beam by the collimating lens 115-7, scanning by the later-stage MEMS scanner 112 can be performed.

Here, the state of the speckle of the laser light emitted from the diffusion plate 115-5 changes in accordance with the position where the laser light reaches in the diffusion plate 115-5. Furthermore, by rotating the diffuser plate 115-5 with the motor 115-6, the state of the speckle of the laser beam emitted from the diffuser plate 115-5 changes with rotation.

As a result, the speckle noise is averaged and reduced. More specifically, although the speckle noise occurs in the emission light at a certain time, the motor 115-6 rotates the diffusion plate 115-5 at a high speed (for example, a predetermined speed or more) The speckle noise is averaged, and the speckle noise can be reduced to such an extent that it can not be visually recognized. This reduces the brightness of the image.

Further, the above-described configuration is merely an example, and the optical element described above can be appropriately changed to another optical element having a similar function.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention has been applied to a head-up display device, but it can also be applied to a head-mounted display device and the like.

It is possible to focus the better image light on the observer's eye.

The apparatus described above may be implemented as a hardware component, a software component, and / or a combination of hardware components and software components. For example, the apparatus and components described in the embodiments may be implemented within a computer system, such as, for example, a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable array (FPA) A programmable logic unit (PLU), a microprocessor, or any other device capable of executing and responding to instructions. The processing device may execute one or more software applications that are executed on an operating system (OS) and an operating system. The processing device may also access, store, manipulate, process, and generate data in response to execution of the software. For ease of understanding, the processing apparatus may be described as being used singly, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the processing apparatus may have a plurality of processing elements and / As shown in FIG. For example, the processing unit may comprise a plurality of processors or one processor and one controller. Other processing configurations are also possible, such as a parallel processor.

The software may include a computer program, code, instructions, or a combination of one or more of the foregoing, and may be configured to configure the processing device to operate as desired or to process it collectively or collectively Device can be commanded. The software and / or data may be in the form of any type of machine, component, physical device, virtual equipment, computer storage media, or device , Or may be permanently or temporarily embodied in a transmitted signal wave. The software may be distributed over a networked computer system and stored or executed in a distributed manner. The software and data may be stored on one or more computer readable recording media.

The method according to an embodiment may be implemented in the form of a program command that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer-readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination. Program instructions to be recorded on the medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the embodiments or may be available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs; magnetic media such as floppy disks; Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware devices described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

Although the embodiments have been described with reference to the drawings, various technical modifications and variations may be applied to those skilled in the art. For example, it is to be understood that the techniques described may be performed in a different order than the described methods, and / or that components of the described systems, structures, devices, circuits, Lt; / RTI > or equivalents, even if it is replaced or replaced.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are also within the scope of the following claims.

100: Image display device
110:
111, and 114:
112: MEMS scanner
113: Parabolic mirror
120: beam shaper
130: School of illumination
131: Anamorphic lens
132: 1st free-form surface mirror
133: 2nd free-form surface mirror
140: Display panel
150: eyepiece optical part
151: Third free-form surface mirror
152: fourth free-form surface mirror

Claims (20)

In the image display apparatus,
A scanning optical unit for scanning a laser light;
A beam shaper in which laser light scanned from the scanning optical unit is incident vertically;
An illumination light classifier including two reflective optical elements having a free-form curve and one anamorphic lens, and illuminating a display panel with laser light emit- ted from the beam shaper;
The display panel displaying an image using the laser light illuminated from the illuminating light unit; And
And an eyepiece optics part including three reflective optical elements having a free-form surface and focusing the image light emitted from the display panel to an observer's eye,
And the image display device. The method according to claim 1,
A first control unit for controlling a position at which the scanned laser beam enters the beam shaper based on the position information of the eye,
And an image display device. 3. The method of claim 2,
The scanning optical unit includes:
And a laser scanning unit,
Wherein the first control unit includes:
And controlling the position at which the scanned laser beam enters the beam shaper by controlling the laser scanning unit,
Image display device. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the first control unit includes:
And controlling the position at which the scanned laser beam enters the beam shaper in response to a positional change in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the eye,
Image display device. The method according to claim 1,
A second control unit for controlling the position of the beam shaper based on the position information of the eye,
And an image display device. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the second control unit comprises:
And controlling the position of the beam shaper in the forward and backward directions with respect to the optical axis,
Image display device. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the second control unit comprises:
Wherein the beam shaper is disposed in the beam path in response to a movement of the eye in the forward and backward directions relative to the optical axis,
Image display device. The method according to claim 1,
The beam shaper includes:
Which is a diffractive optical element (DOE, Diffractive Optics Element), a holographic optical element (HOE, or diffuser plate)
Image display device. The method according to claim 1,
A third control unit for controlling the content of the image based on the position information of the eyes,
And an image display device. 10. The method of claim 9,
And the third control unit,
Providing a right eye image and a left eye image distinct from each other,
Image display device. The method according to claim 1,
The scanning optical unit includes:
A light source unit emitting the laser light;
A laser scanning unit scanning the laser beam emitted from the light source unit; And
And a mirror for reflecting the laser beam scanned by the laser scanning unit and causing the laser beam to enter the beam shaper
And an image display device. 12. The method of claim 11,
The laser scanning unit includes:
It is implemented as a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) scanner,
The mirror may further comprise:
Which is implemented as a parabolic mirror,
Image display device. 12. The method of claim 11,
The light source unit includes:
A condensing lens for concentrating the laser light on a diffusion plate;
A diffusion plate for scattering laser light condensed by the condenser lens;
A collimating lens that emits collimated light generated by collimating a laser beam scattered by the diffusion plate to the laser scanning unit; And
A motor for rotating the diffusion plate
And the image display device. The method according to claim 1,
The eyepiece optical unit includes:
A front end free-form surface mirror reflecting the image light emitted from the display panel;
A back-end free-form surface mirror for additionally reflecting the image light reflected by the front-end free-form surface mirror; And
A combiner for focusing the image light onto the eye by further reflecting the image light reflected by the free-
And the image display device. 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the front free-form surface mirror and the free-
Wherein at least two image lights are arranged to cross each other between the optical path from the free-form curved mirror of the front end to the free-
Image display device. 15. The method of claim 14,
The free-form curved mirror and the coupler at the subsequent stage,
Wherein at least two light beams of the image light are arranged so as to intersect between the optical path from the free-
Image display device. The method according to claim 1,
The image display apparatus includes:
A head-up display (HUD) device,
Image display device. The method according to claim 1,
The display panel includes:
A hologram display device,
Image display device. 12. The method of claim 11,
The light source unit includes:
And combines laser light of red light, green light, and blue light to generate white light,
Image display device. 12. The method of claim 11,
The light source unit includes:
The semiconductor laser light sources
And an image display device.

Images