WO2023060382A1 - 混合背光体、混合显示器和混合背光体的操作方法 - Google Patents

混合背光体、混合显示器和混合背光体的操作方法 Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2023060382A1
WO2023060382A1 PCT/CN2021/123027 CN2021123027W WO2023060382A1 WO 2023060382 A1 WO2023060382 A1 WO 2023060382A1 CN 2021123027 W CN2021123027 W CN 2021123027W WO 2023060382 A1 WO2023060382 A1 WO 2023060382A1
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Prior art keywords
light
backlight
dimensional
hybrid
dimensional mode
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PCT/CN2021/123027
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English (en)
French (fr)
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张龙旺
巫岚
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镭亚股份有限公司
镭亚电子(苏州)有限公司
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Priority to PCT/CN2021/123027 priority Critical patent/WO2023060382A1/zh
Priority to TW111136951A priority patent/TW202336383A/zh
Publication of WO2023060382A1 publication Critical patent/WO2023060382A1/zh

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B30/00—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images
    • G02B30/20—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images by providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes
    • G02B30/26—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images by providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes of the autostereoscopic type
    • G02B30/33—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images by providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes of the autostereoscopic type involving directional light or back-light sources
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/13—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells
    • G02F1/133—Constructional arrangements; Operation of liquid crystal cells; Circuit arrangements
    • G02F1/1333—Constructional arrangements; Manufacturing methods
    • G02F1/1335—Structural association of cells with optical devices, e.g. polarisers or reflectors
    • G02F1/1336—Illuminating devices

Definitions

  • the present application relates to hybrid backlights, hybrid displays and methods of operation thereof.
  • Electronic displays are an almost ubiquitous medium for conveying information to users of various devices and products.
  • the most commonly used electronic displays include cathode ray tubes (CRTs), plasma display panels (PDPs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electroluminescent displays (ELs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), and active matrix OLEDs (AMOLEDs) Displays, electrophoretic displays (EP), and various displays using electromechanical or electrohydrodynamic light modulation (eg, digital micromirror devices, electrowetting displays, etc.).
  • electronic displays can be classified as active displays (ie, displays that emit light) or passive displays (ie, displays that modulate light provided by another source).
  • the most obvious examples of active displays are CRTs, PDPs and OLED/AMOLEDs. Displays that are generally classified as passive include LCD and EP displays when light emitted is considered.
  • Electronic displays can be divided into two-dimensional displays and three-dimensional displays in terms of display methods. Two-dimensional displays are used to display two-dimensional image content, and three-dimensional displays are used to display three-dimensional image content. In some cases, we need to display some content in 2D while displaying other content in 3D for the same image.
  • the current switchable two-dimensional/three-dimensional display can only display the entire image content in one mode (ie two-dimensional or three-dimensional) at the same time, and cannot display two-dimensional content in two-dimensional mode in the same image, and at the same time
  • three-dimensional content can be displayed in three dimensions.
  • one aspect of the present application provides a hybrid backlight body, including: a first backlight body, which has a plurality of dimming unit areas, and the plurality of dimming One or more of the dimming cell areas in the cell area are configured to be selectively driven during the two-dimensional mode to provide wide-angle emitted light independently of each other; and a second backlight configured to provide multiple dimming during the three-dimensional mode.
  • the directions of the plurality of directional light beams correspond to different viewing directions of multi-view images
  • the second backlight body is arranged on the light exit surface of the first backlight body and has a wide angle to the wide-angle
  • the emitted light is transparent, and the one or more regions of the dimming unit driven in the first backlight during the two-dimensional mode correspond to the one or more regions where specific content in the multi-view image is located.
  • the remaining dimming unit areas in the first backlight that do not correspond to the one or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located are not is driven and does not provide wide-angle emission of light.
  • the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode are alternately switched at a predetermined frequency.
  • the hybrid backlight further includes: a dimming controller configured to determine one or more areas where the specific content is located based on the display content of the multi-view image, and according to the determined The one or more areas determine one or more areas of the dimming unit to be driven in the first backlight.
  • a dimming controller configured to determine one or more areas where the specific content is located based on the display content of the multi-view image, and according to the determined The one or more areas determine one or more areas of the dimming unit to be driven in the first backlight.
  • the multi-view image changes dynamically with time
  • the dimming controller dynamically updates one or more areas where the specific content is located based on the changed display content of the multi-view image.
  • the second backlight comprises: a light guide configured to guide light as guided light; an array of multi-beam elements, each multi-beam element in the array of multi-beam elements being configured to output from The light guide scatters a portion of the directed light as beams of the plurality of directional beams.
  • the light guide is configured to guide the directed light with a predetermined collimation factor as collimated directed light.
  • the multi-beam elements in the array of multi-beam elements include one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-reflective element, and a micro-refractive element, the diffraction grating being configured to diffractively scatter the directed the portion of light, the microreflective element configured to reflectively scatter out of the portion of the guided light, and the microrefractive element configured to refractively scatter out of the portion of the guided light .
  • a hybrid display including: a first backlight body, which has a plurality of dimming unit areas, and one or more dimming unit areas in the plurality of dimming unit areas are configured as Be selectively driven to provide wide-angle emission light independently of each other during the two-dimensional mode; a second backlight configured to provide a plurality of directional light beams during the three-dimensional mode, the directions of the plurality of directional light beams corresponding to different viewing directions of the multi-view image; and an array of light valves configured to modulate the wide-angle emitted light during the two-dimensional mode to provide a two-dimensional display area of the multi-view image, and during the three-dimensional mode modulating the plurality of directional light beams to provide a three-dimensional display area of the multi-view image, wherein the second backlight is disposed on a light exit surface of the first backlight and is transparent to the wide-angle emitted light, And the one or more dimming unit areas driven in the first backlight correspond to one
  • the remaining dimming unit areas in the first backlight that do not correspond to the one or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located are not is driven and does not provide wide-angle emission of light.
  • the specific content in the multi-view image includes at least one of text content and special graphics.
  • the hybrid display further includes: a dimming controller configured to determine the two-dimensional display area based on the display content of the multi-view image, and determine the two-dimensional display area according to the determined two-dimensional display area One or more regions of the dimming unit to be driven in the first backlight are determined.
  • a dimming controller configured to determine the two-dimensional display area based on the display content of the multi-view image, and determine the two-dimensional display area according to the determined two-dimensional display area One or more regions of the dimming unit to be driven in the first backlight are determined.
  • the second backlight includes: a light guide configured to guide light as guided light; and an array of multi-beam elements, each multi-beam element in the array of multi-beam elements configured to A portion of the directed light is scattered from the light guide as beams of the plurality of directional beams.
  • the multi-beam elements in the array of multi-beam elements include one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-reflective element, and a micro-refractive element, the diffraction grating being configured to diffractively scatter the directed the portion of light, the microreflective element configured to reflectively scatter out of the portion of the guided light, and the microrefractive element configured to refractively scatter out of the portion of the guided light .
  • the hybrid display further includes: a first light source, which includes a plurality of light emitting units, and the plurality of light emitting units correspond to a plurality of dimming unit areas in the first backlight; a dimming driver , which is configured to drive the one or more light emitting units to be driven during the two-dimensional mode to illuminate the one or more dimming unit areas in the first backlight; and the second Two light sources configured to emit light to be guided by the light guide during the three-dimensional mode.
  • a first light source which includes a plurality of light emitting units, and the plurality of light emitting units correspond to a plurality of dimming unit areas in the first backlight
  • a dimming driver which is configured to drive the one or more light emitting units to be driven during the two-dimensional mode to illuminate the one or more dimming unit areas in the first backlight
  • the second Two light sources configured to emit light to be guided by the light guide during the three-dimensional mode.
  • Yet another aspect of the present application provides a method of operating a hybrid backlight, comprising: using a first backlight to provide wide-angle emission light during a two-dimensional mode, the first backlight having a plurality of dimming unit areas, the One or more of the plurality of dimming unit regions are selectively driven to provide wide-angle emitted light independently of each other; and providing a plurality of directional light beams using a second backlight during the three-dimensional mode, the plurality The directions of the two directional light beams correspond to different viewing directions of the multi-view image, wherein the second backlight is disposed on the light exit surface of the first backlight and is transparent to the wide-angle emitted light, and the second backlight
  • the one or more areas of the dimming unit driven in a backlight body correspond to the one or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located.
  • the remaining dimming unit areas in the first backlight that do not correspond to the one or more areas where the specific content in the multi-view image is located are not is driven and does not provide wide-angle emission of light.
  • the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode are alternately switched at a predetermined frequency.
  • the method further includes: based on the display content of the multi-view image, using a dimming controller to determine one or more areas where the specific content is located; and according to the determined one or more areas, area, using the dimming controller to determine one or more areas of the dimming unit to be driven in the first backlight.
  • the method further comprises: directing light in a light guide as directed light; and, by using each multi-beam element in an array of multi-beam elements, scattering a fraction of the directed light from the light guide A part is used as a light beam in the plurality of directional light beams.
  • the method further comprises: modulating the wide-angle emitted light using a light valve array during the two-dimensional mode to provide a two-dimensional display area of the multi-view image; and during the three-dimensional mode using The light valve array modulates the plurality of directional light beams to provide a three-dimensional display area of the multi-view image, wherein one or more areas where the specific content is located corresponds to the two-dimensional display area, and the The entire area of the multi-view image corresponds to the three-dimensional display area.
  • the method further includes: during the two-dimensional mode, using a dimming driver to drive one or more light emitting units in the first light source to illuminate the one or more regions of dimming cells; during the three-dimensional mode, driving a second light source to emit light to be guided by the light guide using the dimming driver; and controlling the two-dimensional light source using the dimming driver mode and said alternate switching of said three-dimensional mode.
  • Figure 1A shows a perspective view of a multi-view display, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • FIG. 1B shows a schematic diagram of the angular components of a light beam with a particular principal axis direction, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a diffraction grating according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • Figure 3A shows a plan view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • Figure 3B illustrates a plan view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • 3C illustrates a perspective view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • FIG. 4 shows a timing diagram of mode switching of a hybrid backlight according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • Figure 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • Figure 6 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a hybrid backlight, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a wide-angle backlight according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • FIG. 8 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight including multi-beam elements, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • FIG 9 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight including multi-beam elements, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • FIG. 10 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight including multi-beam elements, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • Fig. 11 shows a block diagram of a hybrid display, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • Fig. 12 shows a flowchart of a method of operating a hybrid backlight according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • the present invention provides a hybrid backlight applied to a hybrid display and a method of operating the same.
  • the hybrid backlight is configured to provide wide-angle emission light to a portion of the hybrid backlight corresponding to two-dimensional display content during two-dimensional mode, and to provide wide-angle emission light to the portion of the hybrid backlight during three-dimensional mode. All areas provide multiple directional beams.
  • the wide-angle emitted light may be selectively provided on a region-by-region basis to regions corresponding to specific display content.
  • a wide-angle emitted light can be used to display 2D content (eg, 2D graphics or text), while multiple directional beams can be used to display 3D information (eg, multi-view images).
  • 3D information eg, multi-view images
  • by using a hybrid display it is possible to display 2D content in 2D and 3D content in 3D for the same image. Since the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode can be alternately switched at a predetermined frequency (for example, 120 Hz), which is much higher than the refresh rate of human eyes (for example, about 30 to 60 Hz), users can watch with smooth visual effects while having two Display images for dimensional content and 3D content.
  • a predetermined frequency for example, 120 Hz
  • the refresh rate of human eyes for example, about 30 to 60 Hz
  • FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of a multi-view display 10, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • a multi-view display 10 includes a screen 12 for displaying multi-view images to be viewed.
  • the multi-view display 10 provides different views 14 of the multi-view image in different viewing directions 16 relative to the screen 12 .
  • Viewing directions 16 extend from screen 12 in various principal directions, as indicated by the arrows.
  • the different views 14 are shown as darker polygonal boxes at the terminations of the arrows (i.e., arrows representing view directions 16), and only four views 14 and four view directions 16 are shown, all by way of example. rather than limit. It should be noted that although the different views 14 are shown above the screen 12 in FIG.
  • the views 14 actually appear on or near the screen 12 when the multi-view image is displayed on the multi-view display 10 .
  • the depiction of views 14 above screen 12 is for simplicity of illustration only and is intended to represent viewing of multi-view display 10 from a respective one of view directions 16 corresponding to a particular view 14 .
  • a light beam whose view direction or equivalently has a direction corresponding to the view direction of a multi-view display generally has an angular component consisting of The given protagonist direction.
  • the angular component ⁇ is referred to as the “elevation component” or “elevation angle” of the beam.
  • the angular component is referred to as the “azimuth component” or “azimuth” of the beam.
  • the elevation angle ⁇ is the angle in the vertical plane (e.g., the plane perpendicular to the multi-view display screen)
  • the azimuth angle is the angle in a horizontal plane (eg, a plane parallel to the multi-view display screen).
  • FIG. 1B shows the angular components of a light beam 20 having a particular principal direction corresponding to a view direction of a multi-view display (e.g., view direction 16 in FIG. 1A ), in an example of an embodiment in accordance with the principles of the present application.
  • light beam 20 is emitted or emitted from a particular point, as defined herein. That is, by definition, the light beam 20 has a central ray associated with a particular origin within the multi-view display.
  • Figure IB also shows the origin O of the light beam (or view direction).
  • multi-view as used in the terms “multi-view image” and “multi-view display” is defined to mean a plurality of different perspectives or angle differences between views including a plurality of different views of multiple views. Also, by definition herein, the term “multi-view” here expressly includes more than two different views (ie, a minimum of three views and usually more than three views). As such, a “multi-view display” as used herein is clearly distinguished from a stereoscopic display that includes only two different views to represent a scene or image.
  • multi-view images and multi-view displays include more than two views, by choosing to view only two of the multi-views at a time (e.g., one view for each eye), the multi-view The images are viewed (eg, on a multi-view display) as stereoscopic image pairs.
  • a “multi-view pixel” is defined herein as a group of pixels representing a "view” pixel in each of a similar number of different views of a multi-view display.
  • the multi-view pixels have individual pixels or groups of pixels corresponding to or representing view pixels in each of the different views of the multi-view image.
  • a “view pixel” is a pixel or set of pixels corresponding to a view in a multi-view pixel of a multi-view display.
  • a view pixel may include one or more color sub-pixels.
  • the view pixels of the multi-view pixels are so-called "directional pixels", since each of the view pixels is associated with a predetermined view direction of a corresponding one of the different views.
  • different view pixels of the multi-view pixels may have equivalent or at least substantially similar positions or coordinates in each of the different views.
  • a first multi-view pixel may have an individual view pixel located at ⁇ x 1 , y 1 ⁇ in each of the different views of the multi-view image
  • a second multi-view pixel may have an individual view pixel located at ⁇ x 1 , y 1 ⁇ in each of the different views.
  • a “light guide” is defined as a structure that guides light within the structure using total internal reflection.
  • the light guide may comprise a core that is substantially transparent at the light guide's operating wavelength.
  • the term "lightguide” generally refers to a dielectric lightguide that employs total internal reflection to guide light at the interface between the dielectric material of the lightguide and the material or medium surrounding the lightguide.
  • the condition for total internal reflection is that the refractive index of the light guide is greater than the refractive index of the surrounding medium adjacent to the surface of the light guide material.
  • the light guide may include a coating in addition to or instead of the aforementioned refractive index differences to further facilitate total internal reflection.
  • the coating can be a reflective coating.
  • the light guide may be any of several light guides including, but not limited to, a slab light guide or one or both of a thick slab light guide and a striped light guide.
  • a planar lightguide when applied to a lightguide, is defined as a segmentally or differentially planar layer or sheet, sometimes referred to as a "slab" lightguide.
  • a planar lightguide is defined as a lightguide that guides light in two substantially orthogonal directions bounded by the top and bottom surfaces (ie, opposing surfaces) of the lightguide.
  • both the top and bottom surfaces are separated from each other, and may be substantially parallel to each other, at least in a differential sense, as defined herein. That is, within any differentially small portion of the slab lightguide, the top and bottom surfaces are substantially parallel or coplanar.
  • a slab lightguide may be substantially planar (ie, confined to a plane), and thus a slab lightguide is a planar lightguide.
  • the planar light guide can be curved in one or two orthogonal dimensions.
  • a slab lightguide may be bent in a single dimension to form a cylindrical slab lightguide.
  • any curvature should have a radius of curvature large enough to ensure that total internal reflection is maintained within the slab light guide to guide the light.
  • a "non-zero propagation angle" of guided light is the angle relative to the guiding surface of the light guide. Furthermore, non-zero propagation angles are all greater than zero and less than the critical angle for total internal reflection within the lightguide, as defined herein. Furthermore, for a particular embodiment, a particular non-zero propagation angle may be selected so long as the particular non-zero propagation angle is less than the critical angle for total internal reflection within the light guide. In various embodiments, light may be introduced or coupled into the light guide at a non-zero propagation angle.
  • the guided light or equivalently guided “beam” produced by coupling light into the light guide may be a collimated beam.
  • collimated light or “collimated light beam” is generally defined as a plurality of light beams within a light beam that are substantially parallel to each other. Furthermore, rays that diverge or scatter from a collimated beam are not considered part of the collimated beam by definition herein.
  • a "diffraction grating” is generally defined herein as a plurality of features (ie, diffractive features) arranged to provide diffraction of light incident on the diffraction grating.
  • multiple features may be set in a periodic or quasi-periodic manner.
  • a diffraction grating may comprise a plurality of features (eg, a plurality of grooves or ridges in a surface of a material) arranged in a one-dimensional (1D) array.
  • the diffraction grating may be a feature of a two-dimensional (2D) array.
  • a diffraction grating may be a two-dimensional array of protrusions on a material surface or holes in a material surface.
  • a "diffraction grating” is a structure that provides for the diffraction of light incident on the diffraction grating. If light is incident on a diffraction grating from the light guide, the provided diffractive or diffractive scattering can result and is therefore referred to as “diffractively coupled", since the diffraction grating can couple light out of the light guide by diffraction. Diffraction gratings also redirect or change the angle of light by diffraction (ie, at diffraction angles).
  • a diffraction grating can be understood as a structure comprising diffractive features that diffractively redirect light incident on the diffraction grating and, if light is emitted from a light guide, also diffractively couple light from the light guide out.
  • diffraction features are referred to as "diffractive features" as defined herein, and may be one or more of them at, in, and on a material surface (i.e., a boundary between two materials).
  • the surface may be the surface of a light guide.
  • Diffractive features may include any of a variety of structures that diffract light, including but not limited to one or more of grooves, ridges, holes, and protrusions at, in, or on a surface.
  • a diffraction grating may comprise a plurality of substantially parallel grooves in the surface of the material.
  • the diffraction grating may include a plurality of parallel ridges protruding from the surface of the material.
  • Diffractive features e.g., grooves, ridges, holes, protrusions, etc.
  • light may be diffractively scattered or coupled into beams from a light guide (eg, a slab light guide) using a diffraction grating (eg, that of a multi-beam element, described below).
  • a diffraction grating eg, that of a multi-beam element, described below.
  • the diffraction angle ⁇ m of the local periodic diffraction grating or the diffraction angle provided by the local periodic diffraction grating can be given by equation (1):
  • the diffraction order m is given as an integer.
  • FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a diffraction grating 30 according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • diffraction grating 30 may be located on the surface of light guide 40 .
  • FIG. 2 shows an incident light beam 50 incident on the diffraction grating 30 at an incident angle ⁇ i .
  • Incident light beam 50 may be a guided beam of light (ie, a guided light beam) within light guide 40 .
  • the diffraction grating 30 diffractively generates and couples out a directional beam 60 due to the diffraction of the incident beam 50 .
  • the directional light beam 60 has a diffraction angle ⁇ m (or, in this text, the "main axis direction") as shown in equation (1).
  • a “multi-beam element” is a structure or element of a backlight or display that produces light comprising multiple beams.
  • a multi-beam element may be optically coupled to the light guide of the backlight to provide multiple beams by coupling out or scattering out a portion of the light guided in the light guide.
  • the beams of the plurality of beams generated by the multi-beam element have a plurality of principal axis directions which are different from each other.
  • a light beam of the plurality of light beams has a different predetermined principal axis direction than another light beam of said plurality of light beams. Accordingly, a beam of light is referred to as a "directional beam” as defined herein, and multiple beams may be referred to as multiple directional beams.
  • multiple directional beams can represent a light field.
  • the plurality of directional light beams may be confined within a substantially conical region of space, or have a predetermined angular spread comprising different principal axis directions of the light beams of the plurality of light beams.
  • a combination of predetermined angular spreads of said plurality of light beams may represent a light field.
  • the different principal directions of the various directional beams in the plurality of directional beams are determined according to characteristics, which may include, but are not limited to, dimensions (e.g., length, width, area, etc.) of the multi-beam element. Decide.
  • a multi-beam element may be considered an "extended point source" as defined herein, ie, a plurality of point sources are distributed within the confines of the multi-beam element.
  • the directional beams produced by the multi-beam element have principal axis directions given by the angular components ⁇ , ⁇ , as defined herein, and as described above with respect to FIG. 1B .
  • a collimator is defined as essentially any optical device or device for collimating light.
  • the collimator may include, but not limited to, collimating mirrors or reflectors, collimating lenses, diffraction gratings, tapered light guides, and combinations of the above collimators.
  • the amount of collimation provided by the collimator may vary by a predetermined angle or amount from one embodiment to another.
  • the collimator may be configured to provide collimation in one or both of two orthogonal directions (eg, vertical and horizontal).
  • a collimator may include a shape or similar collimating features for providing one or both of two orthogonal directions of light collimation.
  • collimation factor is defined as the degree to which light is collimated. Specifically, the collimation factor defines the angular spread of the rays in the collimated beam.
  • a collimation factor ⁇ may specify that the majority of rays in a beam of collimated light are within a certain angular spread (eg, +/- ⁇ degrees relative to the center or principal direction of the collimated beam).
  • the rays of the collimated beam may have a Gaussian distribution in angle, and the angular spread may be an angle determined by half the peak intensity of the collimated beam.
  • a “light source” is defined as a source that emits light (eg, an optical emitter configured to generate and emit light).
  • a light source may include an optical emitter, such as a light emitting diode (LED), that emits light when activated or turned on.
  • a light source herein may be substantially any source of light or optical emitter including, but not limited to, one or more LEDs, lasers, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), polymer light emitting diodes, plasma Optical emitters, fluorescent lamps, incandescent lamps, and any other source of visually visible light.
  • the light produced by the light source can be colored (i.e., can include light of a particular wavelength), or can be a range of wavelengths (e.g., white light).
  • the light source may include multiple optical emitters.
  • the light source may comprise a group or group of optical emitters, wherein at least one optical emitter produces light having a color or equivalent wavelength different from that emitted by at least one other optical emitter of the group or group.
  • the color or wavelength of light produced by the device may include, for example, primary colors (eg, red, green, blue).
  • a "polarized" light source is defined herein as substantially any light source that generates or provides light with a predetermined polarization.
  • a polarized light source may include a polarizer at the output of the light source's optical emitter.
  • a "multi-view image” is defined as a plurality of images (i.e., two or more images), where each image in the plurality of images represents a different view corresponding to a different view direction of the multi-view image. view.
  • a multi-view image is a collection of images (e.g., two-dimensional images) that, when displayed on a multi-view display, facilitate the perception of depth and thus appear to the viewer as images of a 3D scene .
  • the multi-view image comprises two images
  • this can be achieved by viewing the two images as a stereoscopic image pair (e.g., one view for each eye) on the multi-view display. Binocular stereo display.
  • wide-angle emitted light is defined as having a cone angle that is larger than the cone angle of the views of the multi-view image or multi-view display.
  • the wide-angle emission may have a cone angle greater than about twenty degrees (eg, > ⁇ 20°).
  • the cone angle of the wide-angle emitted light may be greater than approximately thirty degrees (e.g., > ⁇ 30°), or approximately greater than forty degrees (e.g., > ⁇ 40°), or approximately greater than fifty degrees (e.g., ,> ⁇ 50°).
  • the cone angle of wide-angle emitted light may be approximately sixty degrees (eg, > ⁇ 60°).
  • the cone angle of the "wide-angle” emitted light is greater than the cone angles of each directional light beam in the "directional” emitted light. That is to say, the directional light beam can be regarded as a light beam facing a certain direction with a very small cone angle (for example, ⁇ 10°, or ⁇ 5°, etc.).
  • the cone angle of the wide-angle emitted light can be defined to be approximately the same (e.g., about ⁇ 40°-65°) as the viewing angle of an LCD computer screen, LCD tablet, LCD television, or similar digital display device for wide-angle viewing. °).
  • wide-angle emitted light may also be characterized or described as diffuse light, substantially diffuse light, non-directional light (i.e., lacking any particular or defined directionality), or having a single or substantially Light in a uniform direction.
  • references to "top”, “bottom”, “upper”, “lower”, “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “rear”, “first”, “second”, “left” or Any reference to “right” is not intended to be limiting.
  • the term “about” when applied to a value generally means within the tolerance range of the equipment used to produce the value, or may mean plus or minus 10%, or plus or minus 5%, or plus or minus 1 %, unless expressly stated otherwise.
  • the term “substantially” as used herein refers to most, or almost all, or all, or an amount ranging from about 51% to about 100%.
  • the examples herein are intended to be illustrative only and are presented for discussion purposes and not by way of limitation.
  • the present invention provides a hybrid backlight.
  • Figure 3A shows a plan view of a hybrid backlight 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • Figure 3B shows a plan view of a hybrid backlight 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • Figure 3C shows a perspective view of a hybrid backlight 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • the perspective view shown in FIG. 3C is an exploded perspective view
  • FIG. 3C shows perspective views of the hybrid backlight 100 in a three-dimensional mode and a two-dimensional mode, respectively.
  • hybrid backlight 100 has a plurality of different display regions, which are depicted in FIG. 3A as two-dimensional display regions 101a-1, 101a-2 and three-dimensional display region 101b.
  • two-dimensional display area refers to a display area for displaying two-dimensional image content, or displaying image content in a two-dimensional manner.
  • two fixed-position areas 101a-1 and 101a-2 are shown in FIG. 3A as the two-dimensional display area of the hybrid backlight 100, this is only exemplary. It should be understood that the position of the two-dimensional display area in the hybrid backlight 100 is not fixed, but changes dynamically based on the content of the displayed image, and the number of the two-dimensional display area is not fixed, but It can change dynamically with the content of the image to be displayed.
  • the number of two-dimensional display areas can be one, two, or even more.
  • the number of two-dimensional display areas may also be zero.
  • the two-dimensional display area in the hybrid backlight 100 corresponds to one or more areas where specific content in the multi-view image to be displayed is located.
  • the multi-view image to be displayed includes both image content and text content
  • text content such as subtitles, feature slogans in images, text in books in images, etc.
  • the image 200-1 to be displayed includes not only image content (for example, smiling faces, clouds and hills in FIG. 3B ), but also text content (for example, the text "Hello! ”), then we want to display image content such as smiling faces, clouds, and hills in a three-dimensional manner, and at the same time display the text content in the dialog box in a two-dimensional manner.
  • the area where the dialog box is located can be defined as the two-dimensional display area 101a
  • the other image content areas in the image 200-1 except the dialog box can be defined as the three-dimensional display area 101b.
  • FIG. 3B shows an example of identifying the area where the text content is located as a two-dimensional display area
  • this is only exemplary, and various types of two-dimensional display content can be predefined as required.
  • special shapes such as geometric figures such as squares, triangles, circles, etc.
  • specific objects such as traffic lights, traffic signs, and road signs can also be preset as content to be displayed in two dimensions. Examples of two-dimensional display contents in this application are not limited to the above examples.
  • the presetting of two-dimensional display content does not require only one of the above examples to be set, for example, one or more of text, geometric shapes, and road signs can be set simultaneously as required It is determined as the content to be displayed two-dimensionally.
  • the hybrid backlight 100 described in this application will, according to the specific content in the displayed image, determine that the area including one or more of text, geometric shape, and road signs will be displayed in a two-dimensional form. .
  • the term "three-dimensional display area” refers to a display area for displaying three-dimensional image content, or displaying image content in a three-dimensional manner. It should be noted that the "three-dimensional display area” is complementary to the above-mentioned "two-dimensional display area". For example, taking the image 200-1 in FIG. 3B as an example, once it is determined that the two-dimensional display area in the image 200-1 is the area 101a where the dialog box is located, it means that other areas in the image 200 except the area 101a as a three-dimensional display area. In addition, since the two-dimensional display area changes dynamically with the image to be displayed, correspondingly, the three-dimensional display area also changes adaptively with the image to be displayed.
  • the hybrid backlight 100 having two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas is shown above with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B . It should be understood that the two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas of the hybrid backlight 100 described above are described for the hybrid backlight 100 in the working state, not for the hybrid backlight in the non-working state. In essence, when the hybrid backlight is in a non-working state, that is, no image display is performed, the above-mentioned two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas obviously do not exist, because the two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas are based on the The content of the image is dynamically formed, and as the displayed image changes, the two-dimensional and three-dimensional display areas in the hybrid backlight 100 also dynamically change following the content of the image.
  • hybrid backlight 100 The working principle of the hybrid backlight 100 will be described below in conjunction with the perspective view of the hybrid backlight 100 in FIG. 3C . It should be noted that for ease of description, other elements other than the hybrid backlight 100 are also shown in the perspective view of FIG. This displayed multi-view image 200-2.
  • the emitted light provided by hybrid backlight 100 may be used to illuminate electronic displays employing hybrid backlight 100 .
  • emitted light may enter a light valve array 106 of an electronic display (as shown in FIG. 3C) for modulation.
  • an electronic display using or illuminated by hybrid backlight 100 may be configured to use emitted light in a plurality of different regions of the electronic display corresponding to a plurality of dimming unit regions 101.
  • a two-dimensional image is selectively displayed in each area of the . It may be determined to display a two-dimensional image in a specific area and display a three-dimensional image in the remaining area by selecting to emit wide-angle emission light in that area.
  • the hybrid backlight 100 includes a wide-angle backlight 110 and a multi-view backlight 120 .
  • the multi-view backlight 120 is disposed on the light emitting surface (the upper surface as shown in the figure) of the wide-angle backlight 110 .
  • the wide-angle backlight 110 has a plurality of dimming unit areas 101 .
  • one or more of the plurality of dimming cell regions 101 is configured to be selectively driven so as to be independent of each other to provide wide-angle emitted light 102'.
  • the hybrid backlight 100 may further include a dimming controller (not shown).
  • the dimming controller is configured to determine one or more areas where specific content is located based on the display content of the multi-view image, and determine which area to be driven in the wide-angle backlight body 110 during the two-dimensional mode according to the determined one or more areas.
  • One or more dimming unit zones For example, in the example shown in (b) of FIG. 3C , the dimming controller recognizes the area 201 where the text "Hello" in the image 200-2 is located as a two-dimensional display area, and The region 201 in the wide-angle backlight body 110 determines the dimming unit region 101 to be driven. It should be noted that the area 201 in the image 200 - 2 should be aligned with the area 101 of the dimming unit to be driven in the wide-angle backlight 110 .
  • the two-dimensional display area in the hybrid backlight 100 corresponds to one or more areas where specific content in the multi-view image to be displayed is located.
  • the area 201 in the wide-angle backlight can be correspondingly
  • the corresponding dimming unit area 101 (the highlighted dimming unit area 101 in the wide-angle backlight 110) is determined as the active area to be driven and emit the wide-angle emission light 102′, and the rest of the remaining dimming units not corresponding to the area 201 Areas are determined as non-active areas that do not need to be driven without emitting wide-angle emission light 102'.
  • the multi-view backlight 120 is transparent or at least substantially transparent to the wide-angle emitted light 102' That is, the wide-angle emitted light 102' can pass through the multi-view backlight 120 to enter the light valve array 106 for modulation, details of which will be discussed later.
  • the wide-angle backlight 110 may include a light source (not shown), and the multi-view backlight 120 may also include a light source (not shown).
  • the multiple dimming unit areas of the wide-angle backlight 110 may include corresponding multiple light sources, while the multi-view backlight 120 may include a single light source.
  • the plurality of light sources of the wide-angle backlight are configured to be selectively turned on to provide light to the plurality of dimming unit zones. In these embodiments, separate activation of the plurality of light sources may be configured to illuminate a corresponding one of the plurality of dimming unit regions.
  • FIG. 3C shows a perspective view of a hybrid backlight 100 displaying three-dimensional content during a three-dimensional mode and a perspective view of a hybrid backlight 100 displaying two-dimensional content during a two-dimensional mode, respectively.
  • all areas of the dimming units of the wide-angle backlight 110 are in an inactive state, that is, do not emit light.
  • the multi-view backlight 120 is driven as a whole and emits multiple directional light beams 102 ′′, and different main directions of the multiple directional light beams 102 ′′ correspond to viewing directions of multiple different views.
  • multi-view backlight 120 emits directional light beam 102
  • corresponding light valves in light valve array 106 are configured to modulate this directional light beam 102" to provide different views of the three-dimensional content of image 200-2.
  • the three-dimensional content of the image 200-2 includes other areas than the two-dimensional display area 201, for example, an area including a smiling face and its background area. It should be noted that, in this case, not all light valves in the light valve array 106 are used to modulate the directional light beam 102".
  • the light valves corresponding to the two-dimensional display area 201 of the image 200-2 The set 106-1 is not working at this time, and the set of light valves 106-1 does not modulate the directional light beam 102 ′′ emitted by the multi-view backlight 120 . This will result in the formation of a dark area such as the two-dimensional display area 201 in the current display image.
  • the multi-view The backlight body 120 is in a non-driven and non-luminous state, and part of the dimming unit area (for example, the dimming unit area 101) of the wide-angle backlight body 110 is driven and emits a wide-angle emission light 102'.
  • the wide-angle emission light 102' passes through the light valve A corresponding set of light valves 106 - 1 of array 106 is modulated to display two-dimensional content in image 200 - 2 , such as the text "Hello" in area 201 .
  • FIG. 3C shows an example in which the corresponding light valve set 106 - 1 in the light valve array 106 is driven in the case of displaying two-dimensional content
  • this is only exemplary.
  • the working states of other light valves other than the set of light valves 106-1 may not be restricted.
  • other light valves other than the light valve set 106-1 can also be in the working state at the same time.
  • Dimensional mode display The advantage of this configuration is that, for the set of light valves corresponding to three-dimensional content, it does not need to be frequently charged or discharged in each switching, thereby avoiding the extra work and complexity of frequently operating each light valve. At the same time, it can effectively improve the life of the display.
  • a plurality of directional light beams 102" are shown as arrows diverging in various directions in (a) of FIG. Shown as two parallel arrows, this is schematic only and does not represent the true direction of light.
  • multiple diverging arrows representing multiple directional beams 102" may be viewed as individual beams pointing in different viewing directions , each arrow can be viewed as a cluster of beams in each direction.
  • wide-angle emitted light 102′ is generally non-directional and its cone angle is typically greater than the cone angle of the views of a multi-view image or multi-view display associated with hybrid backlight 100.
  • FIG. 4 shows a timing diagram of mode switching of the hybrid backlight 100 corresponding to FIG. 3C .
  • the multi-view backlight and the wide-angle backlight are turned on and off alternately in time, where turning on is represented by ON.
  • the multi-view backlight is turned on, corresponding to the three-dimensional mode as described with respect to (a) in FIG. 3C
  • the three-dimensional content in the image is displayed at this time.
  • the wide-angle backlight is turned on, corresponding to the two-dimensional mode as described with respect to (b) in FIG. 3C
  • the two-dimensional content in the image is displayed at this time.
  • the human eye will not be able to discern this switching, so that two-dimensional content and three-dimensional content can be achieved Mixed display in the same image.
  • other image regions except the text region can be displayed with a certain depth of field or displayed in a multi-view manner, so as to achieve a lifelike viewing experience of the image content.
  • the text area can be displayed in a two-dimensional manner, thereby avoiding problems such as blurring and ghosting caused by displaying text in a three-dimensional manner, and realizing high-definition viewing of text content at the same time.
  • the respective time length ratios (ie, duty cycles) of the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode may be set to 1: 1 (eg, as shown in Figure 4).
  • the duration of the two-dimensional mode in each switching cycle can be set to 1/120 second, and the duration of the three-dimensional mode in each switching cycle is also 1/120 second.
  • the duration of the two-dimensional mode in each switching cycle can be set to 1/240 second, and the duration of the three-dimensional mode in each switching cycle is also 1/240 second.
  • the duration of the two-dimensional mode in each switching cycle can be set to 1/480 second, and the duration of the three-dimensional mode in each switching cycle is also 1/480 second.
  • the multi-view backlight 120 is driven as a whole and emits a plurality of directional light beams 102", while during the two-dimensional mode, the wide-angle backlight 110 only corresponds to one or more of the two-dimensional content.
  • the dimming unit area is driven, which leads to a limited contribution of the wide-angle backlight body 110 to the brightness of the multi-view display during the two-dimensional mode. If in a scene with high brightness requirements, the above-mentioned 1:1 duty ratio It will not be able to meet the requirements, therefore, in other embodiments, it is also possible to define a duty ratio (not shown) different from 1:1 for the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode, so as to adjust the brightness of the display.
  • the duty ratios of the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode may be limited to 1:2, 1:3, 3:1, 2:1 and so on.
  • the switching frequency is 240Hz
  • the duty cycle of the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode is limited to 1:3, it means that the duration of the two-dimensional mode in each switching cycle is 1/960 second, and The duration of the three-dimensional mode in each switching cycle is 1/320 second.
  • Increasing the duty cycle of the 3D mode in this way helps to increase the average brightness of the display.
  • the duty cycle of other values may also be limited.
  • the duty cycle of the 2D mode and the 3D mode is limited to 3:1, it means that the duration of the 2D mode in each switching cycle is 1/320 second , and the duration of the three-dimensional mode in each switching cycle is 1/960 second. In this way the duty cycle of the 3D mode can be reduced, thereby reducing the average brightness of the display.
  • the switching frequency of 240 Hz exemplifies the adjustable duty ratio
  • the duty cycle of the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode can also be adjusted in a similar manner, so as to achieve the required display brightness.
  • FIGS. 5-6 illustrate cross-sectional views of a hybrid backlight 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • the cross-sectional views shown in FIGS. 5-6 may represent a cross-section taken through the middle of hybrid backlight 100, and furthermore, by way of example and not limitation, emitted light 102 provided by hybrid backlight 100 is shown using solid arrows.
  • the wide-angle emitted light 102' emitted by the wide-angle backlight 110 is shown using dashed arrows
  • the directional beam 102" emitted by the multi-view backlight 120 is shown as multiple arrows representing multiple directional beams.
  • the hybrid backlight 100 is configured to provide a directional light beam 102′′.
  • the second light source 122 of the multi-view backlight 120 is activated and The entire area of 120 provides a directional light beam 102".
  • all light-emitting units of the first light source 112 of the wide-angle backlight 110 are not filled with cross hatching, which means that the first light source 112 of the wide-angle backlight 110 is turned off, so the dimming unit area of the wide-angle backlight 110 Neither shines.
  • FIG. 5 may correspond to the three-dimensional mode described with respect to (a) in FIG. 3C .
  • FIG. 5 also shows that during the three-dimensional mode, the light valve set 106-1 corresponding to the two-dimensional display content in the light valve array is in a non-working state.
  • FIG. 6 shows a diagram of an example of a hybrid backlight 100 configured to provide a wide-angle emitted light 102'
  • a light-emitting unit for example, light-emitting unit 112-1
  • the first light source 112 of the wide-angle backlight 110 is filled with hatching, which means that the light-emitting unit 112-1 is activated, and the light-emitting unit 112-1 in the wide-angle backlight is 1 and the corresponding dimming unit area is illuminated and emits wide-angle emission light 102'.
  • the rest of the light-emitting units in the first light source 112 are not filled with hatching, which means that the remaining light-emitting units are not activated and do not emit light.
  • the dimming unit areas corresponding to the remaining light-emitting units in the wide-angle backlight are not glow.
  • the dimming area unit corresponding to the light emitting unit 112-1, and the light valve set 106-1 in the light valve array corresponding to the dimming area unit should correspond to the above-mentioned multi-view A 2D display area in an image.
  • the corresponding regions are highlighted differently from other regions. Note that the situation shown in FIG. 6 may correspond to the two-dimensional pattern described with respect to (b) in FIG. 3C.
  • the light source 112 separated from the wide-angle backlight body 110 is shown in FIGS. 5-6 , in practice, the light source 112 may also be integrated in the wide-angle backlight body 110 .
  • the wide-angle backlight 110 may be a flat backlight that directly emits light or directly illuminates, which will be described in detail later.
  • the wide-angle backlight 110 may be substantially any backlight having a plurality of separately activated areas.
  • FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a wide-angle backlight 110 according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • the wide-angle backlight 110 may be a flat backlight that directly emits light or is directly illuminated, which is divided into separate areas that can be activated separately, referred to as dimming unit areas 101 in this application.
  • Directly emitting or illuminating planar backlights including but not limited to, backlight panels employing cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs), neon lights, or planar arrays of light emitting diodes (LEDs), configured to directly illuminate a planar light emitting surface 110' and provide wide-angle emitted light 102' (as shown in Figure 6).
  • An electroluminescent panel is another non-limiting example of a planar backlight that directly emits light.
  • the wide-angle backlight 110 may include a backlight divided into a plurality of separate regions, each region using a separate indirect light source.
  • Such indirectly lit backlights may include, but are not limited to, various forms of edge-coupled backlights or so-called "edge-lit” backlights.
  • the multi-view backlight 120 may further include a light guide 124 , for example, as shown.
  • the light guide 124 is configured to guide light as guided light 104 .
  • light guide 124 may be a planar light guide.
  • the light guide 124 is configured to guide the guided light 104 within the light guide 124 along the length of the light guide 124 according to total internal reflection.
  • the general direction of propagation 103 of the guided light 104 within the light guide 124 is shown by thick arrows in FIGS. 5-6 .
  • directed light 104 may be directed in direction of propagation 103 at a non-zero propagation angle, and may comprise collimated light collimated according to a predetermined collimation factor ⁇ .
  • the multi-view backlight 120 may further include an array of multi-beam elements 126, as shown.
  • the multi-beam elements 126 in the array of multi-beam elements 126 are spaced apart from each other on the light guide 124 .
  • multi-beam elements 126 may be arranged in a one-dimensional (1D) array.
  • the multi-beam elements 126 may be arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) array.
  • different types of multi-beam elements 126 may be used in the multi-view backlight 120, including but not limited to active emitters and various scattering elements.
  • each multi-beam element 126 of the array of multi-beam elements 126 is configured to provide a beam of the directional light beam 102", having directions corresponding to different view directions of the multi-view image.
  • each multi-beam element 126 in the array of multi-beam elements is configured to scatter a portion of the guided light 104 from the light guide 124 and direct the scattered portion away from the light guide. 124 of the first surface 124' to provide the directional light beam 102". For example, a portion of the directed light may be scattered by the multi-beam element 126 out of the first surface 124'.
  • a second surface 124 ′′ of the multi-view backlight 120 opposite the first surface may be adjacent to the light-emitting surface 110 ′ of the wide-angle backlight 110 .
  • the plurality of beams of directional beams 102" are multiple directional beams having different principal directions.
  • the multi-view backlight 120 may be substantially transparent , to allow the wide-angle emitted light 102' from the wide-angle backlight 110 to pass through or transmit the thickness of the multi-view backlight 120, as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 120.
  • the wide-angle emitted light 102' provided by the wide-angle backlight 110 is configured to be transmitted through the multi-view backlight 120, eg, based on the transparency of the multi-view backlight 120.
  • light guide 124 and spaced apart plurality of multi-beam elements 126 may allow wide-angle emitted light 102' to pass through both second surface 124" and first surface 124' and through light guide 124. Due to the relatively small size of multi-beam elements 126 The size and the spacing between the relatively large elements of the multi-beam element 126, so that the transparency can be enhanced.
  • the multi-beam element 126 includes a diffraction grating as described below, in some embodiments, the multi-beam element 126 is compatible with the light guide Surface 124' and lightguide surface 124" may also be substantially transparent to orthogonally conducting light.
  • light from the wide-angle backlight 110 may pass in an orthogonal direction through the light guide 124 of the multi-view backlight 120 having an array of multi-beam elements, according to various embodiments.
  • the multi-view backlight 120 includes the second light source 122 .
  • the multi-view backlight 120 may be an edge-lit backlight.
  • light source 122 is configured to provide light guided within light guide 124 as guided light 104 .
  • light source 122 may be located adjacent to the entrance surface or entrance end (input end) of light guide 124.
  • light source 122 may include substantially any kind of light source (eg, an optical emitter) including, but is not limited to, one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) or lasers (eg, laser diodes).
  • light source 122 may include an optical emitter configured to generate substantially monochromatic light having a narrow-band spectrum representing a particular color.
  • the color of the monochromatic light may be a primary color of a specific color space or a specific color model (eg, a red-green-blue (RGB) color model).
  • light source 122 may be a substantially broadband light source configured to provide substantially broadband or polychromatic light.
  • light source 122 may provide white light.
  • light source 122 may include a plurality of different optical emitters configured to provide different colors of light. Different optical emitters can be configured to provide light having different, color-specific, non-zero angles of propagation corresponding to each of the different colors of light.
  • Activation of the multi-view backlight 120 may include activation of the light sources 122 as shown using cross-hatching in FIG. 5 .
  • the light source 122 may further include a collimator (not shown).
  • the collimator may be configured to receive substantially uncollimated light from one or more optical emitters of light source 122 .
  • the collimator is further configured to convert the substantially uncollimated light into collimated light.
  • a collimator may provide collimated light having a non-zero propagation angle and collimated according to a predetermined collimation factor.
  • the collimator can be configured to provide collimated light with different, color-specific, non-zero propagation angles.
  • the collimator is further configured to emit collimated light into light guide 124 to be directed as guided light 104, as described above.
  • multi-view backlight 120 includes an array of multi-beam elements 126 .
  • the multi-beam elements 126 of the array of multi-beam elements 126 may be located at the first surface 124' of the light guide 124 (e.g., in conjunction with the multi-view backlight 120). first surface 124' adjacent).
  • the multi-beam element 126 may be located within the light guide 124 .
  • the multi-beam element 126 may be located at or on the second surface 124" of the light guide 124 (e.g., adjacent to the second surface of the multi-view backlight 120).
  • the size of the multi-beam elements 126 is comparable to the size of the light valves of a multi-view display configured to display multi-view images.
  • each multi-beam element in the array of multi-beam elements may be sized between the light valves in the array of light valves. between a quarter and twice the size of the
  • FIGS. 5-6 also show an array of light valves 106 (eg, an array of a multi-view display).
  • any of different types of light valves may be used as the light valve 106 in the array of light valves 106, including but not limited to liquid crystal light valves, electrophoretic light valves, and electrophoretic light valves. Wet the light valve.
  • the unique set of light valves 106 may correspond to a multi-view pixel 106' of a multi-view display.
  • dimension may include, but is not limited to, any of length, width, or area.
  • the dimension of the light valve may be its length, and the dimension of the multi-beam element 126 may also be the length of the multi-beam element 126 .
  • the size may be its area, such that the area of the multi-beam element 126 may be comparable to the area of the light valve.
  • the size of the multi-beam element 126 can be comparable to the size of the light valve, and the size of the multi-beam element is between twenty-five percent (25%) and two hundred ( 200%).
  • the multibeam element size is denoted "s" as shown in Figures 5-6 and the light valve dimension is denoted "S"
  • Equation (2) is:
  • the multi-beam element size is greater than about fifty percent (50%) of the size of the light valve, or greater than about sixty percent (60%) of the size of the light valve, or about one percent of the size of the light valve seventy (70%), or greater than about eighty (80%), or greater than about ninety (90%) of the light valve size, and the multibeam element is smaller than the light valve size about one hundred and eighty percent (180%) of the light valve size, or less than about one hundred and sixty percent (160%) of the light valve size, or less than about one hundred and forty percent (140%) of the light valve size ), or less than about one hundred twenty percent (120%) of the light valve size.
  • the considerable size of the multi-beam element 126 and the light valves may be chosen with the aim of minimizing the dark areas between views of the multi-view display in some embodiments, and at the same time, the multiple of the multi-view display may be reduced. Overlap between views or equivalent multi-view images, or in some examples minimize it.
  • the multi-beam element 126 of the multi-view backlight 120 may comprise any of a number of different structures configured to scatter out a portion of the directed light 104 .
  • different structures may include, but are not limited to, diffraction gratings, micro-reflective elements, micro-refractive elements, or various combinations thereof.
  • the multi-beam element 126 comprising a diffraction grating is configured to diffractively couple out or diffractively scatter a portion of the directed light as directionally emitted light comprising multiple directional beams having different principal axis directions .
  • the diffraction grating of a multi-beam element may comprise a plurality of individual sub-gratings.
  • the multi-beam element 126 includes microreflective elements configured to reflectively couple or scatter out a portion of the directed light as multiple directional beams.
  • multi-beam element 126 includes a micro-refractive element configured to couple or scatter a portion of the directed light by or using refraction as multiple directional beams (i.e., refractionally scatter out a portion of the directed light). part).
  • FIG. 8 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight 120 including a multi-beam element 126, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • FIG. 8 shows a multi-view backlight 120 including a diffraction grating 126a.
  • Diffraction grating 126a is configured to diffractively couple or scatter a portion of directed light 104 out as a plurality of directional light beams 102".
  • Diffraction grating 126a includes a plurality of diffractive features spaced by diffractive feature spacing (or grating pitch) Spaced apart from each other, it is configured to diffractively couple out a portion of the guided light.
  • the diffraction feature spacing or inter-grating distance of the diffraction grating 126a may be sub-wavelength (i.e., smaller than the wavelength of the guided light 104)
  • the diffraction grating 126a of the multi-beam element 126 may be located at or near the surface of the light guide 124, while in other embodiments, the diffraction grating 126a may be disposed between the guiding surfaces of the light guide 124.
  • the diffraction grating 126a may be at or near the second surface 124′′ of the light guide 124.
  • the diffraction grating 126a of the multi-beam element 126 is a uniform diffraction grating, wherein the diffractive feature spacing is substantially constant or constant throughout the diffraction grating 126a.
  • the diffraction grating 126a may be a chirped diffraction grating.
  • a "chirped" diffraction grating is one that has a diffraction spacing (ie, inter-grating distance) of diffractive features that varies over the extent or length of the chirped diffraction grating.
  • the diffraction grating 126a may include a plurality of diffraction gratings or an array of diffraction gratings or equivalently a plurality of sub-gratings or an array of sub-gratings. Furthermore, according to some embodiments, the density difference of the sub-gratings within the diffraction grating 126a may be configured to control the relative intensity of the directional light beam 102".
  • FIG. 9 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight 120 including a multi-beam element 126, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application. Specifically, FIG. 9 shows an embodiment of a multi-beam element 126 including micro-reflective elements 126b.
  • the plurality of microreflective elements in the multi-beam element 126 may include, but is not limited to, reflectors employing reflective materials (eg, reflective metals) or films thereof, or total internal reflection (TIR) reflectors.
  • FIG. 10 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a multi-view backlight 120 including a multi-beam element 126, in accordance with an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • FIG. 10 shows a multi-beam element 126 including micro-refractive elements 126c.
  • the micro-refractive elements 126c are configured to refractively couple or scatter a portion of the guided light 104 out of the light guide 124 .
  • the micro-refractive element 126c is configured to use refraction to couple or scatter a portion of the guided light from the light guide 124 as a directional light beam 102′′ including a plurality of light beams.
  • the micro-refractive element 126c may have various The shape includes, but is not limited to, a semicircular shape, a rectangular shape, or a prismatic shape. According to various embodiments, the micro-refractive elements 126c may extend from a surface of the light guide 124 (eg, as shown, the first surface 124') Or protrude, as shown in the figure, or may be a cavity (not shown in the figure) in the surface. Further, in some embodiments, the micro-refractive element 126c may include the material of the light guide 124. In other embodiments , the micro-refractive elements 126c may comprise another material adjacent to the surface of the light guide. And in some examples, the micro-refractive elements 126c may comprise another material in contact with the surface of the light guide.
  • the present invention provides a hybrid display.
  • a hybrid display has a plurality of different display regions configured to respectively emit modulated light on a region basis.
  • the hybrid display in this application divides the display area into multiple different areas for different contents in the same display image, for example, a two-dimensional display area that displays images in a two-dimensional manner, and a three-dimensional display area that displays images in a three-dimensional manner area.
  • the three-dimensional display area can display image content in a stereoscopic or multi-view manner.
  • the two-dimensional display area can display image content two-dimensionally in a manner exhibiting a higher resolution, which is more suitable for displaying text and other 2D information, which may or may cause blurring in three-dimensional display.
  • the hybrid display can be configured to selectively display image content in two dimensions in each of a plurality of different regions.
  • the display mode in a specific area may be determined by selecting to emit a wide-angle emission light or a directional beam in that area.
  • Fig. 11 shows a block diagram of a hybrid display 2000, according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • the hybrid display 2000 shown in FIG. 11 can be used to selectively present part of the content in the displayed image in a two-dimensional manner, and present the rest of the content in the displayed image in a three-dimensional manner.
  • the hybrid display 2000 can present content such as characters and special geometric shapes in the displayed image in a two-dimensional manner, and at the same time present other image contents in a three-dimensional manner.
  • FIG. 11 shows a 2D area that presents graphic content in a two-dimensional manner, and simultaneously shows a 3D area that presents content in a three-dimensional manner.
  • the positions of the 2D regions in the hybrid display 2000 are not fixed, but dynamically change based on the displayed image content, and the number of 2D regions is not fixed, but can vary with The content of the image to be displayed changes dynamically.
  • the number of 2D regions can be one, two, or even more. This feature has been described in detail above in conjunction with FIGS. 3A-3B , and will not be repeated here.
  • hybrid display 2000 is configured to emit modulated emitted light 202, which includes modulated wide-angle emitted light 202' representing 2D pixels of 2D image content during two-dimensional mode, and includes modulated wide-angle emitted light 202' during three-dimensional mode.
  • the hybrid display 2000 may be on an area basis, selectively in the 2D areas as shown During the three-dimensional mode, the hybrid display 2000 may only emit the modulated directional light beam 202" in the 3D area except the 2D area.
  • the hybrid display 2000 includes a wide-angle backlight 210 .
  • Part of the dimming unit area in the wide-angle backlight 210 (for example, the area indicated by the dashed box in the wide-angle backlight) uses the wide-angle emitted light 204 to selectively brighten the 2D display area of the hybrid display 2000 .
  • wide angle backlight 210 may be substantially similar to wide angle backlight 110 of hybrid backlight 100 as described above, as described above. For example, it may emit wide angle emission light 204 to illuminate one or more 2D regions of hybrid display 2000 depending on the content of the image to be displayed.
  • a 2D display area with a fixed position is shown in FIG. 11 , it should be understood that the hybrid display 2000 may include more 2D display areas, and the position of the 2D display area changes dynamically according to the content of the displayed image.
  • the hybrid display 2000 shown in FIG. 11 also includes a multi-view backlight 220 .
  • the 3D area shown in FIG. 11 is all other areas of the hybrid display 2000 except the 2D area.
  • multi-view backlight 220 may be substantially similar to multi-view backlight 120 of hybrid backlight 100 described above.
  • multi-view backlight 220 may emit directional light beams 206 to illuminate all areas of hybrid display 2000 or areas other than 2D areas.
  • a multi-view backlight 220 includes a light guide 222 and an array of spaced apart multi-beam elements 224 .
  • the array of multi-beam elements 224 is configured to scatter the directed light from the light guide 222 into the directional beams 206 .
  • the directional beam 206 when displaying a multi-view image, the directional beam 206 provided by a single multi-beam element 224 in the array of multi-beam elements 224, the directional beam 206 comprising a plurality of directional beams having the same 2000 shows the view directions of the multi-view images corresponding to the different protagonist directions.
  • light guide 222 and multi-beam element 224 may be substantially similar to light guide 124 and multi-beam element 126, respectively, described above.
  • the multi-beam elements 224 of the array of multi-beam elements 224 may include diffraction gratings, micro-reflective elements, and micro-refractive elements optically connected to the light guide 222 to scatter the directed light into the directional beams 206. one or more of .
  • the hybrid display 2000 also includes a light valve array 230 .
  • Light valve array 230 is configured to modulate wide-angle emitted light 204 during two-dimensional mode using a set of light valves corresponding to the 2D region to enable two-dimensional display of content. Additionally, during the three-dimensional mode, the light valve array 230 is configured in part to modulate the directional light beams 206 to enable three-dimensional display of content. Specifically, during the two-dimensional mode, the set of light valves in the light valve array 230 corresponding to the 2D region is configured to receive and modulate the wide-angle emission light 204 to provide the modulated wide-angle emission light 202'.
  • all of the light valves in light valve array 230 except the set of light valves corresponding to the 2D region are configured to receive and modulate directional light beam 206 to provide modulated directional light beam 202′′
  • all light valves in light valve array 230 may also be configured to receive and modulate wide-angle emission light 204 during the two-dimensional mode to provide modulated wide-angle emission of light 202'.
  • light valve array 230 may be substantially similar to the array of light valves 106 described above with respect to hybrid backlight 100.
  • the light valves in the light valve array may include liquid crystal light
  • the size of the multi-beam elements 224 in the array of multi-beam elements 224 may be comparable to the size of the light valves of the light valve array 230 (e.g., between one quarter and twice the size of the light valves) between).
  • the hybrid display 2000 further includes a dimming driver 240 configured to drive one or more light emitting units in the first light source to be driven to illuminate one or more dimming units in the wide-angle backlight 210 cell area.
  • the dimming driver 240 is also configured to control the alternate switching between the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode.
  • the dimming driver 240 may alternately control the multi-view backlight 220 and the wide-angle backlight 210 at a predetermined frequency (for example, 60 Hz, 120 Hz, 240 Hz, etc.), so that the two work alternately in time, thereby alternately emitting directional light beams. 202" and wide-angle emitted light 202'.
  • the dimming driver 240 is also configured to adjust the duty cycle of the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode at each frequency to meet different brightness requirements.
  • the duty cycle of the two-dimensional mode and the three-dimensional mode The example of the ratio has been described in detail above, and will not be repeated again.
  • the dimming driver 240 is also configured to determine the set of light valves to be driven in the light valve array 230 based on a two-dimensional mode or a three-dimensional mode. For example, in two During the three-dimensional mode, the dimming driver 240 controls the light valve corresponding to the 2D area to activate, and at the same time closes the light valve corresponding to the 3D area.
  • the dimming driver 240 controls the light valve corresponding to the 3D area to enable It is activated and at the same time closes the light valve corresponding to the 2D area.
  • the dimming driver 240 can be implemented by the central processing unit of the hybrid display 2000 .
  • the hybrid display 2000 further includes a plurality of light sources.
  • the plurality of light sources is configured to provide the light to be guided as the guided light within the light guide of the wide-angle backlight 210 or the multi-view backlight 220 .
  • each of the plurality of light sources may be optically connected to provide light to the light guide 222 of the multi-view backlight 220 , or equivalently to the light guide of the wide-angle backlight 210 .
  • the light sources of the plurality of light sources of the hybrid display may be substantially similar to first light source 112 and second light source 122 described above with respect to hybrid backlight 100 .
  • the present invention provides a method of operating a hybrid backlight.
  • FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of a method 3000 of operating a hybrid backlight according to an embodiment of the principles of the present application.
  • the operation method of the hybrid backlight includes: using one or more dimming unit areas in the wide-angle backlight to provide wide-angle emitted light in the two-dimensional mode (S310).
  • S310 two-dimensional mode
  • each zone of dimming cells provides a wide-angle emission of light, respectively.
  • the wide-angle backlight may be substantially similar to wide-angle backlight 110 of hybrid backlight 100, as described above.
  • the operation method 3000 of the hybrid backlight further includes: providing a plurality of directional light beams using the multi-view backlight during the three-dimensional mode (S320).
  • the directional light beams have principal directions corresponding to different view directions of the multi-view image.
  • the directional light beam comprises a plurality of directional light beams, which may be provided by each multi-beam element in the array of multi-beam elements.
  • directions of directional light beams among the plurality of directional light beams correspond to different viewing directions of the multi-view image.
  • the multi-view backlight can be substantially similar to multi-view backlight 120 of hybrid backlight 100 described above.
  • the step of providing a plurality of directional light beams further includes directing the light in the light guide as directed light, and scattering out a portion of the directed light using a multi-beam element in an array of multi-beam elements (not shown). ).
  • each multi-beam element of the multi-beam element array may include one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-refractive element, and a micro-reflective element.
  • the multi-beam elements in the array of multi-beam elements may be substantially similar to the multi-beam elements 126 described above with respect to the multi-view backlight 120 .
  • the light guide may also be substantially similar to light guide 124 as described above.
  • the method 3000 of operating a hybrid backlight may further include a step (not shown) of providing light to a light guide within which the guided light is collimated according to a predetermined collimation factor as described above.
  • the operation method 3000 of the hybrid backlight may further include the step of modulating the wide-angle emission light and the plurality of directional light beams using the light valve array during the two-dimensional and three-dimensional modes (S330).
  • the size of the multi-beam elements in the array of multi-beam elements may be configured to be between one quarter and twice the size of the light valves in the array of light valves.
  • the array of light valves may be substantially similar to the array of light valves 106 described above with respect to hybrid backlight 100 .
  • the present invention has described examples and embodiments of a hybrid backlight, a hybrid display, and an operating method of the hybrid backlight that display image content in a two-dimensional plus three-dimensional manner according to the content of the displayed image. It should be understood that the above examples and embodiments describe but a few of many specific examples that represent the principles described herein. Obviously, those skilled in the art can easily design many other arrangements without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application, which also fall within the protection scope of the present application.

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Abstract

一种混合背光体（100）、混合显示器（2000）和混合背光体的操作方法（3000），混合背光体（100）包括：第一背光体，其具有多个调光单元区域（101），多个调光单元区域（101）中的一个或多个调光单元区域被配置为在二维模式期间被选择性地驱动以彼此独立地提供广角发射光（102'）；以及第二背光体，其被配置为在三维模式期间提供多个方向性光束（102"），多个方向性光束（102"）的方向对应于多视图图像的不同视图方向，其中，第二背光体被设置在第一背光体的出光表面上并且对广角发射光（102'）透明，并且在二维模式期间第一背光体中被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域与多视图图像中的特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应，其中，二维模式与三维模式以预定频率交替地切换。

Description

混合背光体、混合显示器和混合背光体的操作方法 技术领域
本申请涉及混合背光体、混合显示器及其操作方法。
背景技术
电子显示器是用于向各种设备和产品的用户传递信息的几乎无处不在的介质。最常采用的电子显示器包括阴极射线管(CRT)、等离子体显示板(PDP)、液晶显示器(LCD)、电致发光显示器(EL)、有机发光二极管(OLED)和有源矩阵OLED(AMOLED)显示器、电泳显示器(EP)以及采用机电或电流体光调制的各种显示器(例如，数字微镜设备、电润湿显示器等)。通常来说，电子显示器可以被分类为有源显示器(即发光的显示器)或无源显示器(即，调制由另一个源所提供的光的显示器)。有源显示器的最明显的示例是CRT、PDP和OLED/AMOLED。当考虑发射的光时，通常被分类为无源的显示器包括LCD和EP显示器。
电子显示器从显示方式上又可划分为二维显示器和三维显示器，二维显示器用于显示二维图像内容，并且三维显示器用于显示三维图像内容。在一些情况下，针对同一图像，我们需要以二维的方式显示其中的某些内容、并且同时以三维的方式显示其他内容。当前的可切换的二维/三维显示器在同一时刻只能以择一的方式(即二维或三维)显示整个图像内容，无法做到在同一图像中既以二维方式显示二维内容，同时又能以三维方式显示三维内容。
发明内容
为了实现同一图像中二维内容和三维内容的混合显示，本申请的一方面提供了一种混合背光体，包括：第一背光体，其具有多个调光单元区域，所述多个调光单元区域中的一个或多个调光单元区域被配置为在二维模式期间被选择性地驱动以彼此独立地提供广角发射光；以及第二背光体，其被配置为在三维模式期间提供多个方向性光束，所述多个方向性光束的方向对应于多视图图像的不同视图方向，其中，所述第二背光体被设置在所述第一背光体的出光表面上并且对所述广角发射光透明，并且在所述二维模式期间所述第 一背光体中被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域与所述多视图图像中的特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应。
在一些实施例中，在所述二维模式期间，所述第一背光体中不与所述多视图图像中的所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应的其余调光单元区域不被驱动并且不提供广角发射光。
在一些实施例中，所述二维模式与所述三维模式以预定频率交替地切换。
在一些实施例中，所述混合背光体还包括：调光控制器，其被配置为基于所述多视图图像的显示内容确定所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域，并且根据所确定的所述一个或多个区域确定所述第一背光体中要被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域。
在一些实施例中，所述多视图图像是随时间动态变化的，并且所述调光控制器基于变化后的多视图图像的显示内容动态地更新所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域。
在一些实施例中，所述第二背光体包括：光导，其被配置为引导光以作为被引导光；多光束元件阵列，所述多光束元件阵列中的每个多光束元件被配置为从所述光导散射出所述被引导光的一部分，作为所述多个方向性光束中的光束。
在一些实施例中，所述光导被配置为以预定的准直因子引导所述被引导光，作为准直的被引导光。
在一些实施例中，所述多光束元件阵列中的多光束元件包括衍射光栅、微反射元件和微折射元件中的一个或多个，所述衍射光栅被配置为衍射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分，所述微反射元件被配置为反射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分，并且所述微折射元件被配置为折射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分。
本申请的另一方面提供了一种混合显示器，包括：第一背光体，其具有多个调光单元区域，所述多个调光单元区域中的一个或多个调光单元区域被配置为在二维模式期间被选择性地驱动以彼此独立地提供广角发射光；第二背光体，其被配置为在三维模式期间提供多个方向性光束，所述多个方向性光束的方向对应于多视图图像的不同视图方向；以及光阀阵列，其被配置为在所述二维模式期间调制所述广角发射光以提供所述多视图图像的二维显示区域，并且在所述三维模式期间调制所述多个方向性光束以提供所述多视图 图像的三维显示区域，其中，所述第二背光体被设置在所述第一背光体的出光表面上并且对所述广角发射光透明，并且所述第一背光体中被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域与所述多视图图像中的特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应，并且其中，所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域对应于所述二维显示区域，并且所述多视图图像的全部区域对应于所述三维显示区域，其中，所述二维模式与所述三维模式以预定频率交替地切换。
在一些实施例中，在所述二维模式期间，所述第一背光体中不与所述多视图图像中的所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应的其余调光单元区域不被驱动并且不提供广角发射光。
在一些实施例中，所述多视图图像中的所述特定内容包括文本内容和特殊图形中的至少一个。
在一些实施例中，所述混合显示器还包括：调光控制器，其被配置为基于所述多视图图像的显示内容确定所述二维显示区域，并且根据所确定的所述二维显示区域确定所述第一背光体中要被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域。
在一些实施例中，所述第二背光体包括：光导，其被配置为引导光以作为被引导光；以及多光束元件阵列，所述多光束元件阵列中的每个多光束元件被配置为从所述光导散射出所述被引导光的一部分，作为所述多个方向性光束中的光束。
在一些实施例中，所述多光束元件阵列中的多光束元件包括衍射光栅、微反射元件和微折射元件中的一个或多个，所述衍射光栅被配置为衍射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分，所述微反射元件被配置为反射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分，并且所述微折射元件被配置为折射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分。
在一些实施例中，所述混合显示器还包括：第一光源，其包括多个发光单元，所述多个发光单元对应于所述第一背光体中的多个调光单元区域；调光驱动器，其被配置为在所述二维模式期间驱动所述要被驱动的一个或多个发光单元，以照亮所述第一背光体中的所述一个或多个调光单元区域；以及第二光源，其被配置为在所述三维模式期间发射光以被所述光导引导。
本申请的又一方面提供了一种混合背光体的操作方法，包括：在二维模式期间使用第一背光体提供广角发射光，所述第一背光体具有多个调光单元区域，所述多个调光单元区域中的一个或多个调光单元区域被选择性地驱动 以彼此独立地提供广角发射光；以及在三维模式期间使用第二背光体提供多个方向性光束，所述多个方向性光束的方向对应于多视图图像的不同视图方向，其中，所述第二背光体被设置在所述第一背光体的出光表面上并且对所述广角发射光透明，并且所述第一背光体中被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域与所述多视图图像中的特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应。
在一些实施例中，在所述二维模式期间，所述第一背光体中不与所述多视图图像中的所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应的其余调光单元区域不被驱动并且不提供广角发射光。
在一些实施例中，所述二维模式与所述三维模式以预定频率交替地切换。
在一些实施例中，所述方法还包括：基于所述多视图图像的显示内容，使用调光控制器确定所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域；以及根据所确定的所述一个或多个区域，使用所述调光控制器确定所述第一背光体中要被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域。
在一些实施例中，所述方法还包括：在光导中引导光以作为被引导光；以及通过使用多光束元件阵列中的每个多光束元件，从所述光导散射出所述被引导光的一部分，作为所述多个方向性光束中的光束。
在一些实施例中，所述方法还包括：在所述二维模式期间使用光阀阵列调制所述广角发射光以提供所述多视图图像的二维显示区域；以及在所述三维模式期间使用所述光阀阵列调制所述多个方向性光束以提供所述多视图图像的三维显示区域，其中，所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域对应于所述二维显示区域，并且所述多视图图像的全部区域对应于所述三维显示区域。
在一些实施例中，所述方法还包括：在所述二维模式期间，使用调光驱动器驱动第一光源中的一个或多个发光单元，以照亮所述第一背光体中的所述一个或多个调光单元区域；在所述三维模式期间，使用所述调光驱动器驱动第二光源，使其发射光以被所述光导引导；以及使用所述调光驱动器控制所述二维模式和所述三维模式的所述交替切换。
附图说明
参照结合附图的以下详细描述，可以更容易理解根据这里描述的原理的示例和实施例的各种特征，其中相同的参考数字表示相同的结构元件，并且其中：
图1A示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的多视图显示器的透视图。
图1B示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的具有特定主角方向的光束的角度分量的示意图。
图2示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的衍射光栅的横截面图。
图3A示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体的平面图。
图3B示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体的平面图。
图3C示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体的透视图。
图4示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体的模式切换的时序图。
图5示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体的横截面图。
图6示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体的横截面图。
图7示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的广角背光体的示意图。
图8示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的包括多光束元件的多视图背光体的一部分的横截面图。
图9示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的包括多光束元件的多视图背光体的一部分的横截面图。
图10示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的包括多光束元件的多视图背光体的一部分的横截面图。
图11示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合显示器的框图。
图12示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体的操作方法的流程图。
下面参考上述附图详细描述这些和其他特征。
具体实施方式
根据本文所述的原理的示例和实施例，本发明提供一种应用到混合显示器的混合背光体及其操作方法。具体来说，根据本文描述的原理，混合背光体被配置为在二维模式期间向对应于二维显示内容的混合背光体的部分区域提供广角发射光，并且在三维模式期间向混合背光体的全部区域提供多个方向性光束。此外，广角发射光可以以区域为基础选择性地提供给特定显示内容所对应的区域。例如，广角发射光可以用于显示2D内容(例如，2D图形或文本)，而多个方向性光束可以用于显示3D信息(例如，多视图图像)。例如，通过使用混合显示器，可以针对同一图像既以二维方式显示二维内容，同时 又能以三维方式显示三维内容。由于该二维模式和三维模式可以以预定频率(例如，120Hz)交替切换，该切换频率远大于人眼的刷新频率(例如，约30至60Hz)，用户可以以流畅的视觉效果观看同时具有二维内容和三维内容的显示图像。
图1A示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的多视图显示器10的透视图。如图1A中所示的，多视图显示器10包括屏幕12，其用于显示要被观看的多视图图像。多视图显示器10在相对于屏幕12的不同的视图方向16上提供多视图图像的不同的视图14。视图方向16如箭头所示，从屏幕12以各种不同的主角方向延伸。不同的视图14在箭头(即，表示视图方向16的箭头)的终止处显示为较暗的多个多边形框，并且仅示出了四个视图14和四个视图方向16，这都是作为示例而非限制。应注意，虽然不同的视图14在图1A中被显示为在屏幕12上方，但是当多视图图像被显示在多视图显示器10上时，视图14实际上出现在屏幕12上或附近。在屏幕12上方描绘视图14仅是为了简化说明，并且意图表示从对应于特定视图14的相应的一个视图方向16观看多视图显示器10。
根据本文的定义，视图方向或等效地具有与多视图显示器的视图方向对应的方向的光束通常具有由角分量
Figure PCTCN2021123027-appb-000001
给出的主角方向。这里，角分量θ被称为光束的“仰角分量”或“仰角”。角分量被称为光束的“方位角分量”或“方位角”。通过定义，仰角θ是垂直平面(例如，垂直于多视图显示器屏幕的平面)中的角度，并且方位角
Figure PCTCN2021123027-appb-000002
是水平平面(例如，平行于多视图显示器屏幕的平面)中的角度。
图1B示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的示例中的具有与多视图显示器的视图方向(例如，图1A中的视图方向16)对应的特定主角方向的光束20的角分量
Figure PCTCN2021123027-appb-000003
的图形表示。另外，根据本文的定义，从特定点发射或发出光束20。也就是说，通过定义，光束20具有与多视图显示器内的特定原点相关联的中心光线。图1B还示出了光束(或视图方向)的原点O。
此外，在本文中，如在术语“多视图图像”和“多视图显示器”中使用的术语“多视图”被定义为表示多个不同透视或包括多个不同视图中的视图之间的角度差的多个视图。另外，通过这里的定义，这里术语“多视图”明确地包括多于两个不同视图(即，最少三个视图并且通常多于三个视图)。按照这样，如这里所采用的“多视图显示器”与仅包括两个不同视图来表示场景或图像的立体 显示器明确区别开。然而，注意，通过这里定义，虽然多视图图像和多视图显示器包括多于两个的视图，但是通过一次仅选择观看多视图中的两个(例如，每只眼睛一个视图)，可以将多视图图像作为立体图像对而被观看(例如，在多视图显示器上)。
在本文中，“多视图像素”被定义为表示多视图显示器的类似的多个不同视图的每个中的“视图”像素的一组像素。具体地，多视图像素具有对应于或表示多视图图像的不同视图的每个中的视图像素的单独像素或一组像素。因此，通过这里定义，“视图像素”是与多视图显示器的多视图像素中的视图相对应的像素或像素集合。在一些实施例中，视图像素可以包括一个或多个颜色子像素。此外，通过这里的定义，多视图像素的视图像素是所谓的“方向性像素”，因为视图像素中的每个与不同视图中对应的一个的预定视图方向相关联。此外，根据各种示例和实施例，多视图像素的不同视图像素可以在不同视图的每个中具有等同的或至少基本上类似的位置或坐标。例如，第一多视图像素可以具有在多视图图像的不同视图的每个中位于{x 1，y 1}的单独的视图像素，而第二多视图像素可以具有在不同视图的每个中位于{x 2，y 2}的单独的视图像素。
在本文中，“光导”被定义为使用全内反射在结构内引导光的结构。具体地，光导可以包括在光导的操作波长下基本上透明的芯。术语“光导”通常是指电介质光波导，其采用全内反射来在光导的电介质材料与围绕该光导的材料或介质之间的交界面处引导光。根据定义，全内反射的条件是光导的折射率大于与光导材料的表面相邻的周围介质的折射率。在一些实施例中，除了上述折射率差之外或代替上述折射率差，光导还可以包括涂层，以进一步促进全内反射。例如，涂层可以是反射涂层。光导可以是若干光导中的任何一种，包括但不限于平板光导或厚平板光导和条带光导中的一者或两者。
在本文中，当术语“平板”被应用于光导时，定义为片段地或微分地平坦的层或片，有时也称为“厚平板”光导。具体来说，平板光导被定义为在由光导的顶部表面和底部表面(即，相对的表面)界定的两个基本正交的方向上引导光的光导。此外，根据本文的定义，顶部表面和底部表面都互相分开，并且至少在微分的意义上可以基本互相平行。也就是说，在平板光导的任何微分地小的部分内，顶部表面和底部表面大致上为平行或共平面的。
在一些实施例中，平板光导可以是基本上平坦的(即，局限为平面)， 并且因此平板光导是平面的光导。在其他实施例中，平板光导可以在一个或两个正交维度上弯曲。举例而言，平板光导可以在单个维度上弯曲以形成圆柱形的平板光导。然而，任何曲率都应具有足够大的曲率半径，以确保在平板光导内保持全内反射以引导光。
如本文所定义，被引导的光的“非零传播角”是相对于光导的引导表面的角度。此外，根据本文的定义，非零传播角均大于零且小于光导内的全内反射的临界角度。此外，对于特定的实施例，可以选择特定的非零传播角，只要特定的非零传播角为小于光导内的全内反射的临界角即可。在各个实施例中，光可以非零传播角引入或耦合到光导中。
根据各个实施例，通过将光耦合至光导中所产生的被引导光或等效的引导“光束”可以是准直光束。在本文中，“准直光”或“准直光束”通常定义为在光束内基本上互相平行多个光束。此外，根据本文的定义，从准直光束发散或散射的光线不被认为是准直光束的一部分。
在本文中，“衍射光栅”通常被定义为设置成提供入射在衍射光栅上的光的衍射的多个特征(即，衍射特征)。在一些示例中，多个特征可以以周期性或准周期性的方式设置。例如，衍射光栅可以包括布置在一维(1D)阵列中的多个特征(例如，在材料表面中的多个凹槽或脊部)。在其他示例中，衍射光栅可以是二维(2D)阵列的特征。例如，衍射光栅可以是材料表面上的凸部或材料表面中的孔洞的二维阵列。
因此，根据本文的定义，“衍射光栅”是提供入射在衍射光栅上的光的衍射的结构。如果光从光导入射在衍射光栅上，则所提供的衍射或衍射地散射可以导致并且因此被称为“衍射地耦合”，因为衍射光栅可以通过衍射将光耦合出光导。衍射光栅还通过衍射(即，以衍射角)重定向或改变光的角度。特别地，由于衍射，离开衍射光栅的光通常具有与入射在衍射光栅上的光(即，入射光)的传导方向不同的传导方向。通过衍射的光的传导方向的变化在这里被称为“衍射重定向”。因此，衍射光栅可被理解为包括衍射特征的结构，其经由衍射方式将入射在衍射光栅上的光重新定向，以及，如果光是由光导射出，衍射光栅也可将来自光导的光衍射地耦合出。
此外，根据本文的定义，衍射光栅的特征被称为“衍射特征”，并且可以是在材料表面(即，两种材料之间的边界)处、之中、和之上的其中一个或多者。例如，所述表面可以是光导的表面。衍射特征可以包括衍射光的各种结 构中的任何一种，包括但不限于在表面处、表面中、或表面上的凹槽、脊部、孔洞、和凸部中的一个或多个。例如，衍射光栅可以在材料表面中包括多个基本上平行的凹槽。在另一个示例中，衍射光栅可以包括从材料表面上突出的多个平行的脊部。衍射特征(例如：凹槽、脊部、孔洞、凸部等等)可以具有提供衍射的各种横截面形状或轮廓中的任何一种，包括但不限于正弦曲线轮廓、矩形轮廓(例如，二元衍射光栅)、三角形轮廓、和锯齿轮廓(例如，闪耀光栅)。
根据本文所描述的各种示例，可以使用衍射光栅(例如，多光束元件的衍射光栅，如下所述)将光从光导(例如，平板光导)中衍射地散射或耦合为光束。具体地，局部周期性衍射光栅的衍射角θ m或由局部周期性衍射光栅提供的衍射角可由等式(1)给出：
Figure PCTCN2021123027-appb-000004
其中λ是光的波长，m是衍射阶数，n是光导的折射系数，d是衍射光栅的特征之间的间隔或间距，θ i是衍射光栅上的光入射角。为了简单起见，等式(1)假设衍射光栅与光导的表面邻接并且光导外部的材料的折射系数等于1(即，n out＝1)。通常，衍射阶数m给定为整数。衍射角θ m由衍射光栅产生的光束可以由其中衍射阶数为正(例如，m>0)的等式(1)给定。例如，当衍射阶数m等于1(即，m＝1)时提供第一阶衍射。
图2示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的衍射光栅30的横截面图。例如，衍射光栅30可以位于光导40的表面上。另外，图2示出了以入射角θ i入射在衍射光栅30上的入射光束50。入射光束50可以是光导40内的一束被引导的光(即，被引导的光束)。图2中还示出了由于入射光束50的衍射，衍射光栅30衍射地产生并耦合出方向性光束60。方向性光束60具有如等式(1)所示的衍射角θ m(或者，在在本文中，“主角方向”)。衍射角θ m可以对应于衍射光栅30的衍射阶数“m”，例如，衍射阶数m＝1(即，第一衍射阶数)。
根据本文的定义，“多光束元件”是为产生包括多个光束的光的背光板或显示器的结构或元件。在一些实施例中，多光束元件可光学地耦合至背光板的光导，以通过耦合出或散射出在光导中被引导的光的一部分来提供多个光束。进一步地，根据本文的定义，由多光束元件所产生的多个光束中的光束具有彼此不同的多个主角方向。具体地，根据定义，多个光束中的光束具有 与所述的多个光束中的另一光束不同的预定主角方向。因此，根据本文的定义，光束被称为“方向性光束”，并且多个光束可以称为多个方向性光束。
此外，多个方向性光束可以表示光场。例如，多个方向性光束可被限制在基本上为圆锥形的空间区域中，或者具有包括多个光束中的光束的不同主角方向的预定角展度。因此，所述多个光束的预定角展度的组合(即，所述的多个光束)可表示光场。
根据各种实施例，所述多个方向性光束中的各种方向性光束的不同主角方向是根据特性，可包括但不限于，多光束元件的尺寸(例如，长度、宽度、面积等)来决定。在一些实施例中，根据本文的定义，多光束元件可被视为“扩展点光源”，即，多个点光源分布在多光束元件的范围内。此外，由多光束元件产生的方向性光束具有由角度分量{θ，φ}给出的主角方向，如本文所定义，并且如上文关于图1B所述。
在本文中，“准直器”是被定义为基本上任何用于准直光的光学设备或装置。举例来说，准直器可以包括但不限于，准直镜或反射器、准直透镜、衍射光栅、锥形光导、以及上述各种准直器的组合。根据各种实施例，由准直器提供的准直量可以从一个实施例到另一个实施例以预定的角度或数量做变化。进一步地，准直器可被配置为在两个正交方向(例如，垂直方向以及水平方向)中的一个或两个方向上提供准直。换言之，根据本发明的一些实施例，准直器可包括用于提供光准直的两个正交方向中的一个或两个的形状或类似的准直特征。
在本文中，“准直因子”被定义为光被准直的程度。具体地，准直因子定义准直光束中的光线的角展度。例如，准直因子σ可以指定一束准直光中的大部分光线在特定的角展度内(例如，相对于准直光束的中心或主角方向的+/-σ度)。根据一些示例，准直光束的光线可以在角度方面具有高斯分布，并且角展度可以是由准直光束的峰值强度的一半所确定的角度。
在本文中，“光源”被定义为发出光的源头(例如，被配置为产生光和发射光的光学发射器)。例如，光源可以包括光学发射器，例如，发光二极管(LED)，其在被激活或开启时发光。具体地，在本文中光源基本上可为任何一种来源的光或光学发射器，其包括但不限于，一个或多个LED、激光器、有机发光二极管(OLED)、聚合物发光二极管、等离子体光学发射器、荧光灯、白炽灯，以及任何其他视觉可见的光来源。由光源所产生的光线可以具 有颜色(即，可包括特定波长的光)，或可为一定范围的波长(例如，白光)。在一些实施例中，光源可以包括多个光学发射器。例如，光源可以包括一组或一群光学发射器，其中至少一个光学发射器产生具有颜色或等同的波长的光，所述颜色或波长不同于由所述组或所述群的至少一个其它光学发射器产生的光所具有的颜色或波长。不同颜色可以包括例如原色(例如，红色、绿色、蓝色)。“偏振”光源在本文中定义为，产生或提供具有预定偏振的光的基本上任何光源。例如，偏振光源可以包括在光源的光学发射器的输出处的偏振器。
在本文中，“多视图图像”被定义为多个图像(即，两个或更多个图像)，其中多个图像中的每一个图像表示与多视图图像的不同的视图方向相对应的不同的视图。因此，举例而言，多视图图像是图像的集合(例如，二维图像)，当在多视图显示器上显示时，可以促进对景深的感知，因此对于观看者而言看起来是3D场景的图像。例如，在一些实施例中，在多视图图像包括两个图像的情况下，可以通过在多视图显示器上以立体图像对的方式观看这两个图像(例如，每只眼睛一个视图)，从而实现双目立体显示。
根据定义，“广角”发射光被定义为具有一定锥角，该锥角大于多视图图像或多视图显示器的视图的锥角。具体来说，在一些实施例中，广角发射光可以具有大于大约二十度(例如，>±20°)的锥角。在其他实施例中，广角发射光的锥角可以大约大于三十度(例如，>±30°)，或者大约大于四十度(例如，>±40°)，或者大约大于五十度(例如，>±50°)。例如，广角发射光的锥角可以大约为六十度(例如，>±60°)。应当注意的是，当“广角”发射光与“方向性”发射光被同时提及时，意味着“广角”发射光的锥角大于“方向性”发射光中各个方向性光束的锥角。也就是说，方向性光束可以视为锥角极小(例如，<10°，或<5°等)的朝向某个方向的光束。
在一些实施例中，广角发射光的锥角可以定义为与LCD电脑屏幕、LCD平板电脑、LCD电视或类似的用于广角观看的数字显示装置的视角大约相同(例如，大约±40°～65°)。在其他实施例中，广角发射光还可以被表征为或描述为漫射光、基本上漫射的光、无方向性的光(即，缺乏任何特定的或界定的方向性)或具有单个或基本上均匀的方向的光。
此外，如本文所使用的，冠词“一”旨在具有其在专利领域中的普通含义，即“一个或多个”。例如，“一个多视图像素”表示一个或多个多视图像素，因此， “多视图像素”在这里表示“一个或多个多视图像素”。此外，这里对“顶部”、“底部”、“上部”、“下部”、“上”、“下”、“前”、“后”、“第一”、“第二”、“左”或“右”的任何引用不旨在是限制。这里，术语“约”当被应用于值时通常意指在用于产生该值的设备的公差范围内，或者可以意指加或减10％、或者加或减5％、或者加或减1％，除非另有明确说明。此外，如这里所用的术语“基本上”是指大部分、或几乎全部、或全部、或在约51％至约100％范围内的量。此外，这里的示例仅旨在是说明性的，并且出于讨论的目的而不是通过限制的方式被呈现。
根据本文所描述的原理的一些实施例，本发明提供了一种混合背光体。图3A示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体100的平面图。图3B示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体100的平面图。图3C示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体100的透视图。具体来说，图3C所示的透视图是分解的透视图，并且图3C分别示出了在三维模式和二维模式下的混合背光体100的透视图。
如图3A所示，混合背光体100具有多个不同显示区域，其在图3A中被描绘为二维显示区域101a-1、101a-2和三维显示区域101b。
在本文中，术语“二维显示区域”是指用于显示二维图像内容、或者以二维的方式显示图像内容的显示区域。此外，需要理解的是，虽然在图3A中示出了两个固定位置的区域101a-1和101a-2作为混合背光体100的二维显示区域，但是这仅仅是示例性的。应当理解的是，二维显示区域的位置在混合背光体100中并不是固定的，而是基于所显示的图像内容动态地变化，并且二维显示区域的数量也不并不是固定的，而是可以随着要显示的图像的内容动态的变化。例如，二维显示区域的数量可以是一个、两个、甚至是更多。此外，在一些不具有二维显示内容的情况下，二维显示区域的数量也可以是零个。
在本申请的一些实施例中，混合背光体100中的二维显示区域与要显示的多视图图像中的特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应。例如，如果要显示的多视图图像中既包括图像内容，又包括文字内容，我们希望能够用三维的显示方式显示图像内容，使其看上去具有一定的景深，从而产生立体的三维效果，或者在不同的观看方向上显示图像的不同视图。然而，对于文字内容(例如字幕、图像中的特征标语、图像中的书本中的文字等)，相较于具有 景深的三维显示效果，我们更加希望其能够以平面的、二维的方式更清晰地显示。如图3B所示，假设要显示的图像200-1既包括图像内容(例如，图3B中的笑脸、云朵和山丘等)，又包括文字内容(例如，对话框中的文字“你好！”)，则我们希望以三维的方式显示笑脸、云朵和山丘等图像内容，同时以二维的方式显示对话框中的文字内容。在这种情况下，可以将对话框所在的区域限定为二维显示区域101a，并且将图像200-1中除对话框之外的其它图像内容区域限定为三维显示区域101b。
尽管图3B中示出了将文字内容所在的区域识别为二维显示区域的示例，但这仅仅是示例性的，可以根据需要预定义多种类型的二维显示内容。例如，可以将显示图像中存在的特殊的形状(诸如正方形、三角形、圆形等几何图形)预先设定为要进行二维显示的内容。此外，还可以将交通灯、交通指示牌、路标等特定的对象预先设定为要进行二维显示的内容。本申请中的二维显示内容的示例不限于以上示例。此外，应当注意的是，对二维显示内容的预先设定并不要求仅仅设定以上示例中的一种，例如，根据需要可以将文字、几何形状、路标中的一种或多种同时设定为要进行二维显示的内容。在这种情况下，本申请所述的混合背光体100将根据显示图像中的具体内容，确定将包括文字、几何形状、路标中的一种或多种内容的区域都以二维的形式显示。
在本文中，术语“三维显示区域”是指用于显示三维图像内容、或者以三维的方式显示图像内容的显示区域。应当注意的是，“三维显示区域”与上述“二维显示区域”是互补的。例如，以图3B中的图像200-1为例，一旦确定了图像200-1中的二维显示区域为对话框所在的区域101a，也就意味着将图像200中除区域101a以外的其它区域作为三维显示区域。此外，由于二维显示区域是随着要显示的图像而动态变化的，相应地，三维显示区域也随着要显示的图像适应性地变化。
以上参照图3A和图3B示出了具有二维和三维显示区域的混合背光体100。应当理解的是，如上所述的混合背光体100的二维和三维显示区域是针对工作状态下的混合背光体100描述的，而不是针对非工作状态下的混合背光体描述的。实质上，当混合背光体处于非工作状态，即未进行任何图像显示的情况下，如上所述的二维和三维显示区域显然是不存在的，因为二维和三维显示区域是基于要显示的图像的内容而动态形成的，并且随着显示图像 的改变，混合背光体100中的二维和三维显示区域也是跟随图像内容动态变化的。
以下将结合图3C中混合背光体100的透视图来描述其工作原理。应注意，为了便于描述，在图3C的透视图中还示出了除混合背光体100之外的其它元素，例如用于对混合背光体100发出的光进行调制的光阀阵列106、以及由此显示的多视图图像200-2。
根据各个实施例，由混合背光体100提供的发射的光可以用于照亮采用混合背光体100的电子显示器。例如，发射的光可以进入电子显示器的光阀阵列106(如图3C所示)以进行调制。此外，如下文所述，使用混合背光体100或由混合背光体100照亮的电子显示器可以被配置为使用发射的光在电子显示器的与多个调光单元区域101相对应的多个不同区域中的每一个区域中选择性地显示二维图像。可以通过选择在特定区域中发射广角发射光以确定在该区域中显示二维图像，并且在其余区域显示三维图像。
如图3C中的(a)或(b)所示，混合背光体100包括广角背光体110和多视图背光体120。多视图背光体120被设置在广角背光体110的出光表面上(如图所示的上表面)。广角背光体110具有多个调光单元区域101。当在二维模式显示图像的二维内容时(如(b)中所示)，多个调光单元区域101中的一个或多个调光单元区域被配置为选择性地驱动，从而彼此独立地提供广角发射光102’。
在一些实施例中，混合背光体100还可包括调光控制器(未示出)。调光控制器被配置为基于多视图图像的显示内容确定特定内容所在的一个或多个区域，并且根据所确定的一个或多个区域确定在二维模式期间广角背光体110中要被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域。例如，在图3C的(b)所示的示例中，调光控制器将图像200-2中的文字“你好”所在的区域201识别为二维显示区域，并且根据文字“你好”所在的区域201在广角背光体110中确定要被驱动的调光单元区域101。应当注意的是，图像200-2中的区域201应当与广角背光体110中要被驱动的调光单元区域101对齐。
如上所述，混合背光体100中的二维显示区域与要显示的多视图图像中的特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应。例如，针对图像200-2，如果确定了需要在二维模式期间以二维的方式显示的区域为文字“你好”所在的方形区域201，则可以对应地将广角背光体中与区域201相对应的调光单元区域101 (广角背光体110中高亮的调光单元区域101)确定为要被驱动并发射广角发射光102’的激活区域，并且将其余不与区域201对应的其余调光单元区域确定为不需要被驱动而不发射广角发射光102’的非激活区域。
应当注意的是，多视图背光体120对于调光单元区域101发射的广角发射光102’是透明的或至少基本上透明的。也就是说，广角发射光102’可以穿透多视图背光体120，从而进入光阀阵列106以进行调制，具体细节将在稍后进行讨论。
此外，在各种实施例中，广角背光体110可包括光源(未示出)，并且多视图背光体120也可以包括光源(未示出)。具体来说，广角背光体110的多个调光单元区域可以包括对应的多个光源，而多视图背光体120可包括单个光源。广角背光体的多个光源被配置为选择性地开启以向多个调光单元区域提供光。在这些实施例中，多个光源的分别启动可以被配置为照射多个调光单元区域中的对应一个。
具体地，图3C的(a)和(b)分别示出了在三维模式期间显示三维内容的混合背光体100的透视图和在二维模式期间显示二维内容的混合背光体100的透视图。如(a)中所示，在三维模式期间，广角背光体110的所有调光单元区域都处于非激活状态，即不发光。与此同时，多视图背光体120整体被驱动并且发出多个方向性光束102”，多个方向性光束102”的不同主角方向对应于多个不同视图的视图方向。在多视图背光体120发出方向性光束102”的情况下，光阀阵列106中的对应光阀被配置为对该方向性光束102”进行调制以提供图像200-2的三维内容的不同视图。例如，图像200-2的三维内容包括除二维显示区域201以外的其它区域，例如，包括笑脸的区域以及其背景区域。应当注意的是，在这种情况下，并不是光阀阵列106中所有的光阀都用以调制方向性光束102”。例如，与图像200-2的二维显示区域201相对应的光阀集合106-1此时不工作，并且光阀集合106-1不对多视图背光体120发出的方向性光束102”进行调制。这就会导致在当前的显示图像中形成如二维显示区域201所在的暗区。
然后，在三维模式期间通过多视图背光体120发射的多个方向性光束102”显示三维内容之后，切换到二维显示模式。如(b)中所示，在二维显示模式下，多视图背光体120处于不驱动并且不发光的状态，并且广角背光体110的部分调光单元区域(例如，调光单元区域101)被驱动并发射广角发射 光102’。广角发射光102’经光阀阵列106的对应光阀集合106-1进行调制，以显示图像200-2中的二维内容，例如区域201中的文字“你好”。
应当理解的是，尽管图3C中的(b)示出了在显示二维内容的情况下光阀阵列106中的对应光阀集合106-1被驱动的示例，这仅仅是示例性的。在其它实施例中，可以不对光阀集合106-1之外的其它光阀的工作状态进行限制。例如，在二维模式期间，光阀集合106-1之外的其它光阀也可以同时处于工作状态，这样，在二维模式期间，除二维内容所在区域之外的其它区域也可以以二维模式显示。这种配置的有益之处在于，对于对应于三维内容的光阀的集合，不需要在每次切换中都频繁地充电或放电，从而能够避免频繁操作每个光阀带来的额外工作和复杂度，同时能够有效提高显示器的寿命。
然而，应当注意的是，对三维显示区域的对应光阀集合的这种类似操作(即在二维模式期间和三维模式期间都驱动)并不适用于二维显示区域的对应光阀集合(例如，光阀集合106-1)。如上所述，我们设定在三维模式期间应当关闭二维显示区域的对应光阀集合106-1，因为如果不将其关闭，在三维模式期间，如上所述的方向性光束102”将会被光阀集合106-1调制，导致二维显示区域的文字内容“你好”将会以三维的方式显示。在这种情况下，当从三维模式切换到二维模式时，由于光阀的充放电通常需要一定的响应时间，导致光阀集合106-1并不能立即完全地对二维模式中的广角发射光102’进行调制，这时候就会出现二维区域201同时存在三维显示效果和二维显示效果叠加的显示效果，这是我们不希望看到的。我们希望二维内容的显示能够不受三维显示的干扰，从而能够以最佳的清晰度显示文字、特殊图形等二维内容。
此外，还应当理解的是，虽然在图3C的(a)中将多个方向性光束102”示出为朝各个方向发散的箭头，并且在图3C的(b)中将广角发射光102’示出为两个平行的箭头，这仅仅是示意性的，并不代表光的真实方向。例如，表示多个方向性光束102”的多个发散箭头可视为指向不同的视图方向的各个光束，可将每个箭头视为每个方向上的一簇光束。同理，表示广角发射光102’的两个箭头虽然被示出为垂直于光阀阵列106的平行箭头，但其表示的是具有一定锥角范围的广角发射光或漫射光，而不是真正垂直于光阀阵列106的垂直光束，如前文所定义的。例如，广角发射光102’在大体上是非方向性的，并且其锥角通常大于与混合背光体100相关联的多视图图像或多视图显示器 的视图的锥角。
图4示出了与图3C相对应的混合背光体100的模式切换的时序图。如图所示，多视图背光体和广角背光体在时间上交替地开启和关闭，其中开启用ON表示。当多视图背光体开启时，对应于如关于图3C中的(a)所述的三维模式，此时显示图像中的三维内容。当广角背光体开启时，对应于如关于图3C中的(b)所述的二维模式，此时显示图像中的二维内容。当二维模式和三维模式的交替切换频率足够快时(例如，60Hz、120Hz或240Hz或更高的频率)，人眼将无法辨别出这种切换，这样就能够实现二维内容和三维内容在同一图像中的混合显示。例如，在视觉上除文字区域以外的其它图像区域都可以显示为具有一定景深或以多视图方式显示，从而实现图像内容的栩栩如生的观看体验。同时，文字区域又能够以二维的方式显示，从而避免了以三维方式显示文字带来的模糊、重影等问题，同时实现了文字内容的高清观看。
在一些实施例中，在二维模式和三维模式以如上所述的交替切换频率不断切换时，二维模式和三维模式各自所占的时长比例(即，占空比)可以被设置为1:1(例如，如图4所示)。例如，在切换频率为60Hz时，可以设置每个切换周期中二维模式的时长为1/120秒，同时每个切换周期中三维模式的时长也为1/120秒。在切换频率为120Hz时，可以设置每个切换周期中二维模式的时长为1/240秒，同时每个切换周期中三维模式的时长也为1/240秒。类似地，在切换频率为240Hz时，可以设置每个切换周期中二维模式的时长为1/480秒，同时每个切换周期中三维模式的时长也为1/480秒。
如上所述，由于在三维模式期间，多视图背光体120整体被驱动并且发出多个方向性光束102”，而在二维模式期间，广角背光体110仅与二维内容对应的一个或多个调光单元区域被驱动，这就导致二维模式期间广角背光体110对多视图显示器亮度的贡献是有限的。如果在亮度要求较高的场景下，如上所述的1:1的占空比将无法满足要求，因此，在其它实施例中，还可以限定二维模式和三维模式的不同于1:1的占空比(未示出)，从而调节显示的亮度。
例如，可以将二维模式和三维模式的占空比限定为1:2、1:3、3:1、2:1等等。例如，在切换频率为240Hz的情况下，如果将二维模式和三维模式的占空比限定为1:3，则意味着在每个切换周期中二维模式的时长为1/960秒，而每个切换周期中三维模式的时长为1/320秒。以这种方式增大三维模式的占 空比有助于提高显示器的平均亮度。另外，在亮度要求较低的场景下，也可以限定其它数值的占空比。例如，例如，在切换频率为240Hz的情况下，如果将二维模式和三维模式的占空比限定为3:1，则意味着在每个切换周期中二维模式的时长为1/320秒，而每个切换周期中三维模式的时长为1/960秒。以这种方式可以减小三维模式的占空比，从而降低显示器的平均亮度。
应当理解的是，以上虽然针对240Hz的切换频率列举了可调占空比的实施例，但这仅仅是示例性的，而非限制。针对其他切换频率(例如，60Hz、120Hz等)，也可以以类似地方式调节二维模式和三维模式的占空比，从而实现需要显示亮度。
此外，还应当理解的是，虽然以上仅仅列举了1:1、1:2、1:3、3:1、2:1的占空比示例，这也仅仅是示例性的，而非限制。本领域技术人员可以在实际应用中根据需求选择其他合适的占空比，此种类型的修改或变型仍然落在本申请的范围内。
图5-6示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体100的横截面图。例如，图5-6所示的横截面图可以表示从混合背光体100的中间剖开的横截面，此外，作为示例而非限制，由混合背光体100提供的发射的光102使用实体箭头显示，其中广角背光体110发射的广角发射光102’使用虚线箭头显示，并且多视图背光体120发射的方向性光束102”被显示为表示多个方向性光束的多个箭头。
如图5所示，混合背光体100被配置为提供方向性光束102”。在图5中，如交叉影线所示，多视图背光体120的第二光源122被启动，并且多视图背光体120的全部区域提供方向性光束102”。在图5中，广角背光体110的第一光源112的全部发光单元都未被交叉阴影线填充，意味着广角背光体110的第一光源112被关闭，因此广角背光体110的调光单元区域都不发光。注意，图5示出的情况可对应于关于图3C中的(a)描述的三维模式。此外，图5同样示出了在三维模式期间，光阀阵列中与二维显示内容相对应的光阀集合106-1处于非工作状态。
图6示出了混合背光体100被配置为提供广角发射光102’的示例的图。例如，广角背光体110的第一光源112的一个发光单元(例如，发光单元112-1)被阴影线填充，意味着该发光单元112-1被启动，并且广角背光体中与发光单元112-1相对应的调光单元区域被照射，并发出广角发射光102’。与此 同时，第一光源112中的其余发光单元均未被阴影线填充，意味着其余发光单元未被启动且不发光，因此，广角背光体中与其余发光单元相对应的调光单元区域不发光。应当理解的是，与发光单元112-1相对应的调光区域单元、以及进一步与该调光区域单元相对应的光阀阵列中的光阀集合106-1应当对应于如上所述的多视图图像中的二维显示区域。在图6中，为了更清楚地表示，该对应区域均以不同于其他区域的高亮表示。注意，图6示出的情况可对应于关于图3C中的(b)描述的二维模式。
应当理解的是，虽然在图5-6中示出了与广角背光体110分离的光源112，但是在实际情况中，光源112也可以集成在广角背光体110内。例如广角背光体110可以是直接发射光或直接照亮的平面背光体，稍后将详细描述。
根据各个实施例，广角背光体110可以基本上是具有多个分别启动的区域的任何背光体。图7示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的广角背光体110的示意图。
例如，广角背光体110可以是直接发射光或直接照亮的平面背光体，其分为可以分别启动的分离的区域，在本申请中称为调光单元区域101。直接发射光或直接照亮的平面背光体，包括但不限于，采用冷阴极荧光灯(CCFL)、霓虹灯、或发光二极管(LED)的平面阵列的背光面板，其被配置为直接照射平面的发光表面110’并提供广角发射光102’(如图6所示)。电致发光面板是直接发射光的平面背光体的另一个非限制性示例。在其他示例中，广角背光体110可包括分为多个分离的区域的背光体，每个区域都使用分离的间接光源。这种间接照亮的背光体可以包括但不限于各种形式的边缘耦合的背光体或所谓的“侧光式”背光体。
再次参考图5至图6，在一些实施例中，例如，如图所示，多视图背光体120可以进一步包括光导124。根据各个实施例，光导124被配置为引导光以作为被引导的光104。在一些实施例中，光导124可以是平板光导。
根据各个实施例，光导124被配置为根据全内反射沿着光导124的长度在光导124内引导被引导光104。在图5-6中由粗箭头显示被引导光104在光导124内的总体传播方向103。在一些实施例中，如图5所示，被引导光104可以以非零传播角被引导在传播方向103上，并且可以包括根据预定准直因子σ准直的准直光。
再次参考图5至图6，例如，如图所示，多视图背光体120可以进一步 包括多光束元件126的阵列。根据各个实施例，多光束元件126的阵列中的多光束元件126在光导124上互相间隔开。例如，在一些实施例中，多光束元件126可以排列成一维(1D)阵列。在其他实施例中，多光束元件126可以排列成二维(2D)阵列。此外，多视图背光体120中可以使用不同类型的多光束元件126，其包括但不限于有源发射器和各种散射元件。根据各个实施例，多光束元件126的阵列中的每一个多光束元件126被配置为提供方向性光束102”中的光束，其具有与多视图图像的不同的视图方向相对应的方向。
根据各个实施例，如图5所示，多光束元件阵列中的每一个多光束元件126被配置为从光导124中散射出被引导光104的一部分，并且将散射出的该部分引导向远离光导124的第一表面124’，以提供方向性光束102”。例如，被引导光的一部分可以被多光束元件126散射出第一表面124’。此外，根据各个实施例，如图5至图6所示，多视图背光体120的与第一表面相对的第二表面124”可以与广角背光体110的发光表面110’相邻。
应注意的是，如上文所述，如图5所示，方向性光束102”的多个光束是具有不同主角方向的多个方向性光束。此外，多视图背光体120可以是基本上透明的，以允许来自广角背光体110的广角发射光102’穿过或透射过多视图背光体120的厚度，如图6中虚线箭头所示，其始于广角背光体110然后穿过多视图背光体120。换句话说，由广角背光体110提供的广角发射光102’被配置为透射通过多视图背光体120，例如，基于多视图背光体120的透明性。
例如，光导124和间隔开的多个多光束元件126可允许广角发射光102’穿过第二表面124”和第一表面124’两者并且通过光导124。由于多光束元件126的相对小的尺寸和多光束元件126的相对大的元件间的间隔，使得透明度可以增强。此外，当多光束元件126包括如下文所述的衍射光栅时，在一些实施例中，多光束元件126对于与光导表面124’和光导表面124”正交传导的光也可以是基本上透明的。因此，例如，根据各个实施例，来自广角背光体110的光可以在正交方向上穿过具有多光束元件阵列的多视图背光体120的光导124。
如上所述，多视图背光体120包括第二光源122。例如，多视图背光体120可以是侧光式背光体。根据各个实施例，光源122被配置为提供在光导124内被引导的光以作为被引导光104。具体来说，光源122可以位于相邻于 光导124的入口表面或入口端(输入端)。在各个实施例中，光源122可以包括大致任何种类的光源(例如，光学发射器)，这光源包括一个以上的发光二极管(LED)或激光器(例如，激光二极管)，但其并不限于此。在一些实施例中，光源122可以包括光学发射器，其被配置以产生代表特定颜色的具有窄频光谱的基本上为单色的光。具体来说，该单色光的颜色可为特定颜色空间或特定颜色模型(例如，红-绿-蓝(RGB)颜色模型)的原色。在其他示例中，光源122可以是被配置以提供基本上宽带或多色光的基本宽频带光源。例如，光源122可提供白光。在一些实施例中，光源122可以包括多个不同的光学发射器，被配置以提供光的不同颜色。不同的光学发射器可以被配置以提供具有与光的不同颜色中的每一个颜色相对应的不同的、颜色特定的、非零传播角的光。如图5中使用交叉影线所示，多视图背光体120的启动可以包括启动光源122。
在一些实施例中，光源122可进一步包括准直器(图中未示出)。准直器可以被配置以接收来自光源122的一个以上的光学发射器的大致非准直光。准直器进一步被配置以将大致非准直光转换为准直光。具体来说，根据一些实施例，准直器可提供具有非零传播角并且依据预定准直因子准直的准直光。此外，当采用不同颜色的光学发射器时，准直器可被配置以提供具有不同的、颜色特定的非零传播角的准直光。准直器进一步被配置以将准直光发射到光导124中，以将其引导为被引导光104，如上文所述。
如上所述，根据各个实施例，多视图背光体120包括多光束元件126的阵列。根据一些实施例(例如，如图5至图6所示)，多光束元件126的阵列中的多光束元件126可以位于光导124的第一表面124’处(例如，与多视图背光体120的第一表面124’相邻)。在其他实施例(图中未示出)中，多光束元件126可以位于光导124内。在其他实施例(图中未示出)中，多光束元件126可以位于光导124的第二表面124”处或第二表面上(例如，邻近多视图背光体120的第二表面)。此外，多光束元件126的尺寸与被配置为显示多视图图像的多视图显示器的光阀的尺寸相当。例如，多光束元件阵列中的每个多光束元件的尺寸可介于光阀阵列中的光阀的尺寸的四分之一至两倍之间。
作为示例而非限制，图5至图6还示出了光阀106的阵列(例如，多视图显示器的阵列)。在各个实施例中，可以使用不同种类的光阀中的任何一种以作为光阀106的阵列之中的光阀106，光阀的种类包括但不限于液晶光阀、 电泳光阀、以及电润湿光阀。此外，如图所示，对于多光束元件126的阵列中的每一个多光束元件126，可以存在唯一的光阀106的集合。例如，该唯一的光阀106的集合可以对应于多视图显示器的多视图像素106’。
在本文中，“尺寸”可以包括但不限于长度、宽度、或面积中的任何一种。例如，光阀的尺寸可以是其长度，并且多光束元件126的尺寸也可以是多光束元件126的长度。在另一示例中，尺寸可以是其面积，使得多光束元件126的面积可以与光阀的面积相当。在一些实施例中，多光束元件126的尺寸可以与光阀的尺寸相当，并且多光束元件的尺寸介于光阀的尺寸的百分之二十五(25％)至百分之两百(200％)之间。例如，如果多光束元件尺寸被标示为如图5-6所示的“s”并且及光阀尺寸被标示为“S”，则多光束元件的尺寸s可用方程式(2)来给定，方程式(2)为:
Figure PCTCN2021123027-appb-000005
在其他示例中，多光束元件尺寸大于光阀尺寸的约百分之五十(50％)、或大于光阀尺寸的约百分之六十(60％)、或光阀尺寸的约百分之七十(70％)、或大于光阀尺寸的约百分之八十(80％)、或大于光阀尺寸的约百分之九十(90％)，并且多光束元件小于光阀尺寸的约百分之一百八十(180％)、或小于光阀尺寸的约百分之一百六十(160％)、或小于光阀尺寸的约百分之一百四十(140％)、或小于光阀尺寸的约百分之一百二十(120％)。根据一些实施例，可以在一些实施例中将多视图显示器的视图之间的暗区域最小化为目的，来选择多光束元件126及光阀的相当尺寸，同时，可以减少多视图显示器的多个视图或等效的多视图图像之间的重叠，或在一些示例中将其最小化。
根据各个实施例，多视图背光体120的多光束元件126可以包括被配置以散射出被引导光104的一部分的多个不同结构中的任何一种。例如，不同的结构可以包括但不限于衍射光栅、微反射元件、微折射元件或其各种组合。在一些实施例中，包括衍射光栅的多光束元件126被配置为衍射地耦合出或衍射地散射出被引导光的一部分，以作为包括具有不同主角方向的多个方向性光束的方向发射的光。在一些实施例中，多光束元件的衍射光栅可以包括多个单独的子光栅。在其他实施例中，多光束元件126包括微反射元件，其被配置为将被引导光的一部分反射地耦合出或散射出，以作为多个方向性光束。或者，多光束元件126包括微折射元件，其被配置为通过或使用折射将被引导光的一部分耦合出或散射出，以作为多个方向性光束(即，折射地散 射出被引导光的一部份)。
图8示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的包括多光束元件126的多视图背光体120的一部分的横截面图。具体来说，图8显示了包括衍射光栅126a的多视图背光体120。衍射光栅126a被配置为将被引导光104的一部分衍射地耦合出或散射出，以作为多个方向性光束102”。衍射光栅126a包括多个衍射特征，其通过衍射特征间隔(或光栅间距)互相隔开，其被配置以衍射地耦合出的被引导光的一部分。根据各个实施例，衍射光栅126a的衍射特征间隔或光栅间距离可为子波长(即，小于被引导光104的波长)。在各个实施例中，多光束元件126的衍射光栅126a可以位于光导124的表面处或附近，而在其他实施例中，衍射光栅126a可以设置在光导124的引导表面之间。例如，如图8所示，衍射光栅126a可以在光导124的第二表面124”处或附近。
在一些实施例中，多光束元件126的衍射光栅126a为均匀的衍射光栅，其中衍射特征间隔在整个衍射光栅126a大致上是恒定或不变的。在其他实施例中，衍射光栅126a可以是啁啾式衍射光栅。根据定义，“啁啾式”衍射光栅是这样一种衍射光栅，其具有在啁啾式衍射光栅的范围或长度上变化的衍射特征的衍射间隔(即，光栅间距离)。在一些实施例中(图中未显示)，衍射光栅126a可以包括多个衍射光栅或衍射光栅的阵列或等效的多个子光栅或子光栅的阵列。此外，根据一些实施例，衍射光栅126a内的子光栅的密度差异可以被配置为控制方向性光束102”的相对强度。
图9示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的包括多光束元件126的多视图背光体120的一部分的横截面图。具体来说，图9显示包括微反射元件126b的多光束元件126的实施例。多光束元件126中的多个微反射元件可包括但不限于采用反射材料(例如，反射金属)或其膜的反射器，或全内反射式(TIR)的反射器。
图10示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的包括多光束元件126的多视图背光体120的一部分的横截面图。具体来说，图10显示包括微折射元件126c的多光束元件126。根据各个实施例，微折射元件126c被配置以从光导124折射地耦合出或散射出被引导光104的一部分。如图10所示，微折射元件126c被配置为采用折射以从光导124耦合出或散射出被引导光的一部分，以作为包括多个光束的方向性光束102”。微折射元件126c可具有各种形状，其形状包括但不限于半圆形形状、矩形形状或棱柱形状。根据各个实施例，微 折射元件126c可以从光导124的表面(例如，如图所示，第一表面124’)延伸或突出，如图所示，或者可以是所述表面中的空腔(图中未显示)。进一步地，在一些实施例中，微折射元件126c可包括光导124的材料。在其他实施例中，微折射元件126c可包括相邻于光导表面的另一材料。并且在一些示例中，微折射元件126c可包括与光导表面接触的另一材料。
根据与本文所述的原理的一些实施例，本发明提供一种混合显示器。混合显示器具有多个不同显示区域，其被配置以以区域为基础地分别发射调制的光。本申请中的混合显示器针对同一显示图像中的不同内容将显示区域划分为多个不同的区域，例如，以二维的方式显示图像的二维显示区域，以及以三维的方式显示图像的三维显示区域。例如，三维显示区域可以以立体的方式或多视图的方式显示图像内容。二维显示区域则可以以表现出更高的分辨率的方式二维地显示图像内容，其更适合于显示文字和其他2D信息，这些文字或2D信息以三维方式显示可能或造成模糊。此外，混合显示器可以被配置为在多个不同区域的每个区域中选择性地以二维的方式显示图像内容。根据各个实施例，可以通过选择在特定区域中发射广角发射光或方向性光束以确定在该区域中的显示方式。
图11示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合显示器2000的框图。根据各个实施例，图11所示的混合显示器2000可以用于选择地将显示图像中的部分内容用二维方式呈现，并且将显示图像中的其余内容用三维方式呈现。例如，混合显示器2000可将显示图像中的文字、特殊几何形状等内容用二维方式呈现，同时将除此之外的其它图像内容用三维方式呈现。为了方便描述，图11中示出了以二维方式呈现图形内容的2D区域，同时示出了以三维方式呈现内容的3D区域。然而，应当理解的是，2D区域的位置在混合显示器2000中并不是固定的，而是基于所显示的图像内容动态地变化，并且2D区域的数量也不并不是固定的，而是可以随着要显示的图像的内容动态的变化。例如，2D区域的数量可以是一个、两个、甚至是更多个。该特征已在前文中结合附图3A-3B做了详细描述，在此不再赘述。
如图11所示，混合显示器2000被配置为发射经调制的发射光202，其包括在二维模式期间表示2D图像内容的2D像素的经调制的广角发射光202’，并且包括在三维模式期间表示3D图像内容的3D像素的经调制的方向性光束202”。此外，根据各个实施例，在二维模式期间，混合显示器2000可以以区 域为基础，选择性地在如图所示的2D区域中发射经调制的广角发射光202’。在三维模式期间，混合显示器2000可以在除2D区域外的3D区域中仅发射经调制的方向性光束202”。
应当理解的是，虽然在图11中同时示出了广角发射光202’和方向性光束202”，这仅仅是为了方便描述。实际上，广角发射光202’和方向性光束202”是分别存在于二维模式和三维模式期间的，如上关于图3C所述，在此不再赘述。
如图11所示，混合显示器2000包括广角背光体210。广角背光体210中的部分调光单元区域(例如，广角背光体中虚线框所示的区域)利用广角发射光204选择性地亮混合显示器2000的2D显示区域。在一些实施例中，如上文所述，广角背光体210可以基本上类似于如上所述的混合背光体100的广角背光体110。例如，其可以根据要显示的图像的内容，发射广角发射光204以照亮混合显示器2000的一个或多个2D区域。尽管图11中示出了一个固定位置的2D显示区域，但是应当理解的是，混合显示器2000可包括更多2D显示区域，并且2D显示区域的位置是随着显示图像的内容而动态变化的。
图11所示的混合显示器2000还包括多视图背光体220。应当理解的是，如图11所示的3D区域是除了2D区域之外的混合显示器2000的其余全部区域。在在一些实施例中，多视图背光体220可以基本上类似于上文所述的混合背光体100的多视图背光体120。例如，多视图背光体220可以发射方向性光束206以照亮混合显示器2000的全部区域或除2D区域以外的区域。
在一些实施例中，如图11中的示例所示，多视图背光体220包括光导222和互相隔开的多光束元件224的阵列。多光束元件224的阵列被配置为将来自光导222的被引导光散射为方向性光束206。根据各个实施例，当显示多视图图像时，由多光束元件224的阵列中的单个多光束元件224提供的方向性光束206，方向性光束206包括多个方向性光束，其具有与由混合显示器2000显示的多视图图像的视图方向相对应的不同主角方向。在一些实施例中，光导222和多光束元件224可以分别基本上类似于上文所述的光导124和多光束元件126。
此外，根据各个实施例，多光束元件224的阵列中的多光束元件224可以包括光学地连接到光导222以将被引导光散射为方向性光束206的衍射光栅、微反射元件和微折射元件中的一个或多个。
如图11所示，混合显示器2000还包括光阀阵列230。光阀阵列230被配置为在二维模式期间使用对应于所述2D区域的光阀集合调制广角发射光204，以实现内容的二维显示。此外，在三维模式期间，光阀阵列230部分地被配置为调制方向性光束206以实现内容的三维显示。具体来说，在二维模式期间，光阀阵列230中对应于所述2D区域的光阀集合被配置为接收和调制的广角发射光204以提供经调制的广角发射光202’。类似地，在三维模式期间，光阀阵列230中除了对应于所述2D区域的光阀集合以外的所有光阀被配置为接收和经调制方向性光束206以提供经调制的方向性光束202”。另外，如上所述，为了避免光阀的频繁充电和放电，在二维模式期间，也可以将光阀阵列230中的全部光阀配置为接收和调制广角发射光204，以提供经调制的广角发射光202’。在一些实施例中，光阀阵列230可以基本上类似于上文关于混合背光体100所描述的光阀106的阵列。例如，光阀阵列中的光阀可以包括液晶光阀。此外，在一些实施例中，多光束元件224的阵列中的多光束元件224的尺寸可以与光阀阵列230的光阀尺寸相当(例如，在光阀尺寸的四分之一至两倍之间)。
根据一些实施例，混合显示器2000进一步包括调光驱动器240，其被配置为驱动第一光源中要被驱动的一个或多个发光单元，以照亮广角背光体210中的一个或多个调光单元区域。此外，调光驱动器240还被配置为控制二维模式与三维模式的交替切换。例如，调光驱动器240可以以预定频率(例如，60Hz、120Hz、240Hz等)交替地控制多视图背光体220和广角背光体210，使得二者在时间上交替工作，从而交替地发射方向性光束202”和广角发射光202’。此外，调光驱动器240还被配置为调节各个频率下二维模式和三维模式的占空比，以满足不同的亮度需求。二维模式和三维模式的占空比的示例已经在前文中详细描述，再次不再赘述。此外，调光驱动器240还被配置为基于二维模式或三维模式确定光阀阵列230中要驱动的光阀的集合。例如，在二维模式期间，调光驱动器240控制与2D区域相对应的光阀使其启动，同时关闭3D区域所对应的光阀。在三维模式期间，调光驱动器240控制与3D区域相对应的光阀使其启动，同时关闭2D区域所对应的光阀。例如，调光驱动器240可以由混合显示器2000的中央处理单元实现。
根据一些实施例(图中未显示)，混合显示器2000进一步包括多个光源。根据一些实施例，多个光源被配置为在广角背光体210或多视图背光体220 的光导内提供要被引导光以作为被引导光。例如，多个光源中的每一个光源可以光学地连接以将光提供给多视图背光体220的光导222，或者等效地提供给广角背光体210的光导。在一些实施例中，混合显示器的多个光源中的光源可以基本上类似于上文关于混合背光体100所述第一光源112和第二光源122。
根据本文所述原理的其他实施例，本发明提供了一种混合背光体的操作方法。图12示出了根据本申请原理的实施例的混合背光体的操作方法3000的流程图。如图12所示，混合背光体的操作方法包括：在二维模式期限使用广角背光体中的一个或多个调光单元区域提供广角发射光的步骤(S310)。根据各个实施例，当被启动时，每一个调光单元区域都分别提供广角发射光。在一些实施例中，如上文所述，广角背光体可以基本上类似于混合背光体100的广角背光体110。
混合背光体的操作方法3000还包括：在三维模式期间使用多视图背光体提供多个方向性光束(S320)。方向性光束具有与多视图图像的不同的视图方向相对应的主角方向。根据一些实施例，方向性光束包括多个方向性光束，其可以由多光束元件阵列中的每一个多光束元件提供。具体来说，根据各个实施例，多个方向性光束中的方向性光束的方向对应于多视图图像的不同的视图方向。在一些实施例中，多视图背光体可以基本上类似于上文所述的混合背光体100的多视图背光体120。
在一些实施例中，提供多个方向性光束的步骤还包括：在光导中将光引导为被引导光，并且使用多光束元件阵列中的多光束元件散射出被引导光的一部分(未示出)。此外，在一些实施例中，多光束元件阵列的每一个多光束元件可以包括衍射光栅、微折射元件、和微反射元件中的一个或多个。在一些实施例中，多光束元件阵列中的多光束元件可以基本上类似于上文关于多视图背光体120所述的多光束元件126。此外，光导也可以与如上文所述的光导124基本相似。在一些实施例中，混合背光体的操作方法3000可以进一步包括向光导提供光的步骤(未示出)，如上文所述，光导内的被引导光根据预定的准直因子被准直。
根据一些实施例，混合背光体的操作方法3000可以进一步包括：在二维和三维模式期间使用光阀阵列调制广角发射光和多个方向性光束的步骤(S330)。在一些其他实施例中，多光束元件阵列中的多光束元件的尺寸可以 被配置为在光阀阵列中的光阀尺寸的四分之一到两倍之间。在一些实施例中，光阀阵列可以基本上类似于上文关于混合背光体100所描述的光阀106的阵列。
至此，本发明已经描述了根据显示图像的内容以二维加三维的方式混合显示图像内容的混合背光体、混合显示器以及混合背光体的操作方法的示例和实施例。应该理解的是，上述示例和实施例仅仅描述了代表本文所描述的原理的许多具体示例中的一些示例。显然，本领域技术人员在不脱离本申请范围和精神的情况下可以容易地设计出许多其他布置，该布置同样落入本申请的保护范围内。

Claims (20)

  1. 一种混合背光体，包括：
    第一背光体，其具有多个调光单元区域，所述多个调光单元区域中的一个或多个调光单元区域被配置为在二维模式期间被选择性地驱动以彼此独立地提供广角发射光；以及
    第二背光体，其被配置为在三维模式期间提供多个方向性光束，所述多个方向性光束的方向对应于多视图图像的不同视图方向，
    其中，所述第二背光体被设置在所述第一背光体的出光表面上并且对所述广角发射光透明，并且在所述二维模式期间所述第一背光体中被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域与所述多视图图像中的特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应，
    其中，所述二维模式与所述三维模式以预定频率交替地切换。
  2. 根据权利要求1所述的混合背光体，其中，在所述二维模式期间，所述第一背光体中不与所述多视图图像中的所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应的其余调光单元区域不被驱动并且不提供广角发射光。
  3. 根据权利要求1所述的混合背光体，还包括：
    调光控制器，其被配置为基于所述多视图图像的显示内容确定所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域，并且根据所确定的所述一个或多个区域确定所述第一背光体中要被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域。
  4. 根据权利要求1所述的混合背光体，其中，所述多视图图像是随时间动态变化的，并且所述调光控制器基于变化后的多视图图像的显示内容动态地更新所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域。
  5. 根据权利要求1至4中任一项所述的混合背光体，其中，所述第二背光体包括：
    光导，其被配置为引导光以作为被引导光；以及
    多光束元件阵列，所述多光束元件阵列中的每个多光束元件被配置为从所述光导散射出所述被引导光的一部分，作为所述多个方向性光束中的光束。
  6. 根据权利要求5所述的混合背光体，其中，所述光导被配置为以预定的准直因子引导所述被引导光，作为准直的被引导光。
  7. 根据权利要求5所述的混合背光体，其中，所述多光束元件阵列中的 多光束元件包括衍射光栅、微反射元件和微折射元件中的一个或多个，所述衍射光栅被配置为衍射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分，所述微反射元件被配置为反射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分，并且所述微折射元件被配置为折射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分。
  8. 一种混合显示器，包括：
    第一背光体，其具有多个调光单元区域，所述多个调光单元区域中的一个或多个调光单元区域被配置为在二维模式期间被选择性地驱动以彼此独立地提供广角发射光；
    第二背光体，其被配置为在三维模式期间提供多个方向性光束，所述多个方向性光束的方向对应于多视图图像的不同视图方向；以及
    光阀阵列，其被配置为在所述二维模式期间调制所述广角发射光以提供所述多视图图像的二维显示区域，并且在所述三维模式期间调制所述多个方向性光束以提供所述多视图图像的三维显示区域，
    其中，所述第二背光体被设置在所述第一背光体的出光表面上并且对所述广角发射光透明，并且所述第一背光体中被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域与所述多视图图像中的特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应，并且
    其中，所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域对应于所述二维显示区域，并且所述多视图图像的除所述二维显示区域以外的其余区域对应于所述三维显示区域，并且
    其中，所述二维模式与所述三维模式以预定频率交替地切换。
  9. 根据权利要求8所述的混合显示器，其中，在所述二维模式期间，所述第一背光体中不与所述多视图图像中的所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应的其余调光单元区域不被驱动并且不提供广角发射光。
  10. 根据权利要求8或9所述的混合显示器，其中，所述多视图图像中的所述特定内容包括文本内容和特殊图形中的至少一个。
  11. 根据权利要求10所述的混合显示器，还包括：
    调光控制器，其被配置为基于所述多视图图像的显示内容确定所述二维显示区域，并且根据所确定的所述二维显示区域确定所述第一背光体中要被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域。
  12. 根据权利要求8至11中任一项所述的混合显示器，其中，所述第二背光体包括：
    光导，其被配置为引导光以作为被引导光；以及
    多光束元件阵列，所述多光束元件阵列中的每个多光束元件被配置为从所述光导散射出所述被引导光的一部分，作为所述多个方向性光束中的光束。
  13. 根据权利要求12所述的混合显示器，其中，所述多光束元件阵列中的多光束元件包括衍射光栅、微反射元件和微折射元件中的一个或多个，所述衍射光栅被配置为衍射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分，所述微反射元件被配置为反射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分，并且所述微折射元件被配置为折射地散射出所述被引导光的所述部分。
  14. 根据权利要求8所述的混合显示器，还包括：
    第一光源，其包括多个发光单元，所述多个发光单元对应于所述第一背光体中的多个调光单元区域；
    调光驱动器，其被配置为在所述二维模式期间驱动所述要被驱动的一个或多个发光单元，以照亮所述第一背光体中的所述一个或多个调光单元区域；以及
    第二光源，其被配置为在所述三维模式期间发射光以被所述光导引导。
  15. 一种混合背光体的操作方法，包括：
    在二维模式期间使用第一背光体提供广角发射光，所述第一背光体具有多个调光单元区域，所述多个调光单元区域中的一个或多个调光单元区域被选择性地驱动以彼此独立地提供广角发射光；以及
    在三维模式期间使用第二背光体提供多个方向性光束，所述多个方向性光束的方向对应于多视图图像的不同视图方向，
    其中，所述第二背光体被设置在所述第一背光体的出光表面上并且对所述广角发射光透明，并且所述第一背光体中被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域与所述多视图图像中的特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应，并且
    其中，所述二维模式与所述三维模式以预定频率交替地切换。
  16. 根据权利要求15所述的方法，其中，在所述二维模式期间，所述第一背光体中不与所述多视图图像中的所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域相对应的其余调光单元区域不被驱动并且不提供广角发射光。
  17. 根据权利要求15或16所述的方法，还包括：
    基于所述多视图图像的显示内容，使用调光控制器确定所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域；以及
    根据所确定的所述一个或多个区域，使用所述调光控制器确定所述第一背光体中要被驱动的一个或多个调光单元区域。
  18. 根据权利要求15所述的方法，还包括：
    在光导中引导光以作为被引导光；以及
    通过使用多光束元件阵列中的每个多光束元件，从所述光导散射出所述被引导光的一部分，作为所述多个方向性光束中的光束。
  19. 根据权利要求15所述的方法，还包括：
    在所述二维模式期间使用光阀阵列调制所述广角发射光以提供所述多视图图像的二维显示区域；以及
    在所述三维模式期间使用所述光阀阵列中的对应光阀集合调制所述多个方向性光束以提供所述多视图图像的三维显示区域，
    其中，所述特定内容所在的一个或多个区域对应于所述二维显示区域，并且所述多视图图像的除所述二维显示区域以外的其余区域对应于所述三维显示区域。
  20. 根据权利要求15所述的方法，还包括：
    在所述二维模式期间，使用调光驱动器驱动第一光源中的一个或多个发光单元，以照亮所述第一背光体中的所述一个或多个调光单元区域；
    在所述三维模式期间，使用所述调光驱动器驱动第二光源，使其发射光以被所述光导引导；以及
    使用所述调光驱动器控制所述二维模式和所述三维模式的所述交替切换。
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