JP2865616B2 - 3D image display device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image display device configured to reduce restrictions on a place where an observer stands.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 7-159729 discloses a stereoscopic image display apparatus of this type, as shown in FIG. An image for the eye is displayed, and a half-plane image of the right eye of the observer photographed by the photographing device 103 and an image obtained by inverting the image by negative and positive by the image processing device 104 are displayed on the observer image display devices 105 and 106, respectively. The observer image display devices 105 and 106 are used as illumination devices for displaying images for the left and right eyes, and the directional lens 10 is used.
7, 108, and an image in which the right-eye image and the left-eye image combined by the half mirror 109 are observed only by the right and left eyes of the observer.

[0003] That is, when the observer image display portion of the observer image display device 105 emits light, the light emission portion becomes illumination light for the left eye.
When the observer image display portion at 06 emits light, the light-emitting portion becomes illumination light for the right eye, and both light-emitting portions change their positions following the change in the position of the observer. Restrictions are reduced.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional three-dimensional image display device, two observer image display devices 10 are provided in order to obtain illumination for displaying left and right images.
Since 5,106 is used, there is a disadvantage that the apparatus is expensive. The above publication also discloses an example in which illumination (light source) for displaying images for the left and right eyes is realized by a single observer image display device. Since illumination for displaying an image is obtained by time-division processing, a synchronization circuit is required to synchronize the image with the image, which results in an increase in complexity and cost of the device.

Further, the observer image display devices 105 and 106 are point light sources of two gradations, and a liquid crystal panel is used to realize the light source. For this reason, the observer image display device 105,
The light exiting 106 becomes light only in the polarization direction of the exit-side polarizing plate provided in the liquid crystal panel. When a liquid crystal panel is used as the image display panel, it may be necessary to change the polarizing plate of the liquid crystal panel for image display to one having a predetermined polarization direction in relation to the polarizing plate of the liquid crystal panel of the light source. is there.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention restricts the location where the observer stands by using one observer image display device (illumination means for changing the light emission position according to the position of the observer). It is an object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional image display device capable of observing a three-dimensional image while reducing the number of images.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present invention splits illumination light whose emission position changes according to the position of an observer into light in two directions for a left eye and a right eye. An image for the left eye is generated with light for the eye, an image for the right eye is generated with light for the right eye, and both images are combined and guided to the observer. The image for the right eye is guided to the right eye of the observer.

Further, the stereoscopic image display device of the present invention includes a left-eye display panel for displaying a left-eye image, a right-eye display panel for displaying a right-eye image, and a light-emitting position for an observer. Lighting means that is changed according to the position, the light from the lighting means is split into light in two directions for the left eye and the right eye, and the light for the left eye is displayed on the display panel for the left eye, Spectral means for guiding the light for the right eye to the display panel for the right eye, a directional lens disposed on the light incident side of each display panel, and the two image lights passing through the display panels are combined. And a combining unit, and in the process in which each light from the spectral unit reaches each display panel, the image for the left eye is guided to the left eye of the observer, and the image for the right eye is guided to the right eye of the observer. The optical axis of the light for the left eye and the light for the right eye are shifted from each other. And butterflies.

With this configuration, a single illuminating means for displaying a stereoscopic image can be used. And
As described above, the separation of the left and right images in the case of using a single illuminating means is realized by shifting the optical axes of the light in the two directions for the left and right. Therefore, there is no need for an electrical processing circuit system as in the case of the conventional time division processing.

The illuminating means may comprise a light source and a liquid crystal panel provided on the light emitting side of the light source.

The illuminating means includes a light source, a liquid crystal panel provided on the light emitting side of the light source, a projection lens for projecting the light passing through the liquid crystal panel, and receiving the light projected by the projection lens. And a transmissive screen. According to this, an inexpensive small-sized liquid crystal panel can be used.

[0012] The display panel may comprise a liquid crystal panel. Further, a liquid crystal panel having the same structure is used as the right-eye display panel and the left-eye display panel, and the number of times light emitted from the illuminating means is reflected before reaching the right-eye liquid crystal panel, and the illuminating means If the difference from the number of times light emitted from the light source is reflected before reaching the left-eye liquid crystal panel is an odd number, the right-eye liquid crystal panel or the left-eye liquid crystal panel A structure in which a retardation plate is provided on the optical path up to. According to this, since the same liquid crystal panel for the right eye and the liquid crystal panel for the left eye can be used, the cost can be reduced.

The shifting of the optical axis may be realized by shifting the position of the lens, or may be realized by shifting the position of the spectral unit. Of course, it may be realized by operating another optical element.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a stereoscopic video display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. An imaging device for photographing an observer and a portion for driving a liquid crystal panel 2 to be described later in order to change a light emitting position based on information from the imaging device are not shown because an existing technology can be used.

Light emitted from a light source 1 having a reflecting mirror reaches a projection lens 3 via a liquid crystal panel 2. As described above, in the liquid crystal panel 2, the areas of the light transmitting portion and the light shielding portion are adjusted based on information from an imaging device (not shown) for imaging the observer. That is, in the liquid crystal panel 2, a light transmitting portion corresponding to the shape of the imaged observer is formed, and the light transmitting portion is a light emitting position, and the light emitting position is changed according to a change in the position of the observer. Will be.

The light that has passed through the liquid crystal panel 2 is spread by a projection lens 3, is totally reflected by a small total reflection mirror 4, and reaches a first half mirror 5 as spectral means. Then, the first half mirror 5
Of the light reaching the first half mirror 5 is transmitted, and substantially half of the light reaching the first half mirror 5 is transmitted to the second transmission screen 7. Therefore, an enlarged image of the light transmitting portion of the liquid crystal panel 2 is projected on each of the transmissive screens 6 and 7. That is, an observer image is displayed on the transmissive screens 6 and 7 by emitting light.
This is illumination light for the color liquid crystal panels 12 and 14 described later.

Light emitted from the first transmission screen 6 is totally reflected by the first total reflection mirror 9 via the phase difference plate 8. The light diverging from the second transmissive screen 7 is totally reflected by the second total reflection mirror 10. The light totally reflected by the first total reflection mirror 9 is converted into a first Fresnel lens 11 as a lens having directivity.
Through the first color liquid crystal panel 12 as a display panel for the right eye. The light totally reflected by the second total reflection mirror 10 passes through a second Fresnel lens 13 as a directional lens and reaches a second color liquid crystal panel 14 as a left-eye display panel. Has become. Then, each color liquid crystal panel 12,
The right-eye image and the left-eye image obtained via the respective components 14 are combined by a second half mirror 15 as a combining means, and are observed by an observer.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the polarization direction of the illumination light (observer image light) from the liquid crystal panel 2 constituting the illuminating means in the stereoscopic image display device, the polarization axis direction of the display panel, and the vertical arrangement. FIG. Here, the inverted image of the observer is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 2 because, when the observer moves to the right, the light emitting position (observer image position) moves to the left in the illumination means, and the observer moves to the left. When the observer moves to the right, the observer moves upward, and when the observer moves upward, the illumination means moves down the light emitting position (observer image position). When the observer moves downward, the observer moves upward. In order to

The polarization direction of the light on the optical path reaching the first color liquid crystal panel 12 undergoes two changes (180 ° change) by the first half mirror 5 and the first total reflection mirror 9. On the other hand, the polarization direction of the light on the optical path reaching the second color liquid crystal panel 14 depends on the second total reflection mirror 10.
(90 ° change), the polarization axis directions of the two will be different from each other as they are. However, as shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, Since the phase difference plate 8 is provided, the polarization direction of the light on the optical path reaching the first color liquid crystal panel 12 is eventually 90 °.
, And the polarization direction of the light in both optical paths becomes the same as 90 °. Therefore, when the illuminating means for changing the light emitting position according to the position of the observer is realized by using the liquid crystal panel 2, the same structure can be used as the color liquid crystal panels 12 and 14. The cost can be reduced as compared with the case where different types of color liquid crystal panels are used.

Since the image on the color liquid crystal panel 14 is reflected by the half mirror 15 and reaches the observer, the color liquid crystal panel 14 is arranged so that its front surface faces the light incident side. That is, the color liquid crystal panel 12 is arranged normally, but the color liquid crystal panel 14 is arranged upside down from the normal arrangement, and the image of the color liquid crystal panel 14 is reflected by the half mirror 15. By doing so, a normal image is obtained for the observer.

The observer image as illumination light displayed on the transmissive screens 6 and 7 is transmitted to the one liquid crystal panel 2.
If no processing is performed, the left and right images are separated, that is, the left-eye image is guided to the left eye of the observer, and the right-eye image is guided to the right eye of the observer. I can't. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3 (FIG. 3 is a plan view while FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are side views), the Fresnel lenses 11 and 1 are shown.
By shifting the position of No. 3 from the normal position in the horizontal direction, the optical axes of the light in the two directions for the left and right are shifted from each other. That is, by shifting the positions of the Fresnel lenses 11 and 13 as described above, as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3, one of the lights passing through the first half mirror 5 as the spectroscopic means is transmitted to one of the observers. An optical path for guiding the eye and an optical path for guiding the other light to the other eye of the observer are created. In order to realize that one light is guided to one eye of the observer and the other light is guided to the other eye of the observer, not only the operation on the Fresnel lenses 11 and 13 but also the Operation of the reflection mirrors 9 and 10 (for example, rotation operation about a vertical axis) or the first half mirror 5
Operation, specifically, for example, the dashed line A shown in FIG.
(A passes through the center of the reflection surface of the first half mirror 5), and can also be realized by an operation of rotating around the axis.

As described above, in the three-dimensional image display device of this embodiment, since there is only one lighting means,
The cost of the device can be reduced as compared with a device provided with two lighting means. Further, as compared with a conventional apparatus that performs time-division processing using a single lighting unit, an electric circuit for time-division processing is not required. Can be planned.

In this embodiment, the projection lens 3
The image (observer image) obtained through the liquid crystal panel 2 is enlarged and projected onto the transmission screens 6 and 7, so that a small liquid crystal panel 2 can be used, and a large liquid crystal can be used. The cost is reduced as compared with the case where a panel is used. Of course, this does not preclude the use of a large liquid crystal panel. If a large liquid crystal panel is used, the projection lens 3 and the transmission screen are unnecessary.

In this embodiment, the light source is changed according to the position of the observer by the light source 1 and the liquid crystal panel 2 to reduce the size of the device. The present invention is not limited to this, and a relatively large display device such as a CRT may be used, or the position of the light source itself may be changed according to the position of the observer. Although the Fresnel lens is shown as a lens having directivity, the present invention is not limited to this, and a convex lens or the like may be used.

In this embodiment, since the liquid crystal panel 2 is used as the illuminating means and the liquid crystal panel is used as the image display panel, the phase difference plate 8 for adjusting the polarization axes of the two is required. However, if a light valve irrelevant to the polarization direction (for example, a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal panel) is used instead of the liquid crystal panel 2, it is not necessary to provide the retardation plate 8.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, a single illuminating means for displaying a stereoscopic image can be used, so that the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. Further, by adopting a structure using a small liquid crystal panel as the liquid crystal panel in the illuminating means, or adopting a structure using a liquid crystal panel for display of the same structure for the right eye and the left eye, the cost can be further reduced. It produces various effects.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a stereoscopic video display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a polarization direction in the stereoscopic image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of offset of a Fresnel lens in the stereoscopic image display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional stereoscopic video display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 light source 2 liquid crystal panel 3 projection lens 5 first half mirror (spectral unit) 6 first transmission screen 7 second transmission screen 8 retardation plate 9 first total reflection mirror 10 second total reflection mirror 11 first Fresnel lens 12 first color liquid crystal panel 13 second Fresnel lens 14 second color liquid crystal panel

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G03B 35/18 G02B 27/22

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] An illumination light whose emission position changes in accordance with a position of an observer is split into light in two directions for a left eye and a right eye, and an image for a left eye is generated by light for the left eye. The right-eye image is generated by the right-eye light, and the two images are combined and guided to the observer. The left-eye image is placed on the left eye of the observer, and the right-eye image is placed on the right eye of the observer. A stereoscopic image display device characterized in that the three-dimensional image display device is guided to each. 2. A display panel for a left eye for displaying an image for a left eye, a display panel for a right eye for displaying an image for a right eye, and a light emitting position is changed according to a position of an observer. Illuminating means, and light from the illuminating means for the left eye and the right eye.
And a light splitting unit that splits light for the left eye to the display panel for the left eye and light for the right eye to the display panel for the right eye, and is disposed on the light incident side of each display panel. A lens having a given directivity, and a synthesizing means for synthesizing both image lights passing through the respective display panels, and observing an image for the left eye while each light from the spectroscopic means reaches each display panel. Stereoscopic image display, wherein the optical axes of the light for the left eye and the light for the right eye are shifted from each other so that the image for the right eye is guided to the right eye of the observer, respectively, to the left eye of the observer. apparatus. 3. The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 2, wherein said illuminating means includes a light source and a liquid crystal panel provided on a light emitting side of said light source. 4. The illumination means includes: a light source; a liquid crystal panel provided on a light emitting side of the light source; a projection lens for projecting light passing through the liquid crystal panel; and light projected by the projection lens. 3. The three-dimensional image display device according to claim 2, further comprising a transmission screen for receiving the image. 5. The three-dimensional image display device according to claim 2, wherein each of the display panels comprises a liquid crystal panel. 6. A liquid crystal panel having the same structure as the display panel for the right eye and the display panel for the left eye, and the number of times light emitted from the illuminating means is reflected before reaching the liquid crystal panel for the right eye. If the difference between the number of times light emitted from the illuminating means is reflected before reaching the left-eye liquid crystal panel is an odd number, the right-eye liquid crystal panel or the left eye from the spectral means. The three-dimensional image display device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein a retardation plate is provided on an optical path leading to a liquid crystal panel for use. 7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the shift of the optical axis is realized by shifting the position of the lens.
The three-dimensional image display device according to claim 6. 8. The stereoscopic image display device according to claim 2, wherein the shift of the optical axis is realized by shifting the position of the spectral unit.