KR20010103100A - 3d image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image display apparatus, wherein transparent slits and opaque slits are alternately arranged, and the left and right eyes of an observer look at different pixels through the transparent slits to induce a stereoscopic effect due to binocular disparity. 3D by a parallax barrier method including a mask and an image panel disposed behind the mask and outputting images corresponding to left and right eyes to pixels corresponding to the left and right eye viewing areas, respectively. In the image display apparatus, the transparent slits of the mask are formed to have a width equal to or less than one third of the pixels of the image panel, or are formed by vertically arranging pinholes having a diameter of the width, so that the left and right eyes of the viewer are formed. It is characterized in that the reversed phase of the image output to this pixel is observed.

Furthermore, by using a TN or STN LCD as a mask, it is possible to selectively view the general image and stereoscopic image, and to detect the position of the observer by the position sensor and change the position of the transparent slit according to the position. It provides a stereoscopic image display device having a.

Description

Stereoscopic Display Device {3D IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE}

The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image display apparatus, and more particularly, to provide a wider viewing margin by modifying a conventional parallax barrier method, and also as a mask, TN (Twisted) or STN (Super Twisted Nematic) By using an LCD, the present invention relates to a stereoscopic image display device capable of converting a general image / stereoscopic image as needed.

There are physiological and psychological factors in which a person feels a three-dimensional effect. In 3D image display technology, a stereoscopic sense of an object is represented by using a binocular parallax, which is the largest factor that generates a three-dimensional effect at a short distance.

As a display method of a stereoscopic image, there are two methods of wearing glasses and a method of not wearing glasses.

The way of wearing glasses is the anaglyph method, which uses blue and red sunglasses, and the polarization method, which uses glasses with different polarizations, and the time-divided polarization is repeated periodically and synchronized with this period. There is a time division method using glasses with polarization shutters. However, the method of wearing glasses has problems such as inconvenience of wearing glasses and trouble in observing an object other than an image while wearing glasses.

Therefore, in recent years, researches on how not to wear glasses have been actively conducted.

Representative methods of not wearing glasses include a lenticular method in which a lenticular lens plate in which cylindrical lenses are vertically arranged in front of the image panel, and a parallax barrier method.

Here, the parallax barrier method will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the parallax barrier method, a mask 20 formed by repeatedly arranging transparent slits and opaque slits is disposed in front of the image panel 30. The observer 10 sees an image displayed on the image panel 30 through the transparent slits of the mask 20. Even if the left and right eyes of the observer 10 pass through the same transparent slits, the image panel 30 You will see another area of). The parallax barrier method uses this principle, and the left and right eyes display an image corresponding to pixels of different regions seen through the transparent slits, thereby making them feel three-dimensional.

That is, in FIG. 1, the left eye L views the left eye corresponding pixel Lp on the image panel 30, and the right eye R views the right eye corresponding pixel Rp on the image panel 30. Accordingly, although not shown, images corresponding to the left and right eyes are displayed on the corresponding pixels of the image panel 30 by the image processor.

However, the conventional parallax barrier method has a problem in that viewing margins are extremely narrow, so that the right and left images are mixed even when the eyes are turned a little or the head is turned a little, so that it is difficult to properly view a stereoscopic image.

In addition, since the mask is installed in front of the image panel, it is difficult to watch the general image, and in order to view the general image, the mask needs to be removed, and thus, it is difficult to actually view the general image.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems and to provide an improved stereoscopic image display apparatus, and an object thereof is to provide a stereoscopic image display apparatus having a wider viewing margin.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a stereoscopic image display apparatus that can select and watch a normal image and a stereoscopic image as needed.

1 is a configuration diagram for explaining a conventional parallax barrier method,

2 is a block diagram for explaining a stereoscopic image implementation method of one embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a configuration diagram for explaining a stereoscopic image implementation method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a configuration diagram for explaining a stereoscopic image implementation method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a configuration diagram for explaining the difference between the transparent slits by dividing the area of the mask by the present invention,

6 is a view showing an example of a pattern of the LCD according to the present invention;

7 is a view showing an example in which two LCDs are combined according to the present invention;

8 is a configuration diagram for explaining the change of the position of the mask in accordance with the position of the observer according to the present invention.

<Brief Description of Drawings>

10 ... Observer 20 ... Mask

30 ... image panel 32 ... liquid crystal panel

34 ... backlit light source R ... right eye

L ... left eye Rp, Rp ', Rp "... right eye compatible pixel

Lp, Lp ', Lp "... left eye corresponding pixel

In order to achieve the above object, the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present invention, the transparent slits and the opaque slits are arranged alternately and the left and right eyes of the observer through the transparent slits to see different pixels respectively. A parallax barrier comprising a mask for inducing a three-dimensional effect due to parallax and an image panel disposed behind the mask and outputting images corresponding to the left and right eyes, respectively, to pixels corresponding to the left and right eye viewing areas, respectively. In the (parallax barrier) type stereoscopic image display apparatus, the transparent slits of the mask are formed to have a width less than 1/3 of the pixels of the image panel, so that the left and right eyes of the observer are output as pixels. It is characterized in that to observe the reversed phase of.

The transparent slits of the mask may be formed by vertically arranging pin-holes having a diameter of 1/3 or more of pixels of the image panel.

Another feature of the invention is that the image panel is an LCD having a backlight light source, the mask is disposed between the liquid crystal panel and the backlight light source of the LCD.

Another feature of the present invention is that the distance between the transparent slits of the mask is formed to be narrower the farther from the center.

In another form, the mask is divided into a plurality of regions, and the spacing between the transparent slits in each region is formed to have a narrower interval as the region is farther from the center, and between the transparent slits in the same region. The intervals can be the same.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the mask is a twisted nematic (TN) or super twisted nematic (STN) LCD having a pattern of transparent slits and opaque slits, and the stereoscopic image display device turns on / off the LCD. It is further provided with a switching means for switching the implementation of the general image / stereoscopic image.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the transparent slits of the mask may be alternately turned on / off for even-numbered and odd-numbered transparent slits, and the image panel may be turned on for even-numbered transparent slits. The image is output to each pixel in the order of repetition of left / left / right / right, and when the odd transparent slits are turned on, the image is output to each pixel in the order of repetition of right / right / left / left.

Here, the mask is composed of two LCDs, and each LCD may be arranged such that respective transparent slits are alternated with each other, such that each LCD is alternately turned on / off.

Another feature of the present invention is to further include a position sensor for detecting the position of the observer, and a moving means for moving the mask according to the position of the observer detected by the position sensor.

When the mask is a TN or STN LCD, the position sensor for detecting the position of the observer may be further provided, and the position of the transparent slits of the LCD may be changed according to the position of the observer detected by the position sensor. .

Specifically, in the LCD as the mask, one transparent slits are further formed on both sides of the transparent slits at a quarter distance between the transparent slits, and according to the position of the observer detected by the position sensor. Only one of the transparent slits and the transparent slits on the left and right sides may be made to be in a transmission state, and the rest may be further provided with blocking means for blocking.

In addition, an LCD may be used as the blocking means, and a mask may be manufactured by overlapping two or three LCDs.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in more detail.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an implementation principle of a stereoscopic image according to an example of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 2, in this example, the width of the transparent slits of the mask 20 is significantly smaller than the width of the transparent slits in the conventional parallax barrier system. Preferably, it is preferable to set it to 1/3 or less of the pixels of the image panel 30, and the smaller the width, the wider the observation margin. The transparent slits may be formed by vertically arranging pin-holes having a diameter of the width in one row.

The mask 20 is provided at a distance L in front of the image panel 30, and the transparent slits are installed at the boundary of the pixel of the image panel 30. Therefore, the observer 10 views the inverse of the image panel 30 through the pinhole or the transparent slits. The left eye L and the right eye R of the observer 10 view the image panel 30 through the pinhole or transparent slits, respectively, and the left eye L in the corresponding pixels Lp 'and Rp'. ) And the image corresponding to the right eye R are displayed.

When viewing a stereoscopic image using the stereoscopic image display device having such a structure, the left and right eyes of the observer 10 see the inverse of the pixels through pinholes or transparent slits. Since the amount of information that a pixel has depends on the brightness of the entire pixel, not on partial use of the pixel, the normal and reverse phases are exactly the same in the configuration of the entire screen.

As a result, in the case of the present example, the left eye L and the right eye R each have a wide observation margin La and Ra. That is, the observation margin is wider than that of the conventional parallax barrier method.

Here, the image panel 30 may be an LCD or a CRT, and it is natural to include all the display means for outputting the corresponding image to the pixel of the corresponding region.

In addition, the mask 20 may be a mechanical member formed with the pinhole or transparent slits, but if it is a TN or STN LCD, the LCD 20 may be turned on or off as necessary to view both a normal image and a stereoscopic image. do.

In the case of using a TN or STN LCD as the mask 20, the LCD has a pattern as shown in FIG. 6, and in the on state, transmits a region corresponding to the transparent slit, and makes the rest opaque, and off. In this state, all regions may be transmitted to allow a general image to be viewed.

The switch for turning on / off the LCD may be a manual switch or may be turned on / off by a switching signal output by a control device.

Of course, when the normal image / stereo image is switched according to the on / off of the LCD, the image displayed through the image panel 30 is also output as a normal image / stereo image accordingly.

3 is a block diagram for explaining the principle of implementation of a three-dimensional image according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 3, the mask 20 in this example is such that the even number 21 and the odd number 22 of the pinholes or transparent slits are alternately opened and closed. It is intended to have a wider observation margin than in the embodiment. According to the present example, the pixels in the image panel 30 are implemented in the order of repeating left / left / right / right and the order of repeating right / right / left / left as the transparent slits are alternately opened and closed. Output images alternately.

When the even and odd numbers of the transparent slits are alternately opened and closed, the sharpness drops when the frame is output to the image panel at the normal frequency of 60 Hz. It is good to output a frame at a frequency (120 Hz), and to output the left and right images alternately such as left / left / right / right and right / right / left / left. Of course, the frame frequency can be adjusted according to the specifications of the LCD or CRT, and it is not necessary to double.

Again, as in the example of FIG. 2, the mask 20 may be a TN or STN LCD. However, in the present example, the spacing between the transparent slits becomes fine, and the odd number of the transparent slits and the odd number of the slits must be turned on and off differently, thereby causing difficulty in wiring formation, as shown in FIG. 7. Similarly, by using two LCDs, the transparent slits of the respective LCDs are arranged in a staggered manner to solve this problem. In the case of using two LCDs, the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present example can be implemented by alternately turning on / off each LCD.

4 is a configuration diagram for explaining the principle of implementation of a stereoscopic image according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In this example, the image panel is an LCD having a backlight light source, and the mask 20 is arranged between the liquid crystal panel 32 and the backlight light source 34.

In this structure, the observer 10 sees the reversed phase of the backlight light source 34 that has passed through the pinhole or transparent slits, as described above, which is a single white light, whose information is meaningless and in terms of the construction of the entire screen. The same applies to the case where the mask is disposed in front of the image panel.

5 is a view for explaining an example in which the mask according to the present invention is divided into a plurality of regions, and the intervals between the transparent slits are different for each region.

In the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the distance between the transparent slits of the mask becomes narrower as it moves away from the center thereof.

This is because the pixels of the image panel are arranged at regular intervals, but because the viewing angle of the observer is different from each other when facing the center and toward the outside, the positions of the corresponding pixels are different.

The interval at this time can be obtained by the following equation.

Where P _n is the distance between the nth transparent slits, X is the width of the pixels of the image panel, a is the number of transparent slits to be set in the horizontal direction, and b is the observation that occurs due to the change of observation points left and right. The difference in the linear direction from the center line, n is the nth design value, 0-a / 2, d is the center point distance from the pixel to the viewpoint, c is the distance from the pixel to the mask (the mask is to be placed in front of the panel) -C for + c +)

In the case where one transparent slit of the mask corresponds to four pixels in order to have a wider observation margin, 2X may be calculated as 4X in the above equation.

However, when the distance between the transparent slits becomes narrower as the distance from the center point as described above, the difference between adjacent transparent slits becomes small, which may cause manufacturing difficulties.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the mask is divided into a plurality of regions A1, A2, and A3, and the spacing between the transparent slits in each region is the same, but the regions A1 and A3 are far from the center region A2. The interval can be narrowed and configured. In this example, it is divided into three areas, but it can be divided into more areas.

8 is a view for explaining a wider margin of view by moving the mask by detecting this when the observer is out of the center.

(A) of FIG. 8 is a case where the observer 10 is at the center, (b) is a case where the mask 20 is moved to the left when the observer 10 is moved to the right, and (c) is an observer. It is a case where the mask 20 is moved to the right when 10 moves to the left.

There are several ways to do this in practice. First, there is a position sensor for detecting the position of the observer, and a method for moving the mask according to the position of the observer detected by the position sensor, it is possible by further comprising a mask moving means. The position sensor tracks the observer's head to determine the observer's position and moves the mask as the position changes.

In the case of using the LCD as the mask, the same effect can be obtained by moving the transparent slits in itself. As a method of moving the transparent slits, one more transparent slits are formed at a quarter distance of the gap between the transparent slits on both sides of the existing transparent slits, and according to the position of the observer detected by the position sensor, 3 One of the two transparent slits is made to be transparent and the other is blocked.

As a means for blocking, an LCD can be used, and it becomes possible by making a mask by overlapping two or three LCDs. That is, one of the two or three LCDs is formed with transparent slits, and the other is used as a blocking means for blocking other than the transparent slits selected according to the position of the observer.

In the above description, the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present invention has been described through various embodiments. It is obvious that a person skilled in the art can change or modify the present invention. If such changes or modifications do not deviate from the technical idea of the present invention, Needless to say, it is included in the scope of rights.

As described above, in the case of using the stereoscopic image display apparatus according to the present invention, a stereoscopic image display apparatus having a wider observation margin can be obtained by using a mask having an extremely narrow transparent slits (or pinholes). have. Furthermore, by detecting the position of the observer with a position sensor and moving the mask according to the position, it is possible to obtain a stereoscopic image display apparatus having a wider observation margin.

In addition, by using a TN or STN LCD as a mask, not only is it easy to manufacture and low cost, but also it is possible to obtain an effect of selectively viewing a general image and a stereoscopic image by turning on / off it.

Claims (12)

Transparent slits and opaque slits are alternately arranged, and a mask for inducing a stereoscopic effect due to binocular disparity by allowing the observer's left and right eyes to see different pixels through the transparent slits, and installed at the rear of the mask A stereoscopic image display apparatus using a parallax barrier method comprising an image panel for outputting an image corresponding to a left eye and a right eye, respectively, to a pixel corresponding to a left eye and right eye viewing area, The transparent slits of the mask are formed to have a width equal to or less than 1/3 of the pixels of the image panel so that the observer's left and right eyes observe the inverse of the image output to the pixels. . The method of claim 1, And the transparent slits of the mask are vertically arranged with pin-holes having a diameter greater than or equal to 1/3 of the pixels of the image panel. The method of claim 1, And the image panel is an LCD having a backlight light source, and the mask is disposed between the liquid crystal panel of the LCD and the backlight light source. The method according to claim 1 or 3, And a gap between the transparent slits of the mask is narrower as it moves away from the center. The method of claim 4, wherein The mask is divided into a plurality of areas, and the distance between the transparent slits in each area is formed to have a narrower distance from the area farther from the center, and the distance between the transparent slits in the same area is the same. Stereoscopic image display device. The method according to claim 1 or 3, The mask is a twisted nematic (TN) or super twisted nematic (STN) LCD having a pattern of transparent slits and opaque slits, The stereoscopic image display apparatus further comprises a switching means for switching the implementation of the general image / three-dimensional image by turning on / off the LCD. The method of claim 6, The transparent slits of the mask may be alternately turned on / off for even-numbered transparent slits and odd-numbered transparent slits, and the image panel may repeat left / left / right / right when the even-numbered transparent slits are turned on. And outputting the corresponding image to each pixel in order, and outputting the corresponding image to each pixel in the order of repeating right / right / left / left when the odd-numbered transparent slits are turned on. The method of claim 7, wherein The mask comprises two LCDs, and each LCD is disposed such that respective transparent slits are staggered from each other, such that each LCD is alternately turned on / off. The method according to claim 1 or 3, The stereoscopic image display apparatus further comprises a position sensor for sensing the position of an observer and a moving means for moving the mask according to the position of the observer detected by the position sensor. The method of claim 6, The stereoscopic image display apparatus further includes a position sensor for sensing an observer's position and changes the position of the transparent slits of the LCD according to the observer's position detected by the position sensor. . The method of claim 10, In the LCD as the mask, one transparent slits are further formed on both sides of the transparent slits at a quarter distance between the transparent slits, and the transparent slits in the center according to the position of the observer detected by the position sensor. And one or more transparent slits on the left and right sides, and further including blocking means for blocking the remaining transparent slits. The method of claim 11, The blocking means is a stereoscopic image display device, characterized in that the LCD.