JP4064407B2 - 3D display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a three-dimensional display device, and more particularly to a three-dimensional display device that has a simple configuration and can observe a seamless three-dimensional stereoscopic image even when an observer moves in the horizontal and vertical directions.

For example, the volume type method shown in FIG. 4 is known as an apparatus for displaying a three-dimensional stereoscopic image. In this volume type method, as shown in FIG. The two-dimensional images (depth sampled images) (132a to 132e) sampled in the same manner are displayed on, for example, the display surfaces (131a to 131e) arranged in the depth direction when viewed from the observer 100, respectively. Is displayed.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example of a conventional volume type three-dimensional display device.
In the variable focus lens type three-dimensional display device shown in FIG. 5, the depth sampled image is displayed on the two-dimensional display device 601 in a time-sharing manner, and is displayed on the two-dimensional display device 601 by the synchronization device 607 and the driving device 608. The focal length of the variable focus lens 602 is changed in synchronization with the dimensional image.
Then, from the optical principle, the imaging position of the depth sampled image displayed on the two-dimensional display device 601 changes in the depth direction in accordance with the focal length of the variable focus lens 602.
If this change is performed at high speed within the afterimage time of the human eye, the three-dimensional image 603 is observed as viewed from the observer 604 due to the afterimage effect.
5A shows a variable focus lens type three-dimensional display device in which the two-dimensional display device 601 is arranged within the focal length of the variable focus lens 602 to display a virtual three-dimensional image 603, and FIG. FIG. 5B shows a variable focus lens type three-dimensional display device in which the two-dimensional display device 601 is arranged outside the focal length of the variable focus lens 602 and the real image three-dimensional image 603 is displayed.

In the volume type method described above, display surfaces (131a to 131e) in which planar (depth sampled images) display images (depth sampled images) (132a to 132e) are arranged at predetermined intervals. Basically, it is displayed in a stacked manner.
Therefore, when the observer moves from the front to the left, right, up and down, not only the seam is observed, but also a plurality of displays for configuring the display surfaces (131a to 131e), or time division as shown in FIG. Therefore, there is a problem that a variable focus lens mechanism for configuring the display surfaces (131a to 131e) is required.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional display device with a simple configuration, even if an observer moves in the horizontal and vertical directions. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique that enables observation of a seamless three-dimensional stereoscopic image.
The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

Of the inventions disclosed in this application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a display device, a polarization conversion device disposed on the viewer side of the display device, and n (n ≧ 2) disposed on the viewer side of the polarization conversion device. ) Polarization scatterers (except for the case of n = 2), wherein the polarization converter changes the polarization direction of incident light incident from the display device, The n polarized scatterers are characterized in that a polarization direction of incident light which is a maximum scatter source is different for each of the plurality of polarized scatterers .

Further, in the present invention, the n polarized scatterers have a polarization direction of the incident light, which is the largest scatter source, of 90 ° between the first polarized scatterer and the nth polarized scatterer. As described above, the first polarization scatterer changes in a stepwise manner toward the nth polarization scatter.
In the present invention, the n polarized scatterers are homogeneous polymer dispersed liquid crystals having different orientation directions.
Furthermore, the polarization conversion device varies the polarization direction of incident light incident from the display device for each pixel.

The effects obtained by the representative ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.
According to the present invention, in a three-dimensional display device, it is possible to observe a seamless three-dimensional stereoscopic image with a simple configuration even when the observer moves in the horizontal and vertical directions.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In all the drawings for explaining the embodiments, parts having the same functions are given the same reference numerals, and repeated explanation thereof is omitted.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a three-dimensional display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, 10 is a display device, 11 is a polarization conversion device, and 12 is a polarization scatterer.
As the display device 10, for example, a CRT, a liquid crystal display, an LED display, a plasma display, an EL display, an FED display, a DMD, a projection display, a line drawing type display such as an oscilloscope, and the like can be used.
Further, the polarization conversion device 11 can change the polarization direction of the incident light incident from the display device 10 for each pixel. As the polarization conversion device 11, a twisted nematic liquid crystal panel, a homogeneous type, or the like can be used. A liquid crystal panel such as a liquid crystal panel can be used.
The polarization scatterer 12 has a predetermined thickness between the light incident surface 20 and the light exit surface 21, and the polarization scatterer 12 has a maximum thickness from the incident surface 20 according to the polarization direction of the incident light. The distance to the position that becomes the scattering source is different.
In FIG. 1, the polarization scatterer 12 is a position that becomes the largest scattering source by the incident light when the polarization direction of the incident light continuously changes from 0 ° to 90 ° (in FIG. (Referred to as the polarization direction of the source) continuously changes from the entrance surface 20 toward the exit surface 21. Here, the polarization scatterer 12 is composed of twisted nematic polymer dispersed liquid crystal.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the three-dimensional display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the light 30 emitted from the polarization conversion device 11 is parallel light, and when there is no polarization scatterer 12, it goes straight as shown by the dotted line 32 in FIG. It does not enter the eyes of the observer 100.
Therefore, the observer 100 cannot observe the portion of the light 30 emitted from the polarization conversion device 11 in the image displayed on the display device 10.
However, in this embodiment, as shown by 31 in FIG. 2, the polarization scatterer 12 scatters the light 30 emitted from the polarization conversion device 11. Therefore, the observer 100 can observe the portion of the light 30 emitted from the polarization conversion device 11 in the image displayed on the display device 10.
In the present embodiment, the twisted nematic polymer dispersed liquid crystal constituting the polarization scatterer 12 is maximum due to the incident light when the polarization direction of the incident light continuously changes from 0 ° to 90 °. The position that becomes the scattering source of the light beam continuously changes from the incident surface 20 toward the emission surface 21.
Therefore, in the three-dimensional display device shown in FIG. 1, the incident light is controlled so that the polarization conversion device 11 is controlled so that the position of the polarization scatterer 12 serving as the largest scattering source is the position shown in FIG. When the polarization direction of (light 30 emitted from the polarization conversion device 11) is controlled, the observer 100 observes a three-dimensional stereoscopic image having a round shape such as an apple.
This three-dimensional stereoscopic image can be observed even when the observer 100 moves in the left-right and up-down directions.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a modified example of the three-dimensional display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, 10 is a display device, 11 is a polarization conversion device, and 12a to 12e are polarization scatterers.
The three-dimensional display device shown in FIG. 3 uses the first to fifth polarization scatterers (12a to 12e) in place of the single polarization scatterer 12 shown in FIG. This is different from the three-dimensional display device shown. Here, the plurality of polarization scatterers (12a to 12e) from the first to the fifth are composed of homogeneous polymer dispersed liquid crystals having different orientation directions.
As shown in FIG. 3, the first polarized scatterer (12a) has a polarization direction of incident light (referred to as the polarization direction of the scattering source in FIG. 3) of 90 °, which is the largest scattering source, and the second polarized light. The scatterer (12b) has a polarization direction of incident light as a maximum scattering source of 67.5 °, and the third polarization scatterer (12c) has a polarization direction of incident light as a maximum scattering source of 45 °, The fourth polarized scatterer (12d) has a polarization direction of incident light that is the largest scattering source of 22.5 °, and the fifth polarized scatterer (12e) has a polarization direction of incident light that is the largest scattering source. Is 0 °.

Therefore, also in the three-dimensional display device shown in FIG. 3, the polarization conversion device 11 is controlled, and the position that becomes the largest scattering source by the first to fifth polarization scatterers (12a to 12e) is as shown in FIG. When the polarization direction of the incident light is controlled so that the position becomes as shown in Fig. 35, the observer 100 observes a three-dimensional stereoscopic image having a round shape such as an apple.
This three-dimensional stereoscopic image can be observed even when the observer 100 moves in the left-right and up-down directions.
In the three-dimensional display device shown in FIG. 3, the case where the first to fifth polarization scatterers (12a to 12e) are used has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The number of the plurality of polarized scatterers may be two or more.
As described above, according to the three-dimensional display device of the present embodiment, a plurality of displays for configuring the display surfaces (131a to 131e) or time-division display surfaces as in the conventional volume type system. It is possible to observe a three-dimensional stereoscopic image with a simple configuration without using a variable focus lens mechanism for configuring (131a to 131e).
In addition, in the three-dimensional display device according to the present embodiment, it is possible to observe a seamless three-dimensional image even when the observer 100 moves from the front to the left, right, and up and down.
As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the above embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Of course.

It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the three-dimensional display apparatus of the Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating operation | movement of the three-dimensional display apparatus of the Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of a deformation | transformation of the three-dimensional display apparatus of the Example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the conventional three-dimensional display method of a volume type. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of an example of the conventional volume type three-dimensional display apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Display apparatus 11 Polarization converter 12, 12a-12e Polarization scatterer 20 Incident surface 21 Outgoing surface 100 Viewer 131a-131e Display surface 132a-132e, 606 Two-dimensional image (depth sampling image)
601 Two-dimensional display device 602 Variable focus device 603 Stereoscopic image 604 Binocular of observer 607 Synchronizer 608 Drive device

Claims (4)

A display device;
A polarization conversion device disposed on the viewer side of the display device;
A three-dimensional display device comprising n (n ≧ 2) (except in the case of n = 2) polarization scatterers arranged on the viewer side of the polarization conversion device,
The polarization conversion device varies a polarization direction of incident light incident from the display device,
3. The three-dimensional display device according to claim 1, wherein the n polarized scatterers have different polarization directions of incident light which is a maximum scatter source for each of the plurality of polarized scatterers. The n polarized scatterers are arranged in such a manner that the polarization direction of the incident light which is the largest scattering source is 90 ° between the first polarized scatterer and the nth polarized scatterer. The three-dimensional display device according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional display device changes stepwise from the polarization scatterer toward the n-th polarization scatter. 3. The three-dimensional display device according to claim 1, wherein the n polarized scatterers are homogeneous polymer dispersed liquid crystals having different orientation directions. 4. 5. The three-dimensional display device according to claim 1, wherein the polarization conversion device varies a polarization direction of incident light incident from the display device for each pixel. 6. .

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