Transmissive display apparatus

• US 10,162,174 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2016
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Iwami, Kazuchika
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Xiao M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Elbinger, Steven Z
• Application Number:
  US15/373,477
• Publication Number:
  US 20170168295A1
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0118 comprising devices for improving the contrast of the display / brillance control visibility
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0093 with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0101 characterised by optical features G02B27/0172 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20208 High dynamic range [HDR] image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/92 based on global image properties
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/066 for control of contrast
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/145 the light originating from the display screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2380/10 Automotive applications
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/20 for presentation of an assembly of a number of characters, e.g. a page, by composing the assembly by combination of individual elements arranged in a matrix no fixed position being assigned to or needed to be assigned to the individual characters or partial characters
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3406 Control of illumination source illumination devices structurally associated with liquid crystal cells G02F1/1336

Abstract

A display apparatus comprises a display device including an imagewise light emitting unit that emits imagewise light for displaying an input image, and a display surface member that includes a display surface that displays the input image as a displayed image, and transmits backside ambient light or reflects ambient light; an observation distance detecting section that detects an observation distance between the display surface and an observer; a display brightness acquiring section that acquires display brightness of the display device; an ambient light detecting section that detects the ambient light; and an image processing unit that performs image processing to adjust input spatial frequency characteristics of the input image based on the display brightness, the observation distance, and the ambient light such that display spatial frequency characteristics of the displayed image agree with target spatial frequency characteristics.

Claims

1. A display apparatus comprising:

a display device including an imagewise light emitting unit configured to emit imagewise light for displaying an input image as a displayed image, and a display surface member that is disposed in a corresponding manner to the imagewise light emitting unit, that includes a display surface configured to reflect or transmit the input image resulting from emission of the imagewise light by the imagewise light emitting unit, to display the input image as the displayed image, and that is configured to transmit backside ambient light entering from a backside or reflect ambient light entering from a front side;

an observation distance acquiring sensor configured to detect an observation distance between the display surface and an observer who is observing the displayed image on the display surface of the display surface member of the display device;

a display brightness acquiring sensor configured to acquire display brightness of the display device observed by the observer;

an ambient light acquiring sensor configured to detect the ambient light of an environment at the front side from which the observer observes the displayed image on the display surface; and

an image processing unit configured to perform image processing to adjust input spatial frequency characteristics of the input image input to the imagewise light emitting unit based on the display brightness acquired by the display brightness acquiring sensor, the observation distance detected by the observation distance-acquiring sensor, and the ambient light detected by the ambient light-acquiring sensor such that display spatial frequency characteristics of the displayed image as visually recognized under conditions of the display brightness, the observation distance and the ambient light agree with target spatial frequency characteristics serving as a target,

wherein the display spatial frequency characteristics represent a relationship between a spectral intensity and a spatial frequency of the displayed image, and the input spatial frequency characteristics represent a relationship between a spectral intensity and a spatial frequency of the input image,

wherein the imagewise light emitting unit is a projection unit emitting and projecting imagewise light of the input image onto the display surface of the display surface member of the display device,

wherein the display surface member is disposed in a corresponding manner to the projection unit, the display surface member causing projection light of the input image projected by the projection unit to be reflected and displayed on the display surface as the displayed image, and transmitting the backside ambient light entering from the backside,

wherein the display device is a projection type display device, and

wherein the display brightness acquiring sensor includes a backside ambient light acquiring sensor configured to detect the backside ambient light entering from the backside of the display surface member and a reflection brightness acquiring section configured to acquire reflection brightness, at the display surface, of the projection light of the input image as emitted by the projection unit, the display brightness acquiring sensor obtaining the display brightness of the displayed image on the display surface using transmission brightness of the backside ambient light detected by the backside ambient light acquiring sensor and the reflection brightness of the projection light of the input image.

2. The display apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the display surface member is a half mirror or a wavelength selective film,

wherein the projection unit is at least one of a liquid crystal display, a reflective liquid crystal panel and a holographic optical element, and

wherein the display apparatus is one of a head-up display and an augmented reality device.

3. The display apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the display surface member includes:

a quarterwave plate and a circularly polarized light reflective layer as stacked in an order of the quarterwave plate and the circularly polarized light reflective layer from a side at which the imagewise light emitting unit is disposed,

wherein the circularly polarized light reflective layer includes a cholesteric liquid crystalline layer in which a center wavelength of a selective reflection band is located within a visible light region, and

wherein at least one of the quarterwave plate and the circularly polarized light reflective layer is a half mirror including a layer formed of a liquid crystal composition containing a discotic liquid crystal compound.

4. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the target spatial frequency characteristics are the input spatial frequency characteristics.

5. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the target spatial frequency characteristics are spatial frequency characteristics previously set or adjusted with respect to an initial spectrum of the input image.

6. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit performs image processing on image data of the input image such that a difference between the display spatial frequency characteristics of the displayed image and the target spatial frequency characteristics is minimum, and outputs image data of the displayed image.

7. The display apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image processing unit optimizes contrast of the displayed image visually recognized such that change from contrast of an image having the target spatial frequency characteristics is minimum.

8. The display apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the display spatial frequency characteristics of the displayed image are obtained by, after performing the image processing for the input spatial frequency characteristics of the input image, subjecting a visual sensitivity function determined based on the display brightness, a viewing angle of the display surface of the imagewise light emitting unit with the observation distance and the ambient light to convolution operation, and

wherein the image processing unit subjects an inverse function of the visual sensitivity function to convolution operation with respect to the input spatial frequency characteristics of the input image and performs correcting operation for correcting change between the target spatial frequency characteristics and the input spatial frequency characteristics, as the image processing.

9. The display apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the visual sensitivity function is calculated using a product f×

S(u) of a luminosity function S(u) represented by Formula (1) and a correction coefficient f represented by Formula (2);

10. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit includes:

a memory configured to store the target spatial frequency characteristics;

a calculator configured to calculate a visual sensitivity function based on the display brightness, the viewing angle of the display surface of the imagewise light emitting unit with the observation distance and the ambient light;

a target comparison calculator configured to compare the target spatial frequency characteristics stored in the memory and the input spatial frequency characteristics of the input image to obtain a rate of change therebetween; and

an image processing section configured to subject an inverse function of the visual sensitivity function calculated by the calculator to convolution operation with respect to the input spatial frequency characteristics of the input image, integrate the rate of change obtained based on a comparison result between the target spatial frequency characteristics and the input spatial frequency characteristics compared by the target comparison calculator to obtain the display spatial frequency characteristics of the displayed image, and perform the image processing on image data of the input image such that the display spatial frequency characteristics agree with the target spatial frequency characteristics.

11. The display apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the memory further stores a target visual sensitivity function corresponding to the target spatial frequency characteristics and serving as a target or a target luminous efficiency curve represented as the target visual sensitivity function, and

wherein the image processing section performs the image processing on the image data of the input image at preset time intervals or at a time when a peak sensitivity of a luminous efficiency curve representing the visual sensitivity function calculated by the calculator is shifted from a peak sensitivity of the target luminous efficiency curve by a certain percentage.

12. The display apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the display brightness acquiring sensor, the observation distance acquiring sensor and the ambient light acquiring sensor respectively detect the display brightness, the viewing angle of the display surface of the imagewise light emitting unit with the observation distance and the ambient light and output the detected display brightness, observation distance and ambient light to the calculator at preset time intervals,

wherein the calculator calculates the visual sensitivity function at the preset time intervals based on the display brightness, the observation distance and the ambient light respectively output from the display brightness acquiring-sensor, the observation distance acquiring sensor and the ambient light acquiring sensor, and

wherein the image processing section subjects an inverse function of the calculated visual sensitivity function to convolution operation, integrates the rate of change to obtain the display spatial frequency characteristics of the displayed image, and performs the image processing such that the displayed image has the obtained display spatial frequency characteristics, at the preset time intervals.

13. The display apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the memory further stores a target visual sensitivity function corresponding to the target spatial frequency characteristics and serving as a target or a target luminous efficiency curve represented as the target visual sensitivity function,

wherein the display brightness acquiring sensor, the observation distance acquiring sensor and the ambient light acquiring sensor respectively detect the display brightness, the viewing angle of the display surface of the imagewise light emitting unit with the observation distance and the ambient light and output the detected display brightness, observation distance and ambient light to the calculator at second preset time intervals,

wherein the calculator calculates the visual sensitivity function at the second preset time intervals based on the display brightness, the observation distance and the ambient light respectively output from the display brightness acquiring sensor, the observation distance acquiring sensor and the ambient light acquiring sensor, and

wherein the image processing section performs the image processing on the image data of the input image at a time when a peak sensitivity of a luminous efficiency curve representing the visual sensitivity function output from the calculator at the second preset time intervals is shifted from a peak sensitivity of the target luminous efficiency curve by a certain percentage.

14. The display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the target comparison calculator calculates, as the rate of change, a ratio between an intensity of an output image serving as a target and an intensity of the input image for each spatial frequency.

15. The display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the image processing section subjects the image data of the input image to image processing involving multiplying the input spatial frequency characteristics of the input image by the inverse function of the visual sensitivity function in a spatial frequency space, thereby generating image data of an output image.

16. The display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of a characteristics adjusting section, a characteristics setting section and a characteristics inputting section,

the characteristics adjusting section being used to previously determine the target spatial frequency characteristics by previously adjusting brightness of the displayed image observed by the observer, while observing the displayed image which is displayed on the display surface of the display surface member by the imagewise light emitting unit in accordance with the display brightness, the observation distance and the ambient light, in order to store the target spatial frequency characteristics in the memory,

the characteristics setting section being used by the observer to previously set the target spatial frequency characteristics, and

the characteristics inputting section being used by the observer to previously input the target spatial frequency characteristics set by the observer.

17. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit adjusts the input spatial frequency characteristics of the input image such that a function or graph indicative of a relationship between a spectral intensity and a spatial frequency of the displayed image, that is, of the display spatial frequency characteristics of the displayed image agrees with a function or graph indicative of a target relationship between a spectral intensity and a spatial frequency, that is, of the target spatial frequency characteristics.