Lens array and display apparatus using same

• US 20060195293A1
• Filed: 01/05/2006
• Published: 08/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Liquid Crystal Display Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Displays Limited (Japan Display Incorporated)
• Inventors: Oikawa, Michio, Koike, Takafumi
• Granted Patent: US 7,340,382 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/159
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/27 involving lenticular arrays

Abstract

In an autostereoscopic display, a horizontal view range can be widened without reducing two-dimensional resolutions. Lenses are arranged to be a linear combination having integer coefficients of two unit vectors, thereby to control the vertical and horizontal view ranges.

Claims

1. A lens array generation apparatus, comprising:

an input section that inputs a first unit vector and a second unit vector that are linearly independent of one another on an arbitrary plane, the first unit vector having a horizontal component greater than the second unit vector;

a storage section that stores the input two unit vectors; and

an arithmetic section that calculates an arrangement of lenses on the lens array by using the two unit vectors.

2. A lens array generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the arithmetic section is capable of calculating the two unit vectors; and

the arithmetic section performs generation so that the horizontal component of the first unit vector is within a range in magnitude from at least one times to at most two times a vertical component of the second unit vector.

3. A lens array generation apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

a lens pattern output section connected to the arithmetic section; and

a lens array generator connected to the lens pattern output section,

wherein;

center position information and a curvature radius value of a respective lens that have been calculated in the arithmetic section are input to the lens pattern output section; and

the lens array generator generates the lens array in accordance with the center position information and the curvature radius value of the respective lens.

4. A lens array generator according to claim 3, wherein:

the arithmetic section determines the center position information of the respective lens in a manner that;

an arbitrary point on the lens array is recognized to be a first original point, and a center position of the respective lens is determined in units of a position of one vector having the direction and length of the first unit vector from the first original point; and

a position of one vector having the direction and length of second unit vector from the original point is recognized to be a second original point, and the center position of the respective lens is determined in units of a position of one vector having the direction and length of the first unit vector from the second original point.

5. A display apparatus having a lens array generated by the lens array generation apparatus according to claim 4 and an image display device, wherein the length of the unit vector is in a range of from at least one-half times to at most two times a focal distance of the lens constituting the lens array.

6. A display apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:

the image display device includes a light source and a pixel control section; and

a focal position exists between the lens array and the image control section.

7. A lens array generated by the lens array generation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a positional relationship between arbitrary lens centers is represented a linear combination of integer multiples of the two unit vectors.

8. A lens array generated by the lens array generation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the length of components in each unit vectors is determined in accordance with an integer multiple of an inter-pixel pitch on the display device.