Display System and Camera System

• US 20080036969A1
• Filed: 09/10/2004
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maxell, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Hoshino, Takeshi, Otsuka, Rieko, Horii, Youichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,771,054 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 353/7
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/50 the image being built up from image elements distributed over a 3D volume, e.g. voxels
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 37/00 Panoramic or wide-screen photography; Photographing extended surfaces, e.g. for surveying; Photographing internal surfaces, e.g. of pipe
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 19/14 displaying different signs depending upon the view-point of the observer
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 19/16 involving the use of mirrors
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 19/18 involving the use of optical projection means, e.g. projection of images on clouds projection apparatus per se G03B
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/243 using three or more 2D image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/286 having separate monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/351 for displaying simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/363 using image projection screens volumetric display H04N13/388
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/366 using viewer tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/388 Volumetric displays, i.e. systems where the image is built up from picture elements distributed through a volume

Abstract

A display apparatus and an imaging apparatus constructed such that a high-resolution clear three-dimensional video image can be viewed from any direction. The display apparatus projects frame images, projected from a projector such as an electronic projector, to a video image projection surface of a three-dimensional screen through a polygonal mirror provided around the three-dimensional screen, thereby providing a polyhedral video image such as a three-dimensional image to a person viewing from around the video image projection surface. The three-dimensional screen has a view field angle limiting filter and a directional reflection screen. The view field angle filter limits the angle of a view field in the left/right direction, the angle being the angle of the projection on the video image projection surface (50) of the screen. The directional reflection screen has two sheets in horizontal and vertical directions. Furthermore, a projection light path between the electronic projector and the polygonal mirror is formed by refracting light through an auxiliary mirror.

Claims

1. A display system comprising

a mirror group including a stereoscopic screen having a visible field angle control function and formed around a central axis, and a plurality of mirrors arranged along a conical surface, which has the central axis in common to the stereoscopic screen, and

at least one electronic projector opposed to mirror surfaces of the mirrors constituting the mirror group, and arranged to project image segments different from each other to represent respective side surfaces of a body or the image segments different from each other, onto the respective mirror surfaces,

wherein the at least one electronic projector are arranged to project the image segment onto predetermined at least one of the mirrors of the mirror group, and

the mirrors are arranged on optical paths of optical systems in which the image segments emitted from the electronic projector are reflected by the mirror surfaces of the mirrors and projected onto the stereoscopic screen.

2. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the stereoscopic screen comprises a directional reflection screen.

3. The display system according to claim 2, wherein the directional reflection screen comprises a corner mirror sheet as retroreflector for a horizontal incident light, and an anisotropic diffusion sheet for restricting a light from being converged vertically.

4. The display system according to claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary mirror positioned on a plane intersecting perpendicularly an extension of the central axis, wherein image segments emitted from the electronic projector are projected onto the stereoscopic screen through the auxiliary mirror and the mirror group.

5. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the image segments comprise image segments beforehand stored in a storage unit, or image segments transmitted from a camera system via a communication line.

6. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the image segments are projected on central positions of the mirror surfaces, and

the mirror surfaces are set in inclination and position relative to the conical surface so that lights reflected by the central points of the mirror surfaces are projected on a central point of the screen.

7. The display system according to claim 1, further comprising

a camera device or devices, a number of which is equal to that of the electronic projector or projectors, while the stereoscopic screen is capable of being replaced by an object to be picturized by the camera device or devices, and

so that the side surfaces of the object are picturized through the mirror group by the camera device or devices to create the image segments to be emitted from the electronic projector or projectors.

8. The display system according to claim 1, further comprising

a sensor part for detecting a direction or movement of a user,

wherein the image segments emitted from the at least one electronic projector are controlled on the basis of the direction or movement of the user detected by the sensor part.

9. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the stereoscopic screen comprises a semitransparent type screen that occupies a partial angular direction as viewed from the central axis, and the mirror group comprises a plurality of mirrors mounted in the partial angular direction of the conical surface to project the image segments onto the semitransparent type screen.

10. The display system according to claim 1, wherein in a case where each of the electronic projectors is arranged to project the image segments onto respective set of predetermined ones of the mirrors of the mirror group, the inclinations and positions of the mirrors of the respective set are set individually.

11. The display system according to claim 1, further comprising

a camera device or devices, a number of which is equal to that of the electronic projector or projectors, while the stereoscopic screen is capable of being replaced by an object to be picturized by the camera device or devices, and

so that the side surfaces of the object are picturized through the mirror group by the camera device or devices to create the image segments to be emitted from the electronic projector or projectors.

12. The display system according to claim 1, wherein the image segments emitted by the electronic projector or projectors are created by means of computer graphics.

13. A display system comprising

a stereoscopic screen having a visible field angle control function and a shape of a sphere or a vertically elongated ellipsoid,

a mirror group comprising a plurality of half mirrors divided into at least two stages having different inclination angles to cover an upper portion of the stereoscopic screen, and

an electronic projector opposed to mirror surfaces of the mirrors constituting the mirror group, and arranged to project the image segments different from each other onto the respective mirror surfaces,

wherein the electronic projectors are arranged to project the image segments onto the mirrors of the mirror group, and

the mirrors are arranged on optical paths of optical systems in which the image segments emitted from the electronic projectors are reflected by the mirror surfaces of the mirrors and projected onto the stereoscopic screen.

14. The display system according to claim 13, wherein a first stage mirror group of one of the at least two stages having the inclination angles different from each other and a second stage mirror group positioned below the first stage mirror group and having inclination angles closer to the vertical in comparison with the first stage mirror group are used to project the images onto relatively upper and lower positions of the stereoscopic screen respectively.

15. A camera system for picturizing an image for a display device comprising a stereoscopic screen and a projection mirror group including mirrors arranged along a conical face to reflect the image emitted from at least one projector to be projected onto the stereoscopic screen so that the image emitted from the at least one projector is projected onto the stereoscopic screen to form a stereoscopic image, comprising:

a camera mirror group including mirrors arranged along a conical surface similar to that of the projection mirror group for the projection mirror group to surround an object to be picturized with a total number of the mirrors equal to that of the projection mirror group, and a camera part for picturizing the object to form an image group of images of the object reflected from the camera mirror group to be contained on at least one image page to form the image for the display device.

16. The camera system according to claim 15, further comprising a communication unit to provide communication with the display device so that the formed image for the display system is transmitted to the display device from the communication unit.

17. The camera system according to claim 15, wherein the image pages containing the image group are formed by a plurality of camera devices, and

in a case where each of the camera devices is arranged to picturize a side surface of the object viewable from respective set of predetermined ones of the mirrors of the mirror group, inclinations and positions of the mirrors of the respective set are set individually.

18. The camera system according to claim 15, wherein the image pages containing the image group are formed by a plurality of camera devices,

and the system further comprises means for forming, from the images formed by the camera devices, the image segments of the side surfaces of the object viewable from the mirrors to be projected.