Combined Single/Multiple View-Display

• US 20080211734A1
• Filed: 06/13/2006
• Published: 09/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Gillies, Murray F., Bruinink, Jaap, Huitema, Edzer, Gielkens, Olaf, Cortie, Rogier, Vissenberg, Michel C.J.M., Karman, Geardus P., Verhulst, Antonius G.H.
• Granted Patent: US 7,956,820 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/3.1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/27 involving lenticular arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/31 involving active parallax barriers involving directional light or back-light sources G02B30/33
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/167 by electrophoresis
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1685 Operation of cells; Circuit arrangements affecting the entire cell
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/44 Arrangements combining different electro-active layers, e.g. electrochromic, liquid crystal or electroluminescent layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/31 using parallax barriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/359 Switching between monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to a display device comprising an outer display stacked with an inner display and being arranged to be operable in a first, multiple view mode and a second, single view mode. An idea of the invention is to arrange an electrophoretic display on top of an emissive display. The display device may be operated in two modes; a first mode being a multiple or dual view mode and a second mode being a single view mode. In order to activate the single view mode, the outer display is set in a transparent state and the inner display is turned on, such that it displays desired objects. In the multiple view mode, the outer display is functioning as a 3D-barrier. Hence, some of the picture elements of the outer display are set in a transparent state while others are set in an opaque state. The viewer sees a different picture with each respective eye, and will accordingly experience a multiple view picture of an object that is displayed on the inner display.

Claims

1. A display device comprising an outer display (41) stacked with an inner display (42), said display device being arranged to be operated in a first, multiple view display mode (C) and a second, single view display mode (B), which display device is characterized in that said outer display is an electrophoretic display that is controllable to enable said display device to be operated in the first and the second display mode, wherein

said first and second display modes are achieved by means of controlling a potential difference across picture elements (53) in said outer display, which picture elements are operable in at least one opaque state (3) and one transparent state (2),

said first display mode being attained by arranging the inner display in an on-state and by arranging at least one of the picture elements in the outer display in the transparent state while the other picture elements in the outer display are in said at least one opaque state, and

said second display mode being attained by arranging the inner display in the on-state and by arranging the picture elements of the outer display in the transparent state.

2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein said outer display (41) further is arranged to be controllable to enable said display device to be operated in a third, low-power, single view mode (A), in which third mode the display device is consuming less power than in said second mode (B), said third mode being achieved by means of controlling a potential difference across picture elements (43) in said electrophoretic display (41), the picture elements being operable in at least one further opaque state (1), said third display mode being attained by arranging the inner display (42) in an off-state and by arranging the picture elements of the outer display in any one of the opaque states (1,3).

3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein said electrophoretic display is arranged to be controllable by applying drive signals to electrodes (56-59) associated with each picture element (53) to attain the potential difference, which causes charged particles (54, 55) arranged in an electrophoretic medium that is comprised in the electrophoretic display to move, whereby any one of said transparent state (2) or said at least one opaque state (3) is obtained.

4. The display device according to claim 3, wherein particles of a first polarity are arranged to be black (54) and particles of a second polarity are arranged to be white (55), whereby at least two opaque states (1, 3) are obtained.

5. The display device according to claim 4, wherein particles are arranged to be of a further color.

6. The display device according to claim 5, wherein particles of different colors are arranged in different picture elements.

7. The display device according to claim 3, wherein said electrodes comprise at least two electrodes arranged (57, 59) at said picture elements (53) such that they attract, by means of the applied drive signals, the respective charged particles (54, 55), whereby a particle-free area (51a) is created at the picture elements that are to be set in the transparent state (2).

8. The display device according to claim 3, wherein a first of said at least two electrodes (57) attracts particles (54) of the first polarity and a second of said at least two electrodes (59) attracts particles (55) of the second polarity.

9. The display device according to claim 7, wherein said at least two electrodes (E1, E2) are arranged in proximity to each other and the area of one of the electrodes is arranged to be substantially smaller than the area of the other.

10. The display device according to claim 7, wherein said electrodes comprise at least three electrodes, wherein a third electrode (E3) is arranged in proximity to the first (E1) and the second (E2) electrode, onto which third electrode a voltage is briefly applied, such that only a fraction of the particles is moved, whereby a switchable grey filter is achieved.

11. The display device according to claim 3, wherein at least one of said electrodes (E1-E4) is coated with an organic photoconductor layer (64, 71, 72), the resistance of which layer is variable by means of varying inner display (66) illumination onto said organic photoconductor layer.

12. The display device according to claim 1, wherein said inner display (42) is an emissive display.

13. The display device according to claim 1, wherein said inner display (42) is a color liquid crystal display.

14. The display device according to claim 1, wherein said inner display (42) is an OLED display.

15. The display device according to claim 1, wherein said outer display (41) is arranged to have a resolution that is higher than the resolution of said inner display (42).