Three-Dimensional Image Display Device and Three-Dimensional Image Display Method

• US 20100033556A1
• Filed: 08/31/2007
• Published: 02/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Saishu, Tatsuo, Fukushima, Rieko
• Granted Patent: US 8,427,528 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/305 using lenticular lenses, e.g. arrangements of cylindrical lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/31 using parallax barriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/351 for displaying simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/373 for tracking forward-backward translational head movements, i.e. longitudinal movements

Abstract

It is made possible to provide a three-dimensional image display device by which a viewing zone can be readily adjusted in the parallel-ray one-dimensional IP system, without a decrease in processing speed. A three-dimensional image display device includes: an elemental image display unit that has pixels arranged in a matrix form in a display plane, and displays an elemental image; an optical plate that is placed to face the elemental image display unit, extends straightly in a vertical direction, and controls a light ray from the elemental image display unit, the optical plate having optical apertures arranged at intervals in a horizontal direction; and an image data converting unit that converts image data so as to replace missing image data with a neighboring parallax component in same the elemental image, based on the average width of elemental images in an input image data and the optimum average width of elemental images in a three-dimensional video image to be output.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional image display device comprising:

an elemental image display unit that has pixels arranged in a matrix form in a display plane, and displays elemental images each including a Plurality of parallax component images;

an optical plate that is placed to face the elemental image display unit, extends straightly in a vertical direction, and controls a light ray from the elemental image display unit, the optical plate having optical apertures arranged at intervals in a horizontal direction, each optical aperture being associated with each elemental image; and

an image data converting unit that converts image data so as to replace missing image data with a neighboring parallax component image in the same elemental image, the missing data being data that is missed when a gradient of a line representing a viewing boundary in a data space defined by abscissa axis of x-coordinate of the each parallax component image and ordinate axis of a parallax number is changed, the gradient of the line being decided based on the average width of elemental images in an input image data and the optimum average width of elemental images in a three-dimensional video image to be output.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the image data converting unit has a temperature detecting unit that detects a temperature in the vicinity of the elemental image display unit, so as to determine the optimum average width of the elemental images of the three-dimensional video image to be output.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the image data converting unit has a distance detecting unit that detects a viewer distance, so as to determine the optimum average width of the elemental images of the three-dimensional video image to be output.

4. A three-dimensional image display method by which a three-dimensional image is displayed with the use of an elemental image display unit that has pixels arranged in a matrix form in a display plane, and displays elemental images each including a plurality of parallax component images;

and an optical plate that is placed to face the elemental image display unit, extends straightly in a vertical direction, and controls a light ray from the elemental image display unit, the optical plate having optical apertures arranged at intervals in a horizontal direction, each optical aperture being associated with each elemental image,

the method comprising converting image data so as to replace missing image data with a neighboring parallax component image in the same elemental image, the missing data being data that is missed when a gradient of a line representing a viewing boundary in a data space defined by abscissa axis of x-coordinate of the each parallax component image and ordinate axis of a parallax number is changed, the gradient of the line being decided based on the average width of elemental images in an input image data and the optimum average width of elemental images in a three-dimensional video image to be output.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the converting image data includes converting the image data into a display format of the elemental image display unit through a selective converting operation in which some pixels in an input multi-viewpoint image are not converted but some other pixels are converted at two or more locations.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the converting image data includes converting the image data into a display format of the elemental image display unit through a selective converting operation in which some pixels in a format having pixels of an input multi-viewpoint image arranged in a tile-like fashion but some other pixels are converted at two or more locations.