CONTROLLING A PIXEL ARRAY TO SUPPORT AN ADAPTABLE LIGHT MANIPULATOR

• US 20110157322A1
• Filed: 05/05/2010
• Published: 06/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies General IP PTE Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bennett, James D., Karaoguz, Jeyhan
• Application Number:
  US12/774,225
• Publication Number:
  US 20110157322A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/51
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/00 Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 35/24 using apertured or refractive resolving means on screens or between screen and eye
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/023 Display panel composed of stacked panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/028 by changing the viewing angle properties, e.g. widening the viewing angle, adapting the viewing angle to the view direction
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/04 Exchange of auxiliary data, i.e. other than image data, between monitor and graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/003 to produce spatial visual effects
• 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 5/003 Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/00 Stereoscopic video systems; Multi-view video systems; Details thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/139 Format conversion, e.g. of frame-rate or size
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/161 Encoding, multiplexing or demultiplexing different image signal components for multi-view video sequence encoding H04N19/597
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/189 Recording image signals; Reproducing recorded image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/194 Transmission of image signals
• 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 13/312 the parallax barriers being placed behind the display panel, e.g. between backlight and spatial light modulator [SLM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/315 the parallax barriers being time-variant
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/332 : Displays for viewing with the aid of special glasses or head-mounted displays [HMD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/351 : for displaying simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/359 : Switching between monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/361 : Reproducing mixed stereoscopic images; Reproducing mixed monoscopic and stereoscopic images, e.g. a stereoscopic image overlay window on a monoscopic image background
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/366 : using viewer tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/383 : for tracking with gaze detection, i.e. detecting the lines of sight of the viewer's eyes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 : Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/403 : the images being monoscopic
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/405 : the images being stereoscopic or three dimensional
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 : Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4122 : additional display device, e.g. video projector digital output for controlling a plurality of local displays G06F3/1423
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 : Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/303 : Tracking of listener position or orientation

Abstract

A display system is provided that enables three-dimensional images to be displayed. The display system includes an adaptable light manipulator positioned proximate to an image generator to provide an image to a viewer based on light that is received from the image generator. The image generator includes a pixel array. A display controller controls the pixel array to compensate for modification of a configuration of the adaptable light manipulator. The pixel array includes a plurality of display pixels. A plurality of image pixels is rendered to a plurality of respective subsets of the display pixels. The display controller is capable of changing a number of display pixels that represents each image pixel and/or which display pixels or groups thereof correspond to the respective image pixels.

Claims

1. A display system comprising:

a pixel array that includes a plurality of display pixels;

an adaptable light manipulator configured to manipulate light that is received from the pixel array;

a manipulator controller configured to modify a configuration of the adaptable light manipulator; and

a pixel array controller configured to change a mapping of a plurality of image pixels from a plurality of respective first subsets of the display pixels to a plurality of respective second subsets of the display pixels in the pixel array to compensate for modification of the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator.

2. The display system of claim 1, wherein each of the first subsets and each of the second subsets includes N display pixels;

and

wherein N is an integer.

3. The display system of claim 1, wherein each of the first subsets includes N display pixels;

wherein each of the second subsets includes M display pixels;

wherein N and M are integers; and

wherein N is not equal to M.

4. The display system of claim 1, wherein the pixel array controller is configured to change the mapping of the plurality of image pixels to switch operation of the display system from a first mode in which the pixel array provides B three-dimensional images each of which uses a respective 1/B of the plurality of display pixels to a second mode in which the pixel array provides C three-dimensional images each of which uses a respective 1/C of the plurality of display pixels;

wherein B and C are integers; and

wherein B is not equal to C.

5. The display system of claim 1, further comprising:

a locator configured to determine that a position of a user with respect to the pixel array is changed;

wherein the manipulator controller is configured to modify the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator in response to determination that the position of the user with respect to the pixel array is changed; and

wherein the pixel array controller is configured to change the mapping of the plurality of image pixels from the plurality of respective first subsets of the display pixels to the plurality of respective second subsets of the display pixels in the pixel array in response to the determination that the position of the user with respect to the pixel array is changed.

6. The display system of claim 1, further comprising:

a locator configured to determine that an orientation of a user'"'"'s head with respect to the pixel array is changed;

wherein the manipulator controller is configured to modify the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator in response to determination that the orientation of the user'"'"'s head with respect to the pixel array is changed; and

wherein the pixel array controller is configured to change the mapping of the plurality of image pixels from the plurality of respective first subsets of the display pixels to the plurality of respective second subsets of the display pixels in the pixel array in response to the determination that the orientation of the user'"'"'s head with respect to the pixel array is changed.

7. The display system of claim 1, wherein the adaptable light manipulator includes an adaptable parallax barrier;

and

wherein the modification of the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator includes a modification of a slit pattern of the adaptable parallax barrier.

8. The display system of claim 1, wherein the adaptable light manipulator includes an elastic light manipulator;

and

wherein the modification of the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator includes a modification of an extent to which the elastic light manipulator is stretched.

9. The display system of claim 1, wherein the modification of the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator includes a modification of an orientation of the adaptable light manipulator.

10. A display system comprising:

a pixel array that includes a plurality of display pixels;

an adaptable light manipulator configured to manipulate light that is received from the pixel array;

a manipulator controller configured to modify a configuration of the adaptable light manipulator; and

a pixel array controller comprising;

a conversion module configured to convert a first plurality of image pixels that corresponds to an N-dimensional representation of an image to a second plurality of image pixels that corresponds to an M-dimensional representation of the image, M≠

N; and

a mapping module configured to initially render the first plurality of image pixels to the plurality of display pixels, the mapping module further configured to render the second plurality of image pixels in lieu of the first plurality of image pixels to the plurality of display pixels in response to a determination that the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator is modified.

11. The display system of claim 10, wherein N=2 and M=3.

12. The display system of claim 10, wherein N=3 and M=2.

13. The display system of claim 10, wherein the adaptable light manipulator includes an adaptable parallax barrier.

14. The display system of claim 10, wherein the adaptable light manipulator includes an elastic lenticular lens.

15. A method comprising:

modifying a configuration of an adaptable light manipulator that receives light from a pixel array that includes a plurality of display pixels; and

changing a number of the display pixels in the pixel array that represents each image pixel of a plurality of image pixels in response to modifying the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein modifying the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator comprises:

modifying a slit pattern of an adaptable parallax barrier.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein modifying the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator comprises:

modifying an extent to which an elastic light manipulator is stretched.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein changing the number of the display pixels in the pixel array that represents each image pixel of the plurality of image pixels comprises:

switching operation of the pixel array from a first mode in which the pixel array provides B three-dimensional images each of which uses a respective 1/B of the plurality of display pixels to a second mode in which the pixel array provides C three-dimensional images each of which uses a respective 1/C of the plurality of display pixels;

wherein B and C are integers; and

wherein B is not equal to C.

19. A method comprising:

modifying a configuration of an adaptable light manipulator that receives light from a pixel array that includes a plurality of display pixels; and

changing subsets of the plurality of display pixels to which respective image pixels are rendered to compensate for the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator being modified.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein modifying the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator comprises:

modifying a slit pattern of an adaptable parallax barrier.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein modifying the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator comprises:

modifying an extent to which an elastic light manipulator is stretched.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein modifying the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator comprises:

modifying an orientation of the adaptable light manipulator.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

determining that a position of a user with respect to the pixel array is changed;

wherein modifying the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator and changing the subsets of the plurality of display pixels to which the respective image pixels are rendered are performed in response to determining that the position of the user with respect to the pixel array is changed.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

determining that an orientation of a user'"'"'s head with respect to the pixel array is changed;

wherein modifying the configuration of the adaptable light manipulator and changing the subsets of the plurality of display pixels to which the respective image pixels are rendered are performed in response to determining that the orientation of the user'"'"'s head with respect to the pixel array is changed.