STEREO DISPLAY SYSTEMS

• US 20120019530A1
• Filed: 10/30/2009
• Published: 01/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Baker, Henry Harlyn
• Granted Patent: US 9,122,066 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/23 using wavelength separation, e.g. using anaglyph techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/24 involving temporal multiplexing, e.g. using sequentially activated left and right shutters
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/25 using polarisation techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/334 using spectral multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/363 using image projection screens volumetric display H04N13/388

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to stereo display systems. In one embodiment, the stereo display system includes a display (402), a viewing area (404), and one or more pairs of stereo projectors (409-411). Each pair of stereo projectors corresponds to a sub-region of the viewing area. In addition, each pair of stereo projectors projects a rectified image pair onto the display so that one or more viewers located in the corresponding sub-region exclusively view the image pair, enabling the viewers in the sub-region to perceive three-dimensional images presented on the display.

Claims

1. A stereo display system (400) comprising:

a display (402);

a viewing area (404); and

one or more pairs of stereo projectors (409-411), each pair of stereo projectors corresponding to a sub-region of the viewing area, wherein each pair of stereo projectors projects an image pair onto the display that will appear substantially rectified to viewers located in the corresponding sub-region who exclusively view that image pair enabling them to perceive three-dimensional images presented on the display.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein each pair of stereo projectors further comprises:

a left-eye projector (412) configured to project an image of the image pair that appears substantially rectified to the left eye of the one or more viewers located in the corresponding sub-region; and

a right-eye projector (414) configured to project an image of the image pair that appears substantially rectified to the right eye of the one or more viewers located in the corresponding sub-region.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprises one or more filter systems, wherein each filter system is associated with a sub-region (604) of the viewing area and a corresponding pair of stereo projectors, each filter system configured so that viewers in the associated sub-region see the image pairs projected onto the display by the corresponding stereo projectors and not the image pairs projected onto the display by a different pair of stereo projectors.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises:

eye glasses configured with a left-eye filter and a right-eye filter worn by viewers in the sub-region; and

a left-eye filter and a right-eye filter placed on left-eye and right-eye projectors of the stereo projectors corresponding to the sub-region, wherein for each viewer in the sub-region, the left-eye filters are configured to ensure a left-eye image projected by the left-eye projector onto the display is seen exclusively by the left eye of the viewers, and the right-eye filters are configured to ensure a right-eye image projected onto the display by the right-eye projector is seen exclusively by the right eye of the viewers.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises:

a first type of color filter (704-706) configured to selectively pass a first set of selected segments of blue, green, and red wavelength ranges of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum; and

a second type of color filter (707-709) configured to selectively pass a second set of selected segments of blue, green, and red wavelength ranges of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

6. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises:

a first type of polarization filter configured to selectively pass light in a first polarization state; and

a second type of polarization filter configured to selectively pass light in a second polarization state.

7. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises shutter glasses worn by the viewers in an associated sub-region such that for each sub-region of the viewing area, alternating left-eye and right-eye lens transparency and darkness of the shuter glasses worn by the viewers in the viewing area are synchonized with the refresh rate of the pair of stereo projectors.

8. The system of claim 3 wherein each filter system further comprises a combination of shutter glasses and color and/or polarization filters that provide a combinatorial selection for each of the sub-regions.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the pair of stereo projectors associated with a central sub-region of the viewing area are configured and oriented so that a group of viewers located in the central sub-region receive a left-eye image and a right-eye image with parallel epipolar lines that are also substantially parallel to scan lines of images projected onto the display.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the pair of stereo projectors associated with a sub-region of the viewing area located to a first side of the display are configured and oriented to show image pairs projected onto the display in a manner that makes them appear substantially properly structured for epipolar-aligned viewing in that sub-region, and the pair associated with a sub-region of the viewing area located to a second side opposite the first side are configured and oriented to show image pairs projected onto the display in a manner that makes them appear substantially properly structured for epipolar-aligned viewing in that sub-region.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the display further comprises a white or silvered surface (602) and the one or more stereo projectors are centrally located so that the image pairs are projected onto the display from behind or above the viewing area.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the display further comprises a rear projection display screen (802) and the one or more stereo projectors are located in front of the viewing area and behind the display so that image pairs are projected onto the display facing viewers located in the viewing area.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the image pairs projected by each pair of stereo projectors are created by n+1 cameras for n stereo view zones, wherein paired cameras (1402-1406) provide different view pairs that are rectified and resampled independently of other camera pairs.

14. A method for viewing three-dimensional images comprising:

projecting (1001) one or more image pairs onto a display, each image pair generated by a pair of stereo projectors;

selectively viewing (1002) each of the one or more image pairs in one or more corresponding sub-regions of a viewing area, wherein within each sub-region one or more viewers exclusively view the corresponding image pair; and

rectifying (1003) each of the one or more image pairs, wherein within each sub-region the one or more viewers perceive the three-dimensional images presented on the display.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein projecting one or more image pairs further comprises:

projecting an image of the image pair that appears substantially rectified to the left eye of the one or more viewers located in the corresponding sub-region using a left-eye projector (412); and

projecting an image of the image pair that appears substantially rectified to the right eye of the one or more viewers located in the corresponding sub-region using a right-eye projector (414).