DISPLAY CONTROL CIRCUIT AND PROJECTOR APPARATUS

• US 20130002837A1
• Filed: 06/22/2012
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: YUNO, Tomomi
• Application Number:
  US13/530,332
• Publication Number:
  US 20130002837A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/56
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/24 involving temporal multiplexing, e.g. using sequentially activated left and right shutters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/341 using temporal multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/363 using image projection screens volumetric display H04N13/388
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof

Abstract

A display control circuit includes: a device drive unit writing left and right images alternately into a light modulation device in time division based on time-division display type stereoscopic image data including the left and right images; a shutter glass drive unit driving opening and closing of liquid crystal shutters in the shutter glasses; a light source drive unit maintaining the total sum of light source current to be constant over cycles when an opening and closing period of the liquid crystal shutters is taken as one cycle; and a control unit controlling the timing of opening and closing the liquid crystal shutters with respect to the shutter glass drive unit, the timing of writing the left and right images with respect to the device drive unit and the luminance level of the light source in the opening and closing period with respect to the light source drive unit.

Claims

1. A display control circuit comprising:

a device drive unit writing a left image and a right image alternately into a light modulation device in time division based on time-division display type stereoscopic image data including the left image for a left eye and the right image for a right eye;

a shutter glass drive unit driving opening and closing of liquid crystal shutters in the shutter glasses so that both liquid crystal shutters provided on lenses for the left eye and the right eye of the shutter glasses are closed in a rewrite period during which the left image and the right image written into the light modulation device overlap each other, and so that the liquid crystal shutter provided on the lens of the shutter glasses corresponding to the written image is opened in a period during which any of the left image and right image is independently written;

a light source drive unit increasing light source current to be supplied to a light source emitting light transmitted through the light modulation device and projected on a screen in the period during which any of the liquid crystal shutters is opened and reducing the light source current in the period during which both liquid crystal shutters are closed to thereby maintain the total sum of the light source current to be constant over plural cycles when an opening and closing period of the liquid crystal shutters is taken as one cycle; and

a control unit controlling the timing of opening and closing the liquid crystal shutters with respect to the shutter glass drive unit, controlling the timing of writing the left image and the right image with respect to the device drive unit and controlling the luminance level of the light source in the opening and closing period of the liquid crystal shutters with respect to the light source drive unit.

2. The display control circuit according to claim 1,

wherein the light source drive unit performs control so that light source current supplied to the light source is increased in a stepwise manner to an upper limit in accordance with a current function corresponding to an aperture function of the shutter glasses when the liquid crystal shutter is opened and reduces light source current supplied to the light source to a lower limit when the liquid crystal shutter is closed within a range between the upper limit and the lower limit of light source current allowed by the light source.

3. The display control circuit according to claim 2,

wherein the light source drive unit increases the luminance of the light source after a response period of the light modulation device passes at the time of rewriting the left image or the right image.

4. The display control circuit according to claim 3,

wherein the light source drive unit supplies the light source current to the light source so that a time integral value of the light source current is monotonically increased in the period during which the liquid crystal shutter is opened.

5. The display control circuit according to claim 4,

wherein the light source drive unit suppresses the increase of the light source current supplied to the light source just before the shutter glass drive unit opens the liquid crystal shutter as well as just after the shutter glass drive unit closes the liquid crystal shutter.

6. The display control circuit according to claim 5,

wherein the aperture function of the shutter glasses is defined as constant multiplication of the current function.

7. The display control circuit according to claim 5,

wherein the light modulation device is a transmissive or reflective liquid crystal panel.

8. The display control circuit according to claim 5,

wherein a shutter drive signal driving the liquid crystal shutters of the shutter glasses transmitted by the shutter glass drive unit is transmitted by wire or wireless.

9. A projector apparatus comprising:

a light modulation device into which a left image and a right image are alternately written in time division based on time-division display type stereoscopic image data including the left image for a left eye and the right image for a right eye;

a light source emitting light transmitted through the light modulation device and projected on a screen;

a device drive unit writing the left image and the right image into the light modulation device;

a lens magnifying the left image or the right image formed by light emitted from the light source and transmitted through the light modulation device with a given magnification;

a shutter glass drive unit driving opening and closing of liquid crystal shutters in the shutter glasses so that both liquid crystal shutters provided on lenses for the left eye and the right eye of the shutter glasses are closed in a rewrite period during which the left image and the right image written into the light modulation device overlap each other, and so that the liquid crystal shutter provided on the lens of the shutter glasses corresponding to the written image is opened in a period during which any of the left image and right image is independently written;

a light source drive unit increasing light source current to be supplied to the light source emitting light transmitted through the light modulation device in the period during which any of the liquid crystal shutters is opened and reducing the light source current in the period during which both liquid crystal shutters are closed to thereby maintain the total sum of the light source current to be constant over plural cycles when an opening and closing period of the liquid crystal shutters is taken as one cycle; and

a control unit controlling the timing of opening and closing the liquid crystal shutters with respect to the shutter glass drive unit, controlling the timing of writing the left image and the right image with respect to the device drive unit and controlling the luminance level of the light source in the opening and closing period of the liquid crystal shutters with respect to the light source drive unit.