Image display device, image display system and program cartridge used therewith

• US 5,808,591 A
• Filed: 11/09/1995
• Issued: 09/15/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Mantani, Yoshinobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vail, Seth D.
• Application Number:
  US08/554,888
• Time in Patent Office: 1,041 Days
• Field of Search: 345/7, 345/8, 345/82, 345/169, 359/212, 359/214, 359/220, 359/223, 359/630, 463/30, 463/31, 463/34, 463/43, 463/44
• US Class Current: 345/82
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/34 Stereoscopes providing a stereoscopic pair of separated images corresponding to parallactically displaced views of the same object, e.g. 3D slide viewers
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/003 to produce spatial visual effects
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/02 by tracing or scanning a light beam on a screen
• 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 13/286 having separate monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/324 Colour aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/334 using spectral multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/337 using polarisation multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/341 using temporal multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/344 with head-mounted left-right displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/363 using image projection screens volumetric display H04N13/388
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/393 the volume being generated by a moving, e.g. vibrating or rotating, surface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 3/08 having a moving reflector

Abstract

A body device 2 is attachably/detachably equipped with a program cartridge. The program cartridge 4 stores a game program, image data and a column table. The body device 2 reads the game program from the game cartridge 4 and executes the game program, and reads and refers to the image data to display a stereoscopic image with parallax in left and right display systems. At this time, the body device 2 reads timing data from the column table in the program cartridge 4 to control light emitting intervals of each LED in the display units. Thus, the dot pitch of the image is corrected to appropriate widths.

Claims

1. An image display device for displaying an image on the basis of stored program data and image data, comprising:

an image display unit including a light emitting element array in which a plurality of light emitting elements are regularly arranged along a first direction, a mirror for reflecting light emitted from said light emitting element array so that it can be visually recognized by an eye of a user and for reciprocatively moving at high speed in a certain range to project a planar image in a second direction almost perpendicular to said first direction, and a mirror driving circuit for causing said mirror to reciprocatively move;

program data storage locations for storing said program data;

image data storage locations for storing said image data;

a display image processor for producing display data corresponding to an image to be displayed by said image display unit on the basis of the program data stored in said program data storage locations and the image data stored in said image data storage locations;

display data storage locations for temporarily storing the display data provided from said display image processor;

timing data storage locations for writably/readably storing timing data related to intervals of light emission of said light emitting element array;

an information processor which operates on the basis of the program data stored in said program data storage locations to cause said timing data storage locations to store arbitrary timing data for changing the displayed dot width prior to displaying an image; and

a light emission driving circuit for causing said light emitting element array to emit light on the basis of the timing data stored in said timing data storage locations and the display data stored in said display data storage locations to thereby control the displayed dot width as a function of said timing data.

2. An image display system including an image display device body for displaying an image on the basis of stored program data and image data and an external memory attachably/detachable connected to the image display device body, wherein

said image display device body comprises;

an image display unit including a light emitting element array in which a plurality of light emitting elements are regularly arranged along a first direction, a mirror for reflecting light emitted from said light emitting element array so that it can be visually recognized by an eye of a user and for reciprocatively moving at high speed in a certain range to project a planar image in a second direction almost perpendicular to said first direction, and a mirror driving circuit for causing said mirror to reciprocatively move,

said external memory comprising;

program data storage locations for storing said program data;

image data storage locations for storing said image data, and

first timing data storage locations for storing timing data related to intervals of light emission of said light emitting element array, and

said image display device body further comprises;

an image processor producing display data corresponding to an image to be displayed by said image display unit on the basis of the program data stored in said program data storage locations and the image data stored in said image data storage locations;

display data storage locations for temporarily storing the display data provided from said image processor;

second timing data storage locations for writably/readably storing timing data related to intervals of light emission of said light emitting element array;

an information processor which operates on the basis of the program data stored in said program data storage locations to read said timing data from said first timing data storage locations and cause said second timing data storage location to store the timing data prior to displaying an image; and

a light emission driving circuit for causing said light emitting element array to emit light on the basis of the timing data stored in said second timing data storage locations and the display data stored in said display data storage locations.

3. The image display system according to claim 2, wherein one image display unit is provided for the left eye and one image display unit is provided for the right eye.

4. The image display system according to claim 3, wherein said image display unit for the left eye and said image display unit for the right eye display a stereoscopic image with parallax.

5. The image display system according to claim 2, wherein said light emission driving circuits causes the respective light emitting element arrays to emit light so that said image display unit for the left eye and said image display unit for the right eye display an image with timing shifted in time.

6. The image display system according to claim 2, wherein said image display device body further comprises a timing data rewriting circuit for rewriting the timing data stored in said second timing data storage locations according to instructions from the program data stored in said program data storage locations.

7. The image display system according to claim 6, wherein said timing data rewriting circuit operates on the timing data stored in said second timing data storage location according to a conversion expression embodied in said program data to obtain new timing data and writes the new timing data into said second timing data storage locations.

8. The image display system according to claim 7, wherein said external memory further comprises third timing data storage locations for storing timing data related to intervals of light emission of said light emitting element array, and

said timing data rewriting circuit reads the timing data stored in said third timing data storage locations and writes the timing data into said second timing data storage locations.

9. The image display system according to claim 2, wherein said mirror is caused to reciprocatively move in a certain angel range, and a part in the certain angle range in which angular velocity of the mirror is stable is used for image scanning.

10. The image display system according to claim 9, wherein

said first timing data storage locations stores timing data capable of covering an angle range larger than said angle range used for the image scanning, and

said information processor reads all the timing data from said first timing data storage locations and causes said second timing data storage locations to store the data.

11. The image display system according to claim 10, wherein

said image display device body further comprises an offset amount detector for detecting the amount of offset of the reciprocative movement of said mirror with respect to said certain angle range, and

said light emission driving circuit causes said light emitting element array to emit light on the basis of a range of timing data referred to from said second timing data storage locations changed according to the amount of offset of the mirror detected by said offset amount detector.

12. An image displaying system according to claim 2, wherein said external memory is a program cartridge housing at least one semiconductor memory.

13. An image display system according to claim 2, wherein said external memory includes a CD ROM.

14. An external memory attachably/detachably connected to an image display device comprising an image display unit including a light emitting element array in which a plurality of light emitting elements are regularly arranged in a first direction, a mirror for reflecting light emitted from said light emitting element array so that it can be visually recognized by an eye of a user and for reciprocatively moving at high speed in a certain range to project a planar image in a second direction almost perpendicular to said first direction, and a mirror driving circuit for causing said mirror to reciprocatively move, for displaying a certain image in said image display unit on the basis of stored program data and image data, said external memory comprising:

program data storage locations for storing said program data;

image data storage locations for storing said image data; and

first timing data storage locations storing timing data related to intervals of light emission of said light emitting element array;

said image display device further comprising display data storage locations and writable/readable second timing data storage location, and an image processor for executing the program data stored in said program data storage locations and for accessing the image data stored in said image data storage locations and being operable to control;

generating display data corresponding to an image to be displayed by said image display unit,

temporarily storing said generated display data in said display data storage locations,

reading said timing data from said first timing data storage locations and storing the data into said second timing data storage locations prior to displaying the image, and

causing said light emitting element array to emit light on the basis of the timing data stored in said second timing data storage locations and the display data stored in said display data storage locations.

15. An external memory according to claim 14, wherein said external memory is a program cartridge housing at least one semiconductor memory.

16. An external memory according to claim 14, wherein said external memory includes a CD ROM.