Stereoscopic 3-D viewing system and glasses having electrooptical shutters controlled by control signals produced using horizontal pulse detection within the vertical synchronization pulse period of computer generated video signals
First Claim
1. A stereoscopic 3-D image viewing system for stereoscopically viewing 3-D images displayed on a video display device responsive to a computer-generated video signal produced from a computer display adapter, said computer-generated video signal comprising a horizontal synchronization signal including horizontal synchronization pulses and a vertical synchronization signal having a vertical sychronization pulse period (VSPP), said stereoscopic 3-D image viewing system comprising:
- stereoscopic viewing glasses having a pair of optical-shutters for viewing stereoscopic image pairs displayed on said video display device according to a time-multiplexing display technique, each said optical-shutter having either optically-transparent state or an optically-opaque state which is selected by a shutter control pulse signal transmitted to said stereoscopic viewing glasses; and
shutter control pulse signal generator/transmitter connectable between said computer display adapter and said video display device, receiving said computer-generated video signal as input, and generating shutter control pulse signals for use in controlling the optical state of said optical-shutters, said shutter control pulse signal generator/transmitter includinghorizontal synchronization pulse detection means for detecting the number of horizontal synchronization pulses transmitted from said computer display adapter during each said vertical synchronization pulse period and producing a horizontal synchronization pulse count (HSPC) indicative thereof, andshutter control producing means, responsive to said HSPC, for producing shutter control pulse signals for controlling the optical state of said optical-shutter viewing glasses, andshutter control signal transmission means for transmitting said shutter control pulse signals produced from said shutter control signal producing means.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a system and method of viewing pairs of perspective images of 3-D objects (i.e. stereoscopic image pairs) displayed from a CRT display surface in a time-multiplexed or field-sequential manner, and more particularly to a universal method of generating control signals for synchronously changing the optical state of liquid crystal (LC) shutter panels through which the time-multiplexed perspective images can be sequentially viewed in a substantially flicker-free manner by the left and right eyes of a human viewer, independent of whether the images are displayed on NTSC, PAL, VGA or SVGA styled CRT display devices.
224 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A stereoscopic 3-D image viewing system for stereoscopically viewing 3-D images displayed on a video display device responsive to a computer-generated video signal produced from a computer display adapter, said computer-generated video signal comprising a horizontal synchronization signal including horizontal synchronization pulses and a vertical synchronization signal having a vertical sychronization pulse period (VSPP), said stereoscopic 3-D image viewing system comprising:
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stereoscopic viewing glasses having a pair of optical-shutters for viewing stereoscopic image pairs displayed on said video display device according to a time-multiplexing display technique, each said optical-shutter having either optically-transparent state or an optically-opaque state which is selected by a shutter control pulse signal transmitted to said stereoscopic viewing glasses; and shutter control pulse signal generator/transmitter connectable between said computer display adapter and said video display device, receiving said computer-generated video signal as input, and generating shutter control pulse signals for use in controlling the optical state of said optical-shutters, said shutter control pulse signal generator/transmitter including horizontal synchronization pulse detection means for detecting the number of horizontal synchronization pulses transmitted from said computer display adapter during each said vertical synchronization pulse period and producing a horizontal synchronization pulse count (HSPC) indicative thereof, and shutter control producing means, responsive to said HSPC, for producing shutter control pulse signals for controlling the optical state of said optical-shutter viewing glasses, and shutter control signal transmission means for transmitting said shutter control pulse signals produced from said shutter control signal producing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A shutter control pulse signal generator/transmitter connectable between a computer display adapter and a video display device, for receiving a computer-generated video signal as input, and generating shutter control pulse signals for use in controlling the optical state of a pair of optical-shutters employed in stereoscopic viewing glasses, said computer-generated video signal comprising a horizontal synchronization signal including horizontal synchronization pulses and a vertical synchronization signal having a vertical synchronization pulse period, and said shutter control pulse signal generator/transmitter comprising:
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horizontal synchronization pulse detection means for detecting the number of horizontal synchronization pulses transmitted from said computer display adapter during each said vertical synchronization pulse period and producing a horizontal synchronization pulse count (HSPC) indicative thereof, and shutter control producing means, responsive to said HSPC, for producing shutter control pulse signals for controlling the optical state of said optical-shutter viewing glasses, and shutter control signal transmission means for transmitting said shutter control pulse signals produced from said shutter control signal producing means. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of generating shutter control pulse signals for use in controlling the optical state of a pair of optical-shutters employed in stereoscopic viewing glasses used to view stereoscopic image pairs displayed on a video display device driven by a computer-generated video signal comprising a horizontal synchronization signal including horizontal synchronization pulses and a vertical synchronization signal having a vertical synchronization pulse period, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) detecting the number of horizontal synchronization pulses transmitted during each said vertical synchronization pulse period, and producing a horizontal synchronization pulse count (HSPC) indicative thereof; (b) in response to said HSPC produced in step (a), producing shutter control pulse signals for controlling the optical state of said optical-shutter viewing glasses; and (c) transmitting said shutter control pulse signals to said pair of optical-shutters. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification