Resolution enhancing image display apparatus

• US 6,130,784 A
• Filed: 12/08/1998
• Issued: 10/10/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Takahashi, Koichi
• Primary Examiner(s): MACK, RICKY LEVERN
• Application Number:
  US09/207,579
• Time in Patent Office: 672 Days
• Field of Search: 359/630, 359/631, 359/633, 359/636, 359/637, 359/639, 345/7, 345/8
• US Class Current: 359/630
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/7491 of head mounted projectors

Abstract

An image display apparatus that presents an observer an image of higher resolution than the original resolution of an image display device used, thereby allowing the observer to view a clear and beautiful image. An illuminating optical system (5) illuminates an image display device with illuminating light from a light source (1). The image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of the illuminating light. A viewing optical system leads the image to an observer'"'"'s eyeball (10). The apparatus has two image display devices (9a and 9b). An optical coupling/separating element having a light-coupling or light-separating action is provided between the image display devices (9a and 9b) and the observer'"'"'s eyeball (10) to superimpose images of the two image display devices on one another. The optical coupling/separating element has an optical coupling/separating surface (40) tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of the image display devices (9a and 9b). The viewing optical system projects the superimposed images into one eyeball (10) of the observer as an enlarged virtual image.

Claims

1. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer and;

an optical coupling clement having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light;

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices;

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image; and

wherein at least one surface of said viewing optical system is an aspherical surface decentered with respect to an optical axis.

2. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said optical coupling surface is a polarizing half-mirror.

3. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one surface of said viewing optical system is a rotationally asymmetric aspherical surface decentered with respect to an optical axis.

4. An image display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said viewing optical system is a decentered prism member in which a space formed between at least two surfaces is filled with a medium having a refractive index larger than 1.

10. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, 5, 6 or 9, wherein said viewing optical system has a right viewing optical system for leading light to a right eye of said observer and a left viewing optical system for leading light to a left eye of said observer.

11. An image display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said optical coupling element has an action by which coupled light is separated into light for said left viewing optical system and light for said right viewing optical system.

5. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer and;

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another and direct said images superimposed on one another in two directions,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light;

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices;

wherein said viewing optical system includes two viewing optical systems to project said images superimposed on one another into left and right eyes of said observer as enlarged virtual images; and

wherein at least one surface of said viewing optical system is an aspherical surface decentered with respect to an optical axis.

6. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

a first and second image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said first and second image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer and;

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said first and second image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said first and second image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices,

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into the eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image,

wherein at least one surface of said viewing, optical system is an aspherical surface decentered with respect to an optical axis,

wherein said first and second image display devices are disposed so that a pixel array of the first image display device and a pixel array of the second image display device are superimposed with a displacement therebetween, and

an optical low-pass filter is placed in an optical path of said viewing optical system to separate light emanating from said first and second image display devices into a plurality of light beams in a direction approximately perpendicular to a direction of the displacement between said pixel arrays, thereby forming a smooth image.

7. An image display apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the following conditions are satisfied:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">0<

Lx<

1.0Px (1)

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">0<

Ly<

1.0Py (2)

where Px is a horizontal pixel pitch between each pair of adjacent pixels of the same color on said first and second image display devices;

Py is a vertical pixel pitch between each pair of adjacent pixels of the same color on said first and second image display devices;

Lx is an amount of displacement of pixels in a horizontal direction; and

Ly is an amount of displacement of pixels in a vertical direction.

8. An image display apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the following conditions are satisfied:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">Lx=0.[7]5Px

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">Ly=0.5Py

where Px is a horizontal pixel pitch between each pair of adjacent pixels of the same color on said first and second image display devices;

Py is a vertical pixel pitch between each pair of adjacent pixels of the same color on said first and second image display devices;

Lx is an amount of displacement of pixels in a horizontal direction; and

Ly is an amount of displacement of pixels in a vertical direction.

12. An image display apparatus according to claim 6 or 9, wherein at least one surface of said viewing optical system is an aspherical surface decentered with respect to an optical axis.

9. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices,

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into the eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image, and

wherein one of said two image display devices displays monochromatic image information carried by a luminance signal in an externally input picture signal, and the other of said two image display devices displays image information carried by a chrominance signal in said picture signal.

13. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light,

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light;

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices;

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image; and

wherein said optical coupling element has a rectangular prism configuration in which said optical coupling surface is placed in a medium having a refractive index larger than 1, said optical coupling element having two surfaces on a side thereof closer to said two image display devices, said two surfaces being transmitting surfaces having positive powers approximately equal to each other, and said optical coupling element having an exit surface on a side thereof closer to said observer, said exit surface being a transmitting surface having a positive power, and said optical coupling element and said viewing optical system being formed from a single optical element.

14. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light,

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another, wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices;

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image; and

wherein said two image display devices are reflective image display devices, said optical coupling element has a rectangular prism configuration in which said optical coupling surface is placed in a medium having a refractive index larger than 1, said light source is provided outside one side of said optical coupling element, and said illuminating optical system and said optical coupling element are formed from a single optical element.

15. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices;

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image, and

wherein one of said two image display devices performs a display of higher resolution than the other.

16. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another, and direct said images superimposed on one another in two directions,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices,

wherein said viewing optical system includes two viewing optical systems to project said images superimposed on one another into the left and right eyes of said observer as enlarged virtual images, and

wherein one of said two viewing optical systems has a wider field angle than the other.

17. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer;

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices,

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image, and

wherein said viewing optical system includes a relay optical system and an ocular optical system, said relay optical system forming a real image of said images superimposed on one another as an intermediate image, and said ocular optical system projecting said intermediate image into the eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image.

18. An image display apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said relay optical system is coaxial with respect to an optical axis.

19. An image display apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said relay optical system is asymmetric with respect to an optical axis.

20. An image display apparatus according to claim 18 or 19, wherein said relay optical system includes a transmitting surface of said optical coupling element and is formed from at least two optical elements.

21. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices;

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image, and

wherein at least one surface of said illuminating optical system is an aspherical surface decentered with respect to an optical axis.

22. An image display apparatus according to claim 21, wherein at least one surface of said illuminating optical system is a Fresnel lens surface decentered with respect to an optical axis.

23. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices;

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image, and

wherein at least one surface of said illuminating optical system is a rotationally asymmetric aspherical surface decentered with respect to an optical axis.

24. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two an image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices;

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image, and

wherein said illuminating optical system is a decentered prism member in which a space formed between at least two surfaces decentered with respect to each other is filled with a medium having a refractive index larger than 1.

25. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices,

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image, and

wherein said optical coupling surface is a non-polarizing half-mirror surface.

26. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another, wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices,

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image, and

wherein said optical coupling element has a rectangular prism configuration in which said optical coupling surface is placed in a medium having a refractive index larger than 1.

27. An image display apparatus according to claim 26, wherein one of entrance and exit surfaces of said optical coupling element has a positive power.

28. An image display apparatus according to claim 26, wherein at least one of transmitting surfaces of said optical coupling element is a Fresnel lens surface.

29. An image display apparatus comprising:

a light source that emits illuminating light;

two image display devices;

an illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with said illuminating light;

a viewing optical system that leads said image to an eyeball of an observer; and

an optical coupling element having a light-coupling action provided between said two image display devices on the one hand and the eyeball of said observer on the other to superimpose images of said two image display devices on one another,

wherein said image display device displays an image by transmission or reflection of said illuminating light,

wherein said optical coupling element has an optical coupling surface tilted at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to each of said two image display devices,

wherein said viewing optical system projects said images superimposed on one another into one eyeball of said observer as an enlarged virtual image,

wherein said illuminating optical system has a first illuminating optical system that illuminates one of said two image display devices with illuminating light and a second illuminating optical system that illuminates the other of said two image display devices with illuminating light, wherein said first illuminating optical system and said second illuminating optical system are disposed so that a distance between said light source and said first illuminating optical system, and a distance between said light source and said second illuminating optical system are approximately equal to each other.