Composite display apparatus and head mounted display system using the same

• US 6,653,989 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2001
• Issued: 11/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Nakanishi, Hiroyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Hjerpe, Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Henry N.
• Application Number:
  US09/818,601
• Publication Number:
  US 20020113754A1
• Time in Patent Office: 972 Days
• Field of Search: 345/7-9, 345/87, 345/88, 345/102, 345/207, 349/2, 349/11, 349/13, 359/13-15, 359/627, 359/628-633, 348/115
• US Class Current: 345/7
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0118 comprising devices for improving the contrast of the display / brillance control visibility
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0129 comprising devices for correcting parallax
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0138 comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0172 characterised by optical features

Abstract

A composite display apparatus keeps both optical density of display images formed by a display means and shutter speed of cameras such as a CCD in an optimum state relative to the external world light (see-through light), even in environments where the quantity of see-through light varies widely. The composite display apparatus includes a display optical system for guiding a light beam from a display means to the eyeballs of an observer; an image-pickup optical system for allowing an external light beam to form an image on an image-pickup means; and an optical path separating means provided in an optical path for allowing an ocular optical axis of the light beam of the display optical system entering the eyeballs of the observer, or an imaginary ocular optical axis which is an extension of the ocular optical axis, and an external world optical axis of the light beam entering the image-pickup optical system to substantially coincide.

Claims

1. A display comprising:

a display optical system for guiding a light beam from a display means to the eyeballs of an observer;

an image-pickup optical system for allowing a light beam from its external world to form an image on an image-pickup means; and

optical path separating means provided in optical path for allowing an ocular optical axis of the light beam of said display optical system entering the eyeballs of the observer, or an imaginary ocular optical axis which is an extension of said ocular optical axis, and an external world optical axis of the light beam entering said image-pickup optical system from the external world to substantially coincide;

the display means displaying image information periodically and intermittently, the image-pickup means recording image information from the external world periodically while the display means is not displaying image information,

wherein the display further comprises change means capable of changing the display period of displaying image information on the display means and/or the image-pickup period of recording image information from the external world in the image-pickup means.

2. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display optical system has more than one reflection surface.

3. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display period of the display means and the image-pickup period of the image-pickup means are equal.

4. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display means has an illumination light source which is in the on state while image information is being displayed, the operation time period of the illumination light source and the image-pickup period of the image-pickup means are equal, and wherein the image information from the external world is recorded only while the illumination light source is in the off state.

5. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display means is a color LCD and the illumination light source is white illumination.

6. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display means consists of a color spontaneous-luminescence-type display device.

7. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising more than one luminescent color corresponding to more than one color component constituting an color image as well as a color light source for illuminating the display means with the luminescent colors one by one, the display means displaying monochrome image information corresponding to the luminescent color from the color light source.

8. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising external world light quantity detection means for detecting the quantity of light from the external world, the change means changing the display period and/or the image-pickup period according to the light quantity detected by the external world light quantity detection means.

9. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising light quantity adjustment means, the change means changing the display period and/or the image-pickup period based on the values set through the light quantity adjustment means.

10. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising external world light quantity detection means for detecting the quantity of light from the external world, light quantity adjustment means, and operation switching means,

the operation switching means having a first state in which the external world light quantity detection means is allowed to be effective, a second state in which the light quantity adjustment means is allowed to be effective, and a third state in which both external world light quantity detection means and light quantity adjustment means are allowed to be invalid,

the change means changing the display period and/or the image-pickup period according to the light quantity detected by the external world light quantity detection means when the operation switching means is in the first state,

changing the display period and/or the image-pickup period based on the values set through the light quantity adjustment means when the operation switching means is in the second state, and

fixing the display period and/or the image-pickup period at fixed values when the operation switching means is in the third state.

11. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical path separating means consists of an eccentrically curved reflection surface or a half mirror surface.

12. The composite display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image-pickup optical system and the display optical system are separated into optical paths in the opposite directions by the optical path separating means, the display optical system including the reflection surface on one side of the optical path separating means, the image-pickup optical system including the reflection surface on the other side of said optical path separating means.

13. A head mounted display system using the composite display apparatus according to claim 1.