Method and apparatus for stereoscopic image display

• US 6,940,646 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2001
• Issued: 09/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Saito, Yoshihiro, Nishihara, Hiroshi, Inoguchi, Kazutaka, Taniguchi, Naosato, Morishima, Hideki, Takikawa, Tomoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): CHANG, AUDREY Y
• Application Number:
  US09/836,368
• Publication Number:
  US 20020118452A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,602 Days
• Field of Search: 359/462, 359/463, 359/465, 359/464, 359/620, 359/621, 359/622, 359/623, 359/624, 348/56, 348/59, 348/54, 345/7, 345/8, 345/9
• US Class Current: 359/463
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/27 involving lenticular arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/29 characterised by the geometry of the lenticular array, e.g. slanted arrays, irregular arrays or arrays of varying shape or size
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/305 using lenticular lenses, e.g. arrangements of cylindrical lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/31 using parallax barriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/361 Reproducing mixed stereoscopic images; Reproducing mixed monoscopic and stereoscopic images, e.g. a stereoscopic image overlay window on a monoscopic image background
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to provide a stereoscopic image displaying method and a stereoscopic image displaying apparatus using the same, which are capable of excellently observing a stereoscopic image. In order to achieve the object, a stereoscopic image forming apparatus of the present invention is configured such that display light from an image corresponding to a viewpoint of one parallax image on an image displaying device, on which parallax images corresponding to a plurality of different viewpoints can be displayed, is guided to an optical modulator, on which a light transmitting section and a light shielding section can be formed, by a second optical system disposed in the front of the image displaying device, and that the display light transmitted through the light transmitting section of the optical modulator is collected at a position that is a predetermined distance apart corresponding to the viewpoint on an observation surface by a first optical system, and the entire screen of a parallax image to be displayed on the image displaying device is thereby caused to be incident on each eye by controlling transmitted light from the optical modulator in synchronism with the switching of parallax images to be displayed on the image displaying device when an observer attains stereoscopic viewing of the image information on the image displaying device.

Claims

1. A stereoscopic image displaying apparatus for guiding image light onto a predetermined observing plane so as to make an observer capable of observing a stereoscopic image, said apparatus comprising:

an image display element for displaying a synthesized parallax image which is obtained by alternately and vertically arranging and synthesizing a plurality of strip images for a left eye each of which is elongated in a horizontal direction and is obtained by dividing a parallax image for the left eye, and a plurality of strip images for a right eye each of which is elongated in a horizontal direction and is obtained by dividing a parallax image for the right eye;

a mask member having an aperture section and a light shielding section;

a first optical system for converging on the predetermined observing plane light beams emerging from the mask member; and

a second optical system for guiding light beams emerging from the image display element onto the mask member, said second optical system including from the image display element sequentially a first lens array in which a plurality of first micro lenses are periodically arranged in a vertical direction and a second lens array in which a plurality of second micro lenses are periodically arranged in a horizontal direction, an optical characteristic in the vertical direction of the first lens array being different from an optical characteristic in the horizontal direction of the second lens array, wherein

the image display element switches between a first synthesized parallax image obtained by alternately arranging with a first order the stripe image for the left eye and the stripe image for the right eye, and a second synthesized parallax image obtained by alternately arranging with a second order which is opposite to the first order the stripe image for the left eye and the stripe image for the right eye, and displays the first synthesized parallax image and the second synthesized parallax image, and wherein

the aperture section and the light shielding section of the mask member are changed therebetween in synchronization with the switchover operation between the first synthesized parallax image and the second synthesized parallax image.

2. A stereoscopic image displaying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first optical system includes a first lens array in which a plurality of third micro lenses are periodically arranged in the horizontal direction.

3. A stereoscopic image displaying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an apex of a second micro lens, an apex of a third micro lens, and a center of the aperture section or the light shielding section are arranged to be on a straight line obtained by connecting in a predetermined horizontal section a position of the left eye of the observer, a position of the right eye of the observer, and a whole of a plurality of pixels included by the image display element.