Image display apparatus and signal processing apparatus

• US 8,089,506 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2006
• Issued: 01/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/25/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
• Inventors: Takayama, Haruhisa, Sakaue, Osamu, Hibino, Yoshihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Kelley, Christopher S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anyikire, Chikaodili E
• Application Number:
  US11/472,253
• Publication Number:
  US 20060238613A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,021 Days
• Field of Search: 348 42- 60
• US Class Current: 348/42
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/405 using Z-buffer
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10012 Stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/10 Processing, recording or transmission of stereoscopic or multi-view image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/128 Adjusting depth or disparity
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/161 Encoding, multiplexing or demultiplexing different image signal components for multi-view video sequence encoding H04N19/597
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/194 Transmission of image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/324 Colour aspects
• 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 2213/003 Aspects relating to the "2D+depth" image format

Abstract

An apparatus is disclosed for displaying to a viewer an image stereoscopically representing a three-dimensional object to be displayed. The apparatus includes: an emitter emitting light, having an intensity modulating section capable of intensity modulation for modulating an intensity of the light emitted from the emitter; a wavefront-curvature modulator capable of wavefront-curvature modulation for modulating a curvature of wavefront of the light emitted from the emitter; and a controller controlling the intensity modulation and the wavefront-curvature modulation, based on a luminance signal indicative of luminance of the image, and a depth signal indicative of depth of the image. The depth signal is a signal corresponding to depth data produced in a rendering process for the object to be displayed.

Claims

1. An apparatus for displaying an image stereoscopically representing a three-dimensional object, in an image display region having a quadrilateral periphery surrounded by four edge sides, the apparatus comprising:

an emitter configured to emit light, having an intensity modulator configured to modulate intensity values of the light emitted from the emitter, for a plurality of sub-areas into which the image is divided, respectively;

a wavefront-curvature modulator configured to modulate curvature values of wavefront of the light emitted from the emitter, for the respective sub-areas of the image; and

a controller configured to control the intensity modulator and the wavefront-curvature modulator, based on a luminance signal indicative of luminance values of the respective sub-areas of the image, and a depth signal indicative of depth values of the respective sub-areas of the image, wherein;

the image signal contains a plurality of segments which are associated with a plurality of scan lines formed by the light on the image display region, respectively,

the luminance signal contains a plurality of luminance-signal segments which correspond to the respective scan lines,

the depth signal contains a plurality of depth-signal segments which correspond to the respective scan lines,

the image signal contains, per each scan line, an effective portion which corresponds to the image display region, and which is used for image display, and a non-effective portion which corresponds to an image non-display region located outside the image display region, and which is not used for image display, whereby the entire image signal contains a plurality of effective portions and a plurality of non-effective portions,

the image signal is formed, such that each of the depth-signal segments which corresponds to each scan line is embedded into a corresponding one of the effective portions, with each depth-signal segment located at only a predetermined one of both ends of the corresponding effective-portion, and

the predetermined one end of the effective portions corresponds to a predetermined one of the four edge sides of the image display region.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the depth signal is a signal corresponding to depth data which is produced during hidden surface elimination implemented in a rendering process.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the depth data is Z-value data indicative of a Z-value which is temporarily stored in a Z-buffer when a Z-buffer technique is implemented for the hidden surface elimination in the rendering process.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller includes:

a synchronizer synchronizing the luminance signal and the depth signal relative to each other; and

an output section outputting the synchronized luminance and depth signals to the intensity modulator and the wavefront-curvature modulator.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a scanner two-dimensionally scanning the light modulated by the wavefront-curvature modulator, wherein:

the scanner performs first scan for scanning the light in a first scan direction and second scan for scanning the light in a second scan direction intersecting with respect to the first scan direction, to thereby form the image in the plurality of scan lines,

a scan region which is an overall region in which the light is two-dimensionally scanned by the scanner is configured to be larger than the image display region, to thereby allow the image non-display region to be located outside the image display region, and

the image display region is formed with the plurality of scan lines.