Various configurations of the viewing window based 3D display system

• US 8,189,037 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2010
• Issued: 05/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Gao, Chunyu, Xiao, Jing
• Primary Examiner(s): VO, TUNG T
• Application Number:
  US12/725,684
• Publication Number:
  US 20110228042A1
• Time in Patent Office: 804 Days
• Field of Search: 348 51- 57
• US Class Current: 348/51
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/52 the 3D volume being constructed from a stack or sequence of 2D planes, e.g. depth sampling systems
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/56 by projecting aerial or floating images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/243 using three or more 2D image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/302 for viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/351 for displaying simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/363 using image projection screens volumetric display H04N13/388

Abstract

A panoramic 3D image is created by using multiple projectors whose field-of-view is narrower than the screen'"'"'s width. Each projector provides a different image of a common subject from a different view angle, and the different images are mosaiced onto the screen. An observer may have a limited view of the composite image depending on which projectors are within the observer'"'"'s field-of-view. A viewing volume is also extended by using space beyond a far limit line dependent upon the observer'"'"'s inter-pupillary distance, the width of each projector'"'"'s viewing window, and the distance from the projection baseline to the screen.

Claims

1. A system for creating a 3D panoramic projected image, comprising:

a plurality of projectors along a line where the projector at a starting end of said line is a starting projector and the projector at the opposite end of said line is an ending projector, said plurality of projectors defining a projection baseline, each projector in said plurality of projectors provides a shifted view of a common subject from a different view angle;

a screen having a width wider than the field-of-view any individual projector in said plurality of projectors;

wherein;

the projectors are arranged so that each projector that lies between the starting projector and the ending projector provides a first image that is fully covered on said screen with partial image overlaps from other projected images from more than one of said plurality of projectors;

the projected images from each adjacent projector along said projection baseline are shifted along a common direction on said screen;

said first image forms a stereo-pair-of-images with any of the other projected images that has an overlapping region with it to create a local 3D projected image;

said screen is a retro-reflective vertical light diffusion screen having a vertical dimension and a horizontal dimension, a retro-reflective layer for reflecting light rays at substantially their incident angle; and

a vertical light diffusion screen for receiving each reflected image from the retro-reflective layer and providing high image diffusion along said vertical dimension and minimal diffusion along said horizontal dimension so as to produce a distinct viewing window elongated along said vertical dimension for each reflected image;

said plurality of projectors are generally arranged along the horizontal dimension and positioned to project onto said retro-reflective vertical light diffusion screen;

the width of the vertical slit of each viewing window corresponding to a given projector is a function of the horizontal diffusion angle of the retro-reflective vertical light diffusion screen, the distance from the retro-reflective vertical light diffusion screen to the given projector, and the aperture size of the given projector'"'"'s projection lens, said function defining the following relation for the width of the vertical slit;

2. The system of claim 1, wherein an image projected by any one of said plurality of projectors spans a fraction of the width of said screen, and the partial image overlaps from all of said plurality of projectors create a continuous composite 3D image substantially spanning the width of said screen.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said fraction is does not span the width of said composite image.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each projector in said plurality of projectors provides a distinct image of a common subject, each distinct image providing a different view angle of said subject.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein no two projectors in said plurality of projectors provide the same image.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the partially, overlapped images are of equal size.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the projected image from each adjacent projector along said projection baseline are shifted by a common fixed amount along said common direction on said screen.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein optical axis of each said plurality of projectors is normal to said screen.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said plurality of projectors are equadistant to said screen along a direction normal to said screen.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said shifted views are parallel to each other.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said local 3D projected image is formed within said overlapping region.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein more than one projected image from more than one projector shares at least part of said overlapping region with said first image.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein said more than one of said overlapping region excludes at least one of said starting projector and ending projector.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the photometric properties of all projected images from said plurality of projectors are isolated from each other on said screen.

16. The system of claim 1, each projector within said plurality of projectors forms a first stereo pair with the adjacent projector on its left and forms second stereo pair with the adjacent projector on its right.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein said light diffuser is a one-dimensional light diffuser, and each of said plurality of projectors projects its respective image in its entirety as a single projection image.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein each reflected image'"'"'s viewing window is a vertical slit centered on the aperture of its corresponding projector'"'"'s projection lens.

10. A system for creating a 3D panoramic projected image, comprising:

a plurality of projectors along a line where the projector at a starting end of said line is a starting projector and the projector at the opposite end of said line is an ending projector, said plurality of projectors defining aprojection baseline, each projector in said plurality of projectors provides a shifted view of a common subject from a different view angle;

a screen having a width wider than the field-of-view any individual projector in said plurality of projectors;

wherein;

the projectors are arranged so that each projector that lies between the starting projector and the ending projector provides a first image that is fully covered on said screen with partial image overlaps from other projected images from more than one of said plurality of projectors;

the projected images from each adjacent projector along said projection baseline are shifted along a common direction on said screen;

said first image forms a stereo-pair-of-images with any of the other projected images that has an overlapping region with it to create a local 3D projected image; and

each projector in said projection baseline creates respective viewing window sized to permit viewing of its projected image by only one of a human observer'"'"'s two eyes, said viewing window having a far limit beyond which the projected image is not fully visible through said viewing window;

said system establishing a viewing volume combining a plurality of adjacent viewing windows from where an observer may view said screen beyond said far limit line, D, defined as