Liquid crystal device, image sensor, and electronic apparatus

• US 8,212,793 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2008
• Issued: 07/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 138 East LCD Advancements Limited (Vector Capital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Ishiguro, Hideto
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala, Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): SPAR, ILANA L
• Application Number:
  US12/047,508
• Publication Number:
  US 20080246708A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,573 Days
• Field of Search: 345204-207, 345 87-104, 250/200, 250/553, 178/18.01, 178/18.09, 178/18.11
• US Class Current: 345/175
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13318 Circuits comprising a photodetector
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3648 using an active matrix G09G3/367 - G09G3/3696 take precedence

Abstract

The invention provides a liquid crystal device including: a first substrate; a second substrate that is provided over the first substrate in such a manner that the first substrate and the second substrate face each other; a plurality of optical sensing sections that is formed in an image display area over the first substrate; and a plurality of light-amount adjusting sections that is formed in the image display area in such a manner that each of the plurality of light-amount adjusting sections includes a liquid crystal portion that overlaps the corresponding optical sensing section in a plan view, constituting a part of a liquid crystal layer that is sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate, the plurality of light-amount adjusting sections being capable of adjusting, independently of one another, the amount of incident light that enters the plurality of optical sensing sections through an image display surface that lies at one of two surfaces of the second substrate that does not face the liquid crystal layer, the image display surface being pointed to by a pointing means.

Claims

1. A liquid crystal device comprising:

a first substrate;

a second substrate that is provided over the first substrate in such a manner that the first substrate and the second substrate face each other;

a plurality of optical sensing sections that is formed in an image display area over the first substrate;

a plurality of active incident light adjusting sections that is formed in the image display area in such a manner that each of the plurality of active incident light adjusting sections includes a liquid crystal portion that overlaps the corresponding optical sensing section in a plan view, constituting a part of a liquid crystal layer that is sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate, the plurality of active incident light adjusting sections being capable of dynamically adjusting, independently of one another, an amount of incident light that enters the plurality of optical sensing sections through an image display surface that lies at one of two surfaces of the second substrate that does not face the liquid crystal layer, the image display surface being pointed to by a pointing means; and

a controlling section that commands, in a case where it is not possible to discriminate a target-image region of the pointing means from other non-target-image region, and thus, in a case where it is not possible to identify the pointing means in an acquired image, which is obtained as a result of the sensed incident light performed by each of the plurality of the optical sensing sections, one group of the active incident light adjusting sections that corresponds to a white image region contained in the acquired image to increase an incident-light reduction amount, whereas the controlling section commands the other group of the active incident light adjusting sections that corresponds to a black image region contained in the acquired image to decrease the incident-light reduction amount, thereby controlling the plurality of active incident light adjusting sections independently of one another.

2. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of active incident light adjusting sections has a liquid crystal element, the liquid crystal element having the liquid crystal portion as well as a first electrode and a second electrode that, in combination with each other, control the liquid crystal portion;

and

each of the plurality of active incident light adjusting sections further has a first polarizing layer that is formed between the optical sensing section and the liquid crystal layer over the first substrate and a second polarizing layer that is formed at a second-substrate side when viewed from the liquid crystal layer.

3. The liquid crystal device according to claim 2, further comprising:

a plurality of pixel electrodes each of which is provided in the corresponding one of a plurality of pixel units that make up the image display area over the first substrate, wherein the first electrode of the liquid crystal element is formed in the same layer as that of the pixel electrodes.

4. The liquid crystal device according to claim 3, wherein each of the first polarizing layer and the second polarizing layer extends so as to overlap the pixel electrodes in a plan view.

5. The liquid crystal device according to claim 4, further comprising a third polarizing layer that has an optical axis extending along the optical axis of the first polarizing layer, the third polarizing layer being provided at a first-substrate side when viewed from the optical sensing sections, and the third polarizing layer extending so as to overlap the pixel electrodes in a plan view.

7. An electronic apparatus that is provided with the liquid crystal device according to claim 1.

6. An image sensor comprising:

a substrate;

a plurality of optical sensing sections that is formed in an image detection area over the substrate, the plurality of optical sensing sections being configured to detect a pointing means that overlaps with a portion of the image detection area; and

plurality of active incident light adjusting sections that is formed in the image detection area over the substrate, the plurality of active incident light adjusting sections being capable of dynamically adjusting, independently of one another, an amount of incident light that enters the plurality of optical sensing sections,

wherein in a case where it is not possible to discriminate a target-image region of the pointing means from other non-target-image region, and thus, in a case where it is not possible to identify the pointing means in an acquired image, which is obtained as a result of the sensed incident light performed by each of the plurality of the optical sensing sections, one group of the active incident light adjusting sections that corresponds to a white image region contained in the acquired image responds to a command to increase an incident-light reduction amount, whereas the other group of the active incident light adjusting sections that corresponds to a black image region contained in the acquired image responds to a command to decrease the incident-light reduction amount, such that the plurality of active incident light adjusting sections are controlled independently of one another.