Display apparatus and method of adjusting 3D image therein

• US 9,124,865 B2
• Filed: 08/02/2012
• Issued: 09/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Ko, Dongseuck
• Primary Examiner(s): Cain, II, Leon T
• Application Number:
  US13/565,468
• Publication Number:
  US 20130155052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,125 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/122 Improving the 3D impression of stereoscopic images by modifying image signal contents, e.g. by filtering or adding monoscopic depth cues H04N13/128 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/128 Adjusting depth or disparity
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/305 using lenticular lenses, e.g. arrangements of cylindrical lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/31 using parallax barriers

Abstract

A display apparatus including a flexible display unit configured to discriminately output a left eye image and a right eye image; a transparent sensor unit disposed on one face of the flexible display unit and configured to be flexed together with the flexible display unit; and a control unit configured to receive a signal from the transparent sensor unit corresponding to an electrical variation generated in accordance with a flex of the flexible display unit, and to adjust a 3D depth value of a flexed region of the flexible display.

Claims

1. A display apparatus, comprising:

a flexible display unit configured to discriminately output a left eye image and a right eye image;

a transparent sensor unit disposed on one face of the flexible display unit and configured to be flexed together with the flexible display unit; and

a control unit configured to receive a signal from the transparent sensor unit corresponding to an electrical variation generated in accordance with a flex direction and

a flex extent of the flexible display unit, and to adjust a 3D depth value of a flexed region of the flexible display unit in accordance with the signal,

wherein the control unit is further configured to adjust the 3D depth value by decreasing the 3D depth value of a forward convexly flexed region of the flexible display unit and

increasing the 3D depth value of a backward concavely flexed region of the flexible display unit.

2. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transparent sensor unit comprises a transparent substrate, a plurality of sensor electrodes disposed on the transparent substrate, and an electrode line connected to one or both ends of each of a plurality of the sensor electrodes, and

wherein the control unit is further configured to interpret a 3D shape of the flexible display unit based on an inner distance variation of each of the sensor electrodes in accordance with the flex of the flexible display unit.

3. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control unit is further configured to subdivide the flexible display unit into a plurality of regions and to individually adjust the 3D depth value of each region.

4. The display apparatus of claim 3, wherein the received signal indicates the flexible display unit is flexed in a first region forward more than a preset region of the flexible display unit, and is flexed in a second region adjacent to the preset region backward more than the preset region, and

wherein the control unit is further configured to set the 3D depth value of the first region to be greater than the 3D depth value of the preset region and to set the 3D depth value of the second region to be smaller than the 3D depth value of the preset region.

5. The display apparatus of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to subdivide the first region into a plurality of first regions and the second region into a plurality of second regions, to increasingly raise the 3D depth value of each of the plurality of first regions in proportion to an increasing distance from the preset region, and to decreasingly lower the 3D depth value of each of the plurality of second regions in proportion to the increasing distance from the preset region.

6. The display apparatus of claim 3, wherein the flexible display unit comprises a plurality of unit pixels, each including a left eye pixel and a right eye pixel.

7. The display apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control unit is further configured to individually adjust a color sense and brightness of the left and right eye pixels in accordance with an interpreted 3D shape of the flexible display unit.

8. The display apparatus of claim 7, wherein if a first region adjacent to a left side of the preset region is flexed forward with reference to the preset region located directly in front of a user, the control unit is further configured to set the brightness of the right eye pixel of the first region to be greater than the brightness of the left eye pixel, and

wherein if the left region is flexed backward, the control unit is further configured to set the brightness of the right eye pixel of the left region to be smaller than the brightness of the left eye pixel.

9. The display apparatus of claim 8, wherein if a second region adjacent to a right side of the preset region is flexed forward with reference to the preset region located directly in front of a user, the control unit is further configured to set the brightness of the left eye pixel of the second region to be greater than the brightness of the right eye pixel, and

wherein if the right region is flexed backward, the control unit is further configured to set the brightness of the left eye pixel of the right region to be smaller than the brightness of the right eye pixel.

10. The display apparatus of claim 7, wherein if a first region adjacent to a left side of the preset region is flexed forward with reference to the preset region located directly in front of a user, the control unit is further configured to set the color sense of the right eye pixel of the first region to be greater than the color sense of the left eye pixel, and

wherein if the left region is flexed backward, the control unit is further configured to set the color sense of the right eye pixel of the left region to be smaller than the color sense of the left eye pixel.

11. The display apparatus of claim 10, wherein if a second region adjacent to a right side of the preset region is flexed forward with reference to the preset region located directly in front of a user, the control unit is further configured to set the color sense of the left eye pixel of the second region to be greater than the color sense of the right eye pixel, and

wherein if the right region is flexed backward, the control unit is further configured to set the color sense of the left eye pixel of the right region to be smaller than the color sense of the right eye pixel.

12. The display apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a parallax barrier provided between the flexible display unit and the transparent sensor unit,

wherein the parallax barrier includes;

a plurality of cutoff parts configured to selectively cut off the left eye image or the right eye image output from the flexible display unit; and

a plurality of transmittive parts configured to selectively transmit the left eye image or the right eye image.

13. The display apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a lenticular lens disposed between the flexible display unit and the transparent sensor unit, the lenticular lens configured to selectively refract the left eye image or the right eye image output from the flexible display unit by a different refraction index.

14. A method of controlling a display apparatus, the method comprising:

discriminately outputting, via a flexible display unit of the display apparatus, a left eye image and a right eye image;

sensing, via a transparent sensor unit disposed on one face of the flexible display unit, a flexing of the flexible display unit;

receiving, via a control unit, a signal from the transparent sensor unit corresponding to an electrical variation generated in accordance with a flex direction and a flex extent of the flexible display unit; and

adjusting, via the control unit, a 3D depth value of a flexed region of the flexible display unit in accordance with the signal,

wherein the adjusting step adjusts the 3D depth value by decreasing the 3D depth value of a forward convexly flexed region of the flexible display unit and increasing the 3D depth value of a backward concavely flexed region of the flexible display unit.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

subdividing the flexible display unit into a plurality of regions; and

individually adjusting the 3D depth value of each region.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the received signal indicates the flexible display unit is flexed in a first region forward more than a preset region of the flexible display unit, and is flexed in a second region adjacent to the preset region backward more than the preset region, and

wherein the method further comprises setting the 3D depth value of the first region to be greater than the 3D depth value of the preset region and setting the 3D depth value of the second region to be smaller than the 3D depth value of the preset region.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

subdividing the first region into a plurality of first regions and the second region into a plurality of second regions;

increasingly raising the 3D depth value of each of the plurality of first regions in proportion to an increasing distance from the preset region; and

decreasingly lowering the 3D depth value of each of the plurality of second regions in proportion to the increasing distance from the preset region.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the flexible display unit comprises a plurality of unit pixels, each including a left eye pixel and a right eye pixel, and wherein the method further comprises individually adjusting a color sense and brightness of the left and right eye pixels in accordance with a 3D shape of the flexible display unit.