Three-dimensional glasses, three-dimensional image display apparatus, and method for driving the three-dimensional glasses and the three-dimensional image display apparatus

• US 9,247,240 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2011
• Issued: 01/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Park, Jangwoong, Jeon, Beomjin, Lee, Minsup
• Primary Examiner(s): Perungavoor, Sath V
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ho, Robert S
• Application Number:
  US13/878,390
• Publication Number:
  US 20130194400A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,569 Days
• Field of Search: 348/53
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/34 Stereoscopes providing a stereoscopic pair of separated images corresponding to parallactically displaced views of the same object, e.g. 3D slide viewers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/341 using temporal multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/356 having separate monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2213/008 Aspects relating to glasses for viewing stereoscopic images

Abstract

The present invention relates to three-dimensional glasses, to a three-dimensional image display apparatus, and to a method for driving the three-dimensional glasses and the three-dimensional image display apparatus. The present invention is a method for driving three-dimensional glasses for watching a three-dimensional image consisting of a left-eye image and a right-eye image, wherein the method comprises the following steps: transmitting glasses characteristic information, including information relating to the opening/closing speed of shutters of a left-eye lens unit and a right-eye lens unit of the three-dimensional glasses, to an external three-dimensional image display apparatus for outputting the three-dimensional image; receiving synchronization information, including information relating to the output periods of the left-eye image and right-eye image, from the three-dimensional image display apparatus; and synchronizing, using the synchronization information, the opening/closing periods of the shutters of the left-eye lens unit and the right-eye lens unit with the output periods of the left-eye image and right-eye image outputted by the three-dimensional image display apparatus. The synchronization information includes information on the time of opening the shutter of the left-eye lens unit, information on the time of closing the shutter of the left-eye lens unit, and information on modes for indicating the type of image outputted by the three-dimensional image display apparatus, and the method for driving the three-dimensional glasses and three-dimensional image display apparatus of the present invention, efficient data communication between the three-dimensional glasses and the three-dimensional image display apparatus is enabled, in order to increase the convenience of a user watching the three-dimensional images and prevent the unnecessary consumption of a battery of the three-dimensional glasses.

Claims

1. A method for processing a 3-dimensional (3D) content at a broadcast receiver, the method comprising:

decoding the 3D content including 3D images each of which includes a left image and a right image;

generating the control signal for controlling a 3D glasses, wherein the control signal includes sync information including a left lens open reference field specifying a time reference for opening a left lens of the 3D glasses, and a left lens close reference field specifying a time reference for closing the left lens of the 3D glasses;

transmitting the generated control signal to the 3D glasses; and

displaying the decoded 3D content, wherein the displaying the decoded 3D content comprises displaying the left images and the right images alternately,

wherein the control signal further includes a parameter change field specifying whether a change has been made to the control signal since last time the control signal was received.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the control signal further includes an operating mode field indicating that the broadcast receiver provides more than two views for 3D contents simultaneously.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a request for identifying the 3D glasses from the 3D glasses; and

displaying a result of a identification of the 3D glasses in response to the request.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving goggle state information including an indication of a battery level of the 3D glasses from the 3D glasses; and

displaying the battery level of the 3D glasses.

5. A broadcast receiver for processing a 3-dimensional (3D) content at a, the broadcast receiver comprising:

an image processor configured to decode the 3D content including 3D images which include left images and right images;

a control signal generator configured to generate the control signal for controlling a 3D glasses, wherein the control signal includes sync information including a left lens open reference field specifying a time reference for opening a left lens of the 3D glasses for, and a left lens close reference field specifying a time reference for closing the left lens of the 3D glasses;

a communication interface configured to transmit the generated control signal to the 3D glasses; and

a display unit configured to display the decoded 3D content, wherein the displaying the decoded 3D content comprises displaying the left images and the right images alternately,

wherein the control signal further includes a parameter change field specifying whether a change has been made to the control signal since last time the control signal was received.

6. The broadcast receiver of claim 5, wherein the control signal further includes an operating mode field indicating that the broadcast receiver provides more than two views for 3D contents simultaneously.

7. The broadcast receiver of claim 6,

wherein the communication unit is further configured to receive a request for identifying the 3D glasses from the 3D glasses;

and

wherein the display unit is further configured to display a result of a identification of the 3D glasses in response to the request.

8. The communication interface of claim 6,

wherein the communication unit is further configured to receive goggle state information including an indication of a battery level of the 3D glasses from the 3D glasses;

and

wherein the display unit is further configured to display the battery level of the 3D glasses.