Image display unit with controlled electrode sets

• US 9,507,186 B2
• Filed: 11/09/2011
• Issued: 11/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Kuroda, Tomonori
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Lauren
• Application Number:
  US13/985,376
• Publication Number:
  US 20130335648A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,847 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/27 involving lenticular arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/31 involving active parallax barriers involving directional light or back-light sources G02B30/33
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1323 Arrangements for providing a switchable viewing angle
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13306 Circuit arrangements or driving methods for the control of single liquid crystal cells G02F1/132, G02F1/133382 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133512 Light shielding layers, e.g. black matrix G02F1/136209 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133707 Structures for producing distorted electric fields, e.g. bumps, protrusions, recesses, slits in pixel electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/134309 characterised by their geometrical arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/134336 Matrix
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13439 characterised by their electrical, optical, physical properties; materials therefor; method of making
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1347 Arrangement of liquid crystal layers or cells in which the final condition of one light beam is achieved by the addition of the effects of two or more layers or cells
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/137 characterised by the electro-optical or magneto-optical effect, e.g. field-induced phase transition, orientation effect, guest-host interaction or dynamic scattering
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/121 common or background
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/003 to produce spatial visual effects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/31 using parallax barriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/359 Switching between monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/403 the images being monoscopic

Abstract

This image display unit includes an image display panel and a barrier liquid crystal panel. The barrier liquid crystal panel appropriately controls a potential applied to one or the plurality of electrodes forming the scan-side transparent electrode (105) and the common-side transparent electrode (104) according to an operation mode that is specified, changes a slit width and a slit pitch of the slits (100S, and switches a function to one of the three functions of the 2D display function that emits image light for 2D display from the pixels, the 3D display function that emits image light for 3D display from each of pixels for left eye and pixels for right eye of the pixels, and the viewing angle control function that controls a viewing angle of the image light from the pixels.

Claims

1. An image display unit at least comprising:

an image display panel that forms pixels to display an image; and

a barrier liquid crystal panel that is arranged above the image display panel and forms slits that serve as barriers to shield image light from the pixels of the image display panel; and

first, second and third electrode drive circuits,

wherein the barrier liquid crystal panel includes a scan-side transparent electrode and a common-side transparent electrode,

wherein the scan-side transparent electrode is formed of electrode groups, each electrode group including a set of five electrodes comprised of one first electrode having an electrode width substantially half of the arrangement intervals of the pixels, two second electrodes arranged on the respective sides of the first electrode, the second electrodes each having an electrode width substantially one fourth of the arrangement intervals of the pixels, and two third electrodes arranged outside of the respective two second electrodes, the third electrodes each having an electrode width substantially one fourth of the arrangement intervals of the pixels, and a gap part is provided between sets of the electrode groups, the gap part having a width substantially half of the arrangement intervals of the pixels,

wherein the common-side transparent electrode is fixed to a common potential,

wherein the first electrode drive circuit that is connected to the first electrode,

wherein the second electrode drive circuit that is connected to the second electrode,

wherein the third electrode drive circuit that is connected to the third electrode,

wherein in a first mode as a two dimension (2D) display function that emits image light for 2D display from the pixels of the image display panel, the first electrode drive circuit fixes the first electrode to the common potential, the second electrode drive circuit fixes the second electrodes to the common potential, and the third electrode drive circuit fixes the third electrodes to the common potential,

wherein in a second mode as a three dimension (3D) display function that emits image light for 3D display from each of pixels for left eye and pixels for right eye of the pixels of the image display panel, the first electrode drive circuit applies an alternating potential to the first electrode, the second electrode drive circuit applies the alternating potential to the second electrodes, and the third electrode drive circuit fixes the third electrodes to the common potential,

wherein in a third mode as a viewing angle control function that controls a viewing angle of the image light from the pixels of the image display panel, the second electrode drive circuit applies the alternating potential to the second electrodes, the third electrode drive circuit applies the alternating potential to the third electrodes, and the first electrode drive circuit fixes the first electrode to the common potential, and

wherein the barrier liquid crystal panel appropriately controls the applied potential according to an operation mode that is specified to change a slit width and a slit pitch of the slits formed in the barrier liquid crystal panel, thereby switching one of the first to third modes to another one of the first to third modes.

2. The image display unit according to claim 1, wherein:

in the first mode, the first electrode, the second electrodes, the third electrodes and the common-side transparent electrode are either fixed to a common potential or set to an OFF state, thereby emitting the image light for two dimension (2D) display from the pixels of the image display panel from the barrier liquid crystal panel without forming the slits in the barrier liquid crystal panel,

in the second mode, by applying an alternating potential to the first electrode and the second electrodes, and fixing the third electrodes and the common-side transparent electrode to a common potential, the slits having a slit width and a slit pitch equal to the arrangement intervals of the pixels are formed in the barrier liquid crystal panel so that side edges of the slits are arranged in positions opposed to centers of the pixels, to emit the image light for three dimension (3D) display from each of pixels for left eye and pixels for right eye of the pixels of the image display panel to each direction from the barrier liquid crystal panel, and

in the third mode, by applying an alternating potential to the second electrodes and the third electrodes, and fixing the first electrode and the common-side transparent electrode to a common potential, the slits having a slit width and a slit pitch narrower than the arrangement intervals of the pixels are formed in the barrier liquid crystal panel, and the viewing angle of the image light from the pixels of the image display panel is limited to a range specified for viewing angle control to emit the image light from the barrier liquid crystal panel.

3. The image display unit according to claim 1, wherein the scan-side transparent electrode is formed in any one of a horizontal direction and a vertical direction or formed so as to be perpendicular to both of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and the common-side transparent electrode is formed in a direction same to a direction in which the scan-side transparent electrode is arranged or in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the scan-side transparent electrode is arranged, or formed so as to be perpendicular to both of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.

4. The image display unit according to claim 2, wherein the scan-side transparent electrode is formed in any one of a horizontal direction and a vertical direction or formed so as to be perpendicular to both of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and the common-side transparent electrode is formed in a direction same to a direction in which the scan-side transparent electrode is arranged or in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the scan-side transparent electrode is arranged, or formed so as to be perpendicular to both of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.