Image display method and image display device

• US 7,148,891 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2003
• Issued: 12/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Hasegawa, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): YANG, ANDREW GUS
• Application Number:
  US10/668,303
• Publication Number:
  US 20040119708A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,175 Days
• Field of Search: 345/427
• US Class Current: 345/427
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 15/20 Perspective computation

Abstract

An image is displayed on a small display unit having a wide viewing angle range and a cubic effect providing actuality and reality thereto. An image is displayed on a plurality of display surfaces which are inner surfaces of a display unit. The present invention calculates which image will be displayed on each display surface when viewing from a specific viewpoint, and the obtained images are displayed on each display surface. For example, when a 3 DCG image is displayed on two adjacent display surfaces of the plurality of display surfaces, the image is divided corresponding to the display surfaces, and the divided images are generated on the display surfaces by using a perspective method having one vanishing point.

Claims

1. An image display method to display images on a plurality of display surfaces by using a plurality of inner surfaces of a polyhedron as the display surfaces, the image display method comprising:

dividing an image to be displayed in accordance with plurality of display surfaces;

generating a plurality of images for the plurality of display surfaces so that the plurality of divided images are expressed by using a perspective method having a different vanishing point for each of the plurality of display surfaces; and

displaying the generated images on the plurality of display surfaces.

2. The image display method according to claim 1, wherein if the images to be displayed are real images, the real images projected on a two-dimensional display surface are converted to at least two adjacent display surfaces of the plurality of display surfaces forming the polyhedron.

3. The image display method according to claim 1, wherein the images to be displayed are three-dimensional computer graphic images, and the process by which the images are divided in accordance with the plurality of display surfaces is a process that divides the three-dimensional computer graphic images in accordance with at least two adjacent display surfaces of the plurality of display surfaces forming the polyhedron.

4. The image display method according to claim 1, the at least two adjacent display surfaces of the plurality of surfaces forming the polyhedron are orthogonal to each other.

5. The image display method according to claim 4, the at least two adjacent display surfaces, which are orthogonal to each other, comprise a combination of vertical display surfaces and horizontal display surfaces.

6. The image display method according to claim 1, the displaying of the images on the plurality of display surfaces, uses as display screens, image display screens of an image display device having an image display function, and displays the images on the plurality of display surfaces using the image display screens of the image display device.

7. The image display method according to claim 1, the displaying of the images on the plurality of display surfaces uses at least one image display device to project the images on image projection surfaces, and displays the images on the plurality of display surfaces by the at least one image display device, the image display device using the display surfaces as the image projection surfaces.

8. The image display method according to claim 1, forming the polyhedron in a box shape, the inner surfaces of the box are used as the display surfaces;

and forming an inner viewing window, to view the inside of the box, in the box, the specific viewpoint is set in the inner viewing window.

9. An image display device to display images on a plurality of display surfaces by using a plurality of inner surfaces of a polyhedron as the display surfaces, the image display device comprising:

an image dividing device to divide an image to be displayed in accordance with the plurality of display surfaces;

an image generating device to generate a plurality of images for the plurality of display surfaces so that a plurality of divided images are expressed by using a perspective method having a different vanishing point for each of the plurality of display surfaces; and

an image display device to display the images obtained by the image processing device on each of the display surfaces.

10. The image display device according to claim 9, if the images to be displayed are real images, the real images projected on a two-dimensional display surface are converted to at least two adjacent display surfaces of the plurality of display surfaces forming the polyhedron.

11. The image display device according to claim 9, if the images to be displayed are three-dimensional computer graphic images, the image dividing device divides the three-dimensional computer graphic images in accordance with at least two adjacent display surfaces of the plurality of display surfaces forming the polyhedron.

12. The image display device according to claim 9, the at least two adjacent display surfaces of the plurality of surfaces forming the polyhedron being orthogonal to each other.

13. The image display device according to claim 12, the at least two adjacent display surfaces which are orthogonal to each other comprise combinations of vertical display surfaces and horizontal display surfaces.

14. The image display device according to claim 9, the images are displayed on the plurality of display surfaces by image display screens of the image display device and the image display screens of the image display device having an image display function are used as display screens.

15. The image display device according to claim 9, the images are displayed on the plurality of display surfaces by using at least one image display device, and the at least one image display device projecting the images on image projection surfaces by using the display surfaces as the image projection surfaces.

16. The image display device according to claim 9, the polyhedron is formed in a box shape, the inner surfaces of the box are used as the display surfaces, an inner viewing window to view the inside of the box is formed in the box, and the specific viewpoint is set in the inner viewing window.

17. An image display method to display images on n display surfaces by using n inner surfaces of a polyhedron as the display surfaces, the image display method comprising:

obtaining how a plurality of divided images are displayed on each of the n display surfaces so that the images become images that are expressed by a m-point perspective method having m different vanishing points wherein when viewing the images to be displayed from a specific viewpoint wherein;

n≧

m>

1 and

displaying the obtained images on each of the n display surfaces.

18. An image display device to display images on n display surfaces by using n inner surfaces of a polyhedron as the display surfaces, the image display device comprising:

an image obtaining device to obtain how a plurality of images are displayed on the n display surfaces so that the images become images that are expressed by a m-point perspective method having m different vanishing points when viewing the images to be displayed from a specific viewpoint wherein n≧

m>

1; and

an image display device to display the images obtained by the image obtaining device on each of the n display surfaces.