Display apparatus

• US 7,868,980 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2006
• Issued: 01/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Fukushima, Hiroshi, Yabuta, Koji, Takatani, Tomoo
• Primary Examiner(s): Rahll; Jerry T
• Application Number:
  US11/910,870
• Publication Number:
  US 20090279005A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,755 Days
• Field of Search: 349/129
• US Class Current: 349/129
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/27 involving lenticular arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/30 involving parallax barriers
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1335 Structural association of cells with optical devices, e.g. polarisers or reflectors
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133753 with different alignment orientations or pretilt angles on a same surface, e.g. for grey scale or improved viewing angle
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/31 using parallax barriers

Abstract

In a parallax barrier DV (Dual View) display apparatus, a TN (Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal display panel is adopted as a display device for display images. The TN liquid crystal display panel includes a pair of opposing substrates, a liquid crystal layer sandwiched therebetween, orientation films arranged to orient liquid crystal molecules constituting the liquid crystal layer, and electrodes arranged to independently apply electric fields to areas of the liquid crystal layer which correspond to respective pixels. The orientation films are oriented in such a manner that liquid crystal molecules in the aforesaid areas are oriented so that display directions of the pixels are parallel or substantially parallel to a viewing angle direction. This arrangement improves image separation capability in all display directions, in a DV (Dual View) display apparatus displaying different images in respective display directions, by a single display screen.

Claims

1. A display apparatus, comprising:

a display device in which plural pixels for displaying images in predetermined directions are disposed in a predetermined order in accordance with the directions of displaying the images; and

a light shielding member arranged to prevent light emitted from the pixels from being viewed in directions different from the display directions of the pixels;

wherein the display device includes;

a pair of substrates opposing each other;

a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the pair of substrates;

an orientation member arranged to orient liquid crystal molecules constituting the liquid crystal layer; and

an electrode arranged to apply electric fields corresponding to images, which are displayed by the pixels, to areas of the liquid crystal layer, the areas corresponding to the pixels;

wherein

the orientation member orients the liquid crystal molecules in the areas so that the display directions of the pixels are substantially parallel to a viewing angle direction.

2. The display apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal layer is made of nematic liquid crystal, the electrode is arranged on the liquid crystal layer so as to apply the electric fields along normal of surfaces of the pair of substrates, and the orientation member is provided on opposing surfaces of the pair of substrates and oriented in directions substantially perpendicular to each other.

3. The display apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein a drive voltage applied to the electrode in order to display images by the pixels of the liquid crystal layer is a halftone voltage.

4. The display apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the display apparatus displays different images in two different directions and the orientation member orients the liquid crystal molecules in the areas in such a manner that the display directions of the pixels are substantially parallel to the viewing angle direction whereas another display direction different from the display directions of the pixels is substantially parallel to an anti-viewing angle direction.

5. The display apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a controller arranged to switch a display state by controlling a drive voltage applied to the electrode in such a manner that at least one of the display directions is set to nondisplay and image display is performed only for the remaining display direction.

6. The display apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein the display apparatus is an in-vehicle display apparatus displaying different images in the respective display directions including a driver'"'"'s seat direction, the controller being able to switch the display state so that the driver'"'"'s seat direction is set to non-display.

7. The display apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the orientation member orients the liquid crystal molecules by a difference of 180 degrees for each of the areas in which the display direction differs.