JP2010276914A - Display - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display, in which a light guide and an optical system are made small and lightweight. <P>SOLUTION: The display 1 includes: a light guide 4 having a first face 43c, second face 43d, third face 43a and fourth face 43b and guiding the image display light in the entire range of a display region from an optical system 3 to an observer's eye E by reflecting the light on the third face 43a and/or the fourth face 43b; and a control unit 10 that outputs an image signal to a display element 2 so as to form an image. The light guide 4 carries out at least either reflecting at least once the image display light in a first portion of the display region from the optical system 3 on the first face 43c or reflecting at least once the image display light in a second portion of the display region from the optical system 3 on the second face 43d, to guide the image display light to the observer's eye E. The control unit 10 outputs an image signal prepared by correcting an image corresponding to the first portion and an image corresponding the second portion of the display region to the display element 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information device that can be used in an environment other than a desktop, such as a wearable computer that is worn on the body via a waist belt or jewelry, or a communication device such as a mobile phone that can be carried in a knapsack or pocket. The present invention relates to a display device suitable for a monitor.

As display devices for information devices that are worn on the body, eyeglass-type forms are becoming mainstream. FIG. 2 is an external view showing a conventional glasses-type display (display device) worn by an observer, and FIG. 3 is an optical path diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional glasses-type display worn by the observer. .
The eyeglass-type display 100 has an appearance similar to that of eyeglasses, and guides it to the observer's eye E while reflecting the image display light L from the unit part U that emits the image display light L and the unit part U inside. The light guide 104 which is a board | substrate, and the flame | frame part F to which the unit part U and the light guide 104 are attached are provided (for example, refer patent document 1).
The eyeglass-type display 100 is for the right eye and defines an XYZ coordinate system having an origin at the center of the right eye E in a state of looking far away. The Z direction (forward direction) is the front of the observer, the Y direction is above the observer, and the X direction (setting direction) is the right side of the observation.

The unit unit U forms an image to be a display region (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) on a surface perpendicular to the emission direction, and has a transmission type liquid crystal display (display element) 2 that emits image display light L. A mechanism S, an optical system 3 that forms a virtual image to be observed, and a control unit 110 that outputs an image signal to the transmissive liquid crystal display 2 in order to form an image to be a display region (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ). Prepare.
The emission mechanism S includes a light source (not shown) and a transmissive liquid crystal display 2. The transmissive liquid crystal display 2 forms an image to be a display region (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) on a surface perpendicular to the emission direction based on the image signal from the control unit 110 and emits the image display light L. To do.
Optical system 3, a first optical element 3a which transmits image display light L of the entire range of the display area (Z ₁ × Y _1), the image display light L of the entire range of the display area (Z ₁ × Y ₁₎ having a second optical element 3b for reflecting and transmitting, and a third optical element 3c for reflecting the image display light L of the entire range of the display area (Z ₁ × Y _1). Thus, the optical system 3, while reflecting and transmitting the image display light L of the entire range (Z ₁ × Y ₁₎ of the display region to form a virtual image of the observation target.

The light guide 104 has a flat plate shape made of polycarbonate (refractive index ng), is formed at one end and is disposed in front of the emission mechanism S, and is formed at the other end and in front of the observer's eye E. And the side surface group 143 formed between the total reflection surface 141 and the emission surface 142 by an interface with air. The beam splitter surface 142 has a beam splitting function that reflects and transmits incident light.
The side group 143 has a quadrangular shape when viewed from the X direction, the first surface 143c, the second surface 143d facing the first surface 143c in the Y direction, the third surface 143a, the third surface 143a, and the Z direction. And the fourth surface 143b facing each other. The distance between the first surface 143c and the second surface 143d is W2, and the distance between the third surface 143a and the fourth surface 143b is W3.

In such a light guide 104, first, the total reflection surface 141 reflects the image display light L in the entire display area (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) from the optical system 3 in a substantially X direction. The third surface 143a and the fourth surface 143b guide the image display light L in the entire display area (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) to the beam splitter surface 142 while alternately reflecting the image display light L a plurality of times. At this time, the first surface 143c and the second surface 143d do not reflect the image display light L even once. Finally, the beam splitter surface 142 reflects the entire display area (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) outside the light guide 104 by reflecting the image display light L in the entire display area (Z ₁ × Y _1). ) Image display light L is emitted. Thus, the image display light L emitted from the emission mechanism S is guided to the observer's eye E via the light guide 104.

Special table 2003-536102

However, in such a glasses-type display 100, the emission mechanism S can be disposed at a position far from the observer's eye E in the X direction. However, the first surface 143c and the second surface 143d are configured to display images. Since the light L must be guided from the total reflection surface 141 to the beam splitter surface 142 without being reflected once, the distance W2 between the first surface 143c and the second surface 143d cannot be reduced. There is a problem that the light guide 104 and the optical system 3 increase in size and become heavy.
SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a display device capable of reducing the size and weight of a light guide and an optical system.

  In order to solve the above problems, the display device of the present invention forms an image serving as a display region, and includes an emission mechanism having a display element that emits image display light, and a virtual image of an observation target. An optical system that reflects or transmits image display light in the entire range of the display area, a first surface, a second surface that faces the first surface, a third surface, and a fourth surface that faces the third surface And a light guide for guiding the image display light of the entire display area from the optical system to the observer's eye while reflecting in the setting direction on the third surface and / or the fourth surface, and forming the image In order to achieve this, the display device includes a control unit that outputs an image signal to the display element, wherein the light guide emits the image display light of the first portion of the display area from the optical system once on the first surface. Or reflect the second area of the display area from the optical system. The image display light of the part is reflected at least one of at least one time, and the image display light is guided to the eyes of the observer, and the control unit is configured to display an image corresponding to the first part of the display area and / or An image signal obtained by correcting the image corresponding to the second portion is output to the display element.

According to the display device of the present invention, for example, the light guide reflects the image display light of the first portion of the display area from the optical system at least once on the first surface, and the display area from the optical system on the second surface. Since the image display light of the second part is reflected at least once, the distance between the first surface and the second surface can be reduced. As a result, the light guide and the optical system can be reduced in size and weight.
By the way, the first surface reflects the image display light of the first portion of the display area from the optical system one or more times, and the second surface reflects the image display light of the second portion of the display area from the optical system one or more times. Therefore, when the image signal as shown in FIG. 4A is output to the display element as in the conventional case, the reflected first portion and second portion are inverted. Therefore, the control unit outputs an image signal as shown in FIG. 4B obtained by correcting the image corresponding to the first portion and the image corresponding to the second portion of the display area to the display element. As a result, the observer can visually recognize a virtual image of the observation target as shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the display device of the present invention, the light guide and the optical system can be reduced in size and weight.

(Means and effects for solving other problems)
In the above invention, the light guide has a flat plate shape, and the first surface, the second surface, the third surface, and the fourth surface are formed by an interface with air, and the first surface; The third surface and the fourth surface may be adjacent to each other, and the second surface and the third surface and the fourth surface may be adjacent to each other.
Furthermore, in the above invention, the setting direction may be arranged to be perpendicular to the front direction of the observer's eye, and the third surface and the fourth surface may be arranged to be perpendicular to the front direction. Good.

1 is an optical path diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a glasses-type display that is an embodiment of the present invention. It is an external view which shows the spectacles type display with which an observer is mounted | worn. It is an optical path diagram which shows schematic structure of the conventional spectacles type display. It is a figure which shows the image displayed on a transmissive liquid crystal display, and the virtual image of the observation object which an observer visually recognizes.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and it goes without saying that various aspects are included without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is an optical path diagram showing a schematic configuration of a glasses-type display (display device) according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the thing similar to the spectacles type display 100 mentioned above.
The eyeglass-type display has an appearance similar to that of eyeglasses, and a unit unit U that emits image display light L, and a substrate that guides the image display light L from the unit unit U to the observer's eye E while reflecting the inside. And a frame part F to which the unit part U and the light guide 4 are attached.

The unit unit U forms an image to be a display region (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) on a surface perpendicular to the emission direction, and has a transmission type liquid crystal display (display element) 2 that emits image display light L. A mechanism S, an optical system 3 for forming a virtual image to be observed, and a control unit 10 for outputting an image signal to the transmissive liquid crystal display 2 in order to form an image to be a display area (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ). Prepare.
The emission mechanism S includes a light source (not shown) and a transmissive liquid crystal display 2. The transmissive liquid crystal display 2 forms an image to be a display region (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) on a surface perpendicular to the emission direction based on the image signal from the control unit 10, and emits the image display light L. To do.

The light guide 4 has a flat plate shape made of polycarbonate (refractive index ng), is formed at one end portion and is disposed in front of the emission mechanism S, and is formed at the other end portion and in front of the observer's eye E. And a side surface group 43 formed between the total reflection surface 41 and the emission surface 42 by an interface with air. The beam splitter surface 42 has a beam splitting function that reflects and transmits incident light.
The side group 43 has a quadrangular shape when viewed from the X direction, the first surface 43c, the second surface 43d facing the first surface 43c in the Y direction, the third surface 43a, the third surface 43a, and the Z direction. And the fourth surface 43b facing each other. The distance between the first surface 43c and the second surface 43d is W1, and the distance between the third surface 43a and the fourth surface 43b is W3. That is, the distance W1 between the first surface 43c and the second surface 43d in the light guide 4 is smaller than the distance W2 between the first surface 143c and the second surface 143d in the light guide 104, and the optical system The Y direction of 3 is also small.

In such a light guide 4, first, the total reflection surface 41 reflects the image display light L in the entire display area (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) from the optical system 3 in a substantially X direction.
The third surface 43a and the fourth surface 43d guide the image display light L in the entire display area (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) to the beam splitter surface 42 while alternately reflecting the image display light L a plurality of times. On the other hand, the first surface 43c reflects the image display light L of the first portion B of the display area once, the second surface 43d reflects the image display light L of the second portion A of the display area once, and the first surface The image display light L of the third portion C of the display area is guided to the beam splitter surface 42 without being reflected once by 43c and the second surface 43d.
Finally, the beam splitter surface 42 reflects the entire display range (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) outside the light guide 4 by reflecting the image display light L in the entire display region (Z ₁ × Y _1). ) Image display light L is emitted. As a result, the image display light L emitted from the emission mechanism S is guided to the observer's eye E via the light guide 4.

The control unit 10 includes a display control unit (CPU) 11 and a memory 12.
The display control unit 11 performs control to output an image signal to the transmissive liquid crystal display 2 in order to form an image. Specifically, an image signal obtained by inverting the image corresponding to the third portion C in the display area (Z ₁ × Y ₁ ) in the Z direction is output, and the image corresponding to the first portion A and the second portion B are output. For the corresponding image, an image signal inverted in the Y direction is output for the third portion C. That is, an image signal obtained by inverting the image corresponding to the first part A and the image corresponding to the second part B in the Z direction and in the Y direction is output. As a result, the observer can visually recognize a virtual image of the observation target as shown in FIG. Whether or not the image corresponding to the third portion C is reversed in the Y direction and whether or not it is reversed in the Z direction is determined by the light guide reflection direction and the number of reflections in the light guide 4 and the optical system 3.
As described above, according to the glasses-type display, the light guide 4 and the optical system 3 can be reduced in size and weight.

(Other embodiments)
The above-mentioned glasses-type display is worn on the body of an observer's head, arms, etc., a helmet or glasses worn on the body via a headset, belt, band, clip, etc. It may be attached to various portable devices such as or may be used while being held in the hand. Moreover, it is not limited to a form such as a head-mounted display attached to the observer, but may be a form such as a head-up display installed in front of the observer.
The transmissive liquid crystal display may be one that forms a color image by incorporating a color filter, or one that forms a monochrome image without a color filter.
In addition, a monochrome image for R (red), G (green), and B (blue) driven by a field sequential drive with a light source that emits light of three colors R (red), G (green), and B (blue) in a time-sharing manner. In combination with a transmissive liquid crystal display that forms time-division, a virtual image to be observed may be displayed in color.
Further, as the display element, a self-luminous display that directly emits image display light may be used, or it may be configured by a reflective display and an element for illuminating the reflective display. Good.
Further, the image display light may be guided to both eyes of the observer, and the beam splitter surface may be constituted by a total reflection mirror.

Further, in the above-described glasses-type display, the configuration in which the X direction and the setting direction match is shown, but the configuration in which the X direction and the setting direction do not match may be used, and the Y direction and the setting direction match. The setting direction may be an arbitrary direction.
Further, the first surface and the second surface may reflect the image display light of a part of the display area once, may reflect the image display light of a part of the display area twice, A part of the image display light may be reflected three times or more.
Examples of the material for forming the light guide include polycarbonate, polymethacrylic acid (PMMA), cycloolefin, and glass material.

  The present invention can be used for information devices used in environments other than desktop.

100 glasses-type display (display device)
2. Transmission type liquid crystal display (display element)
3 Optical system 4, 104 Light guide 10, 110 Control part 43a, 143a 3rd surface 43b, 143b 4th surface 43c, 143c 1st surface 43d, 143d 2nd surface L Image display light E Observer eye S Output mechanism U Unit section

Claims (3)

An emission mechanism having a display element for forming an image to be a display area and emitting image display light;
An optical system that reflects or transmits image display light in the entire range of the display area in order to form a virtual image of an observation target;
A first surface, a second surface facing the first surface, a third surface, and a fourth surface facing the third surface, wherein the third surface and / or the fourth surface is an optical system. A light guide that guides the viewer's eyes while reflecting the image display light of the entire display area from the setting direction,
In order to form the image, a display device comprising a control unit that outputs an image signal to the display element,
The light guide reflects the image display light of the first part of the display area from the optical system at least once on the first surface, or the image of the second part of the display area from the optical system on the second surface. Performing at least one of reflecting the display light one or more times, guiding the image display light to the eyes of an observer,
The control device outputs an image signal obtained by correcting an image corresponding to a first portion and / or an image corresponding to a second portion of the display area to the display element. The light guide has a flat plate shape,
The first surface, the second surface, the third surface, and the fourth surface are formed by an interface with air,
The first surface is adjacent to the third surface and the fourth surface,
The display device according to claim 1, wherein the second surface is adjacent to the third surface and the fourth surface. The setting direction is perpendicular to the forward direction of the observer's eyes,
The display device according to claim 2, wherein the third surface and the fourth surface are arranged to be perpendicular to the front direction.

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