Light-field projector module and near-eye display

Abstract

A light field projection optical engine module includes a plurality of microdisplays, a beam combiner prism, an optical lens assembly, and a near-eye optical combiner assembly. Each microdisplay is configured to receive sub-images of the same frame at different parallax angles and display image light on its emitting side. The beam combiner prism is disposed on the emitting side of each microdisplay with its incident light surface corresponding to the emitting side of the microdisplay, and is used to superimpose the image light into a composite light path, which is then emitted from the emitting surface. The optical lens assembly is disposed on the emitting surface of the beam combiner prism with its incident light port corresponding to the emitting surface of the beam combiner prism, and is configured to collimate or image the composite light path into output light, which is then directed out through the emitting port. The near-eye optical combiner assembly is disposed at the emitting port of the optical lens assembly and is used to guide the output light to the user's eye position.

Claims

1. A light field projection optical engine module, comprising: A plurality of microdisplays, each configured to receive a sub-frame of the same frame at different parallax angles and display an image light on a light-emitting side; A beam combiner is disposed on and respectively facing the light-emitting side of each of the microdisplays with an incident light surface, for superimposing the image light into a composite light path and emitting it from a light-emitting surface; an optical lens assembly is disposed on and facing the light-emitting surface of the beam combiner with an incident light port, and is configured to collimate or image the composite light path into an output light, which is then emitted from a light-emitting port; and a near-eye optical combiner assembly is disposed on the light-emitting port of the optical lens assembly, for guiding the output light to a user's eye position.

2. The light field projection optical engine module as described in claim 1, wherein the beam combiner is an X-cube beam combiner having a first light-incident surface, a second light-incident surface and a third light-incident surface, the first light-incident surface and the third light-incident surface being opposite to each other and parallel to each other, the second light-incident surface being connected between the first light-incident surface and the third light-incident surface and perpendicular to each other; the number of microdisplays is three, and the microdisplays are respectively disposed on the first light-incident surface, the second light-incident surface and the third light-incident surface.

3. The light field projection optical engine module as described in claim 2, wherein the parallax angles displayed by the microdisplays are -θ, 0° and +θ, wherein the range of θ is between 1.5° and 12°.

4. The light field projection optical engine module as described in claim 1, further comprising a plurality of filters disposed between the microdisplay and the beam combiner.

5. The light field projection optical engine module as described in claim 4, wherein the image light output by each of the microdisplays is monochromatic light; and each of the filters allows only different specific frequency bands of the monochromatic light to pass through.

6. The light field projection optical engine module as described in claim 1, wherein the number of microdisplays is three, and each outputs a first band, a second band, and a third band of monochrome microdisplays; each microdisplay simultaneously displays multiple images with different parallax angles; the light field projection optical engine module further includes three lens modules, respectively disposed between the corresponding microdisplay and the beam combining prism, each lens module including an optical array element and a lens; the optical array element is disposed on the light-emitting side of the microdisplay, and the lens is disposed between the optical array element and the beam combining prism.

7. The light field projection optical engine module as described in claim 6, wherein the optical array element is an n*n lens array to guide the images with different parallax angles on the microdisplay to different exit angles, wherein n is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

8. The light field projection optical engine module as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the near-eye optical combiner includes an optical waveguide component or a semi-transparent reflective component.

9. A near-eye display device comprising a light field projection optical engine module as described in any one of claims 1 to 8 and a content processor electrically connected to the microdisplays of the light field projection optical engine module for outputting the sub-pictures of the same frame at different parallax angles to the microdisplays.

10. The near-eye display device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the near-eye display device is an augmented reality (AR) device, a virtual reality (VR) device, or a mixed reality (MR) device.

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