Display device

Abstract

Provided is a display device (5) capable of displaying an image without distortion over a wide range of a front window (2). A display device includes a display unit (1) disposed along a front window (2) of a vehicle, in which the display unit (1) includes a plurality of display devices (1A to 1J) including a display area having the same curvature as that of the front window (2), and light emitted from the display unit (1) is directly reflected on the front window (2) to form a virtual image (3).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a display device that displays a virtual image formed by reflection on a front window of a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] As is well known, when projecting a distortion-free display onto a curved front window of a vehicle, a head-up display mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile requires distortion correction processing.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 describes a head-up display device that has a correction table for performing correction processing. The correction table includes a description of the amount of distortion correction for an image according to the projection position on the windshield, and performs distortion correction of the image by referring to the amount of distortion correction described in the correction table, and corrects the size of an object by referring to the correction table to correct the change in the size of the object in the image due to distortion correction.

[0004] Prior Art

[0005] Patent Document

[0006] Patent Document 1: JP2019161346A Summary of the Invention

[0007] Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] In order to perform the above-described distortion correction processing, a display area larger than the actual display size is required. However, since the installation space on the instrument panel of an automobile is limited, it is difficult to display an image over a wide range of the front window.

[0009] Although it is possible to display over a wide range by combining multiple head-up displays, there are areas between some display devices where display is not possible in terms of structure, which limits the performance of horizontal long linear displays in terms of function and appearance.

[0010] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a display device that can display an image without distortion over a wide range of the front window.

[0011] Solution to the Problem

[0012] The present invention made to solve the above problems is a display device that includes a display unit provided along the front window in the passenger compartment of a vehicle. Among them, the display unit includes a plurality of display devices, and the display area formed by the plurality of display devices has the same curvature as the curvature of the front window, and the light emitted from the display unit is directly reflected on the front window to form a virtual image.

[0013] Advantageous Effects of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention, the display unit is provided along the lower edge of the window, so that an image can be displayed without distortion within a wide range of the front window. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 2 is Figure 1 a top view of the dashboard shown.

[0017] Figure 3 is Figure 2 an enlarged view of the "A" part shown in

[0018] Figure 4 is Figure 1 an example of the display of the display device shown.

[0019] REFERENCE MARK LIST

[0020] 1 Display unit

[0021] 1A to 1J Display device

[0022] 2 Front window

[0023] 2L Lower edge

[0024] 3 Virtual image

[0025] 5 Display device DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 1 The display device 5 shown is provided in a vehicle such as an automobile. As Figure 1 shown, the display device 5 includes a display unit 1. The display unit 1 is provided on the instrument panel 10 near the lower edge 2L of the front window (also referred to as the front glass or windshield) 2 of the vehicle. In other words, the display unit 1 is provided inside the passenger compartment.

[0028] The instrument panel 10 is a component that defines the passenger compartment space in the front part of the vehicle and is formed into a required shape.

[0029] In Figure 1 the drawing, reference numeral D represents the driver of the vehicle, and reference numeral H represents the steering wheel held by the driver D.

[0030] The display unit 1 is provided on the instrument panel 10 at the window side of the front window 2. Specifically, as Figure 2As shown, the display unit 1 is arranged along the shape of the lower end edge 2L of the front window 2.

[0031] Figure 2 is a top view of the instrument panel 10. The display unit 1 is composed of 10 display devices, namely, display devices 1A to 1J.

[0032] The display devices 1A to 1J are composed of modular display devices such as organic electroluminescence (EL) or liquid crystal display devices, for example. The display devices 1A to 1J have no frames (borders) at least in the left-right direction and can display without any gaps such as boundaries between adjacent display devices.

[0033] As Figure 2 shown, the display devices 1A to 1J are arranged at different positions in the depth direction of the instrument panel 10 such that their respective display areas are aligned along the front window 2.

[0034] Refer to Figure 3 to describe the display areas of the display devices 1A to 1J. Figure 3 Shows Figure 2 an enlarged view of the "A" part in Figure 3 As shown, the display device 1A includes areas AR1, AR2, and AR3 as displayable areas, where the area AR2 is used as the actual display area (display region).

[0035] The area AR1 cannot be used as a display area because the area AR1 includes a part that is not exposed on the surface of the instrument panel 10. Although the area AR3 is exposed on the surface of the instrument panel 10, the area AR3 is not used because there is a risk that the image will be cut off when displaying an image across the display devices 1A and 1B.

[0036] That is, in the present embodiment, a substantially strip-shaped area that can be displayed across the display devices 1A to 1J is used as the display area. As Figure 2 shown, this strip-shaped area is an area that is curved with the same curvature as the front window 2. In this way, the display unit 1 can display along the curvature of the front window 2. That is, the display unit 1 is composed of a plurality of display devices 1A to 1J, and the display area composed of the plurality of display devices 1A to 1J has the same curvature as the front window 2.

[0037] Figure 4 is an example of the display of the display device 5. As Figure 4 shown, when an image is displayed on the display unit 1, the image I is displayed in a wide area from the left end to the right end of the front window 2. It should be understood that this does not mean that the image is always displayed in the entire area from the left end to the right end of the front window 2, but it can be used as a display area as needed.

[0038] As shown Figure 1 In the display device 5 according to the present embodiment, the light representing the image I displayed on the display unit 1 is directly reflected by the front window 2. When the light reflected by the front window 2 reaches the eyes E of the driver D holding the steering wheel H, the driver D visually recognizes the light as a virtual image 3 on the lower part of the front window 2 located outside the vehicle compartment.

[0039] In this way, the display unit 1 is arranged along the curved shape of the front window 2, and thus, the image displayed on the display unit 1 is distorted with the same curvature as the front window 2, so that the image displayed on the front window 2 is not distorted, and there is no need to perform distortion correction processing or the like to display an image on the front window 2.

[0040] According to the present embodiment, there is provided a display unit 1 arranged along the front window 2 of a vehicle, and the display unit 1 is composed of a plurality of display devices 1A to 1J. The curvature of the display areas of the plurality of display devices 1A to 1J is the same as the curvature of the front window 2, and the light emitted from the display unit 1 is directly reflected on the front window 2 to form a virtual image 3.

[0041] With the display device 5 configured as described above, the display area of the display unit 1 is formed along the shape of the lower end edge 2L of the front window 2, so that the display unit 1 displays an image distorted with the same curvature as the front window 2, resulting in an undistorted image being displayed on the front window 2. In addition, since the display unit 1 is arranged along the front window 2, the display unit 1 can display over a wide range of the front window 2.

[0042] In addition, compared with the wide-area display achieved by combining a plurality of conventional head-up displays, the image can be displayed without a boundary. Therefore, the information conveyed to the driver D can be displayed at a flexible position and in a flexible display method, making it easier for the driver D to recognize the information.

[0043] In addition, since the display unit 1 is arranged from the left end to the right end of the lower end edge 2L of the front window 2, an image can be displayed without distortion across the entire width of the front window 2.

[0044] In addition, since each of the display devices 1A to 1J is configured as a module, the display devices 1A to 1J can be installed individually and can be easily attached to the vehicle.

[0045] In the above embodiment, the display devices 1A to 1J are rectangular, but if a display device that can change its shape, for example, by cutting unused areas AR1 and AR3, can be adopted, the installation area of the display unit 1 can be limited to the area required for display.

[0046] In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. In other words, those skilled in the art can implement the present invention by modifying the present invention in various ways according to traditional knowledge without departing from the gist of the present invention. It should be understood that as long as the modified display device has the configuration of the display device of the present invention, the modified display device is included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising: a display unit disposed along a front window in a vehicle interior, Wherein, the display unit includes a plurality of display devices, A display area formed by the plurality of display devices has a curvature that is the same as the curvature of the front window, and Light emitted from the display unit is directly reflected on the front window to form a virtual image.

2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein: The display unit is disposed from a left end to a right end of the front window.

3. The display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: Each of the plurality of display devices is constructed as a module.

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