Polarization field adjustment method, device and computer readable storage medium for head-up display system

Abstract

The application provides a polarization field adjustment method, device and computer readable storage medium of a head-up display system. The head-up display system comprises an image generation unit and a polarization modulation unit. The method comprises: acquiring current scene state information of the head-up display system, wherein the current scene state information at least comprises display content information of the image generation unit, information that a driver wears a pair of sunglasses and eye position information of the driver; determining a corresponding relationship between a plurality of display regions of a display picture and a plurality of physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit according to the current scene state information, wherein each display region corresponds to at least one physical partition; determining polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition according to the current scene state information and the corresponding relationship; and outputting driving signals to each physical partition respectively according to the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition, so as to realize polarization modulation on different display regions of the display picture. The application can solve the problem of brightness attenuation caused by the driver wearing a pair of polarization sunglasses.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of head-up display technology, and more specifically, to a polarization field adjustment method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for a head-up display system. Background Technology

[0002] A head-up display (HUD) system generates a display image through an image generation unit and forms a virtual image in front of the driver via an imaging optical path, allowing the driver to obtain information such as vehicle speed, navigation, and warnings while keeping their eyes on the road ahead. The light emitted from the HUD to the driver's eye box has a specific polarization state, and the polarization state of the emitted light from existing vehicle HUDs is fixed at the factory and cannot be dynamically adjusted.

[0003] In addition, drivers typically wear polarized sunglasses to reduce glare in bright sunlight. Polarized sunglasses only allow light with a specific polarization direction to pass through. When the polarization direction of the light emitted from the HUD does not match the transmission axis of the sunglasses, the effective light flux entering the eye box decreases, resulting in reduced virtual image brightness.

[0004] To address the aforementioned issues, related technologies typically employ methods such as increasing the light source power of the image generation unit or improving the overall image output brightness to compensate for the brightness loss caused by polarized sunglasses by increasing the total amount of incident light. However, this approach has the following drawbacks: First, increased system power consumption is detrimental to vehicle energy consumption control; second, increased power will exacerbate device heating, putting pressure on the heat dissipation structure and long-term operational stability, thereby affecting the device's lifespan; third, although the total amount of incident light increases, most of the light energy is still absorbed by the sunglasses and is not truly converted into effective visual information, resulting in low overall energy utilization efficiency and making it difficult to fundamentally solve the brightness loss problem. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this application is to provide a polarization field adjustment method, device and computer-readable storage medium for a head-up display system, so as to solve the technical defects in the prior art, which are that the polarization state of the emitted light from the HUD is fixed, resulting in insufficient virtual image brightness when wearing polarized sunglasses and the inability to perform differentiated polarization adjustment according to the display content and driving status.

[0006] According to a first aspect of this application, a method for adjusting the polarization field of a head-up display system is provided. The head-up display system includes an image generating unit, a polarization modulation unit disposed on the light-emitting side of the image generating unit, and an imaging element. The polarization modulation unit includes multiple independently controlled physical zones. The method includes: The current scene status information of the head-up display system is obtained. The current scene status information includes at least the display content information of the image generation unit, the driver wearing sunglasses information, and the driver's eye position information. The display content information includes the coordinate position, content type, and content priority of each display object in the current display screen. Based on the current scene state information, the correspondence between multiple display areas of the display screen and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit is determined, wherein each display area corresponds to at least one physical partition; Based on the current scene state information and the corresponding relationship, determine the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition; Based on the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition, a driving signal is output to each physical partition to achieve polarization modulation of different display areas of the display screen.

[0007] Optionally, determining the correspondence between multiple display areas of the display screen and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit includes: Based on the driver's eye position information, determine the incident point position of the image beam emitted from each of the display areas on the imaging element; Based on the location of each incident point, the illumination area corresponding to the polarization modulation unit of the image beam emitted from each display area is determined; The physical partitions covered by each of the irradiated areas are determined as the physical partitions corresponding to the display area.

[0008] Optionally, after determining the physical partitions covered by each of the irradiated areas as the physical partitions corresponding to the display area, the method further includes: When the display area corresponding to the same display object in the display content information covers multiple physical partitions, the coverage ratio of the display object in each physical partition, the content priority of the display object in the display screen, and the effective throughput of the eye box corresponding to each physical partition are obtained. Based on the coverage ratio, the content priority, and the effective throughput of the eye box, the modulation weight of each physical partition for the display object is determined; Based on the modulation weights of each physical partition and the current scene state information, the polarization modulation parameters corresponding to each physical partition are determined respectively.

[0009] Optionally, after determining the physical partitions covered by each of the irradiated areas as the physical partitions corresponding to the display area, the method further includes: Obtain the polarization modulation parameters corresponding to each of the adjacent physical partitions; When the difference between the polarization modulation parameters of adjacent physical partitions exceeds a preset threshold, a transition drive value is applied to the boundary region between the adjacent physical partitions. The transition drive value is between the drive values ​​corresponding to the polarization modulation parameters of the adjacent physical partitions.

[0010] Optionally, the polarization modulation parameters include the energy ratio of the P-polarization component to the S-polarization component in the image beam, the polarization rotation angle, or the phase delay.

[0011] Optionally, the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition are determined based on the current scene state information and the correspondence, including: Based on the aforementioned correspondence, the display area corresponding to each of the physical partitions is determined; Based on the driver's eye position information, the incident angle of the image beam emitted from each of the display areas on the imaging element is determined; Based on the incident angle, and the transmission axis direction and polarization transmittance of the polarized sunglasses contained in the driver's sunglasses information, the target polarization state corresponding to each physical partition is determined. Based on the target polarization state, the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition are determined.

[0012] Optionally, based on the incident angle and the transmission axis direction and polarization transmittance of the polarized sunglasses included in the driver's sunglasses information, the target polarization state corresponding to each physical partition is determined, including: Based on the incident angle, determine the P-light reflectivity and S-light reflectivity of the image beam emitted from each of the display areas on the imaging element; The effective channel gain corresponding to each physical partition is determined based on the P-light reflectivity, the S-light reflectivity, the transmission axis direction, and the polarization transmittance. Based on the effective channel gain, the target P-light / S-light component ratio corresponding to each physical partition is determined, and the target P-light / S-light component ratio is used as the target polarization state.

[0013] Optionally, determining the target polarization state corresponding to each physical partition based on the incident angle and the transmission axis direction and polarization transmittance of the polarized sunglasses included in the driver's sunglasses information further includes: Obtain ambient brightness information; Based on the ambient brightness information, determine the target effective brightness of each of the display areas; Based on the effective channel gain and the effective target brightness, the target P-light / S-light component ratio corresponding to each physical partition is determined, and the target P-light / S-light component ratio is used as the target polarization state.

[0014] Optionally, the target P-light / S-light component ratio corresponding to each of the physical partitions is determined based on the effective channel gain and the target effective brightness, including: The modulation direction is determined based on the effective channel gain of the P-light and the effective channel gain of the S-light in the effective channel gain. Based on the modulation direction and the target effective brightness of the display area, determine the P-light / S-light component ratio that satisfies the target effective brightness and minimizes system power consumption. The P-light / S-light component ratio is optimized and adjusted according to the content priority of the display area; The optimized P-light / S-light component ratio is taken as the target P-light / S-light component ratio.

[0015] According to a second aspect of this application, a polarization field adjustment device for a head-up display system is provided. The head-up display system includes an image generating unit, a polarization modulation unit disposed on the light-emitting side of the image generating unit, and an imaging element. The polarization modulation unit includes multiple independently controlled physical zones. The device includes: The acquisition module is used to acquire the current scene status information of the head-up display system. The current scene status information includes at least the display content information of the screen displayed in the image generation unit, the driver wearing sunglasses information, and the driver's eye position information; wherein, the display content information includes the coordinate position, content type, and content priority of each display object in the current display screen. The first determining module is used to determine the correspondence between multiple display areas of the display screen and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit based on the current scene state information, wherein each display area corresponds to at least one physical partition; The second determining module is used to determine the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition according to the current scene state information and the corresponding relationship; The control module is used to output driving signals to each of the physical partitions according to the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition, so as to realize polarization modulation of different display areas of the display screen.

[0016] According to a third aspect of this application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements the polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system according to the first aspect.

[0017] One technical advantage of this application is: In the technical solution provided in this application embodiment, a polarization modulation unit containing multiple independently controlled physical partitions is set on the light-emitting side of the image generation unit, and the polarization state of the image beam is dynamically adjusted in partitions based on the display content information, the driver's sunglasses information, and the driver's eye position information. This fundamentally solves the problem of brightness attenuation caused by the driver wearing polarized sunglasses, while also avoiding a series of technical problems caused by simply increasing the power of the light source.

[0018] Other features and advantages of this specification will become clear from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0019] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of this specification and, together with their description, serve to explain the principles of this specification.

[0020] Figure 1 The diagram shown is a structural diagram of the head-up display system provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0021] Figure 2 The diagram shows a flowchart of a polarization field adjustment method for a head-up display system provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0022] Figure 3 The diagram shown is a schematic representation of the overall structure and the propagation path of the partitioned image beams of the head-up display system provided in this embodiment of the application.

[0023] Figure 4 The diagram shown is a schematic representation of the in-vehicle layout and effective monitoring range of the detection device in the head-up display system provided in this application embodiment.

[0024] Figure 5 The table shown is an example table of display content priority and control rules in the head-up display system provided in this application embodiment.

[0025] Figure 6 The image shows the structural frame of the polarization field adjustment device for the head-up display system provided in this application embodiment.

[0026] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures: 10. Image generation unit; 11. Polarization modulation unit; 12. Imaging element; 121. Mirror assembly; 122. Windshield; 31. Brightness detection module; 32. Combined sensor; 40. Polarization field adjustment device for head-up display system; 41. Acquisition module; 42. First determination module; 43. Second determination module; 44. Control module. Detailed Implementation

[0027] Various exemplary embodiments of the present application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions, and values ​​of the components and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present application.

[0028] The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative and is in no way intended to limit the scope of this application and its application or use.

[0029] Technologies and equipment known to those skilled in the art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, such technologies and equipment should be considered part of the specification.

[0030] In all the examples shown and discussed herein, any specific values ​​should be interpreted as merely exemplary and not as limitations. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values.

[0031] It should be noted that similar labels and letters in the following figures indicate similar items; therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be discussed further in subsequent figures.

[0032] The technical solution of this application will be further described below with reference to the embodiments and accompanying drawings.

[0033] Figure 1 This is a structural diagram of the hardware configuration of a head-up display system provided according to an embodiment of this application.

[0034] Reference Figure 1 The head-up display system includes an image generating unit 10, a polarization modulation unit 11, and an imaging element 12. The polarization modulation unit 11 is disposed on the light-emitting side of the image generating unit 10 and includes multiple independently controllable physical partitions. The imaging element 12 is disposed along the optical path direction and is used to project the image beam onto the driver's eye box area to form a virtual image in front of the driver.

[0035] In a preferred embodiment, the imaging element 12 includes a mirror assembly 121 and a windshield 122. The image beam generated by the image generation unit 10 is projected onto the polarization modulation unit 11, and the image beam is emitted after polarization state modulation by each physical partition in the polarization modulation unit 11.

[0036] In terms of optical path layout, the polarization modulation unit 11 and the reflector assembly 121 can be configured in either of the following two ways: Option 1 (Modulation followed by reflection): The image beam generated by the image generation unit 10 is first incident on the polarization modulation unit 11; after the polarization modulation unit 11 performs partitioned polarization modulation on the incident beam, it is emitted to the reflector assembly 121; the reflector assembly 121 deflects the modulated image beam and projects it onto the windshield 122; finally, the windshield 122 reflects the incident image beam onto the driver's eye box area to form a virtual image in front of the driver.

[0037] Option 2 (Reflection followed by modulation): The image beam generated by the image generating unit 10 is first incident on the reflector assembly 121; the reflector assembly 121 deflects the image beam and then outputs it to the polarization modulation unit 11; the polarization modulation unit 11 performs partitioned polarization modulation on the incident beam and then outputs it to the windshield 122; finally, the windshield 122 reflects the received image beam to the driver's eye box area to form a virtual image in front of the driver.

[0038] This can be understood as follows: the location of the polarization modulation unit 11 is not limited to that between the image generating unit 10 and the mirror assembly 12. The location of the polarization modulation unit 11 only needs to be located in the output optical path of the image generating unit 10 and before the virtual image is formed, and can maintain the mapping relationship between the multiple display areas of the image generating unit 10 and the multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit 11.

[0039] In another embodiment, the imaging element 12 may also include a combiner instead of the windshield 122. The combiner is located in front of the driver and is used to directly reflect the image beam modulated by the polarization modulation unit 11 to the driver's eye box area, thereby forming a virtual image in front of the driver.

[0040] Reference Figure 3 The image generation unit 10 displays multiple display areas (these multiple display areas are areas located at different display positions on the display screen). Image beams emitted from each display area are incident on corresponding physical partitions (e.g., Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4 shown in the figure) within the polarization modulation unit 11. The polarization modulation unit 11 modulates the image beams independently according to their respective physical partitions, outputting image beams modulated by each physical partition (Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4) (e.g., L1, L2, L3, L4). Subsequently, the modulated image beams are projected onto the eyepiece area via the imaging element 12 to form corresponding partitioned virtual images (e.g., V1, V2, V3, V4) in the virtual image screen, thereby achieving partitioned polarization control of the displayed information.

[0041] It should be noted that, Figure 3The four physical partitions and four corresponding image beams shown are only illustrative of the correspondence between partition modulation and beam propagation, and do not constitute a limitation on the number of partitions. In actual implementation, the number, shape, size, arrangement, and grouping of physical partitions, as well as the correspondence between each physical partition and the virtual image display area, can be flexibly determined according to the HUD optical path design, virtual image content distribution, eye box range, and specific application scenario.

[0042] In some exemplary embodiments, the polarization modulation unit 11 is disposed on the light-emitting side of the image generating unit 10 and directly docked with the image generating unit 10. To ensure the optical path alignment accuracy and structural stability between the two, the polarization modulation unit 11 and the image generating unit 10 are fixedly connected by a frame. The frame is preferably made of metal or heat-resistant plastic to form a wrap-around fixation for the two. At the same time, considering the working environment of the head-up display system, the temperature resistance of the frame is designed to be no less than 100°C, so as to meet the assembly reliability requirements under high temperature exposure and long-term thermal cycling conditions. In addition, the frame also integrates a variety of auxiliary functions, including but not limited to: mechanical positioning and limiting of the image generating unit 10 and the polarization modulation unit 11, light shielding of non-effective optical paths, and sealing protection to prevent external dust intrusion.

[0043] In some exemplary embodiments, the polarization modulation unit 11 adopts a liquid crystal polarization modulation array structure, which is disposed on the light-emitting side of the image generation unit 10. Specifically, the liquid crystal polarization modulation array structure can be configured as an electrically controlled birefringence mode liquid crystal phase delay array. The layered structure of the liquid crystal phase delay array, starting from the image generation unit 10 side, sequentially includes: a first transparent substrate, a common transparent electrode, a first alignment layer, a liquid crystal layer, a second alignment layer, multiple partitioned transparent electrodes, and a second transparent substrate.

[0044] The multiple transparent electrodes are spatially divided into multiple independent electrode units. The distribution pattern of these electrode units forms a corresponding spatial mapping relationship with the multiple display areas in the image generation unit 10, thereby structurally constructing multiple physical partitions. Each physical partition's corresponding electrode unit has an independent electrical path, capable of receiving and responding to externally provided driving signals.

[0045] In operation, the driving signals applied to different physical zones generate differentiated electric field distributions, driving the liquid crystal molecules within those zones to deflect accordingly, thereby changing the phase retardation of the liquid crystal layer at the corresponding positions. This change in phase retardation directly modulates the polarization state (including polarization component ratio or polarization angle) of the image beam transmitted through that zone, ultimately achieving differentiated polarization modulation of the image light emitted from different display areas in the displayed image.

[0046] In other embodiments, the polarization modulation unit 11 may also be selected from any one or more combinations of the following devices: liquid crystal variable phase delay array, electrically controlled waveplate array, polarization rotation array, electro-optic crystal array, or polymer liquid crystal polarization modulation structure.

[0047] <Method Implementation> This application provides a method for adjusting the polarization field of a head-up display system. This method is applied to vehicle head-up display (HUD) systems, and is particularly suitable for driving scenarios that include polarization-sensitive display elements (such as liquid crystal display panels) and where the driver wears polarized sunglasses.

[0048] The polarization field adjustment method proposed in this application aims to achieve spatial partitioning and dynamic adjustment of the polarization state of the emitted light from the HUD image. Specifically, this method is based on real-time acquired scene state information (including at least the displayed content, the driver's eye position, and information about the driver's sunglasses), and uses a polarization modulation unit 11 to independently control the polarization state of the emitted image beams from each display area. This embodiment of the application can effectively compensate for local or global brightness loss caused by polarized sunglasses while ensuring the overall brightness uniformity of the virtual image, and simultaneously taking into account differentiated polarization adjustments based on the priority of different displayed content, thereby providing the driver with a clear, comfortable, and safe information interaction experience under different operating conditions.

[0049] Reference Figure 2 The polarization field adjustment methods for head-up display systems include: S21: Obtain the current scene status information of the head-up display system. The current scene status information includes at least the display content information of the screen displayed in the image generation unit 10, the driver wearing sunglasses information, and the driver's eye position information. The display content information includes the coordinate position, content type, and content priority of each display object in the current display screen. S22: Based on the current scene state information, determine the correspondence between multiple display areas of the display screen and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit 11, wherein each display area corresponds to at least one physical partition; S23: Determine the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition based on the current scene state information and the corresponding relationship; S24: Based on the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition, output driving signals to each physical partition respectively to achieve polarization modulation of different display areas of the display screen.

[0050] In step S21, the current scene state information is the basic input for realizing the dynamic adjustment of the zonal polarization. The current scene state information includes at least the display content information of the screen displayed in the PGU, the driver's sunglasses information, and the driver's eye position information. Optionally, the current scene state information may also include ambient brightness information.

[0051] The displayed content information includes the coordinates, content type, and priority of each displayed object in the current screen. Driver sunglasses information includes whether the driver is wearing polarized sunglasses; if so, it also includes the polarization transmission characteristics of the sunglasses. Driver eye position information is used to determine the driver's spatial position within the eye box. Ambient brightness information characterizes the intensity of external light.

[0052] Specifically, the display content information is directly obtained by the processor from the image generation unit 10. This display content information includes a set of attribute data for each display object in the current display screen. The attribute data includes at least the following three parameters: First, the coordinate position of the displayed objects. This coordinate position can be used to define the spatial distribution range occupied by each displayed object in the virtual image. Based on this coordinate position, the system establishes a corresponding spatial mapping relationship between the displayed objects, the virtual image, and the physical partitions in the polarization modulation unit 11 at the optical design level, so as to ensure the optical path alignment accuracy during subsequent partition adjustment.

[0053] Secondly, the content type of the displayed object. This type is used to logically categorize the driving information to which the displayed object belongs. Specifically, the content type can be divided into categories such as safety warnings, navigation guidance, vehicle speed / status display, and background images. Different types of displayed objects correspond to different visual priorities and optical uniformity requirements.

[0054] Third, the content priority of the displayed object. This priority is used to determine the polarization enhancement weight of different physical partitions in the subsequent polarization modulation process. In scenarios that require dynamic adjustment, the system assigns stronger polarization state optimization compensation to display areas with higher priority (e.g., security alarm information) at the control algorithm level based on the content priority; while for low-priority parts, a lower optimization strategy can be adopted or the basic polarization state can be maintained, thereby achieving fine allocation of system computing power and optical energy.

[0055] In an exemplary implementation, the content priority division rules are as follows: like Figure 5As shown, safety warning information (such as collision warning, lane departure warning, and blind spot monitoring warning) is set as the first priority; vehicle speed information, engine speed information, and normal status images are set as the second priority, where normal status images include AR lane lines, navigation arrows, etc.; background areas, decorative patterns, or blank areas are set as the fourth priority. This priority information is used in subsequent steps to determine the polarization enhancement intensity corresponding to each display area.

[0056] Please continue to refer to Figure 5 For example, for the first priority, PGU brightness compensation can be combined during the adjustment process. For the second priority, the vibration modulation parameters are determined based on the correspondence between the display area and the polarization modulation unit. For the third priority, the reference polarization state is maintained or a low-power state is entered.

[0057] In this embodiment, the information on whether the driver is wearing sunglasses is acquired by the sunglasses wearing status detection module and transmitted to the processor. This information includes at least: the determination result of whether the driver is wearing polarized sunglasses; and, if the driver is determined to be wearing sunglasses, key optical parameters such as the transmission axis direction, P-light transmittance, and S-light transmittance of the polarized sunglasses.

[0058] In an exemplary implementation, such as Figure 4 As shown, the sunglasses wearing status detection module is a detection sensor, which is positioned facing the driver's eye area. This sensor can reuse the same hardware as the eye position detection sensor; for example, this hardware can be a driver monitoring system (DMS) / occupant monitoring system (OMS) camera, or an integrated polarization detection module, near-infrared detection module, etc.

[0059] The system executes the following logic control based on the driver's sunglasses information: when the system detects that the driver is not wearing polarized sunglasses, the system maintains the default polarization output state or reduces the partition modulation frequency of the polarization modulation unit 11 to reduce system power consumption; when the system detects that the driver is wearing polarized sunglasses, the system immediately starts the partition polarization dynamic adjustment process.

[0060] In this embodiment, the driver's eye position information is acquired by the eye position detection sensor mentioned above and transmitted to the processor. This information includes the three-dimensional coordinate position data of the driver's two eyes or one eye within the eye box space.

[0061] In an exemplary embodiment, the eye position detection sensor is positioned facing the driver's eye box area. Its mounting posture parameters are defined as follows: The yaw angle is set to satisfy ψ = atan2(Δx, Δz); the pitch angle is set to satisfy θ = atan2[Δy, √(Δx)]. 2 +Δz 2)], where (Δx,Δy,Δz) is the line-of-sight vector (visual axis vector) pointing from the eye position detection sensor to the center of the eye box.

[0062] This three-dimensional coordinate data is the basis for establishing dynamic optical mapping: based on the eye position information, the system calculates the local incident angle of the beam corresponding to each display area at the windshield glass 122 (or beam combiner), and then dynamically updates the spatial mapping relationship between the display screen, the virtual image area and the physical partition of the polarization modulation unit 11 to ensure the real-time accurate matching of the beam and the optical path.

[0063] When the DMS / OMS camera, polarization detection module, or near-infrared detection module is used as a combined sensor 32 to detect information such as the driver wearing sunglasses and the driver's eye position, such as Figure 4 As shown, the combined sensor 32 is positioned in the eye-box area of ​​the driver's camera. When the optical axis of the combined sensor 32 is aligned with the center of the eye-box, the distance from the combined sensor 32 to the center of the eye-box is D, and the effective target width and height are Weff and Heff, respectively, FOVh can be approximated as 2atan[Weff / (2D)] and FOVv = 2atan[Heff / (2D)]. For example, for illustration purposes only, if D = 600 mm, Weff = 130 mm, Heff = 50 mm, and a 20% coverage margin is added in both the width and height directions, then Weff = 156 mm and Heff = 60 mm, corresponding to an FOVh of approximately 14.8° and an FOVv of approximately 5.7°.

[0064] In this embodiment, ambient brightness information is acquired by the brightness detection module 31, and the ambient brightness information includes the intensity of ambient light or the incident light brightness of the HUD's light-passing area. In one implementation, such as Figure 4 As shown, the brightness detection module 31 faces outwards from the windshield or towards the direction of incoming light from the outside. This information is used to determine the effective target brightness of each display area, so that the polarization enhancement intensity matches the ambient lighting conditions.

[0065] In step S22, based on the current scene state information obtained in step S21, the correspondence between multiple display areas of the display screen and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit 11 is determined; wherein each display area corresponds to at least one physical partition.

[0066] The construction of this correspondence is based on the displayed content information, and specifically includes the following two levels of mapping logic: First: Spatial Mapping. Based on the coordinates of each display object mapped onto the virtual image, the processor defines the display screen as multiple display areas with clearly defined spatial boundaries. Simultaneously, the processor assigns a priority level to each display area based on the content priority of each display object. This priority level is used to determine the required polarization enhancement weights for each area in subsequent steps.

[0067] Second: Hardware mapping. The polarization modulation unit 11 is located on the light-emitting side of the image generation unit 10. Multiple physical zones of the polarization modulation unit 11 have independent driving capabilities, enabling independent polarization state adjustment of the image beam passing through that area. The processor configures the divided display areas and physical zones accordingly.

[0068] In this mapping logic, the corresponding mapping methods include: one-to-one correspondence mode: one display area corresponds to one physical partition, and each display area can obtain completely independent polarization modulation. Group correspondence mode: multiple display areas are combined to correspond to the same physical partition. The merging principle is usually based on the similarity of content priority or the adjacency of position, aiming to simplify system complexity.

[0069] When the driver's eye position information is obtained in step S21, the aforementioned spatial correspondence will be dynamically updated based on the driver's real-time spatial position within the eye box. Specifically, the processor calculates the actual incident position of the emitted beam from each display area on the polarization modulation unit 11 based on the current eye position, and adjusts the mapping relationship between the display area and the physical partition accordingly to ensure that the spatial boundary of the display area matches the light transmission range of the physical partition.

[0070] It should be noted that the above dynamic update process is triggered by preset conditions, which include at least: a change in the position of the displayed object, or a driver's eye movement exceeding a preset distance threshold. During the update process, the processor maintains the continuity of the current polarization modulation state, and only performs the mapping relationship switching operation after confirming that the input change exceeds the preset threshold and continues for a preset time. This effectively avoids frequent fluctuations in polarization state caused by brief eye movements, ensuring the stability of system operation.

[0071] In some exemplary embodiments, determining the correspondence between multiple display areas of the display screen and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit 11 specifically includes the following sub-steps: S221: Based on the driver's eye position information, determine the incident point position of the image beam emitted from each of the display areas on the imaging element 12.

[0072] S222: Based on the position of each incident point, determine the illumination area on the polarization modulation unit 11 corresponding to the image beam emitted from each display area.

[0073] S223: The physical partitions covered by each of the irradiation areas are determined as the physical partitions corresponding to the display area.

[0074] In step S221, the processor determines the position of the incident point (i.e. the reflection point of the imaging element) of the image beam that is reflected from the driver's eyes by the imaging element 12 and points to the center and boundary of each display area on the imaging element 12, based on the driver's eye position information (i.e., the three-dimensional coordinates within the eye box) through ray tracing or geometric optics calculation.

[0075] It should be noted that the imaging element 12 in this embodiment includes a windshield 122 or a beam combiner. Since the windshield 122 or beam combiner is usually a curved structure, the position of the reflection point corresponding to different display areas will spatially shift as the driver's eye position changes. Therefore, the calculation of the incident point position must be based on the current real-time eye position information.

[0076] In step S222, the processor determines the light transmission boundary on the polarization modulation unit 11 corresponding to the image beam emitted from each display area based on the position of each incident point determined in step S221, combined with the optical path geometry between the light-emitting side of the image generation unit 10 (PGU) and the imaging element 12, through a reverse ray tracing algorithm.

[0077] The optical path geometry includes at least the relative positions of the PGU and the polarization modulation unit 11, the relative positions of the polarization modulation unit 11 and the reflector assembly 121, and the relative positions of the reflector assembly 121 and the windshield 122 (or beam combiner). Through the above reverse tracing, the processor can accurately calculate and define the physical coverage area of ​​the image beam emitted from each display area on the polarization modulation unit 11, which is the illumination area.

[0078] In step S223, the processor performs spatial comparison and matching between the illumination areas determined in step S222 and the physical partition spatial layout of the polarization modulation unit 11: When a certain illumination area completely overlaps or partially overlaps with a physical partition, it is determined that the physical partition corresponds to the display area, that is, the display area corresponds to the physical partition. When a single illumination area covers multiple physical partitions, it is determined that the display area corresponds to multiple physical partitions (i.e., one-to-many mapping). When multiple illumination areas fall within the same physical partition, it is determined that multiple display areas correspond to the same physical partition (i.e., many-to-one mapping).

[0079] Through the above steps, the system establishes a dynamic correspondence between the display area and the physical partitions. This correspondence is not static but dynamically updated in real time as the driver's eye position changes, thereby ensuring that the polarization modulation commands for each display area always apply to the correct physical partition, achieving precise spatial matching and optical control.

[0080] In step S23, based on the current scene state information obtained in step S21 and the correspondence determined in step S22, polarization modulation parameters for each physical partition are calculated and generated. These polarization modulation parameters include the target P-light / S-light component ratio, polarization rotation angle, or phase delay. The polarization modulation parameters characterize the amount of polarization state adjustment required for the transmitted beam within each physical partition of the polarization modulation unit 11.

[0081] It should be noted that the determination of polarization modulation parameters requires comprehensive consideration of the combined effects of multiple input variables. For example, the system combines the driver's eye position information and calculates the local incident angle of the image beam emitted from each display area at the windshield 122 (or the beam combiner) based on the driver's real-time spatial coordinates in the eye box. Since the transmittance and reflectance of P-rays and S-rays will differ significantly with the incident angle when the polarization state of light is obliquely incident on the glass medium interface, the polarization modulation parameters need to be corrected according to this geometric incident angle to compensate for the polarization loss caused by the change in incident angle. Alternatively, when the ambient brightness information obtained in step S21 is valid, the system introduces a target effective brightness index to adaptively optimize the above-mentioned benchmark parameters. Specifically, in scenarios with strong external ambient light (such as strong daylight), the system can appropriately increase the compensation gain of polarization adjustment to ensure the visual clarity of the virtual image; while in scenarios with dim external ambient light (such as at night or in a tunnel), the system can reduce the polarization compensation intensity to save system power consumption while ensuring clarity.

[0082] In some exemplary embodiments, the control logic in step S23, "determining the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition based on the current scene state information and the correspondence," is specifically implemented through the following sub-steps: S231: Determine the display area corresponding to each of the physical partitions based on the correspondence. S232: Based on the driver's eye position information, determine the incident angle of the image beam emitted from each of the display areas on the imaging element 12; S233: Based on the incident angle and the transmission axis direction and polarization transmittance of the polarized sunglasses included in the driver's sunglasses information, determine the target polarization state corresponding to each of the physical partitions; S234: Determine the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition based on the target polarization state.

[0083] In step S231, based on the mapping relationship between the display area and the physical partition established in step S22, the processor reversely confirms one or more display areas corresponding to each physical partition to be adjusted in the polarization modulation unit 11 under the current mapping relationship.

[0084] After completing the above mapping and recognition, the processor extracts the coordinate position of the corresponding display area and its content priority data as the basic input for subsequent polarization modulation parameter calculation.

[0085] In step S232, the processor determines the incident point position of the light rays pointing from the driver's eyes to each display area on the imaging element 12 by combining the three-dimensional coordinates of the eye box in the driver's eye position information with the coordinate positions of each display area in the virtual image through ray tracing. Then, based on the optical path geometry from the light-emitting side of the PGU to the imaging element 12, the incident angle θi of the image beam corresponding to each display area at the reflection point of the imaging element 12 is calculated.

[0086] In step S233, the processor calculates the target polarization state required for each physical zone based on the incident angle θi obtained in step S232 and the information on the driver wearing sunglasses obtained in step S21.

[0087] The calculation logic follows optical principles and aims to compensate for the polarization distortion and energy loss caused by the beam obliquely incident on the windshield 122 and passing through the polarizing sunglasses, so that the image beam that finally reaches the driver's eyes can still maintain ideal brightness and contrast after being absorbed by the sunglasses.

[0088] In step S233, the target polarization state corresponding to each physical partition is determined based on the incident angle and the driver's sunglasses information, specifically including the following sub-steps: S2331: Determine the P-light reflectivity and S-light reflectivity of the image beam emitted from each of the display areas on the imaging element 12 according to the incident angle; S2332: Determine the effective channel gain corresponding to each of the physical partitions based on the P-light reflectivity, the S-light reflectivity, the transmission axis direction, and the polarization transmittance; S2333: Based on the effective channel gain, determine the target P-light / S-light component ratio corresponding to each physical partition, and the target P-light / S-light component ratio is used as the target polarization state.

[0089] In step S2331, the processor calculates the reflectivity Rp(θi) of the P-light and the reflectivity Rs(θi) of the S-light at each incident angle based on the Fresnel reflection coefficient.

[0090] Specifically, let the refractive index of the incident medium be n1, the equivalent refractive index of the imaging element 12 be n2, the incident angle be θi, and the refraction angle be θt. According to Snell's law, n1sinθi = n2sinθt. The P-light reflectivity Rp(θi) and S-light reflectivity Rs(θi) are calculated using the Fresnel formula, representing the reflection efficiency of the P-polarized component and the S-polarized component at the reflection interface of the imaging element 12, respectively. Since the imaging element 12 is usually a curved structure, the incident angle θi corresponding to different display areas has spatial differences. Therefore, Rp(θi) and Rs(θi) vary with the position of the display area. When the incident angle θi is close to the Brewster angle θB = arctan(n2 / n1), the P-light reflectivity Rp(θi) decreases significantly. At this time, the P-light component in the image beam is greatly attenuated after reflection.

[0091] In step S2332, the processor obtains the transmission axis direction φ, P-light transmittance Tp(φ), and S-light transmittance Ts(φ) of the polarized sunglasses based on the information about the driver wearing sunglasses. The transmission axis direction φ is the linear polarization direction at which the sunglasses can achieve maximum transmittance. The P-light transmittance Tp(φ) and S-light transmittance Ts(φ) represent the proportions of linear polarization components that the sunglasses transmit parallel to and perpendicular to the transmission axis direction, respectively.

[0092] The processor then calculates the effective channel gain for each physical partition: P-light effective channel gain: Hp,i = Rp(θi)·Tp(φ); S-light effective channel gain: Hs,i = Rs(θi)·Ts(φ). The effective channel gain characterizes the degree of brightness attenuation of the P-light and S-light components reaching the driver's eye box after the image beam is output from the PGU, reflected by the imaging element 12, and transmitted through the polarizing lens. A higher effective channel gain indicates less brightness loss of the polarized component during transmission, resulting in higher effective brightness after transmission through the lens.

[0093] In step S2333, the processor determines the target P / S light component ratio of each physical partition based on the effective channel gains Hp,i and Hs,i of the display area corresponding to each physical partition. The determination process follows the principle of prioritizing the increase of the proportion of polarization components with higher effective channel gains, so as to maximize the overall effective brightness reaching the driver's eye box after reflection by the imaging element 12 and transmission through the polarizing sunglasses.

[0094] When ambient brightness information is acquired in step S21, the processor further determines the target effective brightness Li of each display area based on the ambient brightness sensor detection value or background brightness estimate Lb,i, and the preset target contrast ratio CRi. The processor determines the effective brightness corresponding to different P-light / S-light component ratios based on the effective channel gains Hp,i, Hs,i and the target effective brightness Li, and selects the target P-light / S-light component ratio that achieves the target effective brightness Li while having low power consumption as the target polarization state of that physical partition.

[0095] Specifically, in step S2333, the target P-light / S-light component ratio corresponding to each physical partition is determined based on the effective channel gain and the target effective brightness, including the following sub-steps: S23331: Determine the modulation direction based on the effective channel gain of P-light and the effective channel gain of S-light in the effective channel gain; S23332: Based on the modulation direction and the target effective brightness of the display area, determine the P-light / S-light component ratio that satisfies the target effective brightness and minimizes system power consumption; S23333: Optimize and adjust the P-light / S-light component ratio according to the content priority of the display area; S23334: The optimized P-light / S-light component ratio is taken as the target P-light / S-light component ratio.

[0096] Specifically, in step S23331, the modulation direction is determined based on the effective channel gain.

[0097] The processor compares the effective channel gains of the P-light component (Hp,i) and the S-light component (Hs,i) within the effective channel gains. When the effective channel gain of the P-light component (Hp,i) is greater than that of the effective channel gain of the S-light component (Hs,i), it indicates that the brightness loss of the P-light component after reflection by the imaging element 12 and transmission through the polarizing lens is relatively small. The processor then determines the modulation direction to increase the proportion of the P-light component, meaning that the proportion of the P-light component in the target P / S light component ratio should be higher than the proportion of the S-light component.

[0098] When the effective channel gain Hs,i of the S-optical component is greater than the effective channel gain Hp,i of the P-optical component, it indicates that the transmission efficiency of the S-optical component is higher, and the processor determines the modulation direction to increase the proportion of the S-optical component. When the effective channel gain of the P-optical component is equal to that of the S-optical component, or when the difference between the two is less than a preset threshold, the processor maintains the current P-optical / S-optical component ratio or selects the default ratio, which is a balanced ratio in which the P-optical component and the S-optical component each account for 50%.

[0099] In step S23332, the initial ratio is determined based on the modulation direction and the effective brightness of the target.

[0100] Based on the determined modulation direction and the target effective brightness Li of the display area, the processor determines the P / S component ratio that satisfies the target effective brightness while minimizing system power consumption. For example, it determines the P / S component ratio that satisfies the target effective brightness while minimizing system power consumption by consulting a calibration table stored in the controller's internal memory. This calibration table contains the correspondence between different P / S component ratios and effective brightness, as well as the system power consumption data corresponding to each ratio. The processor prioritizes the ratio scheme that allows the polarization modulation unit 11 to operate alone to meet the brightness requirements, thereby reducing overall power consumption.

[0101] For example, in one computational verification method, let the output brightness of the PGU be Lsrc,i, the proportion of the P-light component be α, and the proportion of the S-light component be 1-α. Then, the effective brightness after polarization modulation can be expressed as Leff,i = Lsrc,i·[α·Hp,i + (1-α)·Hs,i]. The processor solves for the α value that makes Leff,i greater than or equal to Li and minimizes the system power consumption, which is used as the initial P-light / S-light component ratio.

[0102] It should be noted that when adjusting the P-light / S-light component ratio alone cannot achieve the target effective brightness Li, the processor selects the polarization state with higher effective channel gain as the initial ratio and marks that the physical partition needs to be combined with PGU output brightness compensation in order to ultimately meet the target effective brightness.

[0103] In step S23333, optimization and adjustment are performed based on content priority.

[0104] The processor optimizes the initial P / S component ratio based on the content priority of the display area. For display areas with higher content priority, such as safety warnings, AR lane lines, and navigation arrows, higher PGU output brightness or a better polarization state can be allocated. The processor further increases the proportion of the higher polarization component in the effective channel gain, or reduces system power consumption constraints to improve brightness, thereby ensuring the readability of critical driving information when wearing polarized sunglasses. For display areas with lower content priority, such as background images or decorative patterns, the processor appropriately reduces the optimization level, maintaining the initial ratio or adopting a lower power consumption ratio scheme to save system power and achieve a reasonable overall energy allocation.

[0105] In step S23334, the target P-light / S-light component ratio is output.

[0106] The processor uses the optimized P / S light component ratio as the target P / S light component ratio. This target P / S light component ratio characterizes the polarization state adjustment target that the physical partition needs to perform on the image beam passing through it, so that the effective brightness reaching the driver's eye box after reflection by the imaging element 12 and transmission through the polarizing sunglasses meets the preset requirements, while taking into account the importance of the displayed content and the system power consumption constraints.

[0107] In step S234, in an embodiment employing an ECB liquid crystal phase retardation array, the processor converts the target P / S light component ratio into a phase retardation amount δi. When the incident light polarization direction forms a preset angle (e.g., approximately 45°) with the ECB liquid crystal optical axis, the phase retardation amount δi determines the energy ratio of the coaxial component and the quadrature component. Under ideal non-absorption conditions, the energy ratio of the two quadrature components can be approximately expressed as cos... 2 (δi / 2) and sin 2 (δi / 2). In actual control, the processor converts the target P-light / S-light component ratio or phase delay δi into the actual driving voltage or driving waveform, forming the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition.

[0108] In some optional embodiments, the processor can also perform temperature compensation on the polarization modulation parameters based on the current temperature data. Specifically, the system is equipped with a temperature sensor to detect the operating temperature of the polarization modulation unit 11, and the controller's storage unit stores a mapping relationship between temperature ranges and driving states. The processor queries this mapping relationship based on the current temperature data and corrects the driving voltage or driving waveform determined in step S234 to compensate for the drift of the liquid crystal phase delay with temperature changes, so that the polarization modulation accuracy at different temperatures remains within the allowable range.

[0109] In some optional embodiments, when a physical partition requiring PDU output brightness compensation is marked in step S233, the processor outputs polarization modulation parameters and simultaneously outputs a brightness enhancement command for the corresponding display area to the PGU. The PGU increases the output brightness of the corresponding display area according to this command, enabling polarization modulation and PGU brightness adjustment to work synergistically to achieve the target effective brightness. This synergistic adjustment preferentially uses polarization modulation to reduce power consumption, and only activates PGU brightness compensation when polarization modulation alone cannot meet the brightness requirements, thus achieving a balance between system power consumption and display effect.

[0110] In step S24, the processor generates a driving command based on the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition determined in step S23 and sends it to the partition driving circuit. The driving command includes the target driving voltage, driving waveform, or phase delay for each physical partition. After receiving the command, the partition driving circuit outputs the corresponding driving signal to each physical partition, causing each physical partition to polarize the image beam passing through that partition according to the target polarization state.

[0111] In one embodiment employing an ECB liquid crystal phase delay array, the partition driving circuit uses an AC RMS voltage or an equivalent DC-bias-free waveform for driving, thereby reducing the risk of long-term bias in the liquid crystal material. The driving signals for each physical partition are independent, allowing different physical partitions to simultaneously adjust the polarization state of different display areas. For example, the physical partition corresponding to the safety alarm display area can be set to a polarization state that enhances the proportion of the S-ray component, while the physical partition corresponding to the background display area can maintain the default polarization state or reduce the modulation intensity, thus improving the readability of critical information while controlling overall power consumption. The PGU frame synchronization signal is used to synchronize the partition polarization modulation state with the display frame, ensuring that polarization modulation and image refresh remain consistent, avoiding display abnormalities caused by screen tearing or asynchronous polarization states.

[0112] In an exemplary implementation, the processor outputs control signals to the partition drive circuit via I2C, SPI, GPIO, PWM, parallel control interface, or other automotive control interfaces. The output of the drive signals follows a preset update sequence, and a state switch is performed only after confirming that the input change exceeds a corresponding threshold and continues for a preset time, in order to avoid frequent fluctuations in polarization state caused by jitter detection.

[0113] When the system detects abnormal conditions, such as open or short circuit of partition driver, loss of PGU frame synchronization, temperature exceeding the operating range, or calibration table verification failure, the processor executes a preset degradation strategy, switching to reference polarization state, unified transmission state, or PGU brightness compensation state to ensure that the basic display function of HUD is not affected.

[0114] The polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system provided in this application defines the display screen as including multiple display areas based on the coordinate positions and content priorities of each display object in the display content information. It establishes a correspondence between each display area and each physical partition of the polarization modulation unit 11, allowing different display areas to obtain independent polarization modulation. This enables localized polarization enhancement for key driving information such as safety warnings, AR lane lines, and navigation arrows, prioritizing the readability of high-priority content, unlike traditional schemes that uniformly adjust the polarization of the entire screen. Simultaneously, this method incorporates information about the driver wearing sunglasses and determines the incident angle of the image beam emitted from each display area on the imaging element 12 based on the driver's eye position information. This determines the effective channel gain of the P-light and S-light, thereby determining the target polarization state of each physical partition. This ensures that the effective brightness reaching the driver's eye box after reflection by the imaging element 12 and transmission through the polarized sunglasses meets preset requirements, fundamentally solving the brightness attenuation problem caused by polarized sunglasses, while avoiding a series of technical problems caused by simply increasing the light source power.

[0115] According to an embodiment of this application, after determining the physical partitions covered by each of the irradiation areas as the physical partitions corresponding to the display area, the method further includes: When the display area corresponding to the same display object in the display content information covers multiple physical partitions, the coverage ratio of the display object in each physical partition, the content priority of the display object in the display screen, and the effective throughput of the eye box corresponding to each physical partition are obtained. Based on the coverage ratio, the content priority, and the effective throughput of the eye box, the modulation weight of each physical partition for the display object is determined; Based on the modulation weights of each physical partition and the current scene state information, the polarization modulation parameters corresponding to each physical partition are determined respectively.

[0116] In this embodiment, the coverage ratio is the area percentage of the illuminated area of ​​the display object within the light transmission range of a single physical zone, used to characterize the extent to which the display object occupies that physical zone. The effective luminous flux of the eyebox is the effective luminous flux of the image beam corresponding to each physical zone within the eyebox range, used to characterize the energy efficiency of the image beam corresponding to that physical zone reaching the driver's eyes. Physical zones with higher effective luminous flux contribute more to the display effect.

[0117] The processor determines the modulation weight of each physical partition for the displayed object based on the coverage ratio, content priority, and effective throughput of the eye box. The determination of the modulation weight follows these principles: the higher the coverage ratio, the greater the modulation weight, to ensure that the main part of the displayed object receives sufficient polarization enhancement; the higher the content priority, the greater the modulation weight, to prioritize the readability of key driving information; and the higher the effective throughput of the eye box, the greater the modulation weight, to optimize the actual effective brightness reaching the driver's eyes.

[0118] In one implementation, the modulation weight can be expressed as a weighted product or weighted sum of the coverage ratio, content priority coefficient, and eyebox effective throughput coefficient.

[0119] The processor determines the polarization modulation parameters for each physical partition based on its modulation weight and the current scene state information. Specifically, physical partitions with higher modulation weights are assigned better polarization modulation parameters, such as higher effective target brightness and a P / S component ratio that favors polarization components with higher effective channel gain. Physical partitions with lower modulation weights are assigned relatively conservative polarization modulation parameters to balance display effect and system power consumption. Thus, the same display object can receive differentiated polarization modulation processing across different physical partitions, ensuring both the overall visual continuity of the display object and achieving refined polarization optimization at the partition level.

[0120] According to an embodiment of this application, after determining the physical partitions covered by each of the irradiated areas as the physical partitions corresponding to the display area, the method further includes: Obtain the polarization modulation parameters corresponding to each of the adjacent physical partitions; When the difference between the polarization modulation parameters corresponding to adjacent physical partitions exceeds a preset threshold, a transition drive value is applied to the boundary region between the adjacent physical partitions. The transition drive value is between the drive values ​​corresponding to the polarization modulation parameters of the adjacent physical partitions.

[0121] In this embodiment, the processor acquires the polarization modulation parameters corresponding to each adjacent physical partition and calculates the differences between the polarization modulation parameters of each adjacent physical partition. The differences can be quantified by the polarization rotation angle or the difference in the P-light / S-light component ratio. When the difference exceeds a preset threshold, it indicates that the polarization state of adjacent physical partitions is significantly different, which may cause visual abrupt changes or brightness jumps at the boundary.

[0122] At this time, the processor applies a transition drive value to the boundary region between adjacent physical partitions. The transition drive value is between the drive values ​​corresponding to the polarization modulation parameters of the adjacent physical partitions.

[0123] In one implementation, the transition drive value is determined by linear interpolation, i.e., by calculating a weighted average of adjacent drive values ​​based on the distance ratio between the boundary region and the adjacent physical partition.

[0124] In another implementation, the transition drive value is determined by a smoothing function, such as a cosine or Gaussian function, to gradually transition between adjacent drive values, ensuring that the polarization state changes continuously in the boundary region rather than abruptly. The boundary region is one or more transition zones at the intersection of adjacent physical partitions. These transition zones can be pre-defined by the physical structure of the polarization modulation unit 11 or dynamically defined by the processor based on the degree of difference between adjacent polarization modulation parameters. The number or width of the transition zones is positively correlated with the degree of difference in polarization modulation parameters; the greater the difference, the wider the transition zones, ensuring that the abrupt change in polarization state is imperceptible to the human eye.

[0125] Through the above processing, the polarization state changes between adjacent display areas tend to be smooth, avoiding the visual boundary effect caused by independent driving of physical partitions, and improving the overall display quality of the virtual image and the driver's viewing comfort.

[0126] This application also provides a polarization field adjustment device 40 for a head-up display system. (Refer to...) Figure 6 The head-up display system includes an image generating unit 10, a polarization modulation unit 11 disposed on the light-emitting side of the image generating unit 10, and an imaging element 12. The polarization modulation unit 11 includes multiple independently controllable physical zones. The device includes: The acquisition module is used to acquire the current scene status information of the head-up display system. The current scene status information includes at least the display content information of the screen displayed in the image generation unit 10, the driver wearing sunglasses information, and the driver's eye position information. The display content information includes the coordinate position, content type, and content priority of each display object in the current display screen. The first determining module 42 is used to determine the correspondence between multiple display areas of the display screen and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit 11 based on the current scene state information, wherein each display area corresponds to at least one physical partition; The second determining module 43 is used to determine the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition according to the current scene state information and the corresponding relationship; The control module 4341 is used to output driving signals to each of the physical partitions according to the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition, so as to realize polarization modulation of different display areas of the display screen.

[0127] In this embodiment, by setting a polarization modulation unit 11 containing multiple independently controllable physical partitions on the light-emitting side of the image generation unit 10, and dynamically adjusting the polarization state of the image beam based on the display content information, the driver's sunglasses information, and the driver's eye position information, the brightness attenuation problem caused by polarized sunglasses is fundamentally solved, while avoiding a series of problems caused by simply increasing the power of the light source.

[0128] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, implements a polarization field adjustment method for any of the head-up display systems provided in the above-described method embodiments.

[0129] This application may be a system, method, and / or computer program product. A computer program product may include a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions loaded thereon for causing a processor to implement various aspects of this application.

[0130] Computer-readable storage media can be tangible devices capable of holding and storing instructions for use by an instruction execution device. Computer-readable storage media can be, for example—but not limited to—electrical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, optical storage devices, electromagnetic storage devices, semiconductor storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of computer-readable storage media include: portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), static random access memory (SRAM), portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital multifunction disc (DVD), memory sticks, floppy disks, mechanical encoding devices, such as punch cards or recessed protrusions storing instructions thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. The computer-readable storage media used herein are not to be construed as transient signals themselves, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through waveguides or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses through fiber optic cables), or electrical signals transmitted through wires.

[0131] The computer-readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded from computer-readable storage media to various computing / processing devices, or downloaded via a network, such as the Internet, local area network, wide area network, and / or wireless network, to an external computer or external storage device. The network may include copper transmission cables, fiber optic transmission, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and / or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing / processing device receives the computer-readable program instructions from the network and forwards them to the computer-readable storage media in the respective computing / processing device.

[0132] The computer program instructions used to perform the operations of this application may be assembly instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, status setting data, or source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk, C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the "C" language or similar programming languages. The computer-readable program instructions may be executed entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In cases involving a remote computer, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer via any type of network—including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN)—or may be connected to an external computer (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuits, such as programmable logic circuits, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or programmable logic arrays (PLAs), are personalized by utilizing the status information of the computer-readable program instructions. These electronic circuits can execute the computer-readable program instructions to implement various aspects of this application.

[0133] Various aspects of this application are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-readable program instructions.

[0134] These computer-readable program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine such that, when executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, they create means for implementing the functions / actions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart and / or block diagram. These computer-readable program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium that causes a computer, programmable data processing apparatus, and / or other device to operate in a particular manner; thus, the computer-readable medium storing the instructions comprises an article of manufacture that includes instructions for implementing aspects of the functions / actions specified in one or more blocks of the flowchart and / or block diagram.

[0135] Computer-readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby causing the instructions executed on the computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to perform the functions / actions specified in one or more boxes of a flowchart and / or block diagram.

[0136] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of this application. In this regard, each block in a flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, segment, or portion of an instruction containing one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. In some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the blocks may occur in a different order than those marked in the drawings. For example, two consecutive blocks may actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they may sometimes be executed in reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each block in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, can be implemented using a dedicated hardware-based system that performs the specified function or action, or using a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions. It will be well known to those skilled in the art that implementation in hardware, implementation in software, and implementation using a combination of software and hardware are equivalent.

[0137] The various embodiments of this application have been described above. These descriptions are exemplary and not exhaustive, nor are they limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein is chosen to best explain the principles, practical applications, or technological improvements to the embodiments in the market, or to enable others skilled in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein. The scope of this application is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for adjusting the polarization field of a head-up display system, characterized in that, The head-up display system includes an image generating unit, a polarization modulation unit disposed on the light-emitting side of the image generating unit, and an imaging element. The polarization modulation unit includes multiple independently controlled physical zones. The method includes: The current scene status information of the head-up display system is obtained, which includes at least the display content information of the image generation unit, the driver wearing sunglasses information, and the driver's eye position information; wherein, the display content information includes the coordinate position, content type, and content priority of each display object in the current display screen; Based on the current scene state information, the correspondence between multiple display areas of the display screen and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit is determined, wherein each display area corresponds to at least one physical partition; Based on the current scene state information and the corresponding relationship, determine the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition; Based on the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition, a driving signal is output to each physical partition to achieve polarization modulation of different display areas of the display screen.

2. The polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining the correspondence between multiple display areas of the displayed image and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit includes: Based on the driver's eye position information, determine the incident point position of the image beam emitted from each of the display areas on the imaging element; Based on the location of each incident point, the illumination area corresponding to the image beam emitted from each display area on the polarization modulation unit is determined; The physical partitions covered by each of the irradiated areas are determined as the physical partitions corresponding to the display area.

3. The polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system according to claim 2, characterized in that, After determining the physical partitions covered by each of the irradiated areas as the physical partitions corresponding to the display area, the method further includes: When the display area corresponding to the same display object in the display content information covers multiple physical partitions, the coverage ratio of the display object in each physical partition, the content priority of the display object in the display screen, and the effective throughput of the eye box corresponding to each physical partition are obtained. Based on the coverage ratio, the content priority, and the effective throughput of the eye box, the modulation weight of each physical partition for the display object is determined; Based on the modulation weights of each physical partition and the current scene state information, the polarization modulation parameters corresponding to each physical partition are determined respectively.

4. The polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system according to claim 2, characterized in that, After determining the physical partitions covered by each of the irradiated areas as the physical partitions corresponding to the display area, the method further includes: Obtain the polarization modulation parameters corresponding to each of the adjacent physical partitions; When the difference between the polarization modulation parameters of adjacent physical partitions exceeds a preset threshold, a transition drive value is applied to the boundary region between the adjacent physical partitions. The transition drive value is between the drive values ​​corresponding to the polarization modulation parameters of the adjacent physical partitions.

5. The polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The polarization modulation parameters include the energy ratio of the P-polarization component to the S-polarization component in the image beam, the polarization rotation angle, or the phase delay.

6. The polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system according to claim 1, characterized in that, Based on the current scene state information and the corresponding relationship, the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition are determined, including: Based on the aforementioned correspondence, the display area corresponding to each of the physical partitions is determined; Based on the driver's eye position information, the incident angle of the image beam emitted from each of the display areas on the imaging element is determined; Based on the incident angle, and the transmission axis direction and polarization transmittance of the polarized sunglasses contained in the driver's sunglasses information, the target polarization state corresponding to each physical partition is determined. Based on the target polarization state, the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition are determined.

7. The polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system according to claim 6, characterized in that, Based on the incident angle, and the transmission axis direction and polarization transmittance of the polarized sunglasses included in the driver's sunglasses information, the target polarization state corresponding to each physical partition is determined, including: Based on the incident angle, determine the P-light reflectivity and S-light reflectivity of the image beam emitted from each of the display areas on the imaging element; The effective channel gain corresponding to each physical partition is determined based on the P-light reflectivity, the S-light reflectivity, the transmission axis direction, and the polarization transmittance. Based on the effective channel gain, the target P-light / S-light component ratio corresponding to each physical partition is determined, and the target P-light / S-light component ratio is used as the target polarization state.

8. The polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system according to claim 7, characterized in that, Based on the incident angle, and the transmission axis direction and polarization transmittance of the polarized sunglasses included in the driver's sunglasses information, the target polarization state corresponding to each physical partition is determined, further comprising: Obtain ambient brightness information; Based on the ambient brightness information, determine the target effective brightness of each display area; Based on the effective channel gain and the effective target brightness, the target P-light / S-light component ratio corresponding to each physical partition is determined, and the target P-light / S-light component ratio is used as the target polarization state.

9. The polarization field adjustment method for the head-up display system according to claim 8, characterized in that, Based on the effective channel gain and the target effective brightness, determine the target P-light / S-light component ratio corresponding to each physical partition, including: The modulation direction is determined based on the effective channel gains of the P-light and the S-light. Based on the modulation direction and the target effective brightness of the display area, determine the P-light / S-light component ratio that satisfies the target effective brightness and minimizes system power consumption; The P-light / S-light component ratio is optimized and adjusted according to the content priority of the display area; The optimized P-light / S-light component ratio is taken as the target P-light / S-light component ratio.

10. A polarization field adjustment device for a head-up display system, characterized in that, The head-up display system includes an image generating unit, a polarization modulation unit disposed on the light-emitting side of the image generating unit, and an imaging element. The polarization modulation unit includes multiple independently controlled physical zones. The device includes: The acquisition module is used to acquire the current scene status information of the head-up display system. The current scene status information includes at least the display content information of the screen displayed in the image generation unit, the driver wearing sunglasses information, and the driver's eye position information; wherein, the display content information includes the coordinate position, content type, and content priority of each display object in the current display screen. The first determining module is used to determine the correspondence between multiple display areas of the display screen and multiple physical partitions of the polarization modulation unit based on the current scene state information, wherein each display area corresponds to at least one physical partition; The second determining module is used to determine the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition according to the current scene state information and the corresponding relationship; The control module is used to output driving signals to each of the physical partitions according to the polarization modulation parameters of each physical partition, so as to realize polarization modulation of different display areas of the display screen.

11. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, It stores a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the polarization field adjustment method of the head-up display system according to any one of claims 1-9.

Images