Image display system for vehicles

Abstract

To provide an image display system in a vehicle which can easily and adequately restrain operation error from being caused resulting from parallax occurring when an occupant in a vehicle views a display of a display device from an oblique direction.SOLUTION: In an image display system SY in a vehicle, a display device D includes a display unit 1 with a display body unit 10 overlapped with an operation panel unit 11, and causes parallax when viewed in an inclined state. The image display system SY further comprises: inclined view determination means 8, 20a which can determine whether or not an occupant is viewing in the inclined state the display device D when the display device D is operated by the occupant in the vehicle; and parallax correspondence correction means 21a which corrects a display position of an image Ia in the display body unit 10 or a position of correspondent place 11a of the image Ia in the operation panel unit 11 when it is determined by the inclined view determination means 8, 20a that the occupant is viewing the display device in the inclined state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image display system for a vehicle such as an automobile. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle is equipped with a so-called touch panel display device, which is often used, for example, to display or input information for a car navigation system, or to display or change various settings of the vehicle.

[0003] However, the prior art has room for improvement, as will be described below.

[0004] That is, an example of a display device mounted on a vehicle is a display device Da as shown in Fig. 6. This display device Da is an air-bonding type in which an operation panel section 11 and a cover 12 are laminated on the surface side of a display main body section (liquid crystal panel section) 10 capable of displaying images, via an air-bonding layer (air layer) 13 having a high refractive index.

[0005] In such an air-bonding type display device Da, when the display unit 1A is viewed from an oblique direction, a phenomenon (parallax) occurs in which the position Pa of the visible image on the outer surface of the cover 12 is shifted by a relatively large dimension (parallax amount) La from the position P of the original image. When such a parallax occurs, for example, as shown in Fig. 7(a), when an occupant tries to touch the display area of ​​the display main body 10 where the image Ia to be operated is displayed, the occupant actually touches a position that is laterally separated from the original position of the image Ia by the parallax amount La, as shown in Fig. 7(b). This may result in an operation error. Unlike the image Ia, the corresponding area of ​​the image Ia on the operation panel 11 (the switching area corresponding to the image Ia among the multiple switching areas provided on the operation panel 11) is not displaced due to the parallax and is in the original original position, so the occupant's finger cannot touch the front of this corresponding area. One way to reduce operational errors caused by such parallax is to make the image displayed on the display unit 1A larger than necessary, but this approach has the disadvantage of significantly restricting the amount of image information that can be displayed on the screen and the design possibilities.

[0006] The display unit 1B of the display device Db shown in FIG. 8 is an optical bonding type in which the operation panel unit 11 and the cover 12 are laminated via an optical bonding layer 14 having a refractive index close to that of the operation panel unit 11 and the cover 12. With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the amount of parallax Lb. However, the display device Db having this configuration is more expensive than the display device Da. Furthermore, although the amount of parallax Lb is small, it does not completely eliminate parallax, and therefore the same problems as those described for the display device Da may occur. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-67031 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-145158 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The present invention has been conceived under the above circumstances, and provides a display device The objective of the present invention is to provide an image display system for a vehicle that can easily and appropriately prevent or suppress operational errors caused by parallax that occurs when a vehicle occupant views the display unit from an oblique direction. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following technical solutions.

[0010] The image display system for a vehicle provided by the present invention is an image display system for a vehicle that includes a display device having a display unit in which an operation panel unit is superimposed on the surface of a display main body unit capable of displaying an image, and in which parallax, which is a shift in the viewing position of the image, occurs between an oblique viewing state in which the display unit is viewed from an oblique direction and a non-oblique viewing state in which the display unit is viewed from the front, and is further characterized by including an oblique viewing determination means that, when the display device is operated by an occupant of the vehicle, can determine whether the occupant is in an oblique viewing state with respect to the display unit, and a parallax correspondence correction means that, when the oblique viewing determination means determines that the occupant is in an oblique viewing state, corrects the display position of the image on the display main body unit or corrects the position of the corresponding part of the image on the operation panel unit so as to prevent a positional shift due to parallax between the viewing position of the image on the display unit and the corresponding part of the image on the operation panel unit.

[0011] This configuration provides the following effects. That is, when a vehicle occupant operates the display device, if the display unit is in an oblique viewing state, the oblique viewing determination means determines that this is the case. Furthermore, if such a determination is made, the display position of the image on the display main body is corrected, or the position of the corresponding part of the image on the operation panel is corrected, so that the viewing position of the image does not shift significantly from the corresponding part of the operation panel due to the parallax that occurs in the oblique viewing state. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately prevent or suppress operation errors that are caused by the parallax that occurs when the vehicle occupant views the display unit of the display device from an oblique direction (in the oblique viewing state). For the display device, for example, an air bonding type as shown in FIG. 6 can be adopted, making it possible to reduce component costs. Furthermore, when the vehicle occupant is in an inclined viewing position, the image position is corrected to eliminate parallax, or the position of the corresponding part of the operation panel is corrected, but normal image display is possible at other times. It is also possible to reduce the significant restrictions on image size and the amount of information displayed.

[0012] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1(a) is a schematic side view showing an example of an image display system in a vehicle according to the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a block diagram of FIG. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the main part of FIG. [Figure 3] 3 is a flowchart showing a series of operation procedures executed in the image display system in the vehicle shown in FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the image display system in the vehicle shown in FIG. 1, where (a) is a plan cross-sectional view of the main part of the display unit in a non-tilted viewing state, (b) is a front view of (a), (c) is a plan cross-sectional view of the main part of the display unit in a tilted viewing state, and (d) is a front view of (c). [Figure 5] 10A and 10B show another example of an image display system for a vehicle, in which (a) is a plan cross-sectional view of a main part of a display unit in an inclined viewing state, and (b) is a front view of (a). [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of parallax that occurs in an existing display device. [Figure 7] 1(a) and 1(b) are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the prior art. [Figure 8] FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of parallax that occurs in an existing display device having a different configuration from that of FIG. 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0015] The image display system SY in the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 (hereinafter referred to as the “image display system SY” as appropriate) includes a touch panel display device D, a camera 8, and a control device 2.

[0016] Display device D is similar to that shown in FIG. Specifically, this display device D is a so-called touch panel type liquid crystal display, and as shown in Fig. 4, it has an air-bonded display unit 1 in which an operation panel unit 11 and a cover 12 are laminated via an air-bonding layer 13 on the front side of a liquid crystal panel unit 10 as the display main body (the same reference numerals are used for the same or corresponding parts as in Fig. 6). The operation panel unit 11 is configured using a touch panel such as a capacitive type or a resistive type, but as will be described later, the specific type is not limited. The cover 12 is intended to protect the operation panel unit 11 and is made of, for example, a translucent resin.

[0017] 2, the display device D is installed diagonally in front of the driver's seat 6 (at the center of the instrument panel in the vehicle width direction). Therefore, when the driver 5 looks at the display unit 1 while normally seated in the driver's seat 6, the display unit 1 is in an oblique viewing state, in which the driver views the display unit 1 from an oblique direction. However, when the driver 5 views the display unit 1 from the front, the display unit 1 is in a non-oblique viewing state.

[0018] The camera 8 is intended to capture moving images of the driver 5, who is a passenger in the vehicle, and is installed at a position further forward in the vehicle than the driver 5's usual position, and is capable of capturing moving images of, for example, almost the entire front side of the driver 5's upper body, including the driver 5's face.

[0019] The control device 2 is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit), and functionally includes a driver state determination unit 20, an image data processing unit 21, and an operation data processing unit 22.

[0020] The driver's state determination unit 20 determines the state of the driver 5 based on image (moving image) data of the driver 5 obtained by imaging using the camera 8. The combination of the driver's state determination unit 20 and the camera 8 is ,luck The driver monitoring system is essentially a system that detects situations that require the driver 5's attention in order to ensure the safety of vehicle driving, such as signs of the driver 5 falling asleep or looking away while the vehicle is running, and quickly communicates (warns) the situation to the driver 5. Such driver monitoring systems themselves are conventionally known, and this embodiment utilizes such a system. This driver state determination unit 20 can determine whether the driver 5 is operating the operation panel unit 11 of the display device D (touch panel operation) based on the driver's 5 posture change, the direction of his or her line of sight, etc.

[0021] The driver state determination unit 20 includes an inclined viewing state determination unit 20a. This inclined viewing state determination unit 20a detects the eye position of the driver 5, and is capable of determining whether the driver 5 is in an inclined viewing state when looking at the display unit 1 based on the detected eye position and position information of the display unit 1 of the display device D that has been set and input in advance. a includes an inclination angle determination unit 20b and also executes processing to determine a specific inclination angle in an inclined viewing state. Note that the inclined viewing state may be defined as either a state in which the inclination angle θ of the driver's 5 line of sight with respect to the normal line NL of the display unit 1 in FIG. 2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle, and the driver is not viewing the display unit 1 substantially from the front, or a state in which the driver is viewing the display unit 1 from an oblique direction to the extent that a parallax that may induce an operation error occurs in the image viewed on the display unit 1. The specific value of the predetermined angle is not limited, and can be selected and set appropriately by the automobile manufacturer, etc.

[0022] The image data processing unit 21 processes image data to be output and displayed using the liquid crystal panel unit 10 of the display device D, and performs data processing for, for example, a car navigation system, various setting condition selection settings for the vehicle, or switching and displaying various other images. However, as will be described later, this image data processing unit 21 includes a parallax correspondence correction unit 21a that performs correction processing to eliminate problems caused by parallax that occur when the driver 5 is in an inclined viewing state with respect to the display unit 1. The operation data processing unit 22 processes data input using the operation panel unit 11 of the display device D.

[0023] Next, the operation of the image display system SY will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0024] First, when the driver 5 gets into the vehicle and is ready to start driving, the driver monitoring system is activated (S1). Based on image data of the driver 5 captured using the camera 8, the driver state determination unit 20 of the control device 2 determines and monitors the driver's 5 posture, eye position, line of sight, etc. Next, when the display device D is operated, it is determined whether the operator is the driver 5 (S2). This determination is also made using the driver monitoring system described above.

[0025] If it is determined in the above-mentioned determination that the operator of display device D is not the driver 5, the image display on the display unit 1 of display device D is set to the normal image display (S2: NO, S8). According to this operation processing, when a passenger other than the driver 5, for example, a passenger in the front seat, operates display device D, the normal image display remains, but such a passenger in the front seat can calmly touch the center of the image to be operated from a position closer to the front of display unit 1 than the driver 5 and with less parallax, so operation errors are rare, and even if an operation error does occur, the operator can easily re-operate, so it is thought that there is no particularly major inconvenience.

[0026] Unlike the above, when it is determined that the operator of the display device D is the driver 5, the inclined viewing state determination unit 20a determines whether the driver 5 is in an inclined viewing state with respect to the display unit 1 based on the relationship between the eye position of the driver 5 and the position of the display unit 1 (S2: YES, S3). If the determination is that the viewing state is not tilted, i.e., if the viewing state is non-tilted, the image display on the display unit 1 is set to normal image display (S4: NO, S8). This is because, in the non-tilted viewing state, no parallax occurs in the image displayed on the display unit 1, and there is no need to eliminate problems caused by parallax. Figures 4(a) and (b) schematically show an example of normal image display on the display unit 1 in such a non-tilted viewing state.

[0027] On the other hand, when the driver 5 is in an inclined viewing state with respect to the display unit 1, the parallax correspondence corrector 21a calculates the parallax amount La of the display image on the display unit 1 (S4: YES, S5). The parallax amount La of the display device D has a certain relationship with the inclination angle θ. Therefore, such a relationship is calculated in advance, and the data is input to and stored in the control device 2. By doing so, the amount of parallax La can be easily calculated based on the tilt angle θ.

[0028] After the parallax amount La is calculated, the image data processing unit 21 controls and executes a parallax correction process (S6) for only the image Ia to be operated among the images displayed on the liquid crystal panel unit 10, in which the position of the image is changed by a dimension equivalent to the calculated parallax amount La in the direction opposite to the positional shift direction of the image in the parallax. The above-mentioned series of controls ends when the control device 2 determines that the vehicle operation has ended, for example, when the driver 5 stops the vehicle engine (S7: YES), but if not, the series of controls is repeated (S7: NO, S2).

[0029] The correction process in step S6 described above is, for example, the process shown in Figures 4(c) and (d). That is, compared to the normal image display in the non-tilted viewing state shown in Figures 4(a) and (b), the display position of the image Ia to be operated on by the liquid crystal panel unit 10 is changed so that the image center is moved from position P to position P'. The direction of this change in position is opposite to the direction in which parallax of image Ia occurs (to the right in Figure 4(c)). The amount of change in position is the same as the amount of parallax La calculated earlier.

[0030] When the correction process is performed, the image Ia' that appears on the surface of the cover 12 and is viewed by the driver 5 is arranged in a position free of parallax due to the tilted viewing state, that is, arranged to overlap directly in front of the corresponding portion 11a (the switching area corresponding to the image Ia among the multiple switching areas that the operation panel unit 11 has) of the original image Ia on the operation panel unit 11. Therefore, when the driver 5 touches the position of the viewed image Ia' with his / her finger, the finger is accurately positioned directly in front of the corresponding portion 11a, and no operation error occurs. In this embodiment, the cost of the image display system SY is reduced by adopting an air bonding type display device, which is less expensive than an optical bonding type display device, as the display device D. On the other hand, although the air bonding type generates a large parallax, it is possible to appropriately eliminate operational errors caused by this parallax.

[0031] When the driver 5 is in an inclined viewing state with respect to the display unit 1, only the image Ia to be operated is changed in position, and the positions of other images are not changed, so that the image displayed on the display unit 1 does not change significantly, and it is possible to suppress the occurrence of discomfort. Also, it is possible to simplify the image data processing and suppress an increase in the amount of image data processing. The image display system SY of this embodiment is constructed using a driver monitoring system that combines a camera 8 and a driver state determination unit 20. For this reason, the image display system SY of this embodiment can be constructed relatively inexpensively in a vehicle that is originally equipped with a driver monitoring system or is scheduled to be equipped with one.

[0032] Figure 5 is , others In the figure, elements that are the same as or similar to those in the above embodiment are given the same reference numerals as those in the above embodiment, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

[0033] In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, when the driver 5 is in an inclined viewing state with respect to the display unit 1, the position of the corresponding portion 11a of the image Ia to be operated on the operation panel unit 11 is configured to be changed by the parallax amount La in the direction that causes parallax in the image Ia. According to this configuration, the visual image Ia' (image centered at position Pa) on the outer surface of the cover 12 is located in front of the corresponding portion 11a, and when the driver 5 touches this visual image Ia' with his / her finger, the corresponding portion 11a of the image Ia on the operation panel unit 11 is appropriately operated. Therefore, in this case as well, it is possible to appropriately eliminate operation errors caused by image parallax, as in the above embodiment.

[0034] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the specific configuration of each part of the image display system for a vehicle according to the present invention can be freely modified in various ways within the intended scope of the present invention.

[0035] In the above-described embodiment, the display device is described as being installed diagonally in front of the driver's seat (in the center of the instrument panel in the vehicle width direction), but the installation location of the display device D is not limited to this, and it may be installed in a location other than the above.

[0036] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, when the driver operates the display device in an inclined viewing state with respect to the display unit of the display device, a predetermined correction process corresponding to the parallax of the image is executed, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the driver is the only occupant of the vehicle and the driver is the only person likely to operate the display device, the specified correction process may not be executed every time the driver operates the device, but may be configured to be executed at all times, or may be configured to be executed only when the operation screen is displayed on the display unit of the display device. The vehicle occupant is not limited to the driver and can be another occupant, for example, a passenger in the front passenger seat, in addition to or instead of the driver. When the display device is installed in the center of the instrument panel in the vehicle width direction, the parallax when the driver views the display unit and the parallax when the passenger in the front passenger seat views the display unit are opposite in the direction of image position shift. Therefore, in the correction process for parallax, the direction in which the display position of the image is corrected for the driver is opposite to that for the passenger in the front passenger seat.

[0037] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the parallax amount La of the image displayed on the display unit is calculated, and the display position of the image is changed by the same amount as the parallax amount La. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, without specifically calculating the parallax amount La, when the occupant is in an inclined viewing state in which the display unit of the display device is viewed at an inclination angle greater than a predetermined angle, the display position of the image on the display unit may be uniformly changed by a predetermined amount. Even in such a case, compared to the prior art, the effect of reducing operational errors caused by parallax can be obtained.

[0038] Parallax of an image displayed on a display device occurs not only in the left-right horizontal direction but also in the up-down direction and the up-down diagonal direction. The display device may be configured to also perform correction corresponding to parallax in such directions. However, the display device may be configured to only perform correction corresponding to parallax of an image in the left-right horizontal direction.

[0039] The present invention is suitable for use with an air-bonding type display device, but is not limited to this and can also be applied to an optical-bonding type display device. The display main body of the display device referred to in the present invention is not limited to a liquid crystal panel, and can also be configured to use a display panel other than a liquid crystal panel (for example, an organic EL panel).

[0040] The operation panel may be of a type other than the capacitance type or the resistive type. For example, the capacitance type can be made into a non-contact type by increasing the operation detection sensitivity. Therefore, the operation panel in the present invention is not limited to a contact type operation panel in the strict sense, but also includes a non-contact type operation panel. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] SY Image display system for vehicles D Display device 1. Display unit (of a display device) 10 LCD panel (display body) 11 Operation panel 11a Corresponding part of the image (on the operation panel) 2. Control device 20a tilt visual recognition state determination unit (tilt visual recognition determination means) 21a Parallax correspondence correction unit (parallax correspondence correction means) 5. Driver (vehicle occupant) 8. Camera (means for determining tilt visibility)

Claims

[Claim 1] A display device having a touch panel type display unit in which an operation panel unit is superimposed via an air bonding layer or an optical bonding layer on the surface side of a display main body unit made of a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL panel capable of displaying an image, and in which parallax, which is a difference in the viewing position of the image, occurs when the display unit is viewed from an oblique viewing state and when the display unit is viewed from the front in a non-oblique viewing state. An image display system in a vehicle, comprising: a driver monitoring system including an inclined viewing determination means that, when the display device is operated by an occupant of the vehicle, can determine whether the operator is the driver of the vehicle, and, if the operator is the driver of the vehicle, can determine whether the driver is in an inclined viewing state with respect to the display unit; In this driver monitoring system, when it is determined that the operator is a driver of a vehicle and is in an inclined viewing state, a parallax correspondence correction means corrects the display position of the image on the display main body so as to prevent a positional shift caused by the parallax between a viewing position of the image on the display unit and a corresponding location of the image on the operation panel unit. It also has An image display system in a vehicle, characterized in that the driver monitoring system is configured not to correct the display position of the image when it is determined that the operator is not the driver of the vehicle.

Images