Corrective device for disparity control

Abstract

A head-up display for a vehicle is provided. The head-up display comprises a picture generating unit arranged to project an image onto a screen. The head-up display further comprises a replicator arranged to receive the image and replicate the image. The head-up display further comprises a corrective device located in the optical path of the replicated image downstream from the replicator. The corrective device is arranged to compensate for a complex curvature of an optical combiner downstream from the corrective device. The optical combiner is further arranged to form a virtual image of the image. The virtual image has a field of view. The head-up display is further arranged to form a tilted image plane having a first projection distance at the bottom of the field of view and a second projection distance at the top of the field of view. The first projection distance is less than the second projection distance.

Description

[0001] CORRECTIVE DEVICE FOR DISPARITY CONTROL

[0002] FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a head-up display suitable for use in a vehicle comprising a (windscreen) corrective device or layer. In some embodiments, the corrective device is principally a windscreen corrective device. The present disclosure further relates to methods of processing display light using the head-up display. More broadly, the present disclosure relates to the light control layer. Some embodiments relate to a holographic projector or picture generating unit.

[0004] BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION

[0005] Light scattered from an object contains both amplitude and phase information. This amplitude and phase information can be captured on, for example, a photosensitive plate by well-known interference techniques to form a holographic recording, or “hologram”, comprising interference fringes. The hologram may be reconstructed by illumination with suitable light to form a two-dimensional or three-dimensional holographic reconstruction, or replay image, representative of the original object.

[0006] Computer-generated holography may numerically simulate the interference process. A computer-generated hologram may be calculated by a technique based on a mathematical transformation such as a Fresnel or Fourier transform. These types of holograms may be referred to as Fresnel / Fourier transform holograms or simply Fresnel / Fourier holograms. A Fourier hologram may be considered a Fourier domain / plane representation of the object or a frequency domain / plane representation of the object. A computer-generated hologram may also be calculated by coherent ray tracing or a point cloud technique, for example.

[0007] A computer-generated hologram may be encoded on a spatial light modulator arranged to modulate the amplitude and / or phase of incident light. Light modulation may be achieved using electrically-addressable liquid crystals, optically-addressable liquid crystals or micromirrors, for example.

[0008] A spatial light modulator typically comprises a plurality of individually-addressable pixels which may also be referred to as cells or elements. The light modulation scheme may be binary, multilevel or continuous. Alternatively, the device may be continuous (i.e. is not comprised of pixels) and light modulation may therefore be continuous across the device. The spatial light modulator may be reflective meaning that modulated light is output in reflection. The spatial light modulator may equally be transmissive meaning that modulated light is output in transmission.

[0009] A holographic projector may be provided using the system described herein. Such projectors have found application in head-up displays, “HUD”.

[0010] SUMMARY

[0011] Aspects of the present disclosure are defined in the appended independent claims.

[0012] In general terms, there is provided a light control device or corrective device for display light that is arranged to compensate for the curvature of an optical combiner (or, more broadly, a curved optical component) on an optical path of the display light. In embodiments, the light control device or corrective device is for display light of a display system. In embodiments, the optical combiner is on an optical path of the display system. In some embodiments, the optical combiner is a vehicle windscreen, arranged to redirect display light from a display device to a viewing window or so-called eye-box, and thereby form a virtual image. The optical combiner may have a first curvature in a first direction and a second curvature in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The first and / or second curvature may be nonlinear. The optical combiner has a complex curvature which introduces complex distortions when used in a display system particularly one based on holographic projection.

[0013] The display light may be spatially modulated light. The display system may be arranged to relay the spatially modulated light to a viewing plane or eye-box. In embodiments, the spatially modulated light is light spatially modulated with an image or picture e.g. displayed on a screen such as a diffuser. The spatially modulated light may be referred to simply as an “image” or “picture” for convenience. The spatially modulated light may alternatively be referred to as a “picture wavefront”. In a variation, the display system is a holographic display system and the spatially modulated light is light that is spatially modulated in accordance with a hologram. The spatially modulated light of this variation may be referred to as a holographic wavefront.

[0014] As above, the light control device or corrective device of the present disclosure is primarily arranged to compensate for the curvature of an optical combiner (e.g. a windscreen) on an optical path of the display system. The optical combiner being on the optical path of the display system may mean that the spatially modulated light, propagating through the display system, may be incident on, reflected by, transmitted through, or otherwise interact with the optical combiner. As the skilled person will appreciate, the curvature of the optical combiner may alter the divergence or convergence of the spatially modulated light and angles thereof. For example, if the spatially modulated light is substantially collimated upstream of the optical combiner (prior to interacting with the optical combiner), then the spatially modulated may be non-parallel (e.g. converging or diverging) downstream of the optical combiner (after interacting with the optical combiner). In otherwords, the optical combiner may have a lensing effect on the spatially modulated light incident thereon. If the curvature of the optical combiner is non-uniform, then the lensing effect may be non-uniform. For example, different portions of the optical combiner may have a different radius of curvature and so may have a different lensing effect on spatially modulated light incident thereon. In some embodiments, the optical combiner is a windscreen or windshield of a vehicle. A windscreen or windshield may have a complex curvature having a complex lensing effect on display light incident thereon.

[0015] A number of problems associated with the lensing effect of the optical combiner have been identified. One problem is that the lensing effect may distort the display light (of the display system). For example, the display light may be such that a picture is viewable at a viewing plane. For example, the display light may be spatially modulated in accordance with a hologram of a picture, or simply in accordance with a picture. The lensing effect of the optical combiner may distort the picture that is viewable at the viewing plane. This may adversely affect a viewing experience of the display system. Another problem identified is specific to display systems comprising a replicator, upstream of the optical combiner. The replicator may be arranged to replicate the spatially modulated light to form a plurality of replicas of the spatially modulated light. In embodiments, the replicator may be a waveguide, as described below. For example, the waveguide may comprise an input port arranged to receive the spatially modulated light. The waveguide may comprise a pair of surfaces arranged to waveguide the spatially modulated light received at the input therebetween. A first surface of the pair of surfaces may be partially-transmissive partially-reflective. The first surface may be arranged to form the plurality of replicas of the spatially modulated light. At least a portion of the first surface may be said to form an output port of the replicator / waveguide. The replicator may be arranged such that the plurality of replicas are relayed towards the optical combiner. The display system may be further arranged such that the plurality of replicas are relayed towards a viewing plane / eye-box of the display system. It has been found that the pitch of the replicas of the spatially modulated light (at the viewing plane) is important for ensuring a good viewing experience. Through simulation and experimentation, it has been further found that the pitch of the replicas may be affected by the lensing effect of the optical combiner. For example, the pitch of the replicas at the viewing plane may be increased or decreased. This may adversely affect the viewing experience. The pitch of the replicas may be reduced if the optical combiner has a concave shape, for example the inside surface of a windscreen or windshield. As used herein, the pitch of replicas refers to the separation or distance between the centres of adjacent replicas.

[0016] Light control devices / corrective devices have previously been proposed in a head-up display comprising a replicator.

[0017] Head-up displays can be single-plane or multi-plane, with the above-described head-up displays being the former. Users (i.e. viewers) perceive the displayed image(s) from a singleplane head-up display at a single distance from their point of view, whereas users perceive the displayed images from a dual-plane head-up display at two different distances from their point of view. Dual-plane head-up displays offer various benefits over their single-plane counterparts. For example, traditional vehicle instrument cluster content including speed, fuel and warning indications can be displayed directly in front of the vehicle, whilst driving hazards and directions can be overlaid in an augmented-reality style that blends in with the driving environment. Therefore, the separation in displayed image depth provided by dual-plane head-up displays enhances the user experience. However, if the displayed image depth is significantly different from the depth of the real-world objects associated with, or close to, the appearance of the displayed image, user eye strain and discomfort may occur. As such, the alignment of the displayed image depth with the depth of the real-world objects is important.

[0018] Dual-plane head-up displays according to the prior art often use a large freeform mirror to enable the presence of more than one image plane. This large freeform mirror is also used for the above-described curvature correction and to position the content at appropriate depths. The large size of this mirror is undesirable, especially in automotive applications as space in vehicle designs may already be limited between the volume assigned for the head-up display and surrounding features such as crumple zones, ventilation ducts and firewalls. The present disclosure aims to reduce the size of the head-up display without sacrificing its image quality or depth information.

[0019] The above-described head-up displays (that are single-plane head-up displays) can use the corrective devices described above instead of the freeform mirror to compensate for the complex curvature of the curved windscreen in a typical vehicle. There has been disclosed a freeform Fresnel-type corrective device that performs the optical role of the freeform mirrors but with a much smaller volume. These corrective devices cover the output surface of an optically downstream waveguide (that is, the waveguide from which replicas arrive at the optical combiner) to correct for the geometry of the optical combiner for a user’s full field-of- view from everywhere in the eye-box.

[0020] However, it would be very difficult for the corrective devices as previously disclosed to be used as a starting point to create a dual-plane (or, more generally, a multi-plane) head-up display. Such a corrective device could be designed that, for a given head position of the user, images are displayed at different depths. However, when said user moves their head, the light would arrive at their eyes from a different part of the corrective device, resulting in optical anomalies such as image distortions, a change in depth perceived and / or parts of the image missing for parts of the field-of-view. As such, as the user moves their head around the eye-box, the corrective device would have to support viewing different regions of the displayed images at different depths through the same part of the corrective device. This would be further complicated by the fact that overlapping of the areas (in other words, footprints) of the corrective device corresponding to the images to be displayed at different depths prevents the desired images from forming correctly. As such, designing and manufacturing such a corrective device for use in a multi-plane head-up display may be prohibitively complex and therefore expensive.

[0021] Other methods of creating a dual- / multi-plane head-up display include more mechanical alterations to the display system, such as creating a moving corrective device with multiple areas for each display plane. These can be seen, for example, in British patent application number GB2413433.0. However, solutions such as these often require additional components, such as mechanisms for moving the corrective device and eye-tracking devices, which increases the complexity and cost of the display system. Another approach uses a tilted thin film transistor display to deliver a tilted image plane, thus mimicking the appearance of image content on the real-world scene ahead - e.g. on the road ahead. However, this approach can create problems with image contrast and package size. Furthermore, the range of the virtual image (projection) distances is limited by the tilt of the thin film transistor display.

[0022] In a first aspect, a head-up display (in other words, a head-up display system) for a vehicle is provided. That is, the head-up display is suitable for use in a vehicle. More broadly, a display system is provided. The head-up display comprises a picture generating unit arranged to project an image onto a screen. The picture generating unit (or the “PGU”) may comprise display device such as a spatial light modulator, which may be a reflective liquid crystal on silicon, “LOOS”, device that is illuminated to form the image. The head-up display comprises a replicator arranged to receive the image and replicate the image. It may be said that this is to (form and) output a plurality of replicas of the image from an output surface (of the replicator). It may be said that the image is received (by the replicator) from the screen. The replication of the image may be by waveguiding between a reflective surface and a transmissive-reflective surface, the transmissive-reflective surface forming the output surface. The replicator may be a waveguide.

[0023] The head-up display further comprises a corrective device (in other words, a corrective optic or, more broadly, a light control device) located in the optical path of the replicated image (in other words, the plurality of replicas of the image) downstream from (the output surface of) the replicator. The corrective device is arranged to compensate for a complex curvature of an optical combiner (more broadly, a curved optical component) downstream from the corrective device, as described above and as is further described below. The optical combiner is further arranged to form a virtual image of the image that is visible from a plurality of viewing positions of a viewing window (in other words, an eye-box) of the head-up display. The viewing window is a virtual area in which the head-up display has been designed such within said area the image(s) displayed are visible to a sufficiently high quality and / or with a sufficiently low number of optical anomalies. It may be said that the corrective device is arranged to output the plurality of replicas of the image to the optical combiner downstream from the corrective device to form the virtual image of the image visible from a plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window. That is, the corrective device outputs replicated image (in other words, the plurality of replicas of the image) such that, through interaction with an optical combiner, a virtual image of the image to be displayed is visible to the viewer. This interaction may be through reflection, as will be discussed in greater detail below. The virtual image comprises (in other words, is formed from) a plurality of virtual image points.

[0024] The corrective device is further arranged to introduce (in other words, impart) a first disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points. That is, the corrective device is arranged or structured in a way that causes at least some of the virtual image points to be subject to a first disparity offset. The term disparity refers to a difference (e.g. angular difference) of a virtual image point as perceived from a first viewing position (e.g. corresponding to a first detector such as a first eye) as compared to the perception from a second viewing position (e.g. corresponding to a second detector such as second eye), which the viewer can use to infer the depth of the virtual image, as will be discussed in more detail below and familiar to the person skilled in the art of optics. The present disclosure is described in terms of a pair of eyes forming a viewing system, with first and second detectors (i.e. the retinas of each eye) being at the first and second viewing positions. However, the head-up display of the present disclosure may also produce the same results to an artificial system replicating the human visual system. An object in space will naturally produce a disparity, depending on the object distance in question and other factors such as the separation between the two viewing positions i.e. between the two eyes. A “disparity offset” refers to additional disparity (i.e. an additional difference - such as an angle or angular difference - that implies a different depth) caused by the corrective device beyond that which would be otherwise apparent in the system. The first disparity offset may be called a horizontal disparity offset, as will be explained below. The first disparity offset of each virtual image point is substantially constant for (i.e. across) the plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window. That is, wherever the viewing system (i.e. the viewer) moves through the viewing window, the first disparity offset will be substantially the same for each virtual image point. In other words, the angular difference of each virtual image point is the same across the viewing window for a pair of viewing positions separated by a fixed distance (i.e. a pair of eyes separated by an interpupillary distance). “Substantially the same / substantially constant” in this instance means that the first disparity offset for each virtual image point is constant enough across all viewing positions that any image changes or distortions that would arise from a change in disparity offset are small and infrequent enough to meet the design parameters set by the designer of the specific head-up display. The first disparity offset is a function of the position of the virtual image point in the virtual image. That is, the first disparity offset differs between the different virtual image points but that, as the viewing system (i.e. the viewer) moves between viewing positions of the viewing window, the difference between the same virtual image points remains substantially constant. It may be said that this function is such that a first depth cue provided in relation to a first part of the virtual image is different to a second depth cue provided in relation to a second part of the virtual image, as will be explained in greater detail below.

[0025] In this way, the inventors have surprisingly found that the appearance of a depth or even dual- or multi-plane display can be achieved without the need for additional components or a more complex hologram compute.

[0026] Each virtual image point has a disparity. That is, light from each virtual image point reaches the left and right eye (i.e. the viewing system) at different angles (due to the distance between the eyes). This difference in angle results in the light reaching different locations on the retinas of the left and right eyes (i.e. the first and second detectors). This difference in location is the “disparity” of the image point, and is a depth cue referred to as convergence - i.e. an indicator of the depth of the image point by the brain (or the processor of a synthetic viewing system).

[0027] In accordance with this disclosure, the corrective device (which is principally included in the system to compensate for the complex curvature of the optical combiner, as discussed above) may additionally manipulate or alter the disparity of one or more of the image points. That is, the corrective device may impart a disparity offset at or to different parts of the virtual image that changes the different visual perceptions of each virtual image point. Specifically, this may alter the depth at which the virtual image point is perceived to be at (compared to neighbouring virtual image points) for different viewing positions. Prior to the invention, it was practice to minimise the disparity for single plane projection using a planar display device because it was expected that any disparity would potentially cause image distortions and discomfort for the user. It has therefore been standard practice to attempt to ensure that the absolute disparity for all virtual image points is the same for all viewing positions within the viewing window. Notably, the inventors surprisingly found that adding a ramped disparity in order to induce a soft or subtle depth cue to the virtual image was visually effective in a head-up display configuration in which the ramp broadly corresponds to a road scene e.g. the tapered appear of a road propagating off into the distance. Again, this was particularly surprising because adding a depth cue using disparity to a planar image formed by a planar display device is counterintuitive and contrary to practice in the art. In a further improvement, a depth position (in the virtual image) of a zero disparity offset baseline is aligned with an accommodation distance in order to provide an optimised viewing experience.

[0028] The inventors have surprisingly found that, instead of ensuring that the disparity for all virtual image points is the same for all viewing positions within the viewing window, a purposefully uneven disparity offset for virtual image points at the same viewing position can be advantageously used to create the effect of a dual- or multi-plane head-up display. That is, by going against the established practice and introducing a disparity offset using the corrective device, the inventors have found that parts of the image to be displayed can be effectively made to appear as if they are displayed on different planes without visual discomfort. By altering the disparity offset of neighbouring image points, a first part of the image can appear to be displayed at a different depth than a second part of the image. Thus, the effect of a dual- or multi-plane display device is achieved with the modification of the corrective device, as opposed to adding in additional components or increasing the complexity of the hologram compute.

[0029] It should be noted that not every human uses convergence as a depth cue, and many humans use other depth cues in addition to disparity. However, the inventors have surprisingly found that the display system of the first aspect can provide a depth effect (i.e. a so-called soft depth cue) to a satisfactory level to a large number of people. This is because the another of the depth cues, accommodation, reduces in effectiveness past a given distance (typically around 2 metres). As the head-up display of the present disclosure is typically associated with much longer image distances (for example, around 10 metres), convergence is often more heavily relied upon. The present disclosure is therefore highly effective for head-up display for a vehicle.

[0030] Each virtual image point may correspond to a first and second point on the screen of the head- up display. The first point may correspond to a first viewing position (in other words, a first detector position, such as first eye position) and the second point may corresponding to a second viewing position (in other words, a second detector position, such as second eye position). The corrective device may be arranged to introduce (in other words, impart) the first disparity offset by introducing (in other words, altering or changing) a separation between the first point and second point on the screen. This separation is representative of the disparity of the system, and so it may be said that the corrective device is arranged or structured in way that it changes the locations at which the first and second points are formed on the screen for each virtual image point, thereby imparting the first disparity offset. The first point may correspond to extrapolation (for example, optical ray tracing) of a first optical path from the virtual image point to the first viewing position, whilst the second point may correspond to extrapolation (for example, optical ray tracing) of a second optical path to the second viewing position. That is, the first and second points formed on the screen for each virtual image point may be found by tracing the path of replicas from said virtual image point to the first and second detectors of the viewing system respectively.

[0031] Therefore, as discussed above, the corrective device purposefully introduces a soft perception of depth into parts of the virtual image reflected by altering the points on the screen from which each virtual image point is produced. These points can be found by ray tracing the optical path of the light from the virtual image point to the viewing positions (i.e. to the eyes or detectors), and then by ray tracing the optical path of the light from the viewing positions to the screen via the optical combiner. Ray tracing can then be used to find the point of the corrective device responsible for the disparity offset of the given virtual image point from the points on the screen.

[0032] The virtual image has a first side and a second side. The corrective device is further arranged such that the first disparity offset of the plurality of virtual image points increases in a first direction from the first side to the second side of the virtual image. The first direction may be orthogonal to an output surface of the corrective device. That is, from the perspective of the viewer (i.e. the viewing system), the first disparity offset may increase from the top to the bottom of the virtual image. The increase in the disparity offset may be linear. That is, the disparity offset may be such that the top part of the virtual image appears at a deeper plane (i.e. further away from the viewer / viewing system) than the bottom part of the virtual image. In this way, the top part of virtual image may be used to display features such as road directions and hazard warnings, whilst the bottom part of the virtual image may be used to display features such as vehicle information. A middle part of the virtual image may be left blank (i.e. no virtual image points are formed / displayed therein). The middle part of the virtual image may correspond to (close to) the natural accommodation distance of the viewer, and - in accordance with some embodiments - may be left empty to emphasis the difference in apparent depth between the top and bottom parts of the virtual image.

[0033] The picture generating unit is arranged to sequentially project a first image and a second image onto the screen. That is, it may be said that the picture generating unit is arranged to project a sequence of images onto the screen. In other words, the picture generating unit may be arranged to project video onto the screen formed of sequentially displayed images (i.e., frames). To be clear, the disparity offset function across the corrective device is the same for each image displayed. The corrective device is arranged to form a first virtual image and a second virtual image of the first and second images respectively. It may be said that the corrective device is arranged to form a sequence of virtual images of the (sequence of) images.

[0034] The first image comprises an image feature in a first position in the first direction. That is, the first image has an image feature located in a first position between the first and second sides of the first image. The second image comprises the image feature (i.e., the same image feature as in the first image) in a second position in the first direction. In other words, the image element is moved (i.e., changes position) in the first direction between the two images. This is such that the first disparity offset associated with the image feature changes during projection. It may be said that this in order to create a change in the perception of depth (i.e., the image distance) of (or associated with) the image feature. In other words, the picture generating unit is arranged to move an image feature of the first and second image in the first direction such that a disparity offset associated with the image feature is changed (i.e., in order to create a change in the perception of depth, or image distance of, or associated with, the image feature).

[0035] In other words, the picture generating unit may be further arranged to modify the images sequentially in time to move (i.e., change the position of) an image feature of the first and second images in the first direction such that a disparity offset associated with the image projection is changed during projection of the sequence of images. That is, the picture generating unit may be arranged to move at least one image element (the virtual image element of which being formed by the optical combiner) in the first direction (in a direction from the top part of the virtual image to the bottom part or vice versa). The appearance of such movement may be achieved by sequentially displaying images (i.e., frames) in which the image element is in a slightly different position as compared to in the previous image.

[0036] Moving the image element in the first direction changes the disparity offset of the virtual image element, thereby making it dynamically appear closer to or further from the user / viewer. That is, through a sequence of images, the image element can be made to appear as if it is gradually moving closer to and / or further away from the viewer / user.

[0037] In other words, in a further enhancement the inventors have surprisingly discovered that the change in disparity offset across the virtual image points of the virtual image can be utilised when playing video content on the head-up display. Moving the content down in the field of view to give the appearance of decreasing its virtual image distance can give the appearance of bringing content closer to the viewer (e.g., a warning sign near a static hazard). Likewise, content can be pushed out into space (i.e., can be displayed further from the viewer) by moving it toward the top of the field of view to increase its apparent depth.

[0038] The image element may have a substantially constant size and / or shape. That is, the image element remains at the same size and / or shape as perceivable by the user / viewer between the first and second images - i.e., only the position of the image element changes. The visual effect of the apparent changing depth of the image element is solely due to the disparity offset change. Alternatively, the image element may change in size and / or shape corresponding to change in its position. That is, the size and / or shape may be changed to complement the changing depth effect described above. For example, the image element may be reduced in size as it moves towards the top of the field of view (and its apparent depth is increased), then increased as it moves towards the bottom of the field of view (and its apparent depth is decreased).

[0039] The first position may be proximate to the first side and the second position may be substantially central with respect to (i.e., between) the first and second sides (in the first direction). That is, the second position may be in the middle part of the images (as described above).

[0040] The corrective device may be further arranged to introduce (in other words, impart) a second disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points. The second disparity offset of each virtual image point may be substantially constant for (in other words, across) the plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window. This is as per the first disparity offset as described above. The second disparity offset may be substantially constant in a second direction across the virtual image, the second direction being orthogonal to the first direction. That is, the disparity offset may be substantially constant across the virtual image in a horizontal direction (from the perspective of the viewer or viewing system). Thus, parts of the virtual image displayed on the same horizontal axis appear to be displayed at the same depth.

[0041] The virtual image may have an axis orthogonal to the first direction (i.e. parallel to the second direction). The first disparity offset of the virtual image points on (or near) the axis may correspond to the focal distance (or length) of a viewer. That is, the first disparity offset of the virtual image points on or near the axis may be substantially zero (that is, as close to zero as possible within the limits of manufacturing the corrective device and close enough to zero to provide the benefits described below). As such, the axis of the virtual image (in the horizontal direction) matches the natural focal distance of the user (that is, the distance at which it is comfortable to view the projected virtual image). The axis may be a central axis, or may be non-central, depending on where the focal distance of the head-up display is designed to be relative to the virtual image to be displayed. The focal distance of the head-up display may be tuned to correspond to the focal distance of the viewer, which increases the viewer’s comfort and reduces eye strain. This tuning may be through, for example, moving the screen relative to the replicator (along the optical path of the light passing therethrough). The appearance of depth of the top and bottom of the virtual image is then provided using the convergence distance, as described above. As such, the first disparity offset may increase from a negative value at the first side of the virtual image to a positive value at the second side of the virtual image in the first direction. The first disparity offset at the second side of the virtual image may be the absolute value of the first disparity offset at the first side of the virtual image. That is, the first disparity offset ramp may be symmetrical about the (central) axis.

[0042] The corrective device may be further arranged to introduce (or impart) the first and / or second disparity offset to all of the plurality of virtual image points. That is, all virtual image points may be effected by the corrective device in this way.

[0043] The corrective device may comprises (or, in other words, may be) a so-called bulk optic. The bulk optic may have non-uniform power that compensates for the non-uniform power of the optical combiner. The non-uniform power of the bulk optic may be refractive. The head-up display may further comprise a diffractive optical element arranged to provide a global turn of the replicated image (i.e. the spatially modulated light and replicas thereof). The global turn may be diffractive. The “bulk optic” may comprise a pair of light-receiving surfaces that are both continuous in a mathematical sense - that is, can be described by a respective mathematical function that is continuous (such as one defining a plane or curved surface) rather than a repeating function or function comprising discontinuities (e.g. as per a Fresnel structure). The term “bulk optic” reflects that the component is not a film or layer but rather a physical piece of e.g. plastic or glass. This is further described in UK patent application number 2415594.7, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The corrective device may comprise a Fresnel structure, more specifically a Fresnel lens.

[0044] The corrective device may have a non-complex surface or plurality of surfaces, each surface arranged at an angle relative to (a plane of) an output surface (of the replicator). That is, each surface through which the replicated image passes has a least one angle relative to the replicator. Each angle may, at least in part, correspond to the first disparity offset function. That is, by changing angles of the corrective device that the replicas will pass through, the first disparity offset function may be controlled for each virtual image point. However, other methods of disparity offset modification would be known to the skilled person, depending on the type of corrective device used.

[0045] The head-up display may further comprise the optical combiner. That is, the head-up display is arranged to output the replicated image (in other words, the replicas thereof) to the viewer / viewing system via the optical combiner, but the combiner may also form part of the head-up display. The optical combiner may be a windscreen (of a vehicle). The optical combiner may form the virtual image by reflecting the replicated image (in other words, at least some of the replicas thereof) towards the viewer / viewing system. The virtual image may therefore appear beyond the optical combiner, which may be substantially transparent.

[0046] Notably, the corrective device is primarily arranged to compensate for the curvature of the optical combiner. The compensation may be a function of the position on an output surface of the replicator. That is, the compensation provided by the corrective device may vary across its surface, the compensation corresponding to the varying surface and curvature of the optical combiner. Importantly, the inventors have found that small tweaks to the corrective device can be made to induce the disparity offset ramp of the present disclosure without adversely affecting the compensation of the optical combiner. In a variation, the complex curvature compensation and the disparity offset(s) are provided by physically separate components collectively forming a “corrective device”. The screen may be a diffuser. That is, the screen may act as a numerical aperture expander to increase a numerical aperture of the image light received by the replicator. The screen may be substantially planar. That is, the screen may be sufficiently planar (flat) to minimise unwanted distortions to the image light. The light may be spatially modulated in accordance with a picture. In a variation, the light may be spatially modulated in accordance with a hologram of a picture.

[0047] In a second aspect, a method of designing a corrective device for a head-up display is provided. The head-up display is for a vehicle (that is, suitable for use in a vehicle). The head-up display comprises a picture generating unit arranged to project an image onto a screen The head-up display further comprises a replicator arranged to receive the image and replicate the image. It may be said that the replicator outputs a plurality of replicas of the image from an output surface (of the replicator). The replicator may be a waveguide.

[0048] As described above in relation to the first aspect, the picture generating unit is arranged to sequentially project a first image and a second image onto the screen. The optical combiner is arranged to form a first virtual image and a second virtual image of the first and second images respectively. The first image comprises an image feature in a first position in the first direction and the second image comprises the image feature in a second position in the first direction, such that the first disparity offset associated with the image feature changes during projection.

[0049] The display system further comprises a corrective device located in the optical path of the replicated image (in other words, the plurality of replicas of the image) downstream from (the output surface of) the replicator. The corrective device is arranged to compensate for a complex curvature of an optical combiner (more broadly, a curved optical component) downstream from the corrective device, as per the first aspect. The optical combiner is further arranged to form a virtual image of the image that is visible from a plurality of viewing positions of a viewing window (in other words, an eye-box) of the head-up display. The viewing window is a virtual area in which the head-up display has been designed such within said area the image(s) displayed are visible to a sufficiently high quality and / or with a sufficiently low number of optical anomalies. It may be said that the corrective device is arranged to output the plurality of replicas of the image to the optical combiner downstream from the corrective device to form the virtual image of the image visible from a plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window. That is, the corrective device outputs the plurality of replicas of the image such that, through interaction with an optical combiner, a virtual image of the image to be displayed is visible to the viewer. The virtual image comprises (in other words, is formed from) a plurality of virtual image points.

[0050] The method comprises optimising the corrective device to introduce (in other words, impart) a first disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points. That is, the corrective device is optimised in a way that causes at least some of the virtual image points to be subject to a first disparity offset, as defined above in relation to the first aspect. The first disparity offset of each virtual image point is substantially constant for (in other words, across) the plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window. The first disparity offset is optimised to be a function of the position of the virtual image point in the virtual image. It may be said that the optimisation of this function is such that a first depth cue provided in relation to a first part of the virtual image is different to a second depth cue provided in relation to a second part of the virtual image, as per the first aspect. As such, a corrective device is designed such that it can be used to replicate the appearance of a dual- or multi-plane display device, as described above.

[0051] The corrective device may have a plurality of surfaces arranged at a plurality of angles relative to an output surface of the replicator. The step of optimising the corrective device may comprise modifying the plurality of angles. As described above, this is one method of altering the disparity offset provided by the corrective device.

[0052] The optimisation may be such that the first disparity offset increases in a first direction from a first side to a second side of the virtual image. The optimisation may introduce (in other words, impart) a second disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points. The second disparity offset of each virtual image point may be substantially constant for (i.e. across) the plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window. The second disparity offset may be substantially constant in a second direction across the virtual image, the second direction being orthogonal to the first direction.

[0053] The optimisation may be such that the first and / or second disparity offset is introduced (in other words, imparted) to all of the plurality of virtual image points.

[0054] In a third aspect, a further head-up display for a vehicle is provided that does not involve forming the image on a screen. The head-up display comprises a picture generating unit arranged to project a hologram of an image to a replicator. The picture generating unit (or the “PGU”) may comprise display device such as a spatial light modulator, which may be a reflective liquid crystal on silicon, “LOOS”, device that is illuminated to form the hologram of the image. The head-up display further comprises the replicator, which arranged to receive spatially modulated light and replicate the spatially modulated light. It may be said that this forms a plurality of replicas of the spatially modulated light and that the replicator outputs the replicas from an output surface. This may be by waveguiding between a reflective surface and a transmissive-reflective surface. The transmissive-reflective surface forms the output surface for the plurality of replicas of the spatially modulated light. The replicator may be a waveguide.

[0055] The head-up display further comprises a corrective device located in the optical path of the replicated spatially modulated light (i.e. the plurality of replicas of the spatially modulated light) downstream from (the output surface of) the replicator. The corrective device is arranged to compensate for a complex curvature of an optical combiner (more broadly, a curved optical component) downstream from the corrective device. The optical combiner is further arranged to form a virtual image of the image that is visible from a plurality of viewing positions of a viewing window (in other words, an eye-box) of the head-up display. The viewing window is a virtual area in which the head-up display has been designed such within said area the image(s) displayed are visible to a sufficiently high quality and / or with a sufficiently low number of optical anomalies. It may be said that the corrective device is arranged to output the replicated spatially modulated light (that is, the plurality of replicas of the spatially modulated light) to the optical combiner downstream from the corrective device to form the virtual image of the image visible from a plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window. That is, the corrective device outputs the replicated spatially modulated light (i.e. the plurality of replicas of the spatially modulated light) such that, through interaction with an optical combiner, a virtual image of the image to be displayed is visible to the viewer. The virtual image comprises (in other words, is formed from) a plurality of virtual image points.

[0056] The corrective device is further arranged to introduce (in other words, impart) a first disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points, as in the first aspect. That is, the corrective device is arranged or structured in a way that causes at least some of the virtual image points to be subject to a first disparity offset. The first disparity offset of each virtual image point is substantially constant for (i.e. across) the plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window, as also in the first aspect. The first disparity offset is a function of the position of the virtual image point in the virtual image. That is, the first disparity offset differs between the different virtual image points but that, as the viewing system (i.e. the viewer) moves between viewing positions of the viewing window, the difference between the same virtual image points remains substantially constant. That is, the display system of the third aspect does not comprise a screen. That is, rather than an image being formed on a screen, the replicated light is according to a hologram and the detectors (i.e. the eyes) perform the “hologram-to-eye” conversion. It may therefore be said that the spatially modulated light may be a holographic wavefront and the replicator may be arranged to form a plurality of replicas of the holographic wavefront.

[0057] It may be said that the disparity offset ramp described above forms a tilted image plane. That is, the inventors have surprisingly discovered that the head-up display of the present disclosure - in particular, the arrangement incorporating a corrective device - can be used to form a tilted image plane. This tilted image plane is used to form the appearance of a multiplane head-up display, as will be further discussed below. The inventors further discovered that, whilst the convergence depth cue described above contributes to the formation of the tilted image plane, other depth cues (such as, for example, accommodation) also contribute to the formation of the tilted image plane.

[0058] As such, in a fourth aspect, a head-up display for a vehicle is provided. The head-up display comprises a picture generating unit arranged to project an image onto a screen, as described above. The head-up display further comprises a replicator arranged to receive the image and replicate the image, as also described above. The head-up display further comprises a corrective device located in the optical path of the replicated image downstream from the replicator, as also described above. The corrective device is arranged to compensate for a complex curvature of an optical combiner downstream from the corrective device. As described above, the optical combiner is further arranged to form a virtual image of the image. As also described above, there may be provided a head-up display system comprising the head-up display and the optical combiner. The virtual image has a field of view that may be an angular field of view. That is, the virtual image may be defined by a range of angles. The head-up display is arranged to form a tilted image plane. This plane may also be referred to as a tilted virtual image plane, as it is the plane on which the virtual image appears to the user / viewer. By “tilted”, it may mean that a normal to the (virtual) image plane produced by the head-up display is arranged at an angle (i.e., is not parallel) to both the user’s / viewer’s viewing direction and the normal of a plane perpendicular thereto. In some embodiments, the virtual image plane is tilted (e.g., backwards / away from the user / viewer) with respect to a vertical plane facing the user / viewer (e.g., perpendicular to a general viewing direction ahead), such that any image content displayed thereon appears on road ahead in a manner that will be familiar to the person skilled in the art of augmented reality. The tilted (virtual) image plane has a first projection distance at (or associated with) the bottom of the field of view and a second projection distance at (or associated with) the top of the field of view. The first projection distance may be less than the second projection distance, or vice versa. In other words, the tilted (virtual) image plane appears to the user / viewer as if a vertical (virtual) image plane has been rotated about a horizontal axis in a direction such that a top portion of the plane appears further from the user / viewer than a bottom portion of the plane. This is achieved through the arrangement of the corrective device and other components of the head-up display or head-up display system of the fourth aspect. That is, the technical contribution provided is a consequence of implementing a corrective device. In some embodiments, the corrective device - particularly in combination with the other components - introduces a disparity offset, as described throughout this disclosure, that produces the tilted (virtual) image plane.

[0059] In this way, a head-up display with the advantages described above in relation to the other aspects is achieved. These include the appearance of varying (virtual) image depth, such as dual- or multi-plane display, without the need for additional components or a more complex hologram compute. The head-up display reduces the image contrast, package size and virtual image distance limitations associated with thin film transistor displays, as there is no need to add or modify components. That is, the inventors have found that the tilted image plane can be used to create the appearance of a multi-plane head-up display, as will be further discussed below. The plurality of planes can display different content overlaying with the world outside the vehicle. Image content may be overlaid with the road surface and the user / viewer may be able to perceive said content as if it were actually at the depth of the road at that point in space.

[0060] The relative positions and orientations of the picture generating unit, replicator, optical combiner and corrective device may be arranged to form the tilted image plane. In other words, the picture generating unit, replicator, optical combiner and corrective device may be positioned and oriented in a specific way in order to change the location and angle of the tilted image plane. That is, the inventors have surprisingly discovered that changing the positions and orientations of these components can be used to change the position and orientation of the tilted image plane when a (windscreen) corrective device is used with the replicator. Whilst the optical combiner and / or the replicator may have a fixed position and orientation (for example, if the optical combiner is a windscreen, as described above), the remaining components may be positioned and orientated relative to the fixed components to produce the desired result.

[0061] The head-up display may be operated in a first display mode or a second display mode. For shorthand, it may be said that the image may have a first (display) mode and second (display) mode. In the first mode, the corresponding virtual image (or images) may appear to have an axis orthogonal to the general viewing direction or direction of the projection distance. In the first mode, the image content may appear on a vertical plane (that is, sitting upright) or plurality of vertical planes. In other words, in the first mode, the virtual image appears to be on a vertical (virtual) image plane or plurality of vertical (virtual) image planes. The vertical image plane or planes may be described as planes orthogonal / perpendicular to the projection direction or the viewing direction of the user / viewer. It may be said that each vertical plane is arranged on, or sits on, the tilted image plane, or it may be said that each vertical plane intersects with the tilted image plane. Therefore, the appearance of a plurality or series of vertical planes forming a multi-plane display can be produced in the first mode. This “vertical” plane behaviour does not require the tilt of any components, or the sacrifice of image contrast or luminance. In the second mode, the corresponding virtual image may have an axis substantially parallel to the tilted image plane. In other words, in the second mode, the virtual image appears to lie on the tilted image plane.

[0062] That is, the inventors have surprisingly found that the image can be made to appear like it is vertical (at different points along the tilted image plane) or lying on said tilted image plane formed by the optical arrangement of the head-up display and, in particular, corrective device.

[0063] In the first mode, the image may be substantially rectangular and, in the second mode, the image may be substantially trapezoidal. That is, by transforming the image from substantially rectangular to substantially trapezoidal, the image can be made to appear as if it is vertical and then lying on the tilted image plane. The term “substantially” is used here to refer to a shape that is sufficiently rectangular or trapezoidal to produce an enhanced optical effect, as described herein, when used with the corrective device. In the second mode, the image may be processed such that a rectangular image becomes trapezoidal. That is, the image may be distorted such that it resembles the image as it would be if it were lying on the tilted image plane, for example using a projection transform. Distortions or transforms may take place that are more complex than merely reshaping a rectangular image into a trapezoidal one. This may include transforms to ensure that (especially at long focal distances and / or at large tilt angled of the image plane angle from vertical) the image does not get too compressed in the first / vertical direction. Such a compression may otherwise result in the image appearing as a line to the viewer.

[0064] The head-up display may further comprise a controller arranged to switch between the first and second modes. The controller may be, for example, an image processing unit designed to produce / modify the image projected by the picture generating unit. The controller may adjust the perspective of the image between the first mode and second mode by / using a software adjustment. The image may comprise a plurality of image features (in other words, image elements) corresponding to a plurality of virtual image features (in other words, virtual image elements). These image features may, individually and independently, have first and second modes as described above. That is, each image feature may be made to appear lying on the tilted image plane or standing vertically, regardless of the appearance of the other image features. As such, the image may have some image features in the first mode and some image features in the second image mode at the same time. The above-described controller may be arranged to switch between the two modes for each image feature at different times. As such, the same head-up display can be used to show tilted image plane content, vertical plane content, or both types of content simultaneously in the same field of view. In other words, the same head- up display can be used to show image content in the first mode and the second mode consecutively and / or concurrently - notably, using software methods such as image processing methods.

[0065] Each virtual image feature may be spatially separated from the other virtual image features on the tilted image plane in the direction of the projection distance. The spatial separation between each virtual image feature may correspond to (or, may be) an angular separation of at least 0.1 degrees, optionally at least 0.4 degrees. That is, the angular separation relates to (i.e., corresponds to) the angle of the field of view occupied by the gap between the virtual image features. In other words, the image features may be separated on a display device (of the picture generating unit) by at least 20 pixels, optionally at least 83 pixels. By separating the virtual image features in this way, the inventors surprisingly found that the depth effect of the first mode is more pronounced. In other words, the virtual image features may populate multiple distinct regions in the vertical direction in the field of view (i.e., horizontal stripes across the field of view) with (black or blank) gaps between virtual image features. This can cause the eye to perceive the virtual image features as if they lie on discrete vertical planes. The inventors have importantly found that the (vertical) spatial separation of the virtual image features (and the gaps therebetween) are important for the brain to successfully separate the content and “trick” the eye into perceiving the features on different vertical planes.

[0066] Each image feature may be visible on a respective virtual image plane. That is, each virtual image plane is the “vertical” plane of the first mode, as described above. An angular separation between each pair of adjacent virtual image planes may be at least 0.1 degrees, optionally at least 0.4 degrees. An angular separation between an upper virtual image plane and an adjacent middle virtual image plane may be at least 0.2 degrees, optionally at least 0.4 degrees. In other words, an upper image feature may be separated on a display device (of the picture generating unit) from a middle image feature by at least 45 pixels, optionally 83 pixels. An angular separation between the middle virtual image plane and an adjacent lower virtual image plane may be at least 0.1 degrees, optionally at least 0.2 degrees. In other words, the middle image feature may be separated on the display device (of the picture generating unit) from a lower image feature by at least 20 pixels, optionally 45 pixels. That is, the inventors have discovered that a larger gap between image features is required the further from the user / viewer the image features appear to be. The terms “upper”, “middle” and “lower” each refer to the image features as seen by the user / viewer. The measurement may be taken from the bottom of the first image feature / virtual image plane to the top of the next (second) image feature / virtual image plane.

[0067] For corrective devices for longer virtual image distances, the angle of the tilt of the tilted image plane may increase. That is, the inventors have found that a further benefit of forming the tilted image plane by the optical arrangement of the head-up display (and in particular the corrective device) is that tiled image planes with long virtual image distances can be formed. For example, a first (group of) image feature(s) may be at a virtual image depth of at least 10m and / or a second (group of) image feature(s) may be at a virtual image depth of at least 40m. Longer virtual image distances allow images or image features to be displayed over a long distance ahead of the user / viewer, which can be especially useful for displaying images or image features in the first mode. These images / image features may, for example, be hazard warning content, for which a long virtual image distance is preferable.

[0068] In summary, the perception of a multi-plane head-up display can be significantly enhanced by segmenting the image into chunks (i.e. , the image features) in different parts of the vertical field of view with gaps in between. In other embodiments, by moving the image features up and down the projected image, the perception of changing the depth of the image feature can be created. In the first mode, the perception may be of the vertical plane moving through space (towards and away from the user / viewer). In the second mode, the perception may be of the image feature sliding forwards and backwards (towards and away from the user / viewer) along the tilted image plane.

[0069] The inventors have found that the tilted image plane and display modes disclosed herein synergistically enhance the viewing experience - in particular, they enhance the way different depth cues can be used to provide visual information. The inventors have found that, by processing the image (or individual image features) prior to hologram calculation, the tilted image plane can actually be used to display images / image features on a plurality of discrete vertical image planes. That is, despite the optical arrangement introducing a disparity-driven global tilt to the virtual image plane, images / image features may be made to appear on a plurality of different vertical planes - e.g. by processing the image prior to hologram calculation as described herein. This was a highly surprising result and, in some embodiments, was further enhanced by the deliberate inclusion of carefully-chosen gaps or breaks in the image content. The inventors further discovered that the processed or shaped graphics stimulate other visual cues, used by the human brain to determine depth differences, resulting in the perception of a series of vertical planes - despite disparity appearing to oppose this effect. As such, the complex interaction of the tilted image plane and the display modes provides an improved multi-plane display without the need to change to hologram algorithm or physical components of the head-up display. The inventors also discovered that alternatively processed or shaped graphics (of the second mode) can stimulate the depth cues to display image content lying on the tilted image plane at different image depths. Importantly, switching between the two different display modes is achievable in software, making it possible to switch between the two modes on demand.

[0070] The second projection distance may be at least 20 metres. More specifically, the second projection distance may be in the range of 20 to 200 metres. Even more specifically, the second projection distance may be in the range of 30 to 100 metres or 50 to 80 metres, or in a range containing any of these values.

[0071] Notably, the inventors found that the optical system of the present disclosure - in particular, the use of the corrective device discussed herein creating the perception of a tilted image plane - can be used to create the perception of relatively long projection distances (i.e., virtual image distances) on at least one side of the field of view. It was not expected that such long virtual image distances could be achieved with this optical system. In particular, it was not expected that the corrective device could introduce such a significant disparity offset difference between a first side and second side (e.g., top and bottom) of the field of view that the tilt (i.e., the angle) of the tiled image plane is so great that it mimics that of a road (as viewed from a look-down position, such as within an eye-box / viewing window). These projection distances are longer than can be achieved using a freeform mirror-based head-up display, as referenced above, without introducing intolerable levels of solar loading. The long projection distances allow the head-up display to display images in the top of the field of view using an (optical) projection distance similar to the actual depth of far-field objects in a real-world scene - in particular, far field objects on the road ahead of a driver. This reduces the above-described eye strain and discomfort that can occur if the projection distance is significantly different from the real-world (object) depth. The inventors have also found that a similar image projection distance and real-world object depth helps improve alignment of projected image content with the real world object(s), as the parallax effect related to position of the projected image is naturally better matched to that of the real world object(s). The inventors found that this allows the alignment of the projected image to the corresponding real-world object to remain correct, regardless of user / viewer head position.

[0072] In some embodiments, an (optical) projection distance associated with the field of view increases from the bottom of the field of view to the top of the field of view. In some embodiments, this is achieved by designing the corrective device (in conjunction with an vehicle windscreen that is inclined in a manner familiar to the reader) to introduce a horizontal disparity between two eyes of a viewer in an eye-box / viewing window that varies with image position or vertical field of view angle, as described above. In some notable embodiments, the change in the perceived (optical) projection distance (e.g., the disparity at the eye- box / viewing window) mimics a change associated with real-world objects.

[0073] Notably, the inventors first appreciated that there is a correspondence between the vertical field of view angle of the head-up display image and an apparent height (or depth) of an object (in the real-world scene) relative to the horizon based on its distance from the viewing position. In some embodiments, this correspondence is due to a so-called look-down angle. The reader will be familiar with the idea that the driver of a vehicle looks down on the road and that the horizon appears above the road. For example, in some embodiments, the eye-box / viewing window of the head-up display is at least 1 metre above ground level. In some embodiments, the eye-box / viewing window of the head-up display is at a distance above ground level in the range of 1 metre to 2 metres. That is, the projection distance values described herein may vary depending on said eye-box / viewing window height (and therefore on the look-down angle). In other words, the corrective optic may be designed / optimised to the height of the eye-box / viewing window to ensure that the projection distances described herein are achieved. Notably, the inventors secondly realised that the optical system (e.g., the corrective device) of this disclosure could be used - as described herein using disparity by way of example only - to create an (optical) projection distance gradient in the image area that substantially matches the real-world scene. More specifically, the (optical) projection distance gradient matches the gradient of the line defining the vertical depth below the horizon of (real- world) objects in the scene as a function of actual distance from the viewing position. The projection distance gradient may also match the gradient of the road surface from the (perspective of the) look-down position. Significantly, the inventors recognised that the gradient in (optical) projection distance formable by the optical system of this disclosure was sufficiently high to mimic the gradient in the vertical position of (real-world) objects in the scene. It has been found that this approach produces a visual experience, and enables a suite of functionality, that is far superior to other approaches. For the avoidance of doubt, the present disclosure describes using disparity gradient to support a gradient in the perception of (optical) projection distance - but the person skilled in the art of optics will be familiar with the idea of using other visual cues to create the depth perception gradient disclosed herein.

[0074] The tilted image plane may have a third projection distance at the centre of the field of view. The centre of the field of view is defined herein as the midpoint between the top and bottom of the field of view from the perspective of the user / viewer. The third projection distance may be at least 15 metres. In some embodiments, the third projection distance is in the range of 15 to 115 metres. That is, in some embodiments the third projection distance is at the midpoint (i.e., is equidistant) between the first and second projection distances. The inventors have surprisingly found that the angle of the tilted image plane can be controlled by changing the third projection distance (i.e., the projection distance of the centre of the field of view). That is, as the third projection distance is increased, the angle of the tilted image plane (from vertical) increases. As such, by increasing the third projection distance, an image plane can be produced that is highly tilted, such that it closely matches the road ahead of the user / viewer. As such, it can be said that the tilted image plane corresponds to the road in the direction of the projection distances.

[0075] These longer projection distances (and resultant tilted image plane with a larger angle of tilt) can be used to display image features in both the first and second modes, as described above, at the appropriate depth(s). For example, the longer projection distances can be used to show distance markers approaching a junction, with the projected image content appearing at the distance of the junction, helping to create an immersive experience. The inventors have also surprisingly found that if an real-world object appears at a depth similar to, but not that same as, the projection distance of an image feature, the image feature may appear to jump to the depth (i.e., the projection distance) of the real-world object. The real-world object may be, for example, a person walking near / through the field of view. This effect can be used to further enhance the immersive experience. For example, with no real-world objects in front of the vehicle (and the user / viewer), the image feature may appear laying on the road (i.e., in the second mode, as described above). If a real-world object (such as a car) then appears on or near the road, the image feature can be changed to highlight this object (such as changing the image feature to the first mode, as described above), and the image feature may jump to the depth of the object.

[0076] The first projection distance may be in the range of 10 to 30 metres. That is, the first projection distance (and therefore the bottom of the field of view) may be set to intersect the road surface upon which the vehicle is travelling. Due to the above-described tilt of the image plane, higher up the field of view the image depth increases significantly and remains close to the real-world depth of the road at the equivalent position in the field of view. By closely following the profile of the road, image content can be projected that naturally overlays with the surrounding environment. This can reduce perceived discomfort of the user / viewer that can occur when content is overlaid at a smaller projection distance than the real-world depth of the surrounding environment.

[0077] The difference between the first projection distance and second projection distance may be at least 10 metres. In some embodiments, the difference between the first projection distance and second projection distance is in the range of 10 to 190 metres, corresponding to the first and second projection distances described herein. Again, it was not expected that such a large difference (e.g., between the top and bottom of the field of view / display area) could be achieved using the optical system disclosed herein.

[0078] The difference between the first and second projection distances may correspond to an angular separation in the range of 3 to 6 degrees. The first projection distance may correspond to a vertical image angle in the range of 0 to -1 degrees, whilst the second projection distance may correspond to a vertical image angle in the range of -4 to -6 degrees. These angles are taken from the horizon (i.e., horizontally from the eye-box / viewing window). That is, the inventors have surprisingly found that the effect is amplified for field of view angles below the horizon (of the user / viewer). The inventors have found that the range of angles required for the corrective device to produce the full field of view decreases with increasing (third / central) projection distances. This decrease in angles required helps improve compatibility with different eye-box / viewing window and field of view designs for different vehicle platforms.

[0079] The virtual image may comprise a plurality of virtual image points and may be visible from a plurality of viewing positions of a viewing window of the head-up display, as described above. The corrective device may be further arranged to introduce a first disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points, as described above. Similarly, the corrective device may be further arranged to introduce a second disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points, as also described above.

[0080] The picture generating unit may be arranged to sequentially project a first image and a second image onto the screen, with the optical combiner being arranged to form a first virtual image and a second virtual image of the first and second images respectively, as described above. The first disparity offset may increase in a first direction from a first side to a second side of each virtual image and the first disparity offset associated with image features of the images may change during projection, as also described above.

[0081] In a fifth aspect, a method of operating a head-up display for a vehicle is provided. The method comprises a step of projecting, via a picture generating unit, an image onto a screen. The method further comprises a step of receiving the image at a replicator. The method further comprises a step of replicating, via the replicator, the image. The method further comprises a step of compensating for a complex curvature of an optical combiner downstream from a corrective device. This compensation is via the corrective device, which is located in the optical path of the replicated image downstream from the replicator. The method further comprises a step of forming, via the optical combiner, a virtual image of the image on a tilted image plane. The virtual image has a field of view. The tilted image plane has a first projection distance at the bottom of the field of view and a second projection distance at the top of the field of view. The first projection distance is less than the second projection distance. In this way, a method of operating a head-up display to replicate the appearance of a dual- or multiplane display device is achieved, as described above.

[0082] The method may further comprising a step of switching between a first mode and a second mode. In the first mode, the corresponding virtual image may have an axis orthogonal to the direction of the projection distance. In the second mode, the corresponding virtual image may have an axis substantially parallel to the tilted image plane. In the first mode, the image may be substantially rectangular and, in the second mode, the image may be substantially trapezoidal. That is, as described above, the first and second mode allow the appearance of image features on a series of vertical planes or lying on the tilted image plane.

[0083] In a sixth aspect, a method of designing a corrective device for a head-up display for a vehicle is provided. The head-up display comprises a picture generating unit arranged to project an image onto a screen, as described above. The head-up display further comprises a replicator arranged to receive the image and replicate the image, also as described above. The head- up display further comprises a corrective device designed to be located in the optical path of the replicated image downstream from the replicator. As described above, the corrective device is arranged to compensate for a complex curvature of an optical combiner downstream from the corrective device. The optical combiner is further arranged to form a virtual image of image, the virtual image having a field of view, as also described above. The method comprises a step of optimising the corrective device to form a tilted (virtual) image plane. As described above, the tilted (virtual) image plane has a first projection distance at the bottom of the field of view and a second projection distance at the top of the field of view. The first projection distance is less than the second projection distance. In this way, a corrective device capable of producing the tilted image plane described above can be designed.

[0084] As described above, the virtual image may comprise a plurality of virtual image points and may be visible from a plurality of viewing positions of a viewing window of the head-up display. The optimisation of the correction device may introduce the above-described first disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points. Similarly, the optimisation may introduce the above-described second disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points. The picture generating unit may be arranged to sequentially project a first image and a second image onto the screen, as described above. As also described above, the optimisation may result in the first disparity offset increasing in a first direction from a first side to a second side of each resultant virtual image, with the first disparity offset associated with the image feature changing during projection.

[0085] In a seventh aspect, a method of designing a head-up display for a vehicle is provided. The head-up display is as per the sixth aspect above. The method comprises a step of optimising the corrective device as per the method described above in relation to the sixth aspect. The method further comprises a step of optimising the relative positions and orientations of the picture generating unit, replicator, optical combiner and corrective device to form the tilted image plane. That is, as described above, the method includes a step of changing the relative positions and orientations of the components to arrive at the desired position and orientation of the tilted image plane.

[0086] Feature and advantages described in relation to the systems of the first, third and fourth aspects may apply to any of the other system aspects, or to the methods of the second, sixth and seventh aspects, and vice versa. That is, features from each aspect may be applied to any other aspect, and duplicate features have not necessarily been repeated herein for efficiencies’ and clarities’ sake.

[0087] In the present disclosure, the term “replica” is merely used to reflect that spatially modulated light is divided such that a complex light field is directed along a plurality of different optical paths. The word “replica” is used to refer to each occurrence or instance of the complex light field after a replication event - such as a partial reflection-transmission by a pupil expander. Each replica travels along a different optical path. Some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to propagation of light that is encoded with a hologram, not an image - i.e. , light that is spatially modulated with a hologram of an image, not the image itself. It may therefore be said that a plurality of replicas of the hologram are formed. The person skilled in 1 the art of holography will appreciate that the complex light field associated with propagation of light encoded with a hologram will change with propagation distance. Use herein of the term “replica” is independent of propagation distance and so the two branches or paths of light associated with a replication event are still referred to as “replicas” of each other even if the branches are a different length, such that the complex light field has evolved differently along each path. That is, two complex light fields are still considered “replicas” in accordance with this disclosure even if they are associated with different propagation distances - providing they have arisen from the same replication event or series of replication events.

[0088] A “diffracted light field” or “diffractive light field” in accordance with this disclosure is a light field formed by diffraction. A diffracted light field may be formed by illuminating a corresponding diffractive pattern. In accordance with this disclosure, an example of a diffractive pattern is a hologram and an example of a diffracted light field is a holographic light field or a light field forming a holographic reconstruction of an image. The holographic light field forms a (holographic) reconstruction of an image on a replay plane. The holographic light field that propagates from the hologram to the replay plane may be said to comprise light encoded with the hologram or light in the hologram domain. A diffracted light field is characterized by a diffraction angle determined by the smallest feature size of the diffractive structure and the wavelength of the light (of the diffracted light field). In accordance with this disclosure, it may also be said that a “diffracted light field” is a light field that forms a reconstruction on a plane spatially separated from the corresponding diffractive structure. An optical system is disclosed herein for propagating a diffracted light field from a diffractive structure to a viewer. The diffracted light field may form an image.

[0089] The term “hologram” is used to refer to the recording which contains amplitude information or phase information, or some combination thereof, regarding the object. The term “holographic reconstruction” is used to refer to the optical reconstruction of the object which is formed by illuminating the hologram. The system disclosed herein is described as a “holographic projector” because the holographic reconstruction is a real image and spatially-separated from the hologram. The term “replay field” is used to refer to the 2D area within which the holographic reconstruction is formed and fully focused. If the hologram is displayed on a spatial light modulator comprising pixels, the replay field will be repeated in the form of a plurality diffracted orders wherein each diffracted order is a replica of the zeroth-order replay field. The zeroth-order replay field generally corresponds to the preferred or primary replay field because it is the brightest replay field. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the term “replay field” should be taken as referring to the zeroth-order replay field. The term “replay plane” is used to refer to the plane in space containing all the replay fields. The terms “image”, “replay image” and “image region” refer to areas of the replay field illuminated by light of the holographic reconstruction. In some embodiments, the “image” may comprise discrete spots which may be referred to as “image spots” or, for convenience only, “image pixels”.

[0090] The terms “encoding”, “writing” or “addressing” are used to describe the process of providing the plurality of pixels of the SLM with a respective plurality of control values which respectively determine the modulation level of each pixel. It may be said that the pixels of the SLM are configured to “display” a light modulation distribution in response to receiving the plurality of control values. Thus, the SLM may be said to “display” a hologram and the hologram may be considered an array of light modulation values or levels.

[0091] It has been found that a holographic reconstruction of acceptable quality can be formed from a “hologram” containing only phase information related to the Fourier transform of the original object. Such a holographic recording may be referred to as a phase-only hologram. Embodiments relate to a phase-only hologram but the present disclosure is equally applicable to amplitude-only holography.

[0092] The present disclosure is also equally applicable to forming a holographic reconstruction using amplitude and phase information related to the Fourier transform of the original object. In some embodiments, this is achieved by complex modulation using a so-called fully complex hologram which contains both amplitude and phase information related to the original object. Such a hologram may be referred to as a fully-complex hologram because the value (grey level) assigned to each pixel of the hologram has an amplitude and phase component. The value (grey level) assigned to each pixel may be represented as a complex number having both amplitude and phase components. In some embodiments, a fully-complex computergenerated hologram is calculated.

[0093] Reference may be made to the phase value, phase component, phase information or, simply, phase of pixels of the computer-generated hologram or the spatial light modulator as shorthand for “phase-delay”. That is, any phase value described is, in fact, a number (e.g. in the range 0 to 2TT) which represents the amount of phase retardation provided by that pixel. For example, a pixel of the spatial light modulator described as having a phase value of TT / 2 will retard the phase of received light by TT / 2 radians. In some embodiments, each pixel of the spatial light modulator is operable in one of a plurality of possible modulation values (e.g. phase delay values). The term “grey level” may be used to refer to the plurality of available modulation levels. For example, the term “grey level” may be used for convenience to refer to the plurality of available phase levels in a phase-only modulator even though different phase levels do not provide different shades of grey. The term “grey level” may also be used for convenience to refer to the plurality of available complex modulation levels in a complex modulator.

[0094] The hologram therefore comprises an array of grey levels - that is, an array of light modulation values such as an array of phase-delay values or complex modulation values. The hologram is also considered a diffractive pattern because it is a pattern that causes diffraction when displayed on a spatial light modulator and illuminated with light having a wavelength comparable to, generally less than, the pixel pitch of the spatial light modulator. Reference is made herein to combining the hologram with other diffractive patterns such as diffractive patterns functioning as a lens or grating. For example, a diffractive pattern functioning as a grating may be combined with a hologram to translate the replay field on the replay plane or a diffractive pattern functioning as a lens may be combined with a hologram to focus the holographic reconstruction on a replay plane in the near field.

[0095] Although different embodiments and groups of embodiments may be disclosed separately in the detailed description which follows, any feature of any embodiment or group of embodiments may be combined with any other feature or combination of features of any embodiment or group of embodiments. That is, all possible combinations and permutations of features disclosed in the present disclosure are envisaged.

[0096] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0097] Specific embodiments are described by way of example only with reference to the following figures:

[0098] Figure 1 is a schematic showing a reflective SLM producing a holographic reconstruction on a screen;

[0099] Figure 2 shows an image for projection comprising eight image areas / components, V1 to V8, and cross-sections of the corresponding hologram channels, H1-H8;

[0100] Figure 3 shows a hologram displayed on an LCOS that directs light into a plurality of discrete areas;

[0101] Figure 4 shows a system, including a display device that displays a hologram that has been calculated as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3;

[0102] Figure 5A shows a perspective view of a first example two-dimensional pupil expander comprising two replicators each comprising pairs of stacked surfaces; Figure 5B shows a perspective view of a first example two-dimensional pupil expander comprising two replicators each in the form of a solid waveguide;

[0103] Figure 6 is a schematic top view of the parallax effect;

[0104] Figure 7 is a schematic side view of a display system in accordance with the prior art;

[0105] Figure 8 is a first schematic view of a field of view produced by a display device in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0106] Figure 9 is a first schematic side view of a display system in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0107] Figure 10 is a second schematic view of a field of view produced by a display device in accordance with the present disclosure;

[0108] Figure 11 is a third schematic view of a field of view produced by a display device in accordance with the present disclosure showing an additional optical effect;

[0109] Figure 12 is a second schematic side view of a display system in accordance with the present disclosure showing the additional optical effect of Figure 11 ;

[0110] Figure 13A is a schematic side view of a first tilted image plane in accordance with the present disclosure in a first display mode;

[0111] Figure 13B is an enlarged section view of Figure 13A;

[0112] Figure 14 is a schematic field of view produced by the tilted image plane of Figure 13A;

[0113] Figure 15A is a schematic side view of a tilted image plane in accordance with the present disclosure in a second display mode;

[0114] Figure 15B is an enlarged section view of Figure 15A;

[0115] Figure 16 is a schematic field of view produced by the tilted image plane of Figure 15A

[0116] Figure 17 is a schematic side view of a series of tilted image planes in according with the present disclosure;

[0117] Figure 18A is a schematic side view of a second tilted image plane in accordance with the present disclosure in a first display mode;

[0118] Figure 18B is an enlarged section view of Figure 18A; and

[0119] Figure 19 is a schematic field of view produced by the tilted image plane of Figure 18A.

[0120] The same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

[0121] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0122] The present invention is not restricted to the embodiments described in the following but extends to the full scope of the appended claims. That is, the present invention may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the described embodiments, which are set out for the purpose of illustration.

[0123] Terms of a singular form may include plural forms unless specified otherwise.

[0124] A structure described as being formed at an upper portion / lower portion of another structure or on / under the other structure should be construed as including a case where the structures contact each other and, moreover, a case where a third structure is disposed there between.

[0125] In describing a time relationship - for example, when the temporal order of events is described as “after”, “subsequent”, “next”, “before” or suchlike - the present disclosure should be taken to include continuous and non-continuous events unless otherwise specified. For example, the description should be taken to include a case which is not continuous unless wording such as “just”, “immediate” or “direct” is used. Although the terms “first”, “second”, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements are not to be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

[0126] Features of different embodiments may be partially or overall coupled to or combined with each other, and may be variously inter-operated with each other. Some embodiments may be carried out independently from each other, or may be carried out together in co-dependent relationship.

[0127] In the present disclosure, the term “substantially” when applied to a structural units of an apparatus may be interpreted as the technical feature of the structural units being produced within the technical tolerance of the method used to manufacture it.

[0128] Conventional optical configuration for holographic projection

[0129] Figure 1 shows an embodiment in which a computer-generated hologram is encoded on a single spatial light modulator. The computer-generated hologram is a Fourier transform of the object for reconstruction. It may therefore be said that the hologram is a Fourier domain or frequency domain or spectral domain representation of the object. In this embodiment, the spatial light modulator is a reflective liquid crystal on silicon, “LCOS”, device. The hologram is encoded on the spatial light modulator and a holographic reconstruction is formed at a replay field, for example, a light receiving surface such as a screen or diffuser. A light source 110, for example a laser or laser diode, is disposed to illuminate the SLM 140 via a collimating lens 111. The collimating lens causes a generally planar wavefront of light to be incident on the SLM. In Figure 1 , the direction of the wavefront is off-normal (e.g. two or three degrees away from being truly orthogonal to the plane of the transparent layer). However, in other embodiments, the generally planar wavefront is provided at normal incidence and a beam splitter arrangement is used to separate the input and output optical paths. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1 , the arrangement is such that light from the light source is reflected off a mirrored rear surface of the SLM and interacts with a light-modulating layer to form an exit wavefront 112. The exit wavefront 112 is applied to optics including a Fourier transform lens 120, having its focus at a screen 125. More specifically, the Fourier transform lens 120 receives a beam of modulated light from the SLM 140 and performs a frequency-space transformation to produce a holographic reconstruction at the screen 125.

[0130] Notably, in this type of holography, each pixel of the hologram contributes to the whole reconstruction. There is not a one-to-one correlation between specific points (or image pixels) on the replay field and specific light-modulating elements (or hologram pixels). In other words, modulated light exiting the light-modulating layer is distributed across the replay field.

[0131] In these embodiments, the position of the holographic reconstruction in space is determined by the dioptric (focusing) power of the Fourier transform lens. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1 , the Fourier transform lens is a physical lens. That is, the Fourier transform lens is an optical Fourier transform lens and the Fourier transform is performed optically. Any lens can act as a Fourier transform lens but the performance of the lens will limit the accuracy of the Fourier transform it performs. The skilled person understands how to use a lens to perform an optical Fourier transform In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the lens of the viewer’s eye performs the hologram to image transformation.

[0132] Hologram calculation

[0133] In some embodiments, the computer-generated hologram is a Fourier transform hologram, or simply a Fourier hologram or Fourier-based hologram, in which an image is reconstructed in the far field by utilising the Fourier transforming properties of a positive lens. The Fourier hologram is calculated by Fourier transforming the desired light field in the replay plane back to the lens plane. Computer-generated Fourier holograms may be calculated using Fourier transforms. Embodiments relate to Fourier holography and Gerchberg-Saxton type algorithms by way of example only. The present disclosure is equally applicable to Fresnel holography and Fresnel holograms which may be calculated by a similar method. In some embodiments, the hologram is a phase or phase-only hologram. However, the present disclosure is also applicable to holograms calculated by other techniques such as those based on point cloud methods.

[0134] In some embodiments, the hologram engine is arranged to exclude from the hologram calculation the contribution of light blocked by a limiting aperture of the display system. British patent application 2101666.2, filed 5 February 2021 and incorporated herein by reference, discloses a first hologram calculation method in which eye-tracking and ray tracing are used to identify a sub-area of the display device for calculation of a point cloud hologram which eliminates ghost images. The sub-area of the display device corresponds with the aperture, of the present disclosure, and is used exclude light paths from the hologram calculation. British patent application 2112213.0, filed 26 August 2021 and incorporated herein by reference, discloses a second method based on a modified Gerchberg-Saxton type algorithm which includes steps of light field cropping in accordance with pupils of the optical system during hologram calculation. The cropping of the light field corresponds with the determination of a limiting aperture of the present disclosure. British patent application 2118911.3, filed 23 December 2021 and also incorporated herein by reference, discloses a third method of calculating a hologram which includes a step of determining a region of a so-called extended modulator formed by a hologram replicator. The region of the extended modulator is also an aperture in accordance with this disclosure.

[0135] In some embodiments, there is provided a real-time engine arranged to receive image data and calculate holograms in real-time using the algorithm. In some embodiments, the image data is a video comprising a sequence of image frames. In other embodiments, the holograms are pre-calculated, stored in computer memory and recalled as needed for display on a SLM. That is, in some embodiments, there is provided a repository of predetermined holograms.

[0136] Large field of view using small display device

[0137] Broadly, the present disclosure relates to image projection. It relates to a method of image projection and an image projector which comprises a display device. The present disclosure also relates to a projection system comprising the image projector and a viewing system, in which the image projector projects or relays light from the display device to the viewing system. The present disclosure is equally applicable to a monocular and binocular viewing system. The viewing system may comprise a viewer’s eye or eyes. The viewing system comprises an optical element having optical power (e.g., lens / es of the human eye) and a viewing plane (e.g., retina of the human eye / s). The projector may be referred to as a ‘light engine’. The display device and the image formed (or perceived) using the display device are spatially separated from one another. The image is formed, or perceived by a viewer, on a display plane. In some embodiments, the image is a virtual image and the display plane may be referred to as a virtual image plane. In other examples, the image is a real image formed by holographic reconstruction and the image is projected or relayed to the viewing plane. In these other examples, spatially modulated light of an intermediate holographic reconstruction formed either in free space or on a screen or other light receiving surface between the display device and the viewer, is propagated to the viewer. In both cases, an image is formed by illuminating a diffractive pattern (e.g., hologram or kinoform) displayed on the display device.

[0138] The display device comprises pixels. The pixels of the display may display a diffractive pattern or structure that diffracts light. The diffracted light may form an image at a plane spatially separated from the display device. In accordance with well-understood optics, the magnitude of the maximum diffraction angle is determined by the size of the pixels and other factors such as the wavelength of the light.

[0139] In embodiments, the display device is a spatial light modulator such as liquid crystal on silicon (“LCOS”) spatial light modulator (SLM). Light propagates over a range of diffraction angles (for example, from zero to the maximum diffractive angle) from the LCOS, towards a viewing entity / system such as a camera or an eye. In some embodiments, magnification techniques may be used to increase the range of available diffraction angles beyond the conventional maximum diffraction angle of an LCOS.

[0140] In some embodiments, the (light of a) hologram itself is propagated to the eyes. For example, spatially modulated light of the hologram (that has not yet been fully transformed to a holographic reconstruction, i.e. image) - that may be informally said to be “encoded” with / by the hologram - is propagated directly to the viewer’s eyes. A real or virtual image may be perceived by the viewer. In these embodiments, there is no intermediate holographic reconstruction I image formed between the display device and the viewer. It is sometimes said that, in these embodiments, the lens of the eye performs a hologram-to-image conversion or transform. The projection system, or light engine, may be configured so that the viewer effectively looks directly at the display device.

[0141] Reference is made herein to a “light field” which is a “complex light field”. The term “light field” merely indicates a pattern of light having a finite size in at least two orthogonal spatial directions, e.g. x and y. The word “complex” is used herein merely to indicate that the light at each point in the light field may be defined by an amplitude value and a phase value, and may therefore be represented by a complex number or a pair of values. For the purpose of hologram calculation, the complex light field may be a two-dimensional array of complex numbers, wherein the complex numbers define the light intensity and phase at a plurality of discrete locations within the light field.

[0142] In accordance with the principles of well-understood optics, the range of angles of light propagating from a display device that can be viewed, by an eye or other viewing entity / system, varies with the distance between the display device and the viewing entity. At a 1 metre viewing distance, for example, only a small range of angles from an LCOS can propagate through an eye’s pupil to form an image at the retina for a given eye position. The range of angles of light rays that are propagated from the display device, which can successfully propagate through an eye’s pupil to form an image at the retina for a given eye position, determines the portion of the image that is ‘visible’ to the viewer. In other words, not all parts of the image are visible from any one point on the viewing plane (e.g., any one eye position within a viewing window such as eye-box.)

[0143] In some embodiments, the image perceived by a viewer is a virtual image that appears upstream of the display device - that is, the viewer perceives the image as being further away from them than the display device. Conceptually, it may therefore be considered that the viewer is looking at a virtual image through an ‘display device-sized window’, which may be very small, for example 1cm in diameter, at a relatively large distance, e.g., 1 metre. And the user will be viewing the display device-sized window via the pupil (s) of their eye(s), which can also be very small. Accordingly, the field of view becomes small and the specific angular range that can be seen depends heavily on the eye position, at any given time.

[0144] A pupil expander addresses the problem of how to increase the range of angles of light rays that are propagated from the display device that can successfully propagate through an eye’s pupil to form an image. The display device is generally (in relative terms) small and the projection distance is (in relative terms) large. In some embodiments, the projection distance is at least one - such as, at least two - orders of magnitude greater than the diameter, or width, of the entrance pupil and / or aperture of the display device (i.e., size of the array of pixels).

[0145] Use of a pupil expander increases the viewing area (i.e., user’s eye-box) laterally, thus enabling some movement of the eye / s to occur, whilst still enabling the user to see the image. As the skilled person will appreciate, in an imaging system, the viewing area (user’s eye box) is the area in which a viewer’s eyes can perceive the image. The present disclosure encompasses non-infinite virtual image distances - that is, near-field virtual images.

[0146] Conventionally, a two-dimensional pupil expander comprises one or more one-dimensional optical waveguides each formed using a pair of opposing reflective surfaces, in which the output light from a surface forms a viewing window or eye-box. Light received from the display device (e.g., spatially modulated light from a LCOS) is replicated by the or each waveguide so as to increase the field of view (or viewing area) in at least one dimension. In particular, the waveguide enlarges the viewing window due to the generation of extra rays or “replicas” by division of amplitude of the incident wavefront.

[0147] The display device may have an active or display area having a first dimension that may be less than 10 cms such as less than 5 cms or less than 2 cms. The propagation distance between the display device and viewing system may be greater than 1 m such as greater than 1.5 m or greater than 2 m. The optical propagation distance within the waveguide may be up to 2 m such as up to 1.5 m or up to 1 m. The method may be capable of receiving an image and determining a corresponding hologram of sufficient quality in less than 20 ms such as less than 15 ms or less than 10 ms.

[0148] In some embodiments - described only by way of example of a diffracted or holographic light field in accordance with this disclosure - a hologram is configured to route light into a plurality of channels, each channel corresponding to a different part (i.e. sub-area) of an image. The channels formed by the diffractive structure are referred to herein as “hologram channels” merely to reflect that they are channels of light encoded by the hologram with image information. It may be said that the light of each channel is in the hologram domain rather than the image or spatial domain. In some embodiments, the hologram is a Fourier or Fourier transform hologram and the hologram domain is therefore the Fourier or frequency domain. The hologram may equally be a Fresnel or Fresnel transform hologram. The hologram may also be a point cloud hologram. The hologram is described herein as routing light into a plurality of hologram channels to reflect that the image that can be reconstructed from the hologram has a finite size and can be arbitrarily divided into a plurality of image sub-areas, wherein each hologram channel would correspond to each image sub-area. Importantly, the hologram of this example is characterised by how it distributes the image content when illuminated. Specifically and uniquely, the hologram divides the image content by angle. That is, each point on the image is associated with a unique light ray angle in the spatially modulated light formed by the hologram when illuminated - at least, a unique pair of angles because the hologram is two-dimensional. For the avoidance of doubt, this hologram behaviour is not conventional. The spatially modulated light formed by this special type of hologram, when illuminated, may be divided into a plurality of hologram channels, wherein each hologram channel is defined by a range of light ray angles (in two-dimensions). It will be understood from the foregoing that any hologram channel (i.e. sub-range of light ray angles) that may be considered in the spatially modulated light will be associated with a respective part or sub-area of the image. That is, all the information needed to reconstruct that part or sub-area of the image is contained within a sub-range of angles of the spatially modulated light formed from the hologram of the image. When the spatially modulated light is observed as a whole, there is not necessarily any evidence of a plurality of discrete light channels.

[0149] Nevertheless, the hologram may still be identified. For example, if only a continuous part or sub-area of the spatially modulated light formed by the hologram is reconstructed, only a subarea of the image should be visible. If a different, continuous part or sub-area of the spatially modulated light is reconstructed, a different sub-area of the image should be visible. A further identifying feature of this type of hologram is that the shape of the cross-sectional area of any hologram channel substantially corresponds to (i.e. is substantially the same as) the shape of the entrance pupil although the size may be different - at least, at the correct plane for which the hologram was calculated. Each light I hologram channel propagates from the hologram at a different angle or range of angles. Whilst these are example ways of characterising or identifying this type of hologram, other ways may be used. In summary, the hologram disclosed herein is characterised and identifiable by how the image content is distributed within light encoded by the hologram. Again, for the avoidance of any doubt, reference herein to a hologram configured to direct light or angularly-divide an image into a plurality of hologram channels is made by way of example only and the present disclosure is equally applicable to pupil expansion of any type of holographic light field or even any type of diffractive or diffracted light field.

[0150] The system can be provided in a compact and streamlined physical form. This enables the system to be suitable for a broad range of real-world applications, including those for which space is limited and real-estate value is high. For example, it may be implemented in a head- up display (HUD) such as a vehicle or automotive HUD.

[0151] In accordance with the present disclosure, pupil expansion is provided for diffracted or diffractive light, which may comprise diverging ray bundles. The diffracted light field may be defined by a “light cone”. Thus, the size of the diffracted light field (as defined on a two- dimensional plane) increases with propagation distance from the corresponding diffractive structure (i.e. display device). It can be said that the pupil expander / s replicate the hologram or form at least one replica of the hologram, to convey that the light delivered to the viewer is spatially modulated in accordance with a hologram.

[0152] In some embodiments, two one-dimensional waveguide pupil expanders are provided, each one-dimensional waveguide pupil expander being arranged to effectively increase the size of the exit pupil of the system by forming a plurality of replicas or copies of the exit pupil (or light of the exit pupil) of the spatial light modulator. The exit pupil may be understood to be the physical area from which light is output by the system. It may also be said that each waveguide pupil expander is arranged to expand the size of the exit pupil of the system. It may also be said that each waveguide pupil expander is arranged to expand / increase the size of the eye box within which a viewer’s eye can be located, in order to see / receive light that is output by the system.

[0153] Light channelling

[0154] The hologram formed in accordance with some embodiments, angularly-divides the image content to provide a plurality of hologram channels which may have a cross-sectional shape defined by an aperture of the optical system. The hologram is calculated to provide this channelling of the diffracted light field. In some embodiments, this is achieved during hologram calculation by considering an aperture (virtual or real) of the optical system, as described above.

[0155] Figures 2 and 3 show an example of this type of hologram that may be used in conjunction with a pupil expander as disclosed herein. However, this example should not be regarded as limiting with respect to the present disclosure.

[0156] Figure 2 shows an image 252 for projection comprising eight image areas / components, V1 to V8. Figure 2 shows eight image components by way of example only and the image 252 may be divided into any number of components. Figure 2 also shows an encoded light pattern 254 (i.e. , hologram) that can reconstruct the image 252 - e.g., when transformed by the lens of a suitable viewing system. The encoded light pattern 254 comprises first to eighth subholograms or components, H1 to H8, corresponding to the first to eighth image components / areas, V1 to V8. Figure 2 further shows how a hologram may decompose the image content by angle. The hologram may therefore be characterised by the channelling of light that it performs. This is illustrated in Figure 3. Specifically, the hologram in this example directs light into a plurality of discrete areas. The discrete areas are discs in the example shown but other shapes are envisaged. The size and shape of the optimum disc may, after propagation through the waveguide, be related to the size and shape of an aperture of the optical system such as the entrance pupil of the viewing system.

[0157] Figure 4 shows a system 400, including a display device that displays a hologram that has been calculated as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

[0158] The system 400 comprises a display device, which in this arrangement comprises an LCOS 402. The LCOS 402 is arranged to display a modulation pattern (or ‘diffractive pattern') comprising the hologram and to project light that has been holographically encoded towards an eye 405 that comprises a pupil that acts as an aperture 404, a lens 409, and a retina (not shown) that acts as a viewing plane. There is a light source (not shown) arranged to illuminate the LCOS 402. The lens 409 of the eye 405 performs a hologram-to-image transformation. The light source may be of any suitable type. For example, it may comprise a laser light source.

[0159] The viewing system 400 further comprises a waveguide 408 positioned between the LCOS 402 and the eye 405. The presence of the waveguide 408 enables all angular content from the LCOS 402 to be received by the eye, even at the relatively large projection distance shown. This is because the waveguide 508 acts as a pupil expander, in a manner that is well known and so is described only briefly herein.

[0160] In brief, the waveguide 408 shown in Figure 4 comprises a substantially elongate formation. In this example, the waveguide 408 comprises an optical slab of refractive material, but other types of waveguide are also well known and may be used. The waveguide 408 is located so as to intersect the light cone (i.e., the diffracted light field) that is projected from the LCOS 402, for example at an oblique angle. In this example, the size, location, and position of the waveguide 408 are configured to ensure that light from each of the eight ray bundles, within the light cone, enters the waveguide 408. Light from the light cone enters the waveguide 408 via its first planar surface (located nearest the LCOS 402) and is guided at least partially along the length of the waveguide 408, before being emitted via its second planar surface, substantially opposite the first surface (located nearest the eye). As will be well understood, the second planar surface is partially reflective, partially transmissive. In other words, when each ray of light travels within the waveguide 408 from the first planar surface and hits the second planar surface, some of the light will be transmitted out of the waveguide 408 and some will be reflected by the second planar surface, back towards the first planar surface. The first planar surface is reflective, such that all light that hits it, from within the waveguide 408, will be reflected back towards the second planar surface. Therefore, some of the light may simply be refracted between the two planar surfaces of the waveguide 408 before being transmitted, whilst other light may be reflected, and thus may undergo one or more reflections, (or ‘bounces’) between the planar surfaces of the waveguide 408, before being transmitted.

[0161] Figure 4 shows a total of nine “bounce” points, BO to B8, along the length of the waveguide 408. Although light relating to all points of the image (V1-V8) as shown in Figure 2 is transmitted out of the waveguide at each “bounce” from the second planar surface of the waveguide 408, only the light from one angular part of the image (e.g. light of one of V1 to V8) has a trajectory that enables it to reach the eye 405, from each respective “bounce” point, B0 to B8. Moreover, light from a different angular part of the image, V1 to V8, reaches the eye 405 from each respective “bounce” point. Therefore, each angular channel of encoded light reaches the eye only once, from the waveguide 408, in the example of Figure 4.

[0162] The waveguide 408 forms a plurality of replicas of the hologram, at the respective “bounce” points B1 to B8 along its length, corresponding to the direction of pupil expansion. As shown in Figure 4, the plurality of replicas may be extrapolated back, in a straight line, to a corresponding plurality of replica or virtual display devices 402’. This process corresponds to the step of “unfolding” an optical path within the waveguide, so that a light ray of a replica is extrapolated back to a “virtual surface” without internal reflection within the waveguide. Thus, the light of the expanded exit pupil may be considered to originate from a virtual surface (also called an “extended modulator” herein) comprising the display device 402 and the replica display devices 402’.

[0163] Although virtual images, which require the eye to transform received modulated light in order to form a perceived image, have generally been discussed herein, the methods and arrangements described herein can be applied to real images.

[0164] Two-Dimensional Pupil Expansion

[0165] Whilst the arrangement shown in Figure 4 includes a single waveguide that provides pupil expansion in one dimension, pupil expansion can be provided in more than one dimension, for example in two dimensions. Moreover, whilst the example in Figure 4 uses a hologram that has been calculated to create channels of light, each corresponding to a different portion of an image, the present disclosure and the systems that are described herebelow are not limited to such a hologram type. Figure 5A shows a perspective view of a system 500 comprising two replicators, 504, 506 arranged for expanding a light beam 502 in two dimensions.

[0166] In the system 500 of Figure 5A, the first replicator 504 comprises a first pair of surfaces, stacked parallel to one another, and arranged to provide replication - or, pupil expansion - in a similar manner to the waveguide 408 of Figure 4. The first pair of surfaces are similarly (in some cases, identically) sized and shaped to one another and are substantially elongate in one direction. The collimated light beam 502 is directed towards an input on the first replicator 504. Due to a process of internal reflection between the two surfaces, and partial transmission of light from each of a plurality of output points on one of the surfaces (the upper surface, as shown in Figure 5A), which will be familiar to the skilled reader, light of the light beam 502 is replicated in a first direction, along the length of the first replicator 504. Thus, a first plurality of replica light beams 508 is emitted from the first replicator 504, towards the second replicator 506.

[0167] The second replicator 506 comprises a second pair of surfaces stacked parallel to one another, arranged to receive each of the collimated light beams of the first plurality of light beams 508 and further arranged to provide replication - or, pupil expansion - by expanding each of those light beams in a second direction, substantially orthogonal to the first direction. The first pair of surfaces are similarly (in some cases, identically) sized and shaped to one another and are substantially rectangular. The rectangular shape is implemented for the second replicator in order for it to have length along the first direction, in order to receive the first plurality of light beams 508, and to have length along the second, orthogonal direction, in order to provide replication in that second direction. Due to a process of internal reflection between the two surfaces, and partial transmission of light from each of a plurality of output points on one of the surfaces (the upper surface, as shown in Figure 5A), light of each light beam within the first plurality of light beams 508 is replicated in the second direction. Thus, a second plurality of light beams 510 is emitted from the second replicator 506, wherein the second plurality of light beams 510 comprises replicas of the input light beam 502 along each of the first direction and the second direction. Thus, the second plurality of light beams 510 may be regarded as comprising a two-dimensional grid, or array, of replica light beams.

[0168] Thus, it can be said that the first and second replicators 504, 505 of Figure 5A combine to provide a two-dimensional replicator (or, “two-dimensional pupil expander”). Thus, the replica light beams 510 may be emitted along an optical path to an expanded eye-box of a display system, such as a head-up display. In the system of Figure 5A, the first replicator 504 is a waveguide comprising a pair of elongate rectilinear reflective surfaces, stacked parallel to one another, and, similarly, the second replicator 504 is a waveguide comprising a pair of rectangular reflective surfaces, stacked parallel to one another. In other systems, the first replicator may be a solid elongate rectilinear waveguide and the second replicator may be a solid planar rectangular shaped waveguide, wherein each waveguide comprises an optically transparent solid material such as glass. In this case, the pair of parallel reflective surfaces are formed by a pair of opposed major sidewalls optionally comprising respective reflective and reflective-transmissive surface coatings, familiar to the skilled reader.

[0169] Figure 5B shows a perspective view of a system 500 comprising two replicators, 520, 540 arranged for replicating a light beam 522 in two dimensions, in which the first replicator is a solid elongated waveguide 520 and the second replicator is a solid planar waveguide 540.

[0170] In the system of Figure 5B, the first replicator / waveguide 520 is arranged so that its pair of elongate parallel reflective surfaces 524a, 524b are perpendicular to the plane of the second replicator / waveguide 540. Accordingly, the system comprises an optical coupler arranged to couple light from an output port of first replicator 520 into an input port of the second replicator 540. In the illustrated arrangement, the optical coupler is a planar / fold mirror 530 arranged to fold or turn the optical path of light to achieve the required optical coupling from the first replicator to the second replicator. As shown in Figure 5B, the mirror 530 is arranged to receive light - comprising a one-dimensional array of replicas extending in the first dimension - from the output port I reflective-transmissive surface 524a of the first replicator / waveguide 520. The mirror 530 is tilted so as to redirect the received light onto an optical path to an input port in the (fully) reflective surface of second replicator 540 at an angle to provide waveguiding and replica formation, along its length in the second dimension. It will be appreciated that the mirror 530 is one example of an optical element that can redirect the light in the manner shown, and that one or more other elements may be used instead, to perform this task.

[0171] In the illustrated arrangement, the (partially) reflective-transmissive surface 524a of the first replicator 520 is adjacent the input port of the first replicator / waveguide 520 that receives input beam 522 at an angle to provide waveguiding and replica formation, along its length in the first dimension. Thus, the input port of first replicator / waveguide 520 is positioned at an input end thereof at the same surface as the reflective-transmissive surface 524a. The skilled reader will understand that the input port of the first replicator / waveguide 520 may be at any other suitable position. Accordingly, the arrangement of Figure 5B enables the first replicator 520 and the mirror 530 to be provided as part of a first relatively thin layer in a plane in the first and third dimensions (illustrated as an x-z plane). In particular, the size or “height” of a first planar layer - in which the first replicator 520 is located - in the second dimension (illustrated as the y dimension) is reduced. The mirror 530 is configured to direct the light away from a first layer / plane, in which the first replicator 520 is located (i.e. the “first planar layer"), and direct it towards a second layer / plane, located above and substantially parallel to the first layer / plane, in which the second replicator 540 is located (i.e. a “second planar layer”). Thus, the overall size or “height” of the system - comprising the first and second replicators 520, 540 and the mirror 530 located in the stacked first and second planar layers in the first and third dimensions (illustrated as an x-z plane) - in the second dimension (illustrated as the y dimension) is compact. The skilled reader will understand that many variations of the arrangement of Figure 5B for implementing the present disclosure are possible and contemplated.

[0172] The image projector may be arranged to project a diverging or diffracted light field. In some embodiments, the light field is encoded with a hologram. In some embodiments, the diffracted light field comprises diverging ray bundles. In some embodiments, the image formed by the diffracted light field is a virtual image.

[0173] In some embodiments, the first pair of parallel I complementary surfaces are elongate or elongated surfaces, being relatively long along a first dimension and relatively short along a second dimension, for example being relatively short along each of two other dimensions, with each dimension being substantially orthogonal to each of the respective others. The process of reflection / transmission of the light between / from the first pair of parallel surfaces is arranged to cause the light to propagate within the first waveguide pupil expander, with the general direction of light propagation being in the direction along which the first waveguide pupil expander is relatively long (i.e., in its “elongate” direction).

[0174] There is disclosed herein a system that forms an image using diffracted light and provides an eye-box size and field of view suitable for real-world application - e.g. in the automotive industry by way of a head-up display. The diffracted light is light forming a holographic reconstruction of the image from a diffractive structure - e.g. hologram such as a Fourier or Fresnel hologram. The use diffraction and a diffractive structure necessitates a display device with a high density of very small pixels (e.g. 1 micrometre) - which, in practice, means a small display device (e.g. 1 cm). This addresses a problem of how to provide 2D pupil expansion with a diffracted light field e.g. diffracted light comprising diverging (not collimated) ray bundles. In some embodiments, the display system comprises a display device - such as a pixelated display device, for example a spatial light modulator (SLM) or Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) SLM - which is arranged to provide or form the diffracted or diverging light. In such aspects, the aperture of the spatial light modulator (SLM) is a limiting aperture of the system. That is, the aperture of the spatial light modulator - more specifically, the size of the area delimiting the array of light modulating pixels comprised within the SLM - determines the size (e.g. spatial extent) of the light ray bundle that can exit the system. In accordance with this disclosure, it is stated that the exit pupil of the system is expanded to reflect that the exit pupil of the system (that is limited by the small display device having a pixel size for light diffraction) is made larger or bigger or greater in spatial extend by the use of at least one pupil expander.

[0175] The diffracted or diverging light field may be said to have “a light field size”, defined in a direction substantially orthogonal to a propagation direction of the light field. Because the light is diffracted I diverging, the light field size increases with propagation distance.

[0176] In some embodiments, the diffracted light field is spatially-modulated in accordance with a hologram. In other words, in such aspects, the diffractive light field comprises a “holographic light field”. The hologram may be displayed on a pixelated display device. The hologram may be a computer-generated hologram (CGH). It may be a Fourier hologram or a Fresnel hologram or a point-cloud hologram or any other suitable type of hologram. The hologram may, optionally, be calculated so as to form channels of hologram light, with each channel corresponding to a different respective portion of an image that is intended to be viewed (or perceived, if it is a virtual image) by the viewer. The pixelated display device may be configured to display a plurality of different holograms, in succession or in sequence. Each of the aspects and embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to the display of multiple holograms.

[0177] The output port of the first waveguide pupil expander may be coupled to an input port of a second waveguide pupil expander. The second waveguide pupil expander may be arranged to guide the diffracted light field - including some of, preferably most of, preferably all of, the replicas of the light field that are output by the first waveguide pupil expander - from its input port to a respective output port by internal reflection between a third pair of parallel surfaces of the second waveguide pupil expander.

[0178] The first waveguide pupil expander may be arranged to provide pupil expansion, or replication, in a first direction and the second waveguide pupil expander may be arranged to provide pupil expansion, or replication, in a second, different direction. The second direction may be substantially orthogonal to the first direction. The second waveguide pupil expander may be arranged to preserve the pupil expansion that the first waveguide pupil expander has provided in the first direction and to expand (or, replicate) some of, preferably most of, preferably all of, the replicas that it receives from the first waveguide pupil expander in the second, different direction. The second waveguide pupil expander may be arranged to receive the light field directly or indirectly from the first waveguide pupil expander. One or more other elements may be provided along the propagation path of the light field between the first and second waveguide pupil expanders.

[0179] The first waveguide pupil expander may be substantially elongated and the second waveguide pupil expander may be substantially planar. The elongated shape of the first waveguide pupil expander may be defined by a length along a first dimension. The planar, or rectangular, shape of the second waveguide pupil expander may be defined by a length along a first dimension and a width, or breadth, along a second dimension substantially orthogonal to the first dimension. A size, or length, of the first waveguide pupil expander along its first dimension make correspond to the length or width of the second waveguide pupil expander along its first or second dimension, respectively. A first surface of the pair of parallel surfaces of the second waveguide pupil expander, which comprises its input port, may be shaped, sized, and / or located so as to correspond to an area defined by the output port on the first surface of the pair of parallel surfaces on the first waveguide pupil expander, such that the second waveguide pupil expander is arranged to receive each of the replicas output by the first waveguide pupil expander.

[0180] The first and second waveguide pupil expander may collectively provide pupil expansion in a first direction and in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, optionally, wherein a plane containing the first and second directions is substantially parallel to a plane of the second waveguide pupil expander. In other words, the first and second dimensions that respectively define the length and breadth of the second waveguide pupil expander may be parallel to the first and second directions, respectively, (or to the second and first directions, respectively) in which the waveguide pupil expanders provide pupil expansion. The combination of the first waveguide pupil expander and the second waveguide pupil expander may be generally referred to as being a “pupil expander”.

[0181] It may be said that the expansion / replication provided by the first and second waveguide expanders has the effect of expanding an exit pupil of the display system in each of two directions. An area defined by the expanded exit pupil may, in turn define an expanded eye- box area, from which the viewer can receive light of the input diffracted or diverging light field.

[0182] The eye-box area may be said to be located on, or to define, a viewing plane.

[0183] The two directions in which the exit pupil is expanded may be coplanar with, or parallel to, the first and second directions in which the first and second waveguide pupil expanders provide replication / expansion. Alternatively, in arrangements that comprise other elements such as an optical combiner, for example the windscreen (or, windshield) of a vehicle, the exit pupil may be regarded as being an exit pupil from that other element, such as from the windscreen. In such arrangements, the exit pupil may be non-coplanar and non-parallel with the first and second directions in which the first and second waveguide pupil expanders provide replication / expansion. For example, the exit pupil may be substantially perpendicular to the first and second directions in which the first and second waveguide pupil expanders provide replication / expansion.

[0184] The viewing plane, and / or the eye-box area, may be non-coplanar or non-parallel to the first and second directions in which the first and second waveguide pupil expanders provide replication / expansion. For example, a viewing plane may be substantially perpendicular to the first and second directions in which the first and second waveguide pupil expanders provide replication / expansion.

[0185] In order to provide suitable launch conditions to achieve internal reflection within the first and second waveguide pupil expanders, an elongate dimension of the first waveguide pupil expander may be tilted relative to the first and second dimensions of the second waveguide pupil expander.

[0186] Combiner shape compensation

[0187] An advantage of projecting a hologram to the eye-box is that optical compensation can be encoded in the hologram (see, for example, European patent 2936252 incorporated herein by herein). The present disclosure is compatible with holograms that compensate for the complex curvature of an optical combiner used as part of the projection system. In some embodiments, the optical combiner is the windscreen of a vehicle. Full details of this approach are provided in European patent 2936252 and are not repeated here because the detailed features of those systems and methods are not essential to the new teaching of this disclosure herein and are merely exemplary of configurations that benefit from the teachings of the present disclosure. Control device

[0188] The present disclosure is also compatible with optical configurations that include a control device (e.g. light shuttering device) to control the delivery of light from a light channelling hologram to the viewer. The holographic projector may further comprise a control device arranged to control the delivery of angular channels to the eye-box position. British patent application 2108456.1 , filed 14 June 2021 and incorporated herein by reference, discloses the at least one waveguide pupil expander and control device. The reader will understand from at least this prior disclosure that the optical configuration of the control device is fundamentally based upon the eye-box position of the user and is compatible with any hologram calculation method that achieves the light channelling described herein. It may be said that the control device is a light shuttering or aperturing device. The light shuttering device may comprise a 1 D array of apertures or windows, wherein each aperture or window independently switchable between a light transmissive and a light non-transmissive state in order to control the delivery of hologram light channels, and their replicas, to the eye-box. Each aperture or window may comprise a plurality of liquid crystal cells or pixels.

[0189] Humans have multiple ways by which they can perceive the depth of an object in front of them, one of which being convergence, which utilises the parallax effect as schematically shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 shows a pair of eyes, a left eye 600L and a right eye 600R, each having a pupil and retina (not shown) and separated by an interpupillary distance IPD (i.e. the distance in the x-direction between the centre of the two pupils). Although the description herein refers to a human visual system, the skilled person would understand that the invention would also apply to an artificial equivalent. That is, rather than a pair of eyes each having a pupil and retina, the disclosure described herein would also function with a pair of synthetic detection systems each having an entrance aperture and detector.

[0190] When viewing (i.e. focussing on) a first object 630 on a first plane 620, light from the first object 630 passes through the pupil of the left eye 600L at a first angle aLand through the pupil of the right eye 600R at a second angle aR. The difference, referred to as the horizontal disparity, between these first and second angles aL, aRresults in the light reaching different locations of the retinas of the first and second eyes 600L, 600R. The brain then uses these different locations of the retina to infer the depth of the first object 630 relative to the eyes 600L, 600R. Likewise, when viewing a second object 650 on a second plane 640 (the second plane 640 being at a greater depth or further away in the z-direction from the eyes 600L, 600R than the first plane 620), light from the second object 650 passes through the pupil of the left eye 600L at a third angle PL and through the pupil of the right eye 600R at a fourth angle PR. The horizontal disparity between these third and fourth angles PL, PR results in the light reaching again different locations of the retinas of the first and second eyes 600L, 600R. The brain then uses these different locations of the retina to infer the depth of the second object 650 relative to the eyes 600L, 600R.

[0191] Finally, when viewing a third object 670 on a third plane 660 (the third plane 660 being at a greater depth or further away in the z-direction from the eyes 600L, 600R than both the first and second planes 620, 640), light from the third object 670 passes through the pupil of the left eye 600L at a fifth angle yLand through the pupil of the right eye 600R at a sixth angle yR. The horizontal disparity between these fifth and sixth angles yL, YR results in the light reaching again different locations of the retinas of the first and second eyes 600L, 600R. The brain then uses these different locations of the retina to infer the depth of the third object 670 relative to the eyes 600L, 600R.

[0192] As such, as the object 630, 650, 670 moves away from the eyes 600L, 600R (in the z-direction, i.e. has a greater depth), the horizontal disparity increases and the brain uses this to infer the depth of the object 630, 650, 670 is changing. This effect is referred to as the parallax effect, and is one of multiple depth cues used by the brain to infer the depth of an object. As a note, not everyone infers depth in this way, with some people relying purely on the other methods of depth perception.

[0193] Horizontal Disparity in a Head-Up Display

[0194] In a head-up display system, the object 630, 650, 670 is a virtual object projected for viewing at an intended set, single plane 620, 640, 660. Such a system 700 according to the prior art is schematically shown in Figure 7. Figure 7 shows a (head-up) display system 700 with a waveguide 702 (or, more broadly, a replicator 702) as per the second waveguide 540 described above in relation to Figure 5B. Waveguide 702 has an output surface from which the replicas of the image are emitted.

[0195] Positioned above the waveguide 702 (i.e. downstream of the waveguide 702 in the y-direction) is a corrective device 704 (or, more broadly, a light control device 704). The corrective device 704 compensates for the curvature of an optical combiner 706 (that is, a curved optical component), which may be a windscreen of a vehicle, and has a non-uniform optical power. For example, the corrective device 704 may comprise a layer (or a pair of layers) of prisms that effectively combine to act as a composite lens having an opposite lensing effect of the optical combiner 706 causing unwanted distortions (e.g. the windscreen or windshield). In this way, the distortion applied by the corrective device 704 can be selected to at least partially if not exactly compensate (or pre-compensate) for another source of distortion caused by the optical combiner 706 (e.g. the windscreen / windshield). In other words, the corrective device 704 does this by purposefully applying a distortion to the replicated image (in other words, the replicas thereof) that has an opposite optical power to that of the optical combiner 706, thereby removing or mitigating any distortion that would be visible to the user.

[0196] As such, the replicated image light output by the waveguide 702, pre-distorted by the corrective device 704 are, at least in part, reflected by the optical combiner 706 towards the user to form an eye-box 712 (or, more broadly, a viewing window). In this way, the user perceives a virtual image comprising a plurality of virtual image points as if it were located on a plane 760 beyond the optical combiner 712 (in the z-direction).

[0197] As can be seen in Figure 6, due to the inter-pupil distance IPD, in order to have the image appear at the required plane 620, 640, 660, light corresponding to each virtual image point and intended to reach each eye 600L, 600R must be reflected off different parts of the optical combiner 706. If the distance between the points light intended for each eye 600L, 600R is reflected off the optical combiner 706 changes, then the virtual image point associated with said light will appear as if it is on a different plane. This may lead to the virtual image being displayed at the wrong depth, or image distortions arising from different virtual image points appearing at different depths. This distance between the points light intended for each eye 600L, 600R is reflected off the optical combiner 706 may depend on corresponding points formed on a diffuser (not shown) upstream of the waveguide 702.

[0198] As a side effect of the functions described above, the corrective device 704 may cause variation in the distance between the points light intended for each eye 600L, 600R for each virtual image point are reflected off the optical combiner 706 as compared to the distance of corresponding points on the diffuser (not shown). The changing of this distance (and thereby the changing of the disparity - the difference between the angles at which the light passes through the pupil of each eye 600L, 600R) is referred to herein as a disparity offset. That is, in achieving the complex curvature correction function as described above, the corrective device 704 may also impart a disparity offset on the virtual image points. It has therefore been the established practice to attempt to optimise the disparity offset of the corrective device 704 to be the same (or as close as possible to being the same) for all virtual image points at all positions within the eye-box 712. This reduces the number and severity of optical distortions that may occur due to the optical disparities for each image point changing as the user moves through the eye-box 712.

[0199] Tilted Image Plane

[0200] Broadly, the corrective device 704 produces a tilted (virtual) image plane 1300, as seen in Figures 13A, 13B, 15A and 15B. The (virtual) image plane 1300 is tilted away from the user / viewer 1312. That is, the bottom of the field of view produced by the tilted image plane 1300 appears closer to the user / viewer 1312 than the top of the field of view. In other words, if (for example) a fixed width vertical line is displayed, the line will appear to lie on the tilted image plane 1300. The tilted image pane 1300 has the same angular size at any point in the field of view.

[0201] The inventors surprisingly found that this tilted image plane 1300 is the result of the corrective device 704. That is, the inventors surprisingly found that the corrective device 704 conveys the four main depths cues: accommodation, convergence, parallax and perspective. The invention is further explained below in terms of convergence, but this is by example only, as the corrective device 704 conveys all the depth cues.

[0202] The inventors have surprisingly discovered that by adjusting the relative positions and orientations of the picture generating unit (not shown), waveguide 702, corrective device 704 and optical combiner 706, the position and orientation of the tilted image plane 1300 can be changed. Whilst the optical combiner 706 (and possibly the waveguide 702) have a fixed position and orientation, the remaining components can be relatively adjusted to control the position of the tilted image plane 1300 and the angle of the tilt.

[0203] Display Modes

[0204] The head-up display has two display modes, the first display mode being shown in Figures 13A to 14 and the second display mode being shown in Figures 15A to 16.

[0205] In the first display mode (of Figures 13A to 14), images (or image features) appear to be displayed on multiple vertical planes 1320, 1340, 1360 arranged at various points along the tilted image plane 1300. That is, the planes 1320, 1340, 1360 appear vertical relative to the ground and the viewing direction, as seen in Figures 13A and 13B. Figure 13B is an enlarged view of each of the vertical planes 1320, 1340, 1360 and how they intersect the tilted image plane 1300. The vertical planes may be described as a near plane 1320, a mid plane 1340 and a far plane 1360.

[0206] An example of a field of view able to produce this effect is shown schematically in Figure 14. The field of view 1400 has a top section 1410, a middle section 1430 and a bottom section 1450, each displaying image features 1420, 1440, 1460. The image features 1420, 1440, 1460 may be, for example, vehicle information or hazard warnings. The image feature 1420 in the top section 1410 appears to be displayed on the far vertical plane 1360, whilst the image feature 1440 in the middle section 1430 appears to be displayed on the mid vertical plane 1340 and the image feature 1460 in the bottom section 1450 appears to be displayed on the near vertical plane 1320. The image features 1420, 1440, 1460 can be moved across the field of view 1400 in the y-direction (i.e. , vertically) to make the vertical planes 1320, 1340, 1360 appear as if they are moving forwards and backwards along the tilted image plane 1300. That is, the vertical planes 1320, 1340, 1360 appear as if they are moving towards and away from the user / viewer 1312.

[0207] It should be noted that the image features 1420, 1440, 1460 are not actually on vertical image planes. Instead, the image features 1420, 1440, 1460 are still displayed on the tilted image plane 1300. However, the inventors surprisingly discovered that by using rectangular image features 1420, 1440, 1460, the eye can be “tricked” into perceiving said image features 1420, 1440, 1460 as if they are displayed on vertical planes 1320, 1340, 1360, rather than on the tilted image plane 1300 itself.

[0208] The inventors further found that gaps in the y-direction between the image features 1420, 1440, 1460 amplifies this effect. That is, the inventors found that if the space between the image features 1420, 1440, 1460 is sufficient, the illusion of the image features 1420, 1440, 1460 being displayed on vertical planes 1320, 1340, 1360 will be maintained. The inventors found that the gap between the image feature 1420 in the top section 1410 and the image feature 1440 in the middle section 1430 should be at least 0.2 degrees, preferably at least 0.4 degrees (corresponding to 45 and 83 pixels on the display device, respectively). The inventors found that the gap between the image feature 1440 in the middle section 1430 and the image feature 1460 in the bottom section 1450 should be at least 0.1 degrees, preferably at least 0.2 degrees (corresponding to 20 and 45 pixels on the display device, respectively).

[0209] In the second display mode (of Figures 15A to 16), images (or image features) appear to be displayed on the tilted image plane 1300 at various points along said plane 1300. That is, content is displayed on various display areas 1520, 1540, 1560 of the tilted image pane 1300, as seen in Figures 15A and 15B. Figure 15B is an enlarged view of each of the display areas 1520, 1540, 1560. The display areas may be described as a near display area 1520, a mid display area 1540 and a far display area 1560.

[0210] An example of a field of view able to produce this effect is shown schematically in Figure 16. As described above in relation to Figure 14, the field of view 1600 has a top section 1610, a middle section 1630 and a bottom section 1650, each displaying image features 1620, 1640, 1660. The image feature 1620 in the top section 1610 is displayed in the far display area 1560, whilst the image feature 1640 in the middle section 1630 is displayed in the mid display area 1540 and the image feature 1660 in the bottom section 1650 is displayed in the near display area 1520. The image features 1620, 1640, 1660 can be moved across the field of view 1600 in the y-direction (i.e. , vertically) to make the display areas 1520, 1540, 1560 (and the image features therein) move forwards and backwards along the tilted image plane 1300. That is, the display areas 1520, 1540, 1560 (and the image features therein) appear as if they are moving towards and away from the user / viewer 1312.

[0211] Unlike as described above in relation to the first mode, the image features 1620, 1640, 1660 of the second mode are displayed on the tilted image plane 1300 and appear to be display on said plane 1300. The inventors surprisingly discovered that by using trapezoidal image features 1620, 1640, 1660, they are displayed on the tilted image plane 1300. The image features 1620, 1640, 1660 may appear to merely be trapezoidal, however they may have been produced by rotating the image features 1420, 1440, 1460 of the first mode about the x-axis to the angle of the tilted image plane 1300.

[0212] Figure 17 shows a series of tilted image planes 1700a-e that can be produced by the head- up display, shown alongside a representation of the road surface 1714. That is, the road surface 1714 is the surface upon which the vehicle containing the head-up display (and the user / viewer) is located. The inventors have found that the head-up display described herein, especially the presence of the corrective device 704, can produce a tilted image plane with a longer projection / virtual image distance and larger tilt angle than can be produced by a freeform mirror head-up display. That is, a freeform mirror head-up display would not be able to produce the image planes 1700d, 1700e of Figure 17 that have a long virtual image distance and a large tilt angle. The inventors have found that the virtual image distances and tilt angle of the tilted image planes 1700a-e can be controlled by changing the projection distance (in other words, the virtual image distance) of a central point on each image plane 1700a-e. That is, the longer said projection distance is, the more tilted the image plane 1700a-e. Figures 18A and 18B show a series of vertical planes 1820a-e arranged at various points along the longest tilted image plane 1700e of Figure 17. The vertical planes 1820a-e are similar to the vertical planes 1320, 1340, 1360 of Figures 13A and 13B. Figure 18B shows an enlarged view of the first three vertical planes 1820a-c (i.e. , the nearest three vertical planes 1820a-c to the user / viewer 1312). The bottom of the tilted image plane 1700e is arranged such that it intersects the road surface 1714. The inventors have found that the combination of the large tilt (i.e., the long projection distance at the top) of the image plane 1700e and the intersection of the tilted image plane 1700e and the road surface 1714 can make image content displayed on the image plane 1700e appear as if it is displayed on the road. This allows for better (depth) alignment of real-world objects on / near the road with the image content.

[0213] As discussed above with regards to Figure 14, Figure 19 shows an example of a field of view able to produce this effect. The field of view 1900 has image features 1920a-e, each corresponding to the vertical planes 1820a-e of Figures 18A and 18B. The road surface 1714 has been schematically included in Figure 19 to show that the image features 1920a-e appear along the road surface 1714.

[0214] Although only vertical planes 1820a-e are shown in Figures 18A and 18B (i.e., planes corresponding to image features in the first mode), planes corresponding to image features in the second mode may also be used, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the inventors have discovered that the switching between the first and second modes (as described above) can be used in combination with the image plane 1700e of Figures 18A and 18B to further enhance the optical effects produced by the head-up display. That is, the inventors have discovered that image content may jump to appear as if it is on a position along the image plane 1900e at the same depth as a nearby real-world object. For example, the image content may be displayed in the second mode (i.e., may appear on the tilted image plane 1700e) when there are no real-world objects on the road surface 1714 within the field of view. Then, when a real-world object enters the field of view, the inventors have found that corresponding image content (e.g., image content appearing near the real-world object) may appear to jump such that its depth matches that of the real-world object. As such, said corresponding image content may be changed to be displayed in the first mode (i.e., may appear on one of the vertical image planes 1820a-e) to enhance the optical effect.

[0215] It should be understood that the image features, image planes and display areas of Figures 13A to 19 and described above are by example only. That is, these features may vary in (for example) number, size, shape and position. Furthermore, image features of the first and second modes may be used concurrently.

[0216] Improved Display Device

[0217] The inventors have surprisingly found that, contrary to the established practice of attempting to normalise the disparity offset for all virtual image points across the eye-box, intentionally including some disparity offset between at least some of the virtual image points can make parts of the virtual image appear as if it is being displayed on different planes.

[0218] Figure 8 shows a schematic field of view 800 produced by a head-up display system 900 according to the present disclosure, which itself is schematically shown in Figure 9. The field of view 800 has a number of virtual image points 802 each having a measurable disparity offset. These virtual image points 802 are for illustrative purposes only and have been enlarged for clarity of the description herein - in an actual field of view, the disparity offset would have a gradient change between finite virtual image points across the full length and width of the field (as opposed to the areas of the illustrative virtual image points 802 shown in Figure 8).

[0219] The field of view 800 is visible throughout the eye-box 912 formed by the display system 900 shown in Figure 9. The eye-box 912 is formed from replicated light (i.e. the replicas) output from waveguide 702 and reflected off the optical combiner 706, as described above in relation to Figure 7. On the optical path of the light between the waveguide 702 and optical combiner 706 there is a corrective device 904, which provides the same functions as the corrective device 704 described above in relation to Figure 7.

[0220] The corrective device 904 is optimised such that the disparity offset of the virtual image points decreases towards the top of the field of view 800 (i.e. the disparity offset decreases with in an increase in the y-direction of the field of view 800). Meanwhile, the corrective device 904 is optimised such that the disparity offset of the virtual image points is substantially constant in the horizontal (i.e. the x-) direction of the field of view 800. That is, the difference in the disparity offset in the x-direction of the field of view 800 is small enough that a change in depth for each virtual image point at a constant y-coordinate would not be visible to the viewer.

[0221] That is, the virtual image points 802 form five groups 810, 820, 830, 840, 850, each group having virtual image points 802 at the same y-coordinate (with varying x-coordinates). The middle, or third, group 830 has a roughly neutral (i.e. zero) disparity offset, meaning that the virtual image points 802 of this group 830 will appear as if displayed at the natural focal length of the display system 900.

[0222] The virtual image points 802 of the second group 820, which have a higher y-coordinate than the virtual image points 802 of the third group 830 (i.e. are further towards the top of the field of view 800), have a lower disparity offset than the virtual image points 802 of the third group 830. That is, the virtual image points 802 of the second group 820 have a greater negative disparity offset (i.e. a disparity offset with a greater magnitude of disparity offset, but in the negative direction) than the virtual image points 802 of the third group 830. By the mechanisms described above, this makes the virtual image points 802 of the second group 820 appear as being displayed at a greater depth (i.e. further from the viewer) than the virtual image points 802 of the third group 830. Similarly, the virtual image points 802 of the first (or top) group 810, which have a higher y-coordinate than the virtual image points 802 of both the second and third groups 820, 830 (i.e. are further towards the top of the field of view 800), have a lower disparity offset than the virtual image points 802 of both the second and third groups 820, 830. That is, the virtual image points 802 of the first group 810 have a greater negative disparity offset (i.e. a disparity offset with a greater magnitude of disparity offset, but in the negative direction) than the virtual image points 802 of both the second and third groups 820, 830. By the mechanisms described above, this makes the virtual image points 802 of the first group 810 appear as being displayed at a greater depth (i.e. further from the viewer) than the virtual image points 802 of both the second and third groups 820, 830.

[0223] Meanwhile, the virtual image points 802 of the fourth group 840, which have a lower y- coordinate than the virtual image points 802 of the third group 830 (i.e. are further towards the bottom of the field of view 800), have a higher disparity offset than the virtual image points 802 of the third group 830. That is, the virtual image points 802 of the fourth group 840 have a greater positive disparity offset (i.e. a disparity offset with a greater magnitude of disparity offset in the positive direction) than the virtual image points 802 of the third group 830. By the mechanisms described above, this makes the virtual image points 802 of the fourth group 840 appear as being displayed at a lesser depth (i.e. closer to the viewer) than the virtual image points 802 of the third group 830. Similarly, the virtual image points 802 of the fifth (or bottom) group 850, which have a lower y-coordinate than the virtual image points 802 of both the third and fourth groups 830, 840 (i.e. are further towards the bottom of the field of view 800), have a higher disparity offset than the virtual image points 802 of both the third and fourth groups 830, 840. That is, the virtual image points 802 of the fifth group 850 have a greater positive disparity offset (i.e. a disparity offset with a greater magnitude of disparity offset in the positive direction) than the virtual image points 802 of both the third and fourth groups 830, 840. By the mechanisms described above, this makes the virtual image points 802 of the fifth group 850 appear as being displayed at a lesser depth (i.e. closer to the viewer) than the virtual image points 802 of both the third and fourth groups 830, 840.

[0224] In this way, the inventors have surprisingly found that different parts of the image (i.e. different groups of virtual image points) can be made to appear as if they are displayed on different planes. That is, for example, by only displaying virtual image points 802 in the first (top) and fifth (bottom) groups 810, 850, their comparative disparity offsets makes them appear to displayed on a far and near plane 960, 920 respectively. As such, the benefits of a multi-plane holographic head-up display may be achieved without the need to substantially alter the display system 900 or to substantially increase the complexity of the hologram compute.

[0225] An example of how such a field of view could be used is shown schematically in Figure 10. The field of view 1000 has a top section 1010, a middle section 1030 and a bottom section 1050. The top section 1010 may, for example, be formed of image points 802 in the first group 810, the middle section 1030 being formed of virtual image points 802 in the second to fourth groups 820, 830, 840 and the bottom section 1050 being formed of virtual image points 802 in the fifth group 850.

[0226] The top section 1010, appearing to be displayed on the far plane 960 (as described above), may be used to display driving environment information 1020, such as hazard warnings or directions. Meanwhile, the bottom section 1050, appearing to be displayed on the near plane 920 (as described above), may be used to display vehicle information 1060, such as speed or the remaining fuel level. The middle section 1030, which would be displayed at the natural focal length of the system (as described above), may be left blank in order to pronounce the appearance of the different planes of depths of the virtual image points displayed in the top and bottom sections 1010, 1050.

[0227] Moving Image Plane

[0228] In a further enhancement, an additional optical effect is achieved by moving image elements (e.g. repositioning an image feature) through the field of view, as shown schematically in Figures 11 and 12. The field of view 1100 in Figure 11 is the same as the field of view 1000 in Figure 10, although without the delineation of the top, middle and bottom sections.

[0229] In the top part of Figure 11 , a first image element 1120 (which may be driving environment information) and a second image element 1160 (which may be vehicle information) are displayed as they are in Figure 10. In this way, the first image element 1120 may be formed of image points 802 in the first group 810 and the second image element 1160 may be formed of virtual image points 802 in the fifth group 850. As described above, this results in the first image element 1120 appearing to be displayed on the far plane 960 and the second image element 1160 appearing to be displayed on the near plane 920.

[0230] In the bottom part of Figure 11 , the first image element 1120 has not been displayed. Instead, a third image element 1140 has been displayed. The third image element 1140 may be substantially the same as the first image element 1120, as will be further described below. In effect, the first image element 1120 has been moved to a new position. The third image element 1140 may be formed of image points 802 in the third or fourth groups 830, 840 as described above.

[0231] As described above, the image points 802 of the third of fourth groups 830, 830 may be at the natural focal length of the system. As such, and as also described above, the third image element 1140 appears to be displayed on a mid plane 1240 as schematically shown in Figure 12. The mid plane 1240 appears to the user at a depth between the near and far planes 1220, 1260.

[0232] The inventors have realised that by moving an image element in the direction of the change in disparity offset (i.e. , in the y-direction of the field of view 1000, 1100), the image element can be made to dynamically appear as if it is further away or closer to the user. That is, the lower the image element is displayed in the field of view 1000, 1100, the greater the disparity offset of the image points 802 forming the image element (as described above), and so those image points 802 appear to be displayed on a plane closer to the user. Similarly, the higher the image element is displayed in the field of view 1000, 1100, the lower the disparity offset of the image points 802 forming the image element (as described above), and so those image points 802 appear to be displayed on a plane further from the user.

[0233] In this way, the inventors have surprisingly found that image elements can be made to appear like they are moving further away from or closer towards the viewer by moving said image elements through the field of view. This can be used, for example, to display hazard warning images for objects moving in relation to the user. This optical effect may be combined with further modifications to the image elements as they are moved through the field of view. For example, the image element may retain its size and shape. In another embodiment, the image element is increased or decreased in size (from the first display event to the second display event) to compliment the optical effect of the image element getting closer to or further from the user. This combination has been found to be visually very effective.

[0234] Additional features

[0235] The methods and processes described herein may be embodied on a computer-readable medium. The term “computer-readable medium” includes a medium arranged to store data temporarily or permanently such as random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory, and cache memory. The term "computer-readable medium" shall also be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that is capable of storing instructions for execution by a machine such that the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies described herein, in whole or in part.

[0236] The term "computer-readable medium" also encompasses cloud-based storage systems. The term "computer-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to, one or more tangible and non-transitory data repositories (e.g., data volumes) in the example form of a solid-state memory chip, an optical disc, a magnetic disc, or any suitable combination thereof. In some example embodiments, the instructions for execution may be communicated by a carrier medium. Examples of such a carrier medium include a transient medium (e.g., a propagating signal that communicates instructions).

[0237] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The present disclosure covers all modifications and variations within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A head-up display for a vehicle, the head-up display comprising: a picture generating unit arranged to project an image onto a screen; a replicator arranged to receive the image and replicate the image; and a corrective device located in the optical path of the replicated image downstream from the replicator and arranged to compensate for a complex curvature of an optical combiner downstream from the corrective device, wherein the optical combiner is further arranged to form a virtual image of the image, the virtual image having a field of view; and wherein the head-up display is further arranged to form a tilted image plane having a first projection distance at the bottom of the field of view and a second projection distance at the top of the field of view, wherein the first projection distance is less than the second projection distance.

2. The head-up display as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the relative positions and orientations of the picture generating unit, replicator, optical combiner and corrective device are arranged to form the tilted image plane.

3. The head-up display as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the image has a first mode and second mode, wherein, in the first mode, the corresponding virtual image has an axis orthogonal to the direction of the projection distance and, in the second mode, the corresponding virtual image has an axis substantially parallel to the tilted image plane.

4. The head-up display as claimed in claim 3, wherein, in the first mode, the image is substantially rectangular and, in the second mode, the image is substantially trapezoidal.

5. The head-up display as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4 further comprising a controller arranged to switch between the first and second modes.

6. The head-up display as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the image comprises a plurality of image features corresponding to a plurality of virtual image features, wherein each image feature is visible on a respective virtual image plane and an angular separation between each pair of adjacent virtual image planes is at least 0.1 degrees, optionally at least 0.4 degrees.

7. The head-up display as claimed in claim 6, wherein an angular separation between an upper virtual image plane and an adjacent middle virtual image plane is at least 0.2 degrees, optionally at least 0.4 degrees, and an angular separation between the middle virtual image plane and an adjacent lower virtual image plane is at least 0.1 degrees, optionally at least 0.2 degrees.

8. The head-up display as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the virtual image comprises a plurality of virtual image points and is visible from a plurality of viewing positions of a viewing window of the head-up display, and wherein the corrective device is further arranged to introduce a first disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points, wherein the first disparity offset of each virtual image point is substantially constant for the plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window and wherein the first disparity offset is a function of the position of the virtual image point in the virtual image.

9. The head-up display as claimed in claim 8, wherein each virtual image point corresponds to a first and second point on the screen, the first point corresponding to a first viewing position and the second point corresponding to a second viewing position, and wherein the corrective device is arranged to introduce the first disparity offset by introducing a separation between the first point and second point on the screen, optionally wherein the first point corresponds to extrapolation of a first optical path from the virtual image point to the first viewing position and the second point corresponds to extrapolation of a second optical path to the second viewing position.

10. The head-up display as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the corrective device is further arranged to introduce a second disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points, wherein the second disparity offset of each virtual image point is substantially constant for the plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window, and wherein the second disparity offset is substantially constant between a first side and a second side of the virtual image.11 . The head-up display as claimed in any of claims 8 to 10, wherein the corrective device is further arranged to introduce the first and / or second disparity offset to all of the plurality of virtual image points.

12. The head-up display as claimed in any of claims 8 to 11 , wherein the picture generating unit is arranged to sequentially project a first image and a second image onto the screen;wherein the optical combiner is further arranged to form a first virtual image and a second virtual image of the first and second images respectively, each virtual image having a first side and a second side; wherein the first disparity offset increases in a first direction from the first side to the second side of each virtual image; and wherein the first image comprises an image feature in a first position in the first direction and the second image comprises the image feature in a second position in the first direction such that the first disparity offset associated with the image feature changes during projection.

13. The head-up display as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the tilted image plane has at least one of the properties from the group comprising: a second projection distance of at least 20 metres; a second projection distance in the range of 20 to 200 metres; a second projection distance in the range of 50 to 100 metres; and a first projection distance in the range of 10 to 30 metres.

14. The head-up display as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the tilted image plane has a third projection distance at the centre of the field of view, the third projection distance being at least 15 metres, optionally in the range of 15 to 115 metres.

15. The head-up display as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the difference between the first and second projection distances corresponds to an angular separation in the range of 3 to 6 degrees.

16. The head-up display as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the tilted image plane corresponds to the road in the direction of the projection distances.

17. A head-up display system for a vehicle, the head-up display system comprising: the head-up display as claimed in any preceding claim; and an optical combiner, optionally wherein the optical combiner is a windscreen.

18. A method of operating a head-up display for a vehicle, the method comprising: projecting, via a picture generating unit, an image onto a screen; receiving the image at a replicator; replicating, via the replicator, the image;compensating, via a corrective device located in the optical path of the replicated image downstream from the replicator, for a complex curvature of an optical combiner downstream from the corrective device; and forming, via the optical combiner, a virtual image of the image on a tilted image plane, the virtual image having a field of view and the tilted image plane having a first projection distance at the bottom of the field of view and a second projection distance at the top of the field of view, wherein the first projection distance is less than the second projection distance.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18 further comprising a step of switching between a first mode and a second mode, wherein, in the first mode, the corresponding virtual image has an axis orthogonal to the direction of the projection distance and, in the second mode, the corresponding virtual image has an axis substantially parallel to the tilted image plane.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein, in the first mode, the image is substantially rectangular and, in the second mode, the image is substantially trapezoidal.21 . A method of designing a corrective device for a head-up display for a vehicle, the head- up display comprising: a picture generating unit arranged to project an image onto a screen; a replicator arranged to receive the image and replicate the image; and a corrective device designed to be located in the optical path of the replicated image downstream from the replicator and arranged to compensate for a complex curvature of an optical combiner downstream from the corrective device, wherein the optical combiner is further arranged to form a virtual image of image, the virtual image having a field of view; the method comprising: optimising the corrective device to form a tilted image plane having a first projection distance at the bottom of the field of view and a second projection distance at the top of the field of view, wherein the first projection distance is less than the second projection distance.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21 , wherein the virtual image comprises a plurality of virtual image points and is visible from a plurality of viewing positions of a viewing window of the head-up display, and wherein the optimisation of the correction device introduces a first disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points, wherein the first disparity offset of each virtual image point is substantially constant for the plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window and wherein the first disparity offset is a function of the position of the virtual image point in the virtual image.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22, wherein the optimisation introduces a second disparity offset to at least some of the plurality of virtual image points, wherein the second disparity offset of each virtual image point is substantially constant for the plurality of viewing positions of the viewing window, and wherein the second disparity offset is substantially constant between a first side and a second side of the virtual image.

24. The method as claimed in claim 22 or claim 23, wherein the picture generating unit is arranged to sequentially project a first image and a second image onto the screen and wherein the optical combiner is further arranged to form a first virtual image and a second virtual image of the first and second images respectively, each virtual image having a first side and a second side; wherein the optimisation results in the first disparity offset increasing in a first direction from a first side to a second side of each virtual image; and wherein the first image comprises an image feature in a first position in the first direction and the second image comprises the image feature in a second position in the first direction such that the first disparity offset associated with the image feature changes during projection.

25. A method of designing a head-up display for a vehicle, the head-up display comprising: a picture generating unit arranged to project an image onto a screen; a replicator arranged to receive the image and replicate the image; and the corrective device designed to be located in the optical path of the replicated image downstream from the replicator and arranged to compensate for a complex curvature of an optical combiner downstream from the corrective device, wherein the optical combiner is further arranged to form a virtual image of image, the virtual image having a field of view; the method comprising: optimising the corrective device as per the method claimed in any of claims 21 to 24; and optimising the relative positions and orientations of the picture generating unit, replicator, optical combiner and corrective device to form the tilted image plane.

Images