Autostereoscopic Display Resolving Resolution-Viewing Angle Trade-off
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autostereoscopic display devices face challenges in achieving a balance between image resolution, wide viewing angle, and perception of depth, often requiring a trade-off between these factors, which limits their effectiveness in providing a high-quality three-dimensional display.
Innovation Solution
The autostereoscopic display device incorporates a backlight with switchable backlight areas and a spatial light modulator, where the spatial light modulator is driven with display data to provide modulated light with varying angles of incidence to the view forming elements, allowing for an increased number of views and a wider viewing angle without reducing resolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If lenticular elements are used to direct light to left and right eyes for stereoscopic viewing, then three-dimensional display is achieved, but horizontal resolution is substantially reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The display is segmented into multiple vertical zones, each associated with a specific lenticular element. Each zone contains display pixels that provide vertical slices of sub-images, which are then directed by corresponding lenticular elements to specific viewing positions. This segmentation allows the system to maintain horizontal resolution by assigning dedicated pixel groups to each lenticular element rather than sharing pixels across multiple elements.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the display have specialized functions optimized for their specific lenticular element. Each vertical zone is configured with display pixels that provide the specific vertical slice needed by its associated lenticular element, creating local optimization rather than uniform resource distribution. This ensures that each lenticular element receives the precise light pattern needed for high-resolution stereoscopic viewing.
2Area of moving object
If projected views are distributed over a large viewing angle of 60° to provide wide viewing angle, then viewing angle is improved, but three-dimensional depth perception becomes shallow
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the angular distribution of projected views based on the specific lenticular element and viewing position. Each lenticular element directs light at optimized angles that balance viewing angle width with depth perception requirements. The display controller dynamically assigns different vertical slices to different lenticular elements, allowing the angular distribution to be optimized for each viewing position rather than uniformly distributing all views across the entire 60° range.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from distributing views uniformly across the horizontal viewing angle to organizing views in vertical zones that map to specific lenticular elements. This vertical dimensionality allows the system to maintain narrow angular distributions for depth perception while still providing wide overall viewing coverage through the arrangement of multiple vertically-separated zones. Each zone maintains a concentrated angular spread for deep 3D effect, while the collection of zones provides comprehensive viewing angle coverage.
3Area of moving object
If display pixels are shared across multiple lenticular elements to increase viewing angle coverage, then viewing angle is improved, but image resolution is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The display pixel array is segmented into multiple vertical zones, with each zone dedicated to a specific lenticular element. This segmentation eliminates pixel sharing between lenticular elements, ensuring that each lenticular element receives light from a dedicated set of pixels that provides the full vertical resolution needed for high-quality imaging at that viewing position.
Solution Approach 2:
Each vertical zone and its associated lenticular element function as a complete, self-contained stereoscopic viewing unit. The dedicated pixels in each zone provide both the vertical slice information and the angular direction needed by its paired lenticular element, making each zone universally capable of providing high-resolution stereoscopic viewing for its specific viewing position without requiring shared resources.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enhances the number of views and the overall viewing angle, while maintaining or improving the effective resolution of each view, thereby providing a more immersive and detailed three-dimensional experience.
Implementation Method 1
each view forming element being configured to direct modulated light from groups of the display forming elements into a plurality of views towards a user
Implementation Method 2
the backlight (107; 207; 307) is switchable to activate different ones of the backlight areas in different portions of a driving cycle
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-view autostereoscopic display device comprises: a backlight having a plurality of backlight areas arranged in a width direction of the display device; a spatial light modulator arranged over and in registration with the backlight, the spatial light modulator having an array of display forming elements arranged in rows and columns for modulating light received from the backlight; and a view forming layer arranged over and in registration with the spatial light modulator, the view forming layer having a plurality of view forming elements arranged in the width direction of the display device, each view forming element being configured to focus modulated light from adjacent groups of the display forming elements into a plurality of views for projection towards a user in different directions. The backlight is switchable to activate different ones of the backlight areas in different portions of a driving cycle of the display device so that, in the different portions of the driving cycle, modulated light from the active backlight areas is incident on each view forming element with respective different angles of incidence. In this way, the overall viewing angle or the effective three dimensional display resolution may be increased.