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WO2004004362A1 - Dispositif optique et affichage autostereoscopique - Google Patents

Dispositif optique et affichage autostereoscopique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2004004362A1
WO2004004362A1 PCT/JP2003/007833 JP0307833W WO2004004362A1 WO 2004004362 A1 WO2004004362 A1 WO 2004004362A1 JP 0307833 W JP0307833 W JP 0307833W WO 2004004362 A1 WO2004004362 A1 WO 2004004362A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
polarisation
light
polariser
retarder
oriented
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/JP2003/007833
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English (en)
Inventor
Adrian Marc Simon Jacobs
Martin David Tillin
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Sharp Corp
Original Assignee
Sharp Corp
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Sharp Corp filed Critical Sharp Corp
Priority to AU2003238707A priority Critical patent/AU2003238707A1/en
Publication of WO2004004362A1 publication Critical patent/WO2004004362A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B27/00—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00
    • G02B27/28—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00 for polarising
    • G02B27/286—Optical systems or apparatus not provided for by any of the groups G02B1/00 - G02B26/00, G02B30/00 for polarising for controlling or changing the state of polarisation, e.g. transforming one polarisation state into another
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B30/00—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images
    • G02B30/20—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images by providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes
    • G02B30/22—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images by providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes of the stereoscopic type
    • G02B30/25—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images by providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes of the stereoscopic type using polarisation techniques
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B30/00—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images
    • G02B30/20—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images by providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes
    • G02B30/26—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images by providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes of the autostereoscopic type
    • G02B30/30—Optical systems or apparatus for producing three-dimensional [3D] effects, e.g. stereoscopic images by providing first and second parallax images to an observer's left and right eyes of the autostereoscopic type involving parallax barriers
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B5/00—Optical elements other than lenses
    • G02B5/30—Polarising elements
    • G02B5/3016—Polarising elements involving passive liquid crystal elements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B5/00—Optical elements other than lenses
    • G02B5/30—Polarising elements
    • G02B5/3083—Birefringent or phase retarding elements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N13/00—Stereoscopic video systems; Multi-view video systems; Details thereof
    • H04N13/30—Image reproducers
    • H04N13/302—Image reproducers for viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays
    • H04N13/31—Image reproducers for viewing without the aid of special glasses, i.e. using autostereoscopic displays using parallax barriers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N13/00—Stereoscopic video systems; Multi-view video systems; Details thereof
    • H04N13/30—Image reproducers
    • H04N13/356—Image reproducers having separate monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
    • H04N13/359—Switching between monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N13/00—Stereoscopic video systems; Multi-view video systems; Details thereof
    • H04N13/30—Image reproducers
    • H04N13/361—Reproducing mixed stereoscopic images; Reproducing mixed monoscopic and stereoscopic images, e.g. a stereoscopic image overlay window on a monoscopic image background

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an optical device which may, for example, be used in a display capable of operating in two dimensional (2D) and autostereoscopic three dimensional (3D) modes.
  • the present invention also relates to displays incorporating such optical devices.
  • EP 0 829 744 discloses a display which may be operated in 2D and 3D modes.
  • Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings illustrates the basic structure of one example of such a display in the 2D and 3D modes.
  • the display comprises a compact extended backlight 1 disposed behind a spatial light modulator (SLM) embodied as a liquid crystal device (LCD) 2.
  • SLM spatial light modulator
  • the LCD 2 has a rear polariser 3 and a front polariser 4.
  • the display is of the front parallax barrier type in which the parallax barrier is formed by a patterned retarder 5 formed on a substrate 6 and a polariser 7.
  • the polariser 7 is removed so that the parallax barrier is effectively disabled.
  • FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings illustrates operation in the 3D mode .
  • the retarder 5 comprises regions such as 8, which rotate the polarisation direction of light passing therethrough by 90 ° , and regions such as 9, which do not alter the polarisation of light passing therethrough .
  • Theregions 8 correspondto the slits of the parallaxbarrier whereas the regions 9 correspond to the opaque barrier portions between the slits.
  • polarisation directions in the plane of the drawing are represented by double-headed arrows whereas polarisation directions perpendicular to the plane of the drawing are represented by filled circles.
  • Unpolarised light from the backlight 1 is incident on the input polariser 3, which substantially blocks the polarisation component perpendicular to the plane of the drawing and has a transmission axis 10 which passes the polarisation component in the plane of the drawing.
  • the LCD 2 is of a type which is controlled so as to vary the polarisationrotation through the devicewith 90 ° rotation corresponding to maximum brightness.
  • the transmission axis 11 of the output polariser 4 is orthogonal to the transmission axis 10 of the input polariser 3 so that the output polariser 4 transmits only light polarised perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.
  • the polariser 7 has a transmission axis 12 which is orthogonal to the transmission axis 11 of the polariser 4 so that light passing through the regions 9 is substantially blocked and the regions 9 appear dark or opaque.
  • Light passing through the regions 8 has its polarisation direction rotated by 90 ° so as to be parallel to the transmission axis 12 of the polariser 7.
  • the polariser 7 thus transmits this light so that the combination of the patterned retarder 5 and the polariser 7 acts as a parallax barrier.
  • the polariser 7 is moved or removed so as to be out of the light path from the display to an observer.
  • the barrier structure is thus no longer visible and light from both the regions 8 and the regions 9 is transmitted to an observer.
  • EP 0833183, EP 0887692 and EP 0887666 illustrate further examples of displays having an autostereoscopic mode in which a patterned retarder cooperates with a polariser to act as a parallax barrier.
  • Some of the arrangements disclosed in these documents also have a 2D mode in which the barrier is disabled in some way.
  • All such known displays are designed so as to optimise the 3D performance, particularly by minimising 3D crosstalk which is related to the ratio of the light transmission through the slit regions and the barrier regions of the patterned retarder.
  • Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings shows diagrammatically an example of a display for illustrating the compromised 2D performance.
  • the display of Figure 3 differs from that of Figure 2 in that an additional liquid crystal retarder 15 is disposed between the patterned retarder 5 and the analysing polariser 7.
  • the polariser transmission axes are illustrated by solid lines with filled arrow heads
  • the slow axes of retarders are illustrated by solid lines with open arrow heads
  • light polarisations are illustrated by broken lines with solid arrow heads.
  • the polariser 3 has its transmission axis 10 oriented at 0 ° , ie vertically.
  • the slit regions of the retarder 5 have slow axes 16 oriented at -22.5 ° whereas the barrier regions have slow axes 17 oriented at 22.5 ° .
  • the polarisation direction 18 of light from the slit regions is thus rotated to -45 ' whereas the polarisation direction 19 of light from the barrier regions is rotated to 45 ° .
  • the transmission axis 12 of the analysing polariser 7 is oriented at 90 ° so that substantially 100% of light from the slit regions is transmitted whereas substantially 0% of light from the barrier regions is transmitted (in practice, slightly less than 100% of light is transmitted from the slit regions and light is not completely blocked from the barrier regions but the differences do not affect this discussion) .
  • the geometric average of light through the barrier in the 3D mode is therefore 50%.
  • the retarder 15 is disabled and has no effect on the polarisation of light passing through the display.
  • the polarisations 18 and 19 are oriented at + and - 45 ' with respect to the transmission axis 12 of the polariser 7 so that transmission of light is limited to a theoretical maximum of 50% .
  • the attenuation is even greater for displays of the front parallax barrier reflective or transflective type.
  • the light passes twice through the "disabled" parallaxbarrier structure so that the maximum light output in the reflective mode is 25% .
  • Such relatively poor light output is disadvantageous, particularly in the case of small or battery powered devices , such as mobile telephones and personal digital assistants.
  • the transmissive mode the loss of light can only be made up by increasing the backlight output but this in turn requires larger batteries or reduces battery life.
  • an optical device comprising an input polariser for passing light having a first polarisation direction and a polarisation modifying element for receiving light of the first polarisation direction from the input polariser, the polarisation modifying element comprising at least first and second sets of regions, the or each region of the first set changing the polarisation of light fromthe input polariser to a secondpolarisation direction different from the first polarisation direction, characterised in that the or each region of the second set supplies light of a third polarisation direction different from and non-orthogonal to the second polarisation direction.
  • the device may comprise an output polariser for analysing light from the polarisation modifying element.
  • the output polariser may cooperate with the polarisation modifying element such that each first light path through the or each region of the first set and the output polariser has substantially the same attenuation to light from the input polariser as each second light path through the or each region of the second set and the output polariser.
  • the output polariser may cooperate with the polarisation modifying element such that each first light path through the or each region of the first set and the output polariser has substantially the same phase change to light from the input polariser as each second light path through the or each region of the second set and the output polariser.
  • the regions of the first and second sets may be interleaved and may comprise first and second parallel strips, respectively.
  • the first strips may have a first width and the second strips may have a second width greater than the first width.
  • the third polarisation direction may be the same as the first polarisation direction.
  • the device may have an alternative mode of operation in which the output polariser is arranged to pass light from the regions of one of the first and second sets and to attenuate light from the regions of the other of the first and second sets.
  • the one of the first and second sets may be the first set.
  • the output polariser may be arranged substantially to block light from the other of the first and second sets in the alternative mode.
  • the polarisation modifying element may comprise apatternedretarder.
  • the output polariser maybe arranged to transmit the same proportions of slow and fast axis components of light fromthe first and second sets of regions .
  • the output polariser may be arranged to transmit only the slow axis component of light from the first and second sets of regions.
  • the output polariser may pass light having a polarisation direction orthogonal to the first polarisation direction.
  • the retarder may comprise a photo-polymerised polymer.
  • the retarder may provide a halfwave of retardation at a visible light frequency.
  • the slow axis of the or each region of the second set maybe oriented at 55 ° to the slow axis of the or each region of the first set.
  • the slow axis of the or each region of the first set may be oriented at 27.5 ° to the first polarisation direction and the slow axis of the or each region of the second set may be oriented at -27.5 ° to the first polarisation direction.
  • the slow axis of the or each region of the first set may be oriented at 55 ° to the first polarisation direction and the slow axis of the or each region of the second set may be parallel to the first polarisation direction.
  • the device may comprise a further polarisation modifying element between on the same side of the input and polariser as the polarisation modifying element .
  • the further element may be a further retarder.
  • the further retarder may provide a halfwave of retardation at a visible light frequency.
  • the further retarder may be a liquid crystal device.
  • the further retarder may comprise at least one region whose slow axis is switchable between a first orientation substantially parallel to the direction of light propagation through the further retarder and a second orientation substantially perpendicular to the first orientation.
  • the further retarder may be a Freedericksz cell.
  • the second orientation may be for the alternative mode andmay be oriented at 62.5 to the first polarisation direction.
  • the further retarder may comprise at least one region whose slow axis is switchable between third and fourth orientations substantially perpendicular to the direction of light propagation through the further retarder.
  • the third orientation may be perpendicular to the first polarisation direction and the fourth orientation may be for the alternative mode and may be oriented at 62.5 ° to the first polarisation direction.
  • the further element may comprise a polarisation rotator.
  • the rotator may comprise at least one region whichprovides apolarisation rotation of 55 ° .
  • Therotator may comprise a twisted nematic liquid crystal device.
  • the liquid crystal device may have an alignment direction, at a liquid crystal surface nearer the input polariser, parallel to the first polarisation direction and alignment direction, at a liquid crystal surface further from the input polariser, oriented at 55 ° to the first polarisation direction.
  • the liquid crystal device may have an alignment direction, at a liquid crystal surface nearer the input polariser, oriented at -17.5 ° to the first polarisation direction and an alignment direction, at a liquid crystal surface further fromthe input polariser, oriented at 72.5 ° to the first polarisation direction.
  • the liquid crystal device may have an alignment direction, at a liquid crystal surface nearer the input polariser, oriented at 5 to the first polarisation direction and an alignment direction, at a liquid crystal surface further from the input polariser, oriented at 95 ° to the first polarisation direction.
  • the polarisation rotator may be disableable for the alternative mode.
  • a display comprising a device according to the first aspect of the invention.
  • the display may comprise a spatial light modulator, such as a liquid crystal spatial light modulator.
  • the display may have an autostereoscopic mode.
  • the device when in the alternative mode, may form a front or rear parallax barrier.
  • Figure 1 is a cross sectional diagrammatic view of a known type of display in 3D and 2D modes of operation;
  • Figure 2 is a cross sectional diagram of the display of Figure 1 illustrating the 3D mode of operation
  • Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating conventional 3D and 2D modes of operation of a display with orthogonal polarisations from slit and barrier regions of a patterned retarder;
  • Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a display constituting a first embodiment of the invention with non-orthogonal polarisations from slit andbarrier regions of a patterned retarder;
  • Figure 5 is a graph of transmission through a linear polariser against the angle between the polarisation of incident light and the transmission axis of the polariser;
  • Figure 6 is a diagrammatical cross-sectional view illustrating an optical device formed as part of a display constituting a second embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 7 illustrates diagrammatically 3D and 2D modes of the optical device and display of Figure 6;
  • Figure 8 illustrates diagrammatically 3D and 2D modes of the optical device and display of Figure 6;
  • Figure 9 illustrates diagrammatically an optical device and display constituting a third embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 10 is a cross sectional diagram illustrating different physical arrangements of the display of Figure 9;
  • Figure 11 is across sectional diagram illustrating different physical arrangements of the display of Figure 9;
  • Figure 12 is a cross sectional diagram illustrating different physical arrangements of the display of Figure 9;
  • Figure 13 illustrates diagrammatically an optical device and display constituting a fourth embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 14 illustrates diagrammatically an optical device and display constituting a fifth embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 15 is a diagram illustrating an optical device and display constituting a sixth embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 16 is a diagram illustrating an optical device and display constituting a seventh embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 17 is a diagram illustrating an optical device and display constituting an eighth embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 18 illustrates diagrammatically an optical device and display constituting a ninth embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 19 illustrates diagrammatically an optical device and display constituting a tenth embodiment of the invention
  • Figure 20 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the optical device and display shown in Figure 19;
  • Figure 21 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of the optical device and display shown in Figure 19;
  • Figure 22 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of an optical device and display constituting an eleventh embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 23 is a diagram illustrating the device and display of Figure 22;
  • Figure 24 is a diagram illustrating an optical device and display constituting a twelfth embodiment of the invention.
  • Figure 25 illustrates electrode patterns for a switching LCD and an example of the appearance of a display incorporating such an LCD.
  • Figure 4 illustrates diagrammatically a 3D autostereoscopic display constituting an embodiment of the invention and having a 3D autostereoscopic mode of operation and a 2D mode of operation .
  • the display of Figure 4 differs from the comparison example display illustrated in Figure 3 in that the slow axes 16 of the slit regions of the patterned retarder are oriented at -27.5 ° and the slow axes 17 of the barrier regions of the retarder are oriented at 27.5 ° .
  • the polarisation direction 18 and 19 of light from the slit and barrier regions, respectively, are thus non-orthogonal and are oriented at - and + 55 ° with respect to the transmission axis 10 of the polariser 3.
  • the slow axis 20 of the liquid crystal (LC) retarder 15 is oriented at -62.5 ° .
  • Light from the barrier regions is thus rotated to have the polarisation direction 22 oriented at 0 ° and hence orthogonal to the transmission axis 12 of the analysing polariser 7.
  • the light is therefore substantially extinguished so that substantially 0% of transmission takes place through the barrier regions.
  • the polarisation direction 18 of light from the slit regions is rotated by the retarder 15 so as to have a polarisation direction 21 which is oriented at -70 ° .
  • the polarisation direction 21 is thus oriented at an angle of 20 ' withrespect to transmission axis 12 of the polariser 7 so that 88% of light through the slit regions is transmitted.
  • Light transmission in the 3D mode is thus represented by a geometric average of 44% and is 6% less than that of the example illustrated in Figure 3.
  • the polarisation directions 18 and 19 are oriented at angles whose magnitudes are 35 ° with respect to the transmission axis 12 of the polariser 7.
  • 67% of light through the slit and barrier regions is transmitted and this represents an improvement of 17% compared with the example shown in Figure 3.
  • the transmission of light through a linear polariser such as the analysing polariser 7 for an angle ⁇ between the polarisation direction of incident light and the transmission axis of the polariser is proportional to cos 2 ( ⁇ ) and this is illustrated by the graph in Figure 5.
  • the values of the angle ⁇ in Figure 3 and 4 are on a part of the curve illustrated in Figure 5 having a relatively large slope or gradient whereas the value of ⁇ for the 3D mode in Figure 4 is at a part of the curve of Figure 5 having a much lower gradient .
  • a small change in angles results in a relatively large improvement in brightness in the 2D mode and a relatively small reduction in brightness in the 3D mode.
  • Figure 6 illustrates an optical device constituting an embodiment of the invention and forming part of an autostereoscopic display, also constituting an embodiment of the invention and having an autostereoscopic 3D mode of operation and a 2D mode of operation.
  • the 3D mode of operation is illustrated in Figure 7 and the 2D mode of operation is illustrated in Figure 8.
  • the device and display of Figure 6 differ from that of Figure 4 in that the transmission axis 11 of the polariser 4 is oriented at -45 to the vertical. Because liquid crystal devices are typically arranged with the transmission axis 11 of their output polarisers at -45 to the image vertical of the image displayed by such devices, this is the orientation which is illustrated in Figure 7 and the subsequent drawings.
  • the transmission direction 11 of the polariser 4 is indicated as being oriented at -45 ° .
  • the slow axes of the regions 8 are thus oriented at -17.5 ° whereas the slow axes of the regions 9 are oriented at -72.5 ° .
  • the transmission axis 12 of the output polariser 7 is oriented at 45 ° .
  • a retarder 25 is provided in the form of an electrically switchable halfwave retarder for switching between the 2D and 3D modes of operation.
  • the retarder 25 is switchable between a state in which it acts as a halfwave retarder with a slow axis oriented at 17.5 (as shown in Figure 7 for the 3D autostereoscopic mode) and a state in which it provides substantially zero retardation (as shown in Figure 8 for the 2D mode).
  • the slow axis may be switched to be perpendicular to the plane of the retarder 25 and substantially parallel to the light paths through the device and the display.
  • the switchable retarder 25 may be embodied as a liquid crystal device such as a nematic liquid crystal device of the Freedericksz configuration having anti-parallel alignment.
  • a liquid crystal device such as a nematic liquid crystal device of the Freedericksz configuration having anti-parallel alignment.
  • Devices of this type are disclosed in Liquid Crystals, 2002, Vol, 29, No.l, "Criteria for the first order Freedericksz transistor", Jianru Shi.
  • the liquid crystal directors, andhence the slow optic axis lie substantially perpendicular to the plane of the device topresent auniform refractive index, and hence no birefringence, to light passing in the normal direction through the device.
  • the liquid crystal device may be configured so as to be uniform in either state, in which case the whole display is switchable as a unit between the 2D and 3D modes .
  • suitably patterned electrodes may be providedwithin the liquid crystal device so that different areas of the display may be configured independently of each other for 2D or 3D operation.
  • the retarders 5 and 25 may have substantially matched dispersions.
  • the presence of orthogonal polarisers 4 and 7 together with retarders of matched dispersions results in good extinction throughout the visible spectrum of light through the regions 9 resulting in good crosstalk performance in the 3D mode.
  • the matched dispersions of the retarders 5 and 25 results in a bright more achromatic performance through the slit regions 8.
  • FIG 9 illustrates a rear parallax barrier display in which the rear parallax barrier is formed by an optical device of the same type as that illustrated in Figures 7 and 8.
  • the rear polariser of the LCD becomes the output polariser 7 of the optical device and the input polariser 4 is distinct from the LCD.
  • the switching liquid crystal retarder 25 is disposed ahead of the patterned retarder 5 in the direction of light transmission through the device. This allows the patterned retarder 5, which effectively defines the rear parallax barrier in the 3D mode , to be nearer the display LCD 2 as illustrated in Figure 10 so as to reduce the distance between the barrier and the display pixels. Reducing this distance allows the best viewing distance in front of the display to be reduced, for example to allow the display to be viewed in hand-held equipment such as mobile telephones and personal digital assistants.
  • the rear parallax barrier type of display is more suitable for use in transflective displays having both transmissive and reflective modes of operation.
  • the switching LCD 25, the patterned retarder and the display LCD 2 are made as individual deviceswhichare subsequentlybrought together to form the complete display.
  • the switching LCD 25 has glass substrates 40 and 41
  • the patterned retarder 5 is formed on a glass substrate 42
  • the display LCD 2 has glass substrates 43 and 44.
  • the substrate 42 can be omitted by forming the patterned retarder on the substrate 41 of the switching LCD 25.
  • a display of reduced thickness may therefore be provided and is advantageous for applications in devices which are required to be relatively thin.
  • Figure 12 illustrates a further reduction in thickness by eliminating the substrate 41 and sharing the substrate 44 between the switching LCD 25 and the display
  • Figure 13 illustrates a rear parallax barrier arrangement which differs from that shown in Figure 9 in that the slow axes of the regions 8 and 9 are oriented at 10 ° and -45 ° , the liquid crystal retarder 25 has a slow axis oriented at 72.5 ° in the 3D mode, and the polariser 4 has a transmission axis 11 oriented at 55 ° .
  • This configuration provides a more achromatic output in the 2D mode illustrated in Figure 13 and so reduces errors in colour reproduction.
  • Figure 14 illustrates the 2D mode of another rear parallax barrier type of display in which the 2D mode occurs with the liquid crystal retarder 25 switched off.
  • Such an arrangement may be preferable where the 2D mode is expected to be used primarily and power consumption is important, for example in battery powered devices.
  • the axes of the regions 8 and 9 are oriented at 100 ° and 45 ° , respectively.
  • the slow axis of the retarder is oriented at 17.5 ° .
  • the transmission axis 11 of the polariser 4 is orthogonal to the transmission direction 12 of the polariser 7 and is oriented at 45 ° .
  • Figure 15 illustrates another rear parallax barrier display in which the liquid crystal retarder 25 acts as a polarisation rotator to produce a 55 ° rotation of the polarisation direction of light from the polariser 4.
  • the retarder 25 is a twisted nematic device having a relative angle between alignment directions 50 and 51 at the surfaces of a twisted nematic liquid crystal layer nearer the polariser 4 and the retarder 5, respectively.
  • the alignment direction 50 is illustrated as being parallel to the transmission axis 11 and there is a twist of 55 ° between the alignment directions 50 and 51.
  • the LCD 25 may be oriented at any angle to the transmission axis 11 and will produce a 55 of rotation of the polarisation direction of light passing therethrough.
  • the device 25 provides 55 ° of polarisation rotation.
  • a voltage is applied across the twisted nematic liquid crystal layer so that the liquid crystal directors are aligned perpendicular to the plane of the device and provide no polarisation rotation.
  • the display shown in Figure 16 differs from that shown in Figure 15 in that the twist of the device 25 is 90 ° .
  • Such a device is "self-compensating” and may be operated at a lower voltage.
  • a rotation of 55 ° is achievable with such a device by the appropriate choice of angles and retardance.
  • a device of this type is disclosed in our copending British Application No. 0215057.1 filed on the same day as the present application entitled "Polarisation Rotator, Parallax Barrier, Display and Optical Modulator” .
  • linear polarisation with a polarisation azimuth of any selected value may be obtained with any device twist angle provided the twist ( ⁇ ), the retardation ( ⁇ n.d) and the orientation of the input director from the polariser ( ⁇ ) are correctly chosen.
  • ⁇ twist
  • ⁇ n.d retardation
  • ⁇ orientation of the input director from the polariser
  • ⁇ is the wavelength of the incident light .
  • Figure 17 illustrates an arrangement which differs from that shown in Figure 16 in that the angles and retardances have been changed so as to optimise performance across the visible spectrum.
  • a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer of the device 25, the device has no optical effect on the system.
  • the retardance and orientation may therefore be optimised for the state in which a polarisation change is required such that the intensity and colour produced through the slit and barrier regions of the patterned retarder 5 are substantially identical.
  • FIG 18 illustrates a front parallax barrier display having a switchable retarder 25 in which the slow axis is switched between an orientation of 17.5 ° in the 3D mode (illustrated at the bottom left of Figure 18) and an orientation of 45 ° in the 2D mode (illustrated at the bottom right in Figure 18).
  • a switchable retarder may be embodied as a liquid crystal device of the in-plane switching type, for example a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) (e.g. as disclosed in Clark N.A. and Lagarwell S.T. 1980, Appl. Phys . Lett., 36, 899), an anti ferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) (e.g. as disclosed in Chandani et al, 1998, Jpn.
  • FLC ferroelectric liquid crystal
  • AFLC anti ferroelectric liquid crystal
  • Figure 19 illustrates a display of a type similar to that shown in Figure 8 but in which the switching between modes is performed mechanically.
  • Figure 20 illustrates that switching between the 2D mode and the 3D mode is performed by rotating the device 32 comprising a non-birefringent substrate 33, the polariser 7 and the retarder 25.
  • the device 32 is rotated about a vertical axis through 180 ° so as to reverse the order of the individual elements in the optical path.
  • the retarder 5 is formed on one side of a non-birefringent substrate 34.
  • the 2D configuration is illustrated at the left in Figure 20 whereas the 3D configuration is illustrated at the right.
  • the polariser 7 is disposed between the patterned retarder 5 and the uniform retarder 25 so that the uniform retarder 25 has substantially no effect andis substantiallyinvisible to anobserver.
  • the retarder 25 is disposed between the patterned retarder 5 and the polariser 7 so as to form a parallax barrier.
  • Figure 21 illustrates an arrangement which differs from that shown in Figure 20 in that the output polariser 7 and the uniform retarder 25 are formed on the same side of the substrate 33. Such an arrangement provides increased protection for the retarder 25 and reduces the need for "hard coating" both sides of the substrate with protective coatings.
  • Anti-reflection coatings may be provided as necessary and are preferably substantially non-birefringent in order to avoid undesirably altering the optical effect of the device.
  • Figures 22 and 23 illustrate another mechanically reversible arrangement inwhich the 3D and 2Dmodes resemble the electrically switchable display of Figure 14.
  • the display of Figures 22 and 23 may therefore be considered as a "mechanical analog" of the display of Figure 14 in which the switched liquid crystal retarder is replaced, for example, by a fixed sheet retarder.
  • Figure 24 illustrates a relatively simple "mechanical" embodiment which does not require any retarder 25.
  • the slow axes of the regions 8 are oriented at 100 °
  • the slow axes of the regions 9 are oriented at 45 °
  • the transmission axis 55 of the polariser is oriented at 55 ° for the 2D mode.
  • the transmission axis 11 is required to be orthogonal to the orientation illustrated in Figure 24. For example , this may be achieved by rotating the polariser 4.
  • twisted fixed retarder structures may be used.
  • such structures may be used by adding a chiral dopant to a liquid crystal polymer or reactive mesogenmaterial to produce the desired helical structure followed by polymerising.
  • OPS out of plane switching
  • OPS modes can either be homogeneously aligned, homeotropically aligned or hybrid aligned (HAN).
  • HAN hybrid aligned
  • the inverse operation of any homogenously aligned positive dielectric nematic LCD can be obtained (to a good approximation) by using homeotropic alignment and a negative dielectric anisotropy liquid crystal material. Therefore, by changing from one alignment to the other, the unpowered state of the display may be changed between the 2D mode and the 3D mode.
  • HAN LCDs may be used in place of homogeneously aligned nematic LCDs by simply making the thickness twice as large (provided that the twist is 0 ° ) and changing the alignment from homogenous to homeotropic.
  • the Zenithal Bistable Nematic (ZBN) mode may also be used, and has the advantage of being truly bistable and hence has very low power consumption as power is only required to switch from one state to another. In one state, the ZBN LCD takes up the configuration of a HAN and, in the other, a homeotropically aligned LCD. All of the optical devices described hereinbefore may be used as front or rear parallax barriers. Also, as mentioned hereinbefore, different areas of the display may simultaneously operate in 2D and 3D modes .
  • Figure 25 illustrates electrode patterns 55 and 56 on the substrates of an example of a switching LCD 25 to allow different regions to operate simultaneously in different modes.
  • Figure 26 also illustrates the appearance of the display with upper and lower regions operating in the 2D mode to display text and a middle region operating in the 3D mode to display an image.
  • angles may be either clockwise or anticlockwise, with negative values then referring to angles in the opposite direction.
  • all angles of polarisation directions and retarder slow axes are expressed "modulo 180 ° ".
  • each angle ⁇ is equivalent to each angle ( ⁇ + n.180) ° , where n is any integer.
  • a value of ⁇ may be preferred over the value ( ⁇ +180 ° ) because of improved performance.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • Liquid Crystal (AREA)
  • Polarising Elements (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un dispositif optique comprenant un polariseur d'entrée (4), un retardateur à motifs (5) et un polariseur de sortie (12). Le retardateur (5) comporte des zones (8, 9) dont au moins une modifie la polarisation de la lumière provenant du polariseur d'entrée (4). Ces zones fournissent une lumière de polarisation non orthogonale différente (18, 19). Le polariseur de sortie (7) comporte un axe de transmission (12) de façon que la lumière traversant les zones (8, 9) du retardateur (5) et le polariseur de sortie (7) soit d'amplitude, de phase et de polarisation égales. Ce dispositif peut être utilisé comme barrière parallaxe commutable avec un écran à cristaux liquides (2) pour obtenir un affichage pouvant passer d'un mode 3D autostéréoscopique à un mode 2D.
PCT/JP2003/007833 2002-06-28 2003-06-19 Dispositif optique et affichage autostereoscopique Ceased WO2004004362A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2003238707A AU2003238707A1 (en) 2002-06-28 2003-06-19 Optical device and autostereoscopic display

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0215058.9 2002-06-28
GB0215058A GB2390171A (en) 2002-06-28 2002-06-28 Optical device and display

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2004004362A1 true WO2004004362A1 (fr) 2004-01-08

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GB (1) GB2390171A (fr)
TW (1) TW594263B (fr)
WO (1) WO2004004362A1 (fr)

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WO2012003215A1 (fr) 2010-06-30 2012-01-05 3M Innovative Properties Company Combinaisons de film retardateur présentant une réduction de biréfringence à sélection spatiale
US8605006B2 (en) 2009-12-23 2013-12-10 Nokia Corporation Method and apparatus for determining information for display
US9081147B2 (en) 2012-01-03 2015-07-14 3M Innovative Properties Company Effective media retarder films with spatially selective birefringence reduction
US9101956B2 (en) 2010-06-30 2015-08-11 3M Innovative Properties Company Mask processing using films with spatially selective birefringence reduction
US9778470B2 (en) 2010-09-22 2017-10-03 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Multi-view display device
US9939560B2 (en) 2010-06-30 2018-04-10 3M Innovative Properties Company Diffuse reflective optical films with spatially selective birefringence reduction

Families Citing this family (4)

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JP4027898B2 (ja) * 2004-01-29 2007-12-26 株式会社有沢製作所 偏光透過スクリーン、及び当該偏光透過スクリーンを用いた立体画像表示装置
JP5612424B2 (ja) * 2010-10-01 2014-10-22 株式会社ジャパンディスプレイ 立体画像表示装置
TWI422865B (zh) * 2010-10-28 2014-01-11 Au Optronics Corp 可切換式立體顯示器
TWI459261B (zh) * 2012-04-16 2014-11-01 Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd 觸控立體顯示裝置

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0829744A2 (fr) * 1996-09-12 1998-03-18 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Barrière de parallaxe et dispositif d'affichage, modulateur passif de polarisation optique et procédé pour sa fabrication
EP0919847A2 (fr) * 1997-11-26 1999-06-02 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Système d'affichage d'images stéréoscopiques
EP1072924A2 (fr) * 1999-07-24 2001-01-31 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Barrière de parallax, image autostéréoscopique et dispositif d'affichage autostéréoscopique

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2317295A (en) * 1996-09-12 1998-03-18 Sharp Kk Parallax barrier and display

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0829744A2 (fr) * 1996-09-12 1998-03-18 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Barrière de parallaxe et dispositif d'affichage, modulateur passif de polarisation optique et procédé pour sa fabrication
EP0919847A2 (fr) * 1997-11-26 1999-06-02 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Système d'affichage d'images stéréoscopiques
EP1072924A2 (fr) * 1999-07-24 2001-01-31 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Barrière de parallax, image autostéréoscopique et dispositif d'affichage autostéréoscopique

Cited By (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8605006B2 (en) 2009-12-23 2013-12-10 Nokia Corporation Method and apparatus for determining information for display
WO2012003215A1 (fr) 2010-06-30 2012-01-05 3M Innovative Properties Company Combinaisons de film retardateur présentant une réduction de biréfringence à sélection spatiale
US9097858B2 (en) 2010-06-30 2015-08-04 3M Innovative Properties Company Retarder film combinations with spatially selective birefringence reduction
US9101956B2 (en) 2010-06-30 2015-08-11 3M Innovative Properties Company Mask processing using films with spatially selective birefringence reduction
US9423545B2 (en) 2010-06-30 2016-08-23 3M Innovative Properties Company Mask processing using films with spatially selective birefringence reduction
US9810930B2 (en) 2010-06-30 2017-11-07 3M Innovative Properties Company Mask processing using films with spatially selective birefringence reduction
US9939560B2 (en) 2010-06-30 2018-04-10 3M Innovative Properties Company Diffuse reflective optical films with spatially selective birefringence reduction
US9778470B2 (en) 2010-09-22 2017-10-03 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Multi-view display device
US10481406B2 (en) 2010-09-22 2019-11-19 Koninklijke Philips N.V. Multi-view display device
US11281020B2 (en) 2010-09-22 2022-03-22 Koninklijke Philips N.V. Multi-view display device
US9081147B2 (en) 2012-01-03 2015-07-14 3M Innovative Properties Company Effective media retarder films with spatially selective birefringence reduction
US9851484B2 (en) 2012-01-03 2017-12-26 3M Innovative Properties Company Effective media retarder films with spatially selective birefringence reduction

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB0215058D0 (en) 2002-08-07
TW200403499A (en) 2004-03-01
TW594263B (en) 2004-06-21
GB2390171A (en) 2003-12-31
AU2003238707A1 (en) 2004-01-19

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