WO2007089212A1 - Self-stereoscopic system 'stereostep' - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to stereoscopic picture showing/dispaying engineering and can be used in television and computing engineering, in control and management systems, CAD systems, game-playing engineering, for designing training and simulating devices, in avionics, instrumentation engineering , science, education, medicine etc., for 3-D volume modeling, visual statics and dynamic process display . The inventive self-stereoscopic system comprises a display surface provided with a stereo pair prepared for separation and a removable screen provided with a raster optical system arranged in front of the display surface, wherein the stereo pair is embodied in the form of an anaglyph and the removable screen consists of two rasters which are located on the opposite sides with respect to a common light flux-dissipating focal plane and each of which consists of lens elements and/or the optical equivalents thereof arranged on a surface without spaces in such a way that coaxial pairs of lens elements containing an anaglyphic filter are formed, thereby providing a required user-comfortable stereoscopic quality while carrying out a 2D/3D conversion of an initial picture.

Description

 AUTOSTEREOSCOPIC SYSTEM "STEREOSTEP".

The field of technology.

The invention relates to a technique for demonstration / display of stereoscopic images and can be used in television, in computing, in control and management systems, CAD, gaming equipment, for the creation of simulators / simulators, in avionics and instrumentation, in science, education, medicine, etc. d., - for volumetric modeling and visual representation of statics and dynamic processes in the ZD format.

The prior art.

3D imaging continues to be a major technical challenge. The method of color anaglyphs is known, which consists in obtaining a stereoscopic image using two images / angles painted in complementary / complementary colors that make up a stereo pair, which is then viewed using glasses with different color filters. When viewing a stereo pair through such glasses, each eye perceives only its own angle / image. At the same time, due to the effect of binocular mixing of angles, a three-dimensional image is formed. Development of this method limited by the user's discomfort regarding the need to wear / use filter glasses.

In 1908, Gabriel Lippman proposed a technology for recording and reproducing three-dimensional images using embossed optical plates consisting of ordered microlenses and laid the foundation for the development of a multicomponent approach to three-dimensional graphics. Lippman's raster-based idea was developed by Maurice Bonnet. Further development of this approach includes technical solutions with variations of lens reliefs or lattice structures, for obtaining stereo images using a stereo pair specially prepared for separation. The indicated preparation consists in graphically transforming the stereopair angles so that when combining the image and the raster, taking into account the refraction of the rays in it, both angles are restored separately for each eye. A technical solution is known - according to the application WO 99/09750 of 02.25.1999, IPC 7 G 02 B 27/22, H 04 N 13/00 Stereoscopic viewing system. " This solution includes the preparation of the original stereo pair by the Lippman-Bonnet method, which consists in the fact that the stereo pair angles are interspersed with inverted vertical stripes while maintaining the order of their sequence - by the number of lens elements of the lenticular raster, which, when superimposed on a compressed strip image, separately restores both foreshortening - for the left and right eye. The practical implementation of this stereoscopic viewing system requires precise positioning of the optical elements of the lenticular raster relative to the strips of the prepared image.

A known autostereoscopic system is according to patent RU JY≥ 2168192 dated 05/27/2001 IPC 7 G 02 B 27/22, H 04 N 13/00 visual display device and method for forming a three-dimensional image)). This technical solution is based on the use of a mask mask consisting of separate optical elements with a variable focal length mounted over a field of discrete micrographic elements - pixels (images) so that each pixel is positioned on the optical axis of a separate optical element. External control of the focal length of individual optical elements allows you to simulate differences in the depth of visual perception of the corresponding pixels, i.e. show the stereo effect of the image as a whole. This technical solution is complex and cumbersome in the number of constituent elements and their organization in a single design.

The main problem for the implementation of the above technical solutions and / or their known analogues is the fatal requirement for the precision positioning of optical elements relative to the elements of a specially prepared image on the visualization surface. The practical use of such systems is ensured by rigidly fixing their optical elements relative to image pixels, eliminating the mutual drift / shift of optical / graphic elements; therefore, such solutions practically complicate and / or exclude 2D / 3D conversion. Since at present the main manufacturers and consumers of graphic / video products use the 2D format of its visualization / presentation, the possibility of compatibility and use of the existing 2D formats for their transformation into the ZD format is an urgent technical task. The technical solution of the autostereoscopic system is known - according to patent US Xb 4729017 of 02.25.1986, IPC H 04 N 13/00. This technical solution includes a display surface of the visualization with a specially prepared image, which is divided into pixels. Elements of the optical lattice are positioned relative to the pixels of the image and combined into an autonomous lattice plate. At viewing the image on the visualization surface through the trellis plate, a stereoscopic image is shown / restored. Thus, a self-contained / removable grid plate provides 2D / 3D image conversion. However, the practical retention / preservation of the position of the grating plate on the display relative to the image pixels is a complex optical-mechanical problem that can be solved with the help of special devices, otherwise distortions of the graphics projected through the plate and the loss of the stereo effect are inevitable. The technical solution of the autostereoscopic system is known - according to the patent US 2004263970 dated December 30, 2004. MGZH G02N 27/22 "Corresponding to autosteeresoris flat rape disrlau". This system includes a flat screen monitor - a visualization surface on which there is a pixel image of a stereo pair prepared for separation by the Lippmann-Bonnet house, as well as a removable screen in the form of a lenticular raster located flat-parallel to the visualization surface. This autostereoscopic system includes means (an optical test in the form of an oriented slit raster on the monitor screen together with a mechanical offset device for the removable screen on the monitor) for adjusting (shifting / rotating) the position of the removable screen / its optical elements relative to the prepared image on the visualization surface. An obvious limitation of this system is the requirement for a flat monitor screen and the discomfort from special actions of the viewer to adjust the position of the removable screen, which takes time and is accompanied by the inevitable loss of video information.

Disclosure of the invention.

The basis of the invention is the task of creating a comfortable autostereoscopic system that provides high quality stereoscopy and 2D compatibility. The problem is solved in that in an autostereoscopic system including a visualization surface with a stereo pair prepared for separation and a removable screen with a raster optical system located in front of the visualization surface, according to the claimed technical solution, the stereo pair prepared for separation is made by the method of color anaglyphs, and the removable screen consists of two rasters located on opposite sides relative to the common scattering light stream of the focal plane, each of which consists of lens elements and / or their optical equivalents laid on the surface without gaps, with the formation of coaxial pairs of lens elements containing anaglyphic filters.

The separation of the stereopair angles of the anaglyphically prepared image is carried out by the raster structure provided in the claimed technical solution with anaglyphic filtering, which does not require precise positioning relative to the visualization surface. This provides 2D compatibility, eliminates the need to configure / adjust the removable screen during installation and use, and also provides a stereo effect with stable quality anaglyphic technology. Thus, the conversion of a 2D / 3D format for a user is reduced only to connecting a raster screen with an anaglyphic filter — to a visualization surface with a prepared image. Moreover, the representation of a stereo pair in the form of an anaglyphic image ensures the placement of each of its angles on the entire visualization surface and eliminates the loss of accuracy - clarity and contrast in their representation, which cannot be eliminated in the closest analogue.

In addition to the above, the anaglyphic representation of the stereo pair on the visualization surface is invariant with respect to: - printing or screen (television, computer or special monitors / indicators) visualization surfaces;

-topologies and organization of color / light-forming pixels (micrographic elements of the visualization surface);

- digital or analog, including CRT, - reproducing images on the surface of the visualization;

Static / still or dynamic images. In addition, the anaglyphic representation of a stereo pair, due to the peculiarities of its formation, retains a complete (without topological deformations) reproduction of each of its foreshortening; this allows direct (without a removable screen) visual perception of the image, and also eliminates:

- the irreparable half loss of illumination (light output for radiating screens) of each aspect of the stereo pair, which occupies only half of the visualization surface in the solution of the closest analogue;

- the loss of accuracy (clarity and contrast) of the representation of each angle cannot be eliminated in the closest analogue due to the use of only half of the ^“ final number of pixels (micrographic elements of the screen) on the visualization surface.

The raster structure of the claimed technical solution inherits and develops a well-known multicomponent approach in the construction of an autostereoscopic system. Two rasters, each of which consists of identical lens elements and / or their optical equivalents, laid on the surface without gaps, with the formation of coaxial pairs of lens elements, and symmetrically located relative to the common scattering focal plane (biraster), provide a non-distorting encoding-decoding of a three-dimensional scene (from the lens side) and its stereo playback for the viewer (from the eyepiece), as if he watched a three-dimensional scene through a transparent screen. This functional transparency of the raster structure of the claimed technical solution means the possibility of its positioning in an arbitrary place between the stage / object and the viewer, i.e. the closest analogue to the use of a removable screen only for flat visualization surfaces, to the abutment of a removable screen, as well as any influence of the thickness of the outer material of the display monitor and its optical properties are excluded. A certain shift (rotation / displacement in its own plane) of the raster structure of the claimed technical solution at the position and its non-orthogonal placement relative to the object-viewer line is also allowed. In addition, due to the separate change in the curvature of the lenses of the raster components, it becomes possible to optically control the stereo effect in terms of changing the parallax and optical effects of approximating / deleting the object scene. Component rasters can be not only lenticular, but also piecewise linear (with stepwise displacement of the lens elements to smooth out gaps between the front viewer viewing areas) and other multi-lenses with the same curvature, or their optical equivalents (Fresnel, slot, holograms ) The parameters of raster components (the curvature of the lens elements, step / placement geometry, ¹ material) are technologically determined by setting the distance of the frontal viewing distance from the visualization surface and the viewing angles of this surface. Thus, the optical properties of the raster design of the proposed technical solution allow:

- not only the fit of the removable screen to the surface of the visualization (as in the closest analogue), but also its non-tangent / non-closed location relative to the surface of the visualization; - not only the parallel location of the removable screen relative to the visualization surface (as in the closest analogue), but also its non-equidistant location relative to this surface;

-not only a flat surface of visualization (as in the closest analogue), but also the curvature of this surface in the range of standard values for the outer surfaces of television, computer and special monitors;

- the complete exclusion of horizontal / vertical adjustment of the position of the raster structure of the claimed technical solution, due to the noted invariance of optical effects with vertical and / or horizontal displacement of the removable screen relative to the visualization surface;

- the complete exclusion of the angular adjustment of the position of the removable screen, due to the invariance of optical effects when rotating the raster structure of the claimed technical solution relative to the visualization surface at angles in the range of permissible rotations of the filter pair in anaglyphic technology;

-a complete elimination of the need to take into account the parameters (thickness and optical properties) of the external (protective) material on the visualization surface;

-optical regulation of parallax and approximation / removal of the object scene due to the different curvature of the lens elements on the forming (ocular / objective) raster components of the raster design of the claimed technical solution. Anaglyphic filters of individual lens pairs should be arranged so that their optical projection onto the focal plane of the lens pair predominantly fills this plane and forms two continuous multi-colored zones symmetrically adjacent to the optical plane of the cylindrical lens, or to a diameter of a given orientation in the projection of a spherical lens onto the focal plane . Totality Anaglyphic filters of individual lens pairs form an integral anaglyphic filter-separator system. It is advisable to focal location of local anaglyphic filters forming a continuous anaglyphic filter of the system. In a continuous anaglyphic filter of the system located on the focal plane of the lenticular raster, adjacent local anaglyphic filters adjoin each other with regions of different colors, forming a regular structure of parallel stripes of the same width (size h / 2), with alternating colors and pairwise positioned under cylindrical raster lenses. At the same time, even stripes are painted in one color, odd - in another; and monochrome stripes alternate with a raster step h. For multi-lens rasters, a continuous focal anaglyphic filter also has a regular structure determined by the dense geometry of the placement of spherical lenses and the adjoining of their focal regions. The functional connection of the raster structure and the anaglyphic angle separator, together provides a manifestation of the autostereoscopic effect when freely hanging on the anaglyphic image on the visualization surface.

As a result of an expanded search in the patent and scientific and technical literature on the relevant sections of the IPC and UDC, the totality of significant differences, which fully or partially coincides with the stated one and allows solving the inventive problem, was not found in any of the technical solutions.

Therefore, the claimed technical solution meets the criterion of "novelty."

From the prior art, the totality of the features of the claimed technical solution obviously does not follow. Therefore, the claimed technical solution meets the criterion of "inventive step". Description of embodiments of the invention.

The inventive autostereoscopic system has passed model and laboratory tests at the Engineering Agency “Antenet”, which is confirmed by examples of specific performance.

In FIG. 1 shows an autostereoscopic system (general view); In FIG. 2 shows the raster design of the removable screen (a variant of the lenticular rasters), (a) the raster design in assembly, (b) the components of the removable screen; In FIG. 3 shows a pair of lens elements with a common optical axis;

In FIG. 4 shows a stereo effect manifestation scheme. An autostereoscopic system includes a visualization surface (1) with a stereo pair prepared for separation and a removable screen (2) with a raster optical system located in front of the visualization surface (1). The stereo pair is made by the method of color anaglyphs, and the removable screen (2) consists of two rasters (3), (4) located on different sides relative to the common scattering light stream of the focal plane (5). Each of the two rasters (3), (4), - consists of lens elements (6) and / or their optical equivalents laid on the surface without gaps, with the formation of pairs (7) of lens elements with a common optical axis (8) , and anaglyphic multifilter (9), which is formed by anaglyphic filters (10) for each pair (7) of lens elements (6). Each anaglyphic filter (10) consists of a color filter pair of complementary colors — for example, a red filter (11) and a blue filter (12).

The autostereoscopic system works as follows: The stereo effect of the autostereoscopic system when using anaglyph image and raster structure (raster (3), (4), and focal plane (5)) with anaglyphic multifilter rum (9) using the example of a multi-lens raster structure with focal placement of an anaglyphic filter (9) includes the following steps:

- the emitted / reflected by anaglyphic image integrated light flux self-focuses in the focal plane (5) symmetrically with respect to the optical center of the objective lens, i.e. a horizontally inverted fragment of the left angle is displayed in the scattering region to the right of the optical axis (8) of the lens pair (7); likewise, an inverted fragment of the right angle is displayed in the scattering region — to the left of the optical axis (7) of the lens pair — thereby automatically encoding the image corresponding to the Lippmann-Bonnet method in the scattering region of this lens pair;

- Mixed color images are projected through filters and scattered into the body of the adjacent ocular raster; at the same time, the red filter (11) selects the left angle, and the blue filter (12) - the right angle of the original stereo pair;

- restoration / decoding of the integral image of the angle occurs just as automatically - based on the properties of the multi-lens ocular raster, in the focal plane of which (in the scattering zone) there is an image encoded similarly to the Lippmann-Bonnet method, i.e. paraxial rays of scattered radiation (as well as noncentrally refracted rays - for non-frontal viewing) provide for the re-inversion of angle fragments and their angular orientation for binocular (stereoscopic) perception by the viewer at a given viewing distance. Thus, a raster structure with a built-in anaglyphic filter simultaneously performs two functions: separation of angles and their encoding-decoding. The optical properties of the removable screen, including the raster structure (biraster) and the anaglyphic filter, provide fragmented self-focusing of the anaglyphic image from the visualization surface by the raster-lens in the focal planes of the ocular raster, separation of these fragments of angles by separate filters and ordered symmetrical reproduction of the separated fragments of angles by the ocular raster, which provides the viewer with a manifestation of the autostereoscopic effect for volume scenes. Thus, the claimed technical solution solves the problem - with a high degree of comfort for the user and ensuring the proper quality of stereoscopy in 2D / 3D-conversion of the original image. It is also shown that the capabilities of the inventive autostereoscopic system are invariant with respect to the analog or digital representation of images for static or dynamic graphics. They are provided in structurally simple, passive or active, options for manufacturing a raster structure, allow its hinged or integrated use in visualization tools, without initial restrictions on the precision of positioning on the visualization surface, i.e. for any means of indication (including various monitor screens) and with full compatibility with arbitrary 2D-devices and printing. In this case, a standard anaglyphic representation of a stereo pair is used, mastered and maintained in the printing industry, in computing and on television - without any biomedical restrictions for viewers.

Claims

CLAIM An autostereoscopic system comprising a visualization surface with a stereo pair prepared for separation and a removable screen with a raster optical system located in front of the visualization surface, characterized in that the stereo pair is made in the form of an anaglyph, and the removable screen consists of two rasters located on opposite sides relative to the general scattering the luminous flux of the focal plane, each of which consists of lens elements and / or their optical equivalents, laid on the surface without gaps, with Hovhan coaxial pairs of lens elements, each of which comprises a filter anaglyph. SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)