Patent Grant
8970682
This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0131322, filed on Dec. 24, 2009, and all the benefits accruing therefrom under 35 U.S.C. §119, the content of which in its entirety is herein incorporated by reference.
(a) Field of the Invention
A stereoscopic image display device and a driving method thereof are provided.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Generally, in the technology area of three-dimensional image display, a stereoscopic effect for viewing an object is presented using binocular parallax. Binocular parallax is the most important factor to allow a person to perceive the stereoscopic effect at a close range. That is, different 2D images are respectively seen by a right eye and a left eye, and if the image seen by the left eye (hereinafter referred to as a “left-eye image”) and the image seen by the right eye (hereinafter referred to as a “right-eye image”) are transmitted to the brain, the left-eye image and the right-eye image are combined by the brain such that the brain perceives a 3D image having depth.
The typical stereoscopic image display devices using the binocular parallax effect in 3D image displays are typically categorized as stereoscopic schemes using glasses, such as a shutter glasses or polarized glasses, and autostereoscopic schemes in which a lenticular lens or a parallax barrier is disposed between a user and the display device. Autostereoscopic schemes typically operate without the use of special glasses.
In a stereoscopic image display device using the shutter glasses scheme, the left-eye image and the right-eye image are sequentially time-separated and continuously output, and the left-eye shutter and the right-eye shutter of the shutter glasses are selectively open or shut such that the left-eye image and the right-eye image are sequentially viewed by the user and a stereoscopic image is displayed.
The shutter glasses scheme may easily execute a change between a 2D mode and a 3D mode of a display device, and a loss of data in each mode may not be generated. However, the shutter glasses in which the shutter is open or shut is worn such that the luminance of the stereoscopic image display device and the surroundings thereof may be diminished, e.g., the surrounding and display appear dimmed, a flicker generated by an external light source, such as a fluorescent light, may be easily recognized, and tiredness of the eyes of a user may be serious after viewing the display device through the glasses for an extended period.
An exemplary embodiment of a stereoscopic image display device according to the present invention includes; a display device into which left-eye image data and right-eye image data are alternately input, and a shutter member including a left-eye shutter and a right-eye shutter, wherein the left-eye shutter and the right-eye shutter are opened in at least one of at least a part of an input period for the left-eye image data and at least a part of an input period for the right-eye image data.
In one exemplary embodiment, a backlight which receives a first on pulse applied thereto may be further included, and at least a part of the first on pulse may be applied between the input period of the left-eye image data and the input period of the right-eye image data.
In one exemplary embodiment, the display device may be input with normal image data, the backlight may receive at least one second on pulse applied thereto at the input period of the normal image data, and the magnitude of the first on pulse may be larger than the magnitude of the second on pulse.
In one exemplary embodiment, the backlight may be a light emitting diode (“LED”).
In one exemplary embodiment, the magnitude of the first on pulse may be equal to or larger than about 1.5 times the magnitude of the second on pulse.
In one exemplary embodiment, the second on pulse may have a duty ratio of less than about 100%.
In one exemplary embodiment, one of the left-eye shutter and the right-eye shutter may be closed and the other may be opened in at least a part of the first on pulse.
In one exemplary embodiment, the backlight may be turned on after the passage of a first time from a time when the input of the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is completed.
In one exemplary embodiment, the left-eye shutter and the right-eye shutter may respectively further include a liquid crystal material, and the first time may be greater than the response time of the liquid crystal material of the shutter.
In one exemplary embodiment, the right-eye shutter may be closed from the time when the input of the left-eye image data is completed before the passage of the first time, and the left-eye shutter may be closed from the time when the input of the right-eye image data is completed before the passage of the first time.
In one exemplary embodiment, the backlight may be turned off from the start of the input of the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data after the passage of the second time.
In one exemplary embodiment, the display device may further include a liquid crystal material, and the second time may be shorter than the response time of the liquid crystal material of the display device.
In one exemplary embodiment, the second time may be less than about 15% of the response time of the liquid crystal material of the display device.
In one exemplary embodiment, the right-eye shutter may be opened after the passage of the second time period from the time when the input of the right-eye image data is started, and the left-eye shutter may be opened after the passage of the second time period from the time when the input of the left-eye image data is started before the passage of the second time.
In one exemplary embodiment, the right-eye shutter may be opened before the third time from the time when the input of the right-eye image data is started, and the left-eye shutter may be opened before the third time from the time when the input of the left-eye image data is started.
An exemplary embodiment of a stereoscopic image display device according to the present invention includes; a display device into which normal image data is input, and into which a left-eye image data and a right-eye image data are alternately input, a backlight which receives a first on pulse and at least one second on pulse, and a shutter member including a left-eye shutter and a right-eye shutter, wherein at least a part of the first on pulse occurs between the input period of the left-eye image data and the input period of the right-eye image data, the second on pulse occurs during the input period of the normal image data, and the magnitude of the first on pulse is larger than the magnitude of the second on pulse.
An exemplary embodiment of a method for driving a stereoscopic image display device including a display device and a shutter member having a left-eye shutter and a right-eye shutter according to the present invention includes; alternately inputting left-eye image data and right-eye image data to the display device, and opening the left-eye shutter and the right-eye shutter during at least a part of the time when the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is being input to the display device.
At least a part of the first on pulse may be applied to the backlight between the input period of the left-eye image data and the input period of the right-eye image data.
In one exemplary embodiment, the display device may be input with normal image data, at least one second on pulse may be applied to the backlight during the input of the normal image data, and the magnitude of the first on pulse may be equal to or larger than about 1.5 times the magnitude of the second on pulse.
In one exemplary embodiment, one of the left-eye shutter and the right-eye shutter may be closed and the other may maintain the opened state during at least a portion of the first on pulse.
An exemplary embodiment of a method for driving a stereoscopic image display device including a display device and a shutter member having a left-eye shutter and a right-eye shutter according to the present invention includes; inputting normal image data to the display device and alternately inputting left-eye image data and right-eye image data to the display device, applying at least a part of the first on pulse to a backlight between the input period of the left-eye image data and the input period of the right-eye image data to a backlight, and applying at least one second on pulse to the backlight during the input of the normal image data, wherein the magnitude of the first on pulse is larger than the magnitude of the second on pulse.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the luminance deterioration may be prevented at the stereoscopic image display device and the surrounding area thereof, the flicker by the external light source may be reduced, the tiredness of the eyes due to watching for a long time may be reduced, and the power consumption of the stereoscopic image display device may be reduced.
The above and other aspects, advantages and features of this disclosure will become more apparent by describing in further detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may be present therebetween. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element, there are no intervening elements present. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” or “includes” and/or “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Furthermore, relative terms, such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or “top,” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another elements as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. For example, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elements described as being on the “lower” side of other elements would then be oriented on “upper” sides of the other elements. The exemplary term “lower”, can therefore, encompasses both an orientation of “lower” and “upper,” depending on the particular orientation of the figure. Similarly, if the device in one of the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements would then be oriented “above” the other elements. The exemplary terms “below” or “beneath” can, therefore, encompass both an orientation of above and below.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to cross section illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments of the present invention. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, embodiments of the present invention should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. For example, a region illustrated or described as flat may, typically, have rough and/or nonlinear features. Moreover, sharp angles that are illustrated may be rounded. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the precise shape of a region and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
All methods described herein can be performed in a suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”), is intended merely to better illustrate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention as used herein.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Now, an exemplary embodiment of a stereoscopic image display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to
The display device 100 may include a liquid crystal display (“LCD”), an organic light emitting device or other similar display device. The following detailed description will describe an exemplary embodiment wherein the display device 100 is an LCD and will be described with reference to
The display device 100 may include an upper substrate, a lower substrate and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate. In the display device 100, the alignment direction of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer is controlled by an electric field generated between two electrodes, and thereby the transmittance of light through the liquid crystal layer is controlled so as to display images.
In the present exemplary embodiment, the lower substrate includes a gate line (GL1, . . . GLn, in
Exemplary embodiments include configurations wherein the upper substrate corresponding to the lower substrate may include a black matrix, a color filter and a common electrode. Also, alternative exemplary embodiments include configurations wherein at least one of the color filter, the black matrix, and the common electrode may be formed on the lower substrate, and in the exemplary embodiment wherein both the common electrode and the pixel electrode are formed in the lower substrate, at least one of the two electrodes may be a linear electrode.
The liquid crystal layer may include twisted nematic (“TN”) mode liquid crystals, vertically aligned (“VA”) mode liquid crystals, or electrically controlled birefringence (“ECB”) mode liquid crystals.
Embodiments include configurations wherein polarizers are respectively attached on the outer surfaces of the upper substrate and the lower substrate. Also, embodiments include configurations wherein a compensation film may be added between the substrate and the polarizer.
The LCD display may include a backlight unit (200 in
The stereo controller may transmit 3D_sync signal to the shutter glasses 300. The shutter glasses may be electrically connected to the stereo controller 400 and the shutter glasses may receive the signal though infrared signal without wire. Shutter glasses may be operated in response to the 3D_sync or in response to a transformation of the 3D_sync. The 3D_sync may include signals which open or close the shutters. Shutter glasses control signal (3D_sync) which control the shutter glasses' open or close state will be explained below with
The stereo controller may transmit the display DATA to the image signal processor. Image signal processor may transmit a various display data and a various control signal to the display device 100 through gate driver 120, data driver 140, a gamma voltage generator 190 or etc. to display image in display device 100. In 3D display the DATA to the image signal processor may include left-eye image and right eye image. Image data which is input to the display device 100 will be explained below with
In
For example, when left-eye images, namely a quadrilateral 101 and a triangle 102 are output to the display device 100, the left-eye shutter 301 of the shutter member 300 is in the opened state such that the light is transmitted therethrough, and the right-eye shutter 302 is in the closed state such that the light is blocked thereby. Also, when right-eye images, namely a quadrilateral 101′ and a triangle 102′ are output to the display device 100, the right-eye shutter 302′ of the shutter member 300 is in the opened state such that the light is transmitted therethrough, and the left-eye shutter 301′ is in the closed state such that the light is blocked thereby. Accordingly, the left-eye image is perceived by the left eye during the predetermined time and then subsequently the right-eye image is perceived by the right eye, and as a result a stereoscopic image having depth is perceived by a viewer due to the difference between the left-eye image and the right-eye image.
The image recognized by the left eye is the image displayed at the N-th frame (F(N)), that is, the image in which the quadrangle 101 and the triangle 102 are separated from each other by the distance α. On the other hand, the image recognized by the right eye is the image displayed at the (N+1)-th frame (F(N+1), that is, the image in which the quadrangle 101′ and the triangle 102′ are separated from each other by the distance β, which in the present embodiment is different than the distance α. As described above, when the separated distances between the images recognized by two eyes are different, a different distance perception is generated for the quadrilateral and the triangle such that it is perceived by the viewer that the triangle is separated behind the quadrangle, and thereby the viewer experiences depth perception. The depth perception in which two objects are separated from each other may be controlled by controlling the distances α and β at which the triangle 102 and the quadrilateral 101 are separated from each other.
Referring to
For example, the display device 100 may display the left-eye image 101 and 102 as described in more detail below. The gate-on voltage is sequentially applied to the gate lines such that the data voltage is applied to the pixel electrodes through the thin film transistors connected to the corresponding gate line. Here, the applied data voltage is a data voltage (hereinafter referred to as a left-eye data voltage) to represent the left-eye images 101 and 102, and the applied left-eye data voltage may be maintained during the predetermined time by the storage capacitance of the storage capacitor, where present. Also, a data voltage (hereinafter referred to as the right-eye data voltage) to represent the right-eye images 101′ and 102′ is applied through the same method, and may be maintained during the predetermined time by the storage capacitance of the storage capacitor, where present.
Referring to
Here, the image data means data represented as a digital type to output the image to the display device 100. As illustrated in
In contrast, according to the conventional art in which the left-eye shutter and the right-eye shutter are closed when the right-eye image data or the left-eye image data is input, respectively, the luminance near the display device is reduced, the display device itself may be dark, the flicker generated by the external light source may be easily recognized, and the tiredness of the eyes may be serious when watching for an extended time period. For example, when the viewer wears the shutter member according to the conventional art, the luminance of the display device is only about 13.5 nit as mentioned above.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the backlight is turned on during at least a part of time among the VB, and is turned off during most of the time when the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is input, and accordingly the power consumption of the display device 100 may be reduced. As shown in
For example, after the left-eye image data L1 is input to the display device 100, the opened right-eye shutter 302 is changed to the closed state, the opened left-eye shutter 301 maintains the opened state and the backlight is turned on, and thereby the left-eye image, including the quadrilateral 101 and the triangle 102, output to the display device 100 is shown through the left-eye shutter 301 and perceived by a viewer. Also, when the right-eye image data R1 is started to be input to the display device 100, the closed right-eye shutter 302 is opened (albeit after a small delay corresponding to time period t2), and the left-eye shutter 301 maintains the opened state. Next, after the right-eye image data R1 is entirely input to the display device 100, the opened left-eye shutter 301 is changed to the closed state, the opened right-eye shutter 302′ maintains the opened state and the backlight unit is turned on, and thereby the right-eye image, including the quadrilateral 101′ and the triangle 102′, output to the display device 100 are shown through the right-eye shutter 302′.
Also, the backlight may be turned on after a predetermined time t1 after the time when the input of the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is completed. The time t1 may be a sufficient time for the left-eye shutter or the right-eye shutter to be completely closed. That is, when considering the response time of the liquid crystal molecules inside the shutter, the shutter may be previously applied with the voltage before the backlight is turned on during the VB period. Accordingly, the image is shown through the shutter of the other side after the shutter of one side is completely closed such that cross-talk in which the left-eye image and the right-eye image are overlapped may be substantially reduced or effectively prevented. Also, the response time of the liquid crystal molecules inside the shutter is changed by the influence of the ambient temperature and the application voltage such that the time t1 may be automatically or manually controlled when the response time of the liquid crystal becomes slower or faster. For example, when the response time of the liquid crystal becomes slow, e.g., due to use in low temperatures, the time t1 may be a sufficient time for the left-eye shutter or the right-eye shutter to be completely closed.
On the other hand, if the time t1 is increased, the time when the backlight is turned on is shortened such that the luminance of the display device 100 may be reduced, and accordingly the cross-talk and the luminance of the display device have a trade-off relationship according to the size of the time t1. Accordingly, the time t1 may be controlled to increase the luminance of the display device while reducing the perceived cross-talk. For example, the time t1 may be larger than the closing time of the shutter liquid crystal and may be smaller than the entire VB period. In an exemplary embodiment wherein the shutter liquid crystal is the TN mode liquid crystal, the falling time (corresponding to the closing time) of the liquid crystal is about 0.3 ms and the VB is about 2.65 ms, and the time t1 may be larger than about 0.3 ms and less than about 2.65 ms. Furthermore, exemplary embodiments include configurations wherein the time t1 may be larger than 0.5 ms and less than 2.0 ms.
Also, after the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is started to be input, when considering the response time of the liquid crystal of the display device 100, the backlight may maintain the opened state during the time t2. There is a relationship wherein the luminance of the display device 100 is increased as the time when the backlight is turned on is increased such that the luminance of the display device 100 may be increased when the time t2 is larger than 0 ms. Also, in some exemplary embodiments, the response speed of the liquid crystal of the display device 100 is slow during the initial time when the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is started to be input such that the cross-talk may not be generated although the backlight is turned on. Further, the response time of the liquid crystal inside the display device 100 is changed by the influence of the ambient temperature and the application voltage such that the time t2 may be automatically or manually controlled when the response time of the liquid crystal become slower or faster.
In one exemplary embodiment, the time t2 may be 0 ms. In such an exemplary embodiment, the backlight is changed to the off state at the moment that the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is input. On the other hand, the cross-talk and the luminance of the display device have a trade-off relationship according to the size of the time t2. Accordingly, the time t2 may be controlled to increase the luminance of the display device while reducing the cross-talk. For example, in one embodiment the time t2 may be more than 0, and may be less than about 15% of the rising time of the liquid crystal of the display device. When the liquid crystal of the display device is the TN mode liquid crystal and the rising time of the liquid crystal is about 3.96 ms, the time t2 may be more than 0 and less than about 0.6 ms. Furthermore, in one exemplary embodiment the time t2 may be more than 0.1 ms and less than 0.5 ms.
The time when the closed shutter is changed to the opened state may be substantially the same as the time when the backlight is turned-off, and accordingly the cross-talk may be prevented. For example, in one exemplary embodiment when the backlight maintains the turned-on state during the time t2 after the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is input, the shutter is changed from the closed state to the opened state at the time when the backlight is turned off. Also, when the backlight is turned off at the time when the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is started to be input, the shutter is changed from the closed state to the opened state at the time when the backlight is turned off.
When considering the response speed of the shutter liquid crystal, the time when the closed shutter is changed to the opened state may be before the time when the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is input. Accordingly, the time when the shutter is opened is further increased such that the luminance near the display device 100 may be increased. The time difference between the time when the closed shutter is changed to the opened and when the left-eye image data or the right-eye image data is input is less than the response speed of the shutter liquid crystal, and is a short time in which the right-eye is not capable of recognizing the left-eye image and thus cross-talk may be reduced or effectively prevented.
Referring to
Referring to
The 2D mode may be a state in which the shutter member is not worn (such a situation is similar to the state in which the left-eye shutter and the right-eye shutter are always opened), and the backlight may be continuously turned on during the time when the image data D1 is input (a duty ratio may be about 100%). Also, referring to
Referring to
If the light source, such as the LED having the faster current response speed than a CCFL, is used as the backlight of the display device 100, the impulsive driving of the backlight may be speedily executed. Also, the power consumption of the LED is less than that of the CCFL.
When the input image is the 3D image data, the LED used as the backlight of the display device 100 may be driven by the impulsive method as described above, and an LED impulsive signal is made with reference to the signal such as a scanning start signal such that the LED may be turned on at a predetermined time.
While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
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