Patent Application
20110096154
This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0100899, filed on Oct. 22, 2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present disclosure relate to a display apparatus, an image displaying method, a three-dimensional (3D) spectacle and a driving method thereof. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a display apparatus, an image displaying method, a 3D spectacle and a driving method thereof, displaying either a two-dimensional (2D) image or a 3D image, depending upon whether a user is wearing the 3D spectacle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Objects seen through a human's eyes are viewed in three dimensions (3D). The three dimensions are length, width, and height (or depth). When viewing an object in one dimension (1D) or two dimensions (2D), no great difference is discerned when the object is seen through one eye or through two eyes. However, in case of three dimensions (3D), a great difference is discerned between viewing the object through one eye and viewing the object through two eyes.
For this reason, technologies that display images in three dimensions have been developed, and methods of displaying 3D images have been studied and put to practical use in a number of fields including photography, cinematography, television, gaming, etc. In particular, 3D image displaying technology permits a viewer to feel the cubic sense of an object using a binocular parallax, which is the largest factor that allows the viewer to recognize the cubic sense of the object over a short distance. Regarding methods of viewing 3D images, there are a spectacle type and a non-spectacle type. The spectacle type method makes it possible to view the 3D images through a 3D spectacle employing a shutter mechanism, or though a polarized spectacle.
3D images may be converted into 2D images, and vice versa. Where 3D images are displayed, but a user wishes to view 2D images, the 3D images can first be converted into 2D images and then displayed, and vice versa. Conversion of 2D images and 3D images may be accomplished by activating an image mode conversion menu. That is, if a user activates the image mode conversion menu of a display apparatus and selects 2D images or 3D images, 2D images or 3D images are displayed according to the user's selection. However, this image mode conversion mechanism is inconvenient to use because manipulation by the user is required whenever the image mode needs to be changed.
Accordingly, the present disclosure purposes to provide a display apparatus, an image displaying method, a 3D spectacle and a driving method thereof, displaying a 3D image or a 2D image, depending upon whether a user is wearing the 3D spectacle.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display apparatus including: a signal receiving unit that receives an image signal; an image processing unit that processes the received image signal; a controller that receives information, which indicates whether a user is wearing a three-dimensional (3D) spectacle for viewing a 3D image, and controls the image processing unit to process the received image signal to generate a 3D signal to be displayed as the 3D image when the information is received.
The controller may control the display apparatus to display the received image signal as the 3D image when the information indicates that the user is wearing the 3D spectacle, and display the received image signal as a two-dimensional (2D) signal when the information indicates that the user is not wearing the 3D spectacle.
Where there are a plurality of users who are respectively wearing the 3D spectacles, the controller may display the image in 3D once at least one user is wearing one of the 3D spectacles.
Where second information of the user's state, other than the information which indicates that the user is wearing the 3D spectacle, is received the controller may display the 3D image based on the second information.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional (3D) spectacle for viewing a 3D image displayed on a display apparatus, including: a lens unit through which a user wearing the 3D spectacle views the 3D image; a sensor that detects whether a user is wearing the 3D spectacle; and a signal sending unit that sends a signal to the display apparatus, the signal indicating whether the sensor detects that the user is wearing the 3D spectacle.
The sensor may be an electrostatic sensor.
The sensor may include at least one of an earth magnetic field sensor, an accelerator sensor, or a pulse sensor.
Also, the 3D spectacle may employ at least one of a shutter and a polarizer.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image displaying method for displaying a three-dimensional (3D) image on a display apparatus, including: receiving an image signal; receiving information indicating whether a user is wearing a 3D spectacle for viewing the 3D image; processing the received image signal to generate the 3D image when the information indicating that the user is wearing the 3D spectacle is received; and displaying the generated image.
The processing may include processing the received image signal to generate the 3D image when the information indicates that the user is wearing the 3D spectacle.
The processing may include processing the received image signal to generate a 2D image when the information indicates that the user is not wearing the 3D spectacle.
Second information that indicates whether a second user is wearing a second 3D spectacle may be received, and the processing may include processing the received image signal to generate the 3D image when at least one of the first information indicates that he user is wearing the 3D spectacle or the second information indicates that the second user is wearing the second 3D spectacle.
The receiving may include receiving second information about the user's state, other than the information which indicates that the user is wearing the 3D spectacle, and the processing may include generating the 3D image based on the second information.
The receiving may include receiving second information from a second 3D spectacle, which indicates that a second user is not wearing the second 3D spectacle, and the processing may include processing the received signal to generate a two-dimensional (2D) image when the second information is received.
Second information that indicates whether a second user is wearing a second 3D spectacle may be received, and the processing may include processing the received image signal to generate the 3D image when at least one of the first information indicates that the user is wearing the 3D spectacle or the second information indicates that the second user is wearing the second 3D spectacle.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a three-dimensional (3D) spectacle for viewing a 3D image displayed on a display apparatus, including: sensing, by the 3D spectacle, whether a user is wearing the 3D spectacle; and transmitting information indicating whether the user is wearing the 3D spectacle to the display apparatus.
The sensing may include sensing at least one of user motion, user moving speed, and user vital rhythm, and the transmitting may include transmitting second information indicating the at least one of the user motion, the user moving speed, and the user vital rhythm to the display apparatus.
The above embodiments and/or utilities of the present disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so as to be easily realized by a person having ordinary knowledge in the art. The exemplary embodiments may be embodied in various forms without being limited to forms set forth herein. Descriptions with respect to those portions easily realized by the person having ordinary skill in the art are omitted for clarity, and like reference numerals refer to like or similar elements throughout. Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.
If a 3D spectacle 20 transmits information about whether a user is wearing the spectacle 20 (hereinafter referred to as “3D spectacle 20 wearing information”), the controller 130 receives the 3D spectacle 20 wearing information and controls the image processing unit so as to display the 3D image or the 2D image, depending upon whether the user is wearing the 3D spectacle 20 or not. That is, if the user is wearing the 3D spectacle 20, the controller 130 determines that the user wishes to see the 3D image, and thereby controls the 3D image to be displayed. If the user is not wearing the 3D spectacle 20, the controller 130 determines that the user does not wish to see the 3D image, and thereby controls the 2D image to be displayed. Where there are a plurality of users who are wearing the 3D spectacle 20, the 3D image is displayed if at least one user is wearing the 3D spectacle 20, but the 2D image is displayed if no users are wearing the 3D spectacle 20. Where the received image signal is for the 2D image, the controller 130 controls the image processing unit 110 so that the 2D image is converted into a 3D image to be displayed. Where the received image signal is for the 3D image, the controller 130 controls the image processing unit 110 so that the 3D image is converted into a 2D image to be displayed. The 3D spectacle 20 wearing information may be received by the controller 130, but the 3D spectacle 20 wearing information may also be received by a separate receiving unit (not shown). Also, if the 3D spectacle 20 sends information about a state of the user (hereinafter referred to as “user's state information”), other than the 3D spectacle 20 wearing information, the controller 130 may apply the user's state information to the 3D image to be displayed. That is, if information about user's motion, moving speed or vital rhythm, etc. is transmitted, this information may be applied to the 3D image to be displayed. By doing so, the 3D image having higher virtual reality and stereoscopic sense may be presented to the user. If the user takes off the 3D spectacle 20 after wearing the 3D spectacle 20, the 3D spectacle 20 may send any signal. Then, the display apparatus 10 may display 2D image.
Meanwhile, the 3D spectacle 20 according to this exemplary embodiment may be driven by any one of a shutter or a polarizer. The shutter-type 3D spectacle 20 is operated synchronously with the 3D image displayed by the display apparatus 10. When the left eye image is displayed, a left eye shutter of the shutter-type 3D spectacle 20 is opened, but a right eye shutter thereof is closed. When the right eye image is displayed, the right eye shutter of the 3D spectacle is opened and the left eye shutter is closed. The polarizer-type 3D spectacle 20 is equipped with two different polarized plates. As the left side image and the right side image of the 3D image have respectively different polarized lights, wearing a spectacle with different polarized plates makes it possible to see a 3D image because the left side image and the right side image are seen separately. The 3D spectacle 20 may also include a controller (not shown), such as a central processing unit (CPU), that controls operations of the 3D spectacle 20.
As described above, the present exemplary embodiments enable 3D images to be displayed when the user is wearing the 3D spectacle 20, or 2D images to be displayed when the user is not wearing the 3D spectacle 20.
Although a few exemplary embodiments have been illustrated and described in detail, the present disclosure shall not be limited thereto, and can be carried out in various manners.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2009-0100899 | Oct 2009 | KR | national |
