Display apparatus

Abstract

A display apparatus includes a reflector positioned for obstructing a front view of a driver by using an opaque material, a first imaging unit for imaging a front view of the vehicle, an image generation unit for generating a display image for a portion of the front view that is obstructed by the reflector, an image projection unit for projecting the display image generated by the image generation unit on the reflector, an information acquisition unit for acquiring information to be visually provided for the driver, and a combination unit for combining the information with the display image upon acquiring the information by using the information acquisition unit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the display apparatus for use in a vehicle in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A to 2B show illustrations of positions of a reflector in the vehicle;;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an actuator in a display device;

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a front image correction unit;

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an image generation process in a controller;

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of an operation device control process in the controller;

FIGS. 7A to 7C show illustrations of the front image projected on the reflector;

FIGS. 8A to 8B show illustrations of driver's views with a front image projected on the reflector;

FIG. 8C shows an illustration of an image projected on the reflector; and

FIG. 8D shows an illustration of an image displayed on a projector.

Claims

1. A display apparatus comprising: a reflector positioned for obstructing a front view of a driver by using an opaque material;a first imaging unit for imaging a front view of the vehicle;an image generation unit for generating a display image for a portion of the front view that is obstructed by the reflector;an image projection unit for projecting the display image generated by the image generation unit on the reflector;an information acquisition unit for acquiring information to be visually provided for the driver; anda combination unit for combining the information with the display image upon acquiring the information by using the information acquisition unit.

2. The display apparatus as in claim 1 further comprising: an anomaly detection unit for detecting anomaly of the display apparatus;an actuator for actuating the reflector to be positioned at two positions, wherein two positions includes a use position that obstructs the front view of the driver and a retracted position that allows the driver to have the front view; andan anomaly control unit for controlling the actuator to actuate the reflector to be positioned at the retracted position upon detection of the anomaly by the anomaly detection unit.

3. The display apparatus as in claim 1 further comprising: a second imaging unit for imaging a same area imaged by the first imaging unit as an infrared wavelength image, wherein the first imaging unit images the front view of the vehicle as a visible wavelength image;a luminosity detection unit for detecting luminosity in a proximity of the vehicle; anda noise reduction unit for reducing noise in the visible wavelength image imaged by the first imaging unit based on the infrared wavelength image imaged by the second imaging unit when the luminosity in the proximity of the vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value,wherein the image generation unit generates the display image based on an image having reduced noise after processing by the noise reduction unit.

4. The display apparatus as in claim 3 further comprising: a focus control unit for controlling a focal distance of the first imaging unit to have a same value as the focal distance of the second imaging unit.

5. The display apparatus as in claim 1 further comprising: a memory unit;an image distortion unit for distorting the display image on the reflector by adjusting a distortion of the display image generated by the image generation unit upon having a distortion instruction from an external instruction source; andan adjustment control storage unit for storing an adjustment control of the distortion of the display image in the memory unit upon having a distortion fix instruction for fixing the distortion from the external instruction source,wherein the image generation unit generates the display image based on the adjustment control of the distortion of the display image stored in the memory unit.

6. The display unit as in claim 1 further comprising: a memory unit;a mark positioning unit for superposing a position mark on the display image generated by the image generation unit upon having an area selection instruction for selecting a projection area of the display image on the reflector from an external instruction source;a mark adjustment unit for adjusting a position of the position mark superposed on the display image upon having an adjustment instruction from the external instruction source when the position mark is being superposed on the display image by the mark positioning unit; anda projection area storage unit for determining the projection area of the display image on the reflector based on the position of the position mark superposed on the display image upon having an area fix instruction for fixing the projection area of the display image from the external instruction source when the position mark is being superposed on the display image by using the mark positioning unit, wherein pixels of the display image outside of the projection area are turned to black pixels, and pixel information of the pixels outside of the projection area is stored in the memory unit,wherein the pixels of the display image in association with the pixel information that is stored in the memory unit are projected as the black pixels when the image projection unit projects the display image on the reflector.