Display device

Abstract

A display device for a vehicle includes a display LCD and a control LCD, which has transmission switching portions, each of which has three segment units. When the vehicle is running, left-side two-third segment units of each transmission switching portion are set to a non-transparent state in a portion of the control LCD corresponding to the left half screen of the display LCD. In contrast, in a portion of the control LCD corresponding to the right half screen of the display LCD, all the segment units are set to a transparent state. Thus, an image in the right half screen is visible from a driver seat, while an image in the left half screen is not visible from the driver seat. Both the images in the right half screen and the left half screen are visible from a front passenger seat.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and 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 the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall structure of an in-vehicle system including a display device according to a first and second embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a display control and a viewing angle control according to the first embodiment;

FIGS. 3A, 3B are diagrams for explaining a display control and a viewing angle control when a vehicle stops according to the first embodiment;

FIGS. 4A, 4B are diagrams for explaining a display control and a viewing angle control when a vehicle runs according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a display LCD and a control LCD according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a display control and a viewing angle control according to the second embodiment;

FIGS. 7A, 7B are diagrams for explaining a display control and a viewing angle control when a vehicle stops according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a display control and a viewing angle control when a vehicle runs according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a display LCD and a control LCD according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an overall structure of an in-vehicle system including a display device according to a third embodiment;

FIGS. 11A, 11B are diagrams for explaining a display control and a viewing angle control according to the third embodiment;

FIGS. 12A, 12B are diagrams for explaining a display control and a viewing angle control according to the third embodiment; and

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a display LCD and a light-shielding layer according to the third embodiment.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising: a display unit for displaying an image, the display unit including, with respect to a pixel, a display region and a light-shielding region; anda parallactic barrier overlaid with the display unit for controlling a viewing angle, the parallactic barrier including, with respect to a unit region corresponding to the pixel in the display unit, a transmission switching portion, which switches a transmission state of at least a portion of the unit region to one of a transparent state and a non-transparent state,wherein a first display state and a second display state are allowed to be switched to each other based on a positional relationship between (i) the portion of the unit region switched to the transparent state of the parallactic barrier and (ii) the display region and the light-shielding region of the display unit,the first display state in which a certain image in a certain portion of display regions in the display unit is visible in both a first viewing direction and a second viewing direction,the second display state in which the certain image in the certain portion of the display regions is visible in one of the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction.

2. The display device of claim 1, further comprising: a control unit that controls the transmission switching portion so as to switch the first display state and the second display state to each other when a state change is detected.

3. The display device of claim 2, wherein the display device is for a vehicle,whether the vehicle stops or runs is detected by a stop state detector,the control unit controls the transmission switching portionso that the first display state appears when it is detected that the vehicle stops, andso that the second display state appears when it is detected that the vehicle runs.

4. The display device of claim 1, wherein the certain portion of the display regions in the display unit is extended to a whole of the display regions,the first display state is a state in which a certain image in the whole of the display regions is visible in both the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction, andthe second display state is a state in which the certain image in the whole of the display regions is visible in one of the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction,the display device further comprising:a control unit for controlling the transmission switching portion (i) so that the first display state and the second display state are switched to each other when a state change is detected, and(ii) so that, in the second display state, a first sub-state and a second sub-state are switched to each other with a time divisional multiplex method, the first sub-state in which a first image in the whole of the display unit is visible in the first viewing direction, the second sub-state in which a second image is visible in the second viewing direction, andfor controlling the display unit so that the first image and the second image are alternately displayed in synchronization to switching the first sub-state and the second sub-state to each other with the time divisional multiplex method.

5. The display device of claim 1, wherein the transmission switching portion includes a plurality of segment units, andthe transmission state of the portion of the unit region is switched with respect to each segment unit.

6. The display device of claim 1, wherein the parallactic barrier includes a liquid crystal display.

7. The display device of claim 1, wherein the parallactic barrier includes a mechanical shutter.

8. The display device of claim 1, wherein the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction are included in a plurality of directions.

9. The display device of claim 1, wherein the display device is for a vehicle, andthe first viewing direction is a direction in which a driver seat of the vehicle views the display unit, while the second viewing direction is a direction in which a front passenger seat of the vehicle views the display unit.

10. The display device of claim 1, wherein the first display state is a state in which the certain image is visible in three directions of the first viewing direction, the second viewing direction, and a third viewing direction, which is disposed between the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction, andthe second display state is a state, in which the certain image is visible in two directions of (i) the third viewing direction and (ii) one of the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction.

11. The display device of claim 10, wherein the display device is for a vehicle,the first viewing direction is a direction in which a driver seat of the vehicle views the display unit,the second viewing direction is a direction in which a front passenger seat of the vehicle views the display unit, andthe third viewing direction is a direction in which a rear seat of the vehicle views the display unit.

12. The display device of claim 1, wherein the parallactic barrier overlaid with the display unit is formed as a light-shielding layer, which includes as the transmission switching layer a light-shielding portion, which constantly prevents transmission of lights, with respect to a portion of a unit region corresponding to the pixel in the display unit, andthe certain image in the certain portion of the display regions is visible in one of the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction based on a positional relationship between (i) the light-shielding portion of the light-shielding layer and (ii) the display region and the light-shielding region of the display unit.

13. A display device, comprising: a display unit for displaying an image, the display unit including, with respect to a pixel, a display region and a light-shielding region;a parallactic barrier overlaid with the display unit for controlling a viewing angle, the parallactic barrier including, with respect to a unit region corresponding to the pixel in the display unit, a transmission switching portion, which switches a transmission state of at least a portion of the unit region to one of a transparent state and a non-transparent state, wherein a first display state and a second display state are allowed to be switched to each other based on a positional relationship between (i) the portion of the unit region switched to the transparent state of the parallactic barrier and (ii) the display region and the light-shielding region of the display unit, the first display state in which a certain image in a whole of display regions in the display unit is visible in both a first viewing direction and a second viewing direction, the second display state in which the certain image in the whole of the display regions is visible in one of the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction; anda control unit for controlling the transmission switching portion(i) so that the first display state and the second display state are switched to each other when a state change is detected, and(ii) so that, in the second display state, a first sub-state and a second sub-state are switched to each other with a time divisional multiplex method, the first sub-state in which a first image in the whole of the display regions is visible in the first viewing direction, the second sub-state in which a second image in the whole of the display regions is visible in the second viewing direction, andfor controlling the display unit so that the first image and the second image are alternately displayed in synchronization to switching the first sub-state and the second sub-state to each other with the time divisional multiplex method.

14. The display device of claim 13, wherein the display device is for a vehicle, andwhether the vehicle stops or runs is detected by a stop state detector,the control unit controls the transmission switching portionso that the first display state appears when it is detected that the vehicle stops, andso that the second display state appears when it is detected that the vehicle runs.

15. The display device of claim 13, wherein the transmission switching portion includes a plurality of segment units, andthe transmission state of the portion of the unit region is switched with respect to each segment unit.

16. The display device of claim 13, wherein the parallactic barrier includes a liquid crystal display.

17. The display device of claim 13, wherein the parallactic barrier includes a mechanical shutter.

18. The display device of claim 13, wherein the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction are included in a plurality of directions.

19. The display device of claim 13, wherein the display device is for a vehicle, andthe first viewing direction is a direction in which a driver seat of the vehicle views the display unit, while the second viewing direction is a direction in which a front passenger seat of the vehicle views the display unit.

20. The display device of claim 13, wherein the first display state is a state in which the certain image is visible in three directions of the first viewing direction, the second viewing direction, and a third viewing direction, which is disposed between the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction, andthe second display state is a state, in which the certain image is visible in two directions of (i) the third viewing direction and (ii) one of the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction.

21. The display device of claim 20, wherein the display device is for a vehicle,the first viewing direction is a direction in which a driver seat of the vehicle views the display unit,the second viewing direction is a direction in which a front passenger seat of the vehicle views the display unit, andthe third viewing direction is a direction in which a rear seat of the vehicle views the display unit.

22. A display device comprising: a display unit for displaying an image, the display unit including, with respect to a pixel, a display region and a light-shielding region; anda light-shielding layer for controlling a viewing angle, the light-shielding layer including a light-shielding portion with respect to a portion of a unit region corresponding to the pixel in the display unit, the light-shielding portion shielding the portion of the unit region from light,wherein a certain image in a certain portion of display regions in the display unit is visible in one of a first viewing direction and a second viewing direction based on a positional relationship between (i) the light-shielding portion of the light-shielding layer and (ii) the display region and the light-shielding region of the display unit.

23. The display device of claim 22, wherein the display device is for a vehicle,the first viewing direction is a direction in which a driver seat of the vehicle views the display unit,the second viewing direction is a direction in which a front passenger seat of the vehicle views the display unit, andthe third viewing direction is a direction in which a rear seat of the vehicle views the display unit.

24. The display device of claim 23, wherein an image in only a portion of the display regions in the display unit is visible from the driver seat, while an image in a whole of the display regions is visible from the front passenger seat.

25. The display device of claim 22, wherein an image in a portion of the display regions is visible in a third viewing direction, which is between the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction, in addition to one of the first viewing direction and the second viewing direction based on the positional relationship between (i) the light-shielding portion and (ii) the display region and the light-shielding region of the display unit.

26. The display device of claim 25, wherein the display device is for a vehicle,the first viewing direction is a direction in which a driver seat of the vehicle views the display unit,the second viewing direction is a direction in which a front passenger seat of the vehicle views the display unit, andthe third viewing direction is a direction in which a rear seat of the vehicle views the display unit.