The present application claims the benefit of priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201911359455.1, filed on Dec. 25, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to the field of head-mounted displays, and in particular, to a head-mounted display optical module.
Both virtual reality technology and augmented reality technology are computer simulation systems that can create and experience virtual worlds and have been widely used in various fields such as games, entertainment, education, medical treatment, and military simulation.
In related designs, light emitted by a display panel utilizing the virtual reality technology and the augmented reality technology at a large exit angle has a problem of color shift, that is, large viewing angle color shift, which will affect an image quality observed by a user. In addition, the light emitted by the display panel at the large exit angle has low energy and a low optical efficiency.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a head-mounted display optical module for imaging a display image of a display panel at a user viewing side. The head-mounted display optical module includes an optical lens group located at a light-emitting display side of the display panel, and at least one protective layer located on an optical path between the display panel and the optical lens group. The at least one protective layer includes at least one first protective layer that has a refractive index continuously changing therein at least along a radial direction that is located in a plane of the first protective layer and points from a center of the first protective layer to an edge of the first protective layer.
In an embodiment, the refractive index of the first protective layer satisfies: n=m0+m2·r2+m4·r4+j·z1, where n denotes the refractive index of the first protective layer, r denotes a radial distance from the center of the first protective layer, z1 denotes an axial distance from the center of the first protective layer, the axial direction is perpendicular to a plane of the first protective layer, and m0, m2, m4, and j are real numbers.
In the head-mounted display optical module provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, an image displayed on the display panel is emitted to an outside of the display panel in a form of light of various angles. Since in the embodiment of the present disclosure the refractive index of an interior of the first protective layer continuously changes at least along the radial direction, when the light emitted from the display panel is projected to the first protective layer, different positions of the first protective layer have different refractive indexes, to match with the light emitted from different positions of the display panel at different angles. Due to presence of the first protective layer, the first protective layer can amplify the exit angle of the light emitted by the display panel to a relatively large level at a position where a large exit angle is required, the first protective layer can amplify the exit angle of the light emitted by the display panel to a moderate level at a position where a medium exit angle is required, and the first protective layer can amplify the exit angle of the light emitted by the display panel to a relatively small level at a position where a small exit angle is required. In short, due to the presence of the first protective layer in the protective layer, it is possible to lower design requirements for the display panel, decrease the exit angle of the light emitted by the display panel, reduce or even avoid large viewing angle color shift of the display panel, in order to enable the user to observe the image without color shift at a large field of view and also improve an optical efficiency.
The present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and embodiments. It can be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present disclosure, rather than to limit the present disclosure. In addition, it should be noted that, in order to facilitate description, the drawings only show parts related to the present disclosure but not all structures.
The head-mounted display optical module is configured to image and project the image displayed on the display panel at the user viewing side. The light emitted from the display panel is finally projected to the user viewing side in parallel light. Since the larger the incidence angle of the light projected to the user viewing side, the larger the field of view at which the user observes the image, the larger the size of the finally imaged image, and the better the user experience. Imaging at large field of view at which the user observes the image requires that the exit angle of the light emitted by the display panel is relatively large, but the light emitted by the display panel at a large exit angle has the problems of color shift and low optical efficiency, that is, the large viewing angle color shift, which will result in low image quality observed by the user, and also relatively low optical efficiency.
Exemplarily, referring to
In the head-mounted display optical module provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, an image displayed on the display panel is emitted to an outside of the display panel in a form of light with various angles. Since in the embodiment of the present disclosure the refractive index of the interior of the first protective layer continuously changes at least along the radial direction, when the light emitted from the display panel is projected to the first protective layer, different positions of the first protective layer have different refractive indexes, to match with the light emitted from different positions of the display panel at different angles. Due to presence of the first protective layer, the first protective layer can amplify the exit angle of the light emitted by the display panel to a relatively large level at a position where a large exit angle is required, the first protective layer can amplify the exit angle of the light emitted by the display panel to a moderate level at a position where a medium exit angle is required, and the first protective layer can amplify the exit angle of the light emitted by the display panel to a relatively small level at a position where a small exit angle is required. In short, due to the presence of the first protective layer in the protective layer, it is possible to lower design requirements for the display panel, decrease the requirement for an exit angle of the light emitted by the display panel, reduce or even avoid large viewing angle color shift of the display panel, in order to enable the user to observe the image without color shift at a large field of view, and also improve an optical efficiency of light at a large viewing angle to improve an energy utilization rate.
It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first protective layer can use a material having a gradient refractive index, and the first protective layer having the gradient refractive index is used in the field of head-mounted display (including virtual reality and augmented reality), but not in other technical fields. A role of the first protective layer having the gradient refractive index is to match the light emitted from different positions of the display panel at different angles, to refract (diffuse), to different degrees, the light emitted from the different positions at different angles. The first protective layer having the gradient refractive index is different from a gradient index lens in the optical field, and the gradient index lens in the related art often acts like a convex lens to converge light or acts as a concave lens to diverge light. The gradient index lens in the related art is a design in which there is a fixed focus, while in the present disclosure, the first protective layer is not intended to realize the function of the convex lens or the concave lens, that is, a design purpose and a principle of the first protective layer in the present disclosure are different from those of the gradient index lens presented in the related art.
Exemplarily, referring to
In an embodiment, referring to
In an embodiment, n=1.5+0.046r2. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the refractive index n of the first protective layer 21 is mainly related to r2, and the refractive index n of the first protective layer 21 conforms to a parabolic form. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the formula n=1.5+0.046r2 can be obtained by the formula n=m0+m2·r2+m4·r4+j·z1 in a case where m0=1.5, m2=0.046, m4=0, and j=0.
In an embodiment, n=1.5+0.01r2+0.004r4. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the refractive index n of the first protective layer 21 is related to r4 in addition to being related to r2. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the formula n=1.5+0.01r2+0.004r4 can be obtained by the formula n=m0+m2·r2+m4·r4+j·z1 in a case where m0=1.5, m2=0.01, m4=0.0004, and j=0.
In an embodiment, the refractive index of the first protective layer 21 further continuously changes therein along the axial direction. The refractive index n of the first protective layer 21 satisfies: n=1.5+0.005r2+0.0001r4+0.003z1 in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the refractive index n of the first protective layer 21 is related to the axial direction in addition to being related to r2 and r4. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the formula n=1.5+0.005r2+0.0001r4+0.003z1 can be obtained by the formula n=m0+m2·r2+m4·r4+j·z1 in a case where m0=1.5, m2=0.005, m4=0.0001, and j=0.003.
Exemplarily, referring to
In an embodiment, referring to
Exemplarily, referring to
Exemplarily, referring to
In an embodiment, referring to
where z2 denotes an axial sagittal height of an aspheric surface, y denotes a radial distance of the aspheric surface, k denotes a conic coefficient, c denotes a curvature, and A, B, C, D, E, F are aspheric coefficients.
And the first aspheric surface 310 and the second aspheric surface 320 can satisfy:
where “e” in each numerical value such as 2.62e-6 represents the power of 10, and for example, 2. 62e-6 is equivalent to 2.62*10−6.
Exemplarily, referring to
The design parameters of the corresponding optical surfaces in Table 1 correspond to the head-mounted display optical module shown in
In the column of the surface number in Table 1, “OBJ” represents an object plane, and “STO” represents the user viewing side 40. “2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11” in the column of the surface number indicate virtual surfaces and all correspond to the “Coordinate Breakpoint” in the column of the surface type, and the “Coordinate Breakpoint” is used to rotate a coordinate system. “3, 4” in the column of the surface number represent two surfaces of the transflective component 33, “7” in the column of the surface number represents the first aspheric surface 310, “9” in the column of the surface number represents a surface of the transflective component 33 adjacent to the first aspherical surface 310 where the light reaches after being reflected by the first aspherical surface 310, “12” in the column of the surface number represents the second aspherical surface 320, “13” in the column of the surface number represents a surface of the first protective layer 21, and “IMA” in the column of the surface number represents an image plane, i.e., the light-emitting display surface of the display panel 10. “Infinity” in Table 1 represents infinity. Along a propagation direction of the light, in the column of the radius of curvature, a positive value represents that a center of curvature is at a side of a surface close to the display panel 10, and a negative value represents that the center of curvature is at a side of the surface close to the user viewing side 40. In the column of the material, “PMMA” represents a polymethyl methacrylate, “MIRROR” represents a reflective material, and a space in the column of the material represents air. The value in the column of the thickness is a distance between a current surface and a previous surface. The two columns of the X tilt and the Y eccentricity are parameter columns of the virtual surfaces. The radius of curvature, the thickness, the machinery diameter and the Y eccentricity is of unit of mm. The column of the X tilt is in a unit of degree.
In an embodiment, referring to
where z2 denotes an axial sagittal height of an aspheric surface, y denotes a radial distance of the aspheric surface, k denotes a conic coefficient, c denotes a curvature, and A, B, C, D, E, F are aspheric coefficients.
And the first aspheric surface 310 and the second aspheric surface 320 can satisfy:
The design parameters of the corresponding optical surface in Table 2 correspond to the head-mounted display optical module shown in
The meanings, units of various columns and the meanings of the parameters of the columns in Table 2 are the same as those in Table 1 and will not be repeated herein.
In an embodiment, referring to
where z2 denotes an axial sagittal height of an aspheric surface, y denotes a radial distance of the aspheric surface, k denotes a conic coefficient, c denotes a curvature, and A, B, C, D, E, F are aspheric coefficients.
And the third aspheric surface and the fourth aspheric surface satisfy:
Exemplarily, referring to
The corresponding design parameters of the optical surface in Table 3 correspond to the head-mounted display optical module shown in
The meanings, units of various columns and the meanings of the parameters of the columns in Table 3 are the same as those in Table 1 and will not be repeated herein.
An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a head-mounted display optical device, and it includes the head-mounted display optical module and the display panel in any of the above embodiments. The head-mounted display optical module is located at the light-emitting display side of the display panel. It can be understood that, for the sake of clarity, the schematic view of the head-mounted display optical module shown in
Note that the above are only exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and the applied technical principles. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, and various obvious modifications, readjustments, combinations and substitutions can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, although the present disclosure has been described in more detail through the above embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments, and other equivalent embodiments can be included without departing from the concept of the present disclosure, while the scope of the present disclosure is determined by the scope of the appended claims.
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Office Action for CN Application No. 20191135944.5 dated Jun. 17, 2021. |
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