Patent Application
20060012674
The present invention relates to image display systems and methods, and more particularly, to a system and a method for displaying stereo images.
An image formed on the retina of a single human eye is only provided at a planar vision. Since the two human eyes are located on the same plane, the eyes can see the same object at the same time. Due to small mismatch in locations and vision angles of the two human eyes, images captured by the left eye and the right eye are slightly different in parallax from each other, and such images are integrated by the brain to produce a stereo image.
As described above, a real object can be identified and realized as a stereo image by the human eyes. However, the image of a real object captured and recorded in a tape or negative of an image capturing apparatus, e.g. a camera or video camera, would only be reproduced as a planar image. People may recognize what stereo object it represents according to their experience of scene depth and parallax in daily life. Although a photograph taken by the normal camera precisely records the size ratio and relative contrast and shading of object images and makes the images appear to be stereo, in fact the photograph does not provide stereo images if being seen at different directions or at broken pieces.
Since the planar images no longer satisfy the visual requirement of human beings, there have developed a plurality of methods for recording stereo images. Some of these well-known methods are described below.
Therefore, in the use of the foregoing conventional techniques to form a stereo image, it requires special eyeglasses or change of a focal point of the eye vision to observe the stereo image. As a result, the high cost of shoot and development of the stereo image, as well as the requirement of the special eyeglasses or change of the visual focal point, are a concern for users, thereby making stereo images not commonly used.
In light of the prior-art drawbacks, a primary objective of the present invention is to provide an image display system and method, for allowing users to see stereo images without requiring specific filters or polaroid glasses.
In order to achieve the foregoing and other objectives, the present invention proposes an image display system, comprising: a focus measuring module for immediately measuring a focal point of a user's eyes; a distance measuring module for measuring a distance between the user's eyes and a display unit; a storage medium for storing parallax image data; and an image forming module for retrieving at least two of the parallax image data from the storage medium and adjusting a distance between the at least two parallax image data based on the focal point of the user's eyes and the distance between the eyes and the display unit so as to display the adjusted parallax image data on an imaging point of the display unit.
The present invention also proposes an image display method in the use of the above image display system, comprising the steps of: immediately measuring a focal point of a user's eyes via the focus measuring module; measuring a distance between the user's eyes and a display unit via the distance measuring module; retrieving at least two parallax image data from the storage medium and adjusting a distance between the at least two parallax image data based on the focal point of the user's eyes and the distance between the eyes and the display unit via the image forming module, so as to display the adjusted parallax image data on an imaging point of the display unit.
Compared with the conventional image display techniques, the image display system and method according to the present invention can provide a stereo image for users without concerning the high cost of shoot and development of stereo images and requiring specific filters or polaroid glasses.
The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In the following preferred embodiments provided for describing in detail an image display system and method proposed in the present invention, image data can be picture data, which may constitute static images or dynamic images composed of continuous static images. The picture data may comprise two similar pictures made by a parallax difference, or comprise RDS (random dot stereogram) made of random dots.
As shown in
The focus measuring module 110 is used to immediately measure a focal point of a user's eyes. In this embodiment, the focus measuring module 110 comprises at least one image capturing unit 112, such as a CCD (charge-coupled device) lens, for capturing images of the user's eyes. After the images of the user's eyes are captured by the image capturing unit 12, the focus measuring module 110 calculates a focal length and a focal point of the user's eyes to obtain a distance between the focal point and the eyes.
The distance measuring module 120 is used to measure a distance between the user's eyes and the display unit 150. In this embodiment, the distance measuring module 120 may be an infrared distance sensor module and is located close to a position coplanar with an imaging point of the display unit 150. Preferably, the distance measuring module 120 can be embedded in the display unit 150 to precisely measure the distance between the user's eyes and the imaging point of the display unit 150.
The storage medium 130 is used to store parallax image data. As described above, in this embodiment, the image data can be picture data, which may constitute static images or dynamic images composed of continuous static images. The picture data may comprise two similar pictures made by a parallax difference, or comprise RDS made of random dots. In order to improve the efficiency of storing and processing the image data, it is preferable that the image data are stored in the form of digital files in the storage medium 130.
The image forming module 140 is used to retrieve at least two of the parallax image data from the storage medium 130 and adjust a distance between the at least two parallax image data based on the focal point of the user's eyes and the distance between the eyes and the display unit 150 so as to display the adjusted parallax image data on the imaging point of the display unit 150. As described above, in this embodiment, since the image data can be picture data, which may comprise two similar pictures made by a parallax difference or comprise RDS made of random dots, two picture data having a certain distance therebetween can be combined in a manner of uncrossed disparity (i.e. picture location is more far from the eyes than horopter) or crossed disparity (i.e. picture location is closer to the eyes than horopter) so as to form a stereo image.
It should be noted that, in the prior art that allows the naked eyes to observe two pictures different in parallax, the user needs to adjust a focal point of the eyes by himself or herself so as to combine these two pictures in an uncrossed disparity or crossed disparity manner to form a stereo image. On the other hand, in the present invention, the focus measuring module 110 can immediately measure a focal point of a user's eyes, and the distance measuring module 120 can measure a distance between the user's eyes and an imaging point of the display unit 150; finally, the image forming module 140 retrieves at least two parallax image data from the storage medium 130 and adjust a distance between the at least two parallax image data based on the focal point of the user's eyes and the distance between the eyes and the display unit 150 so as to display the adjusted parallax image data on the imaging point of the display unit 150, wherein the imaging point can be located in front of or behind the focal point of the user's eyes relative to the location of the eyes. Therefore, the user does not need to adjust the focal point of eyes to allow two pictures different in parallax to be combined to form a stereo image as in the prior art.
In step S201, images of the user's eyes are captured by the image capturing unit 112 of the focus measuring module 110. Next, step S202 is performed.
In step S202, a focal length and a focal point of the user's eyes are calculated by the focus measuring module 110 to obtain a distance between the focal point and the eyes. Next, step S203 is performed.
In step S203, a distance between the user's eyes and the display unit 150 is measured by the distance measuring module 120. As described above, in this embodiment, the distance measuring module 120 can be an infrared distance sensor module and is located close to a position coplanar with the imaging point of the display unit 150, and it is preferable that the distance measuring module 120 may be embedded in the display unit 150 and is coplanar with the imaging point of the display unit 150 so as to precisely measure the distance between the user's eyes and the imaging point of the display unit 150. Next, the step S204 is performed.
In step S204, at least two parallax image data are retrieved from the image medium 130 by the image forming module 140, and a distance between the at least two parallax image data is adjusted based on the focal point of the user's eyes and the distance between the eyes and the display unit 150, such that the adjusted parallax image data can be displayed on the imaging point of the display unit 150. In this embodiment, the imaging point may be located in front of or behind the focal point of the user's eyes relative to the location of the eyes. Thus, the user needs not to adjust the focal point of eyes to allow two pictures different in parallax to be combined to form a stereo image as in the prior art.
The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
