1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to a monitoring system acquiring and displaying vehicle information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditional vehicle information display systems work well for their intended purposes. However, these display systems typically include a display panel installed in the vehicle instrument area, which can restrict the driver. Moreover, in-vehicle video displayers are normally installed behind the driver seat, and therefore are beyond drivers' sight.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a vehicle monitoring system, which can overcome the described limitations.
An embodiment of a vehicle monitoring system is described in detail here with reference to the drawings.
Referring to
The image capture unit 110 is installed at the rear of the body 11 for acquiring rearview information. While the image capture unit 110 is installed here at the rear of the vehicle 10, it can, alternatively, be installed in any position on the vehicle 10 for acquiring information corresponding thereto. The image capture unit 110 includes a camera with a wide angle lens, and a rotatable base 111 fixed to the body 11. The image capture unit 110 can be assembled in the rotatable base 111, providing capture of information around the vehicle 10. Furthermore, the image capture unit 110 also includes a waterproof cover (not shown).
The projection unit 120 is suspended from the roof 13 and can be adjusted to any orientation, providing projected display in any desired area. The projection unit 20 is a mini projector, but can alternatively be a digital light processing (DLP) projector, liquid crystal display (LCD) projector, or liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) projector.
The processing unit 130 assembled to the vehicle 10 is electrically coupled to the image capture unit 110 and the projection unit 120. The processing unit 130 converts an image signal from the image capture unit 110 to a digital signal for transmission to the projection unit 120.
As shown in
In operation, when the power supply 140 is turned on, the image capture unit 110, the projection unit 120 and the processing unit 130 are activated, and the waterproof cover (not shown) opens to allow the image capture unit 110 to operate. The processing unit 130 converts the received image signal of the captured image to a digital signal. The projection unit 120 converts the digital signal to an image signal for projection as image light I onto the projection area 150. The image light I, being S-polarized light, is completely reflected onto projection area 150 by reflective film 152, providing a clear view of the captured image. Concurrently, light R, having both S-polarized light and P-polarized light, entering from the external environment, is filtered to allow only P-polarized light through the projection area 150, providing a clear front view through the windshield. Here, since the projection area 150 is established on the windshield 12, it is therefore able to provide a larger view area than otherwise available one in dashboard-area space.
It is to be noted that, in practice, the projection area 150 can be transparent, or semi-transparent, so long as the driver view is unobstructed thereby, while remaining well within the scope of the disclosure.
It will be understood that the above particular embodiments are described and shown in the drawings by way of illustration only. The principles and features of the disclosure may be employed in various and numerous embodiments thereof without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed. The above-described embodiments illustrate the scope of the invention but do not restrict the scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
200810303626.4 | Aug 2008 | CN | national |