JPH08331602A - Video projector equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a compact video projector device capable of easily displaying a stereoscopic image without flicker and having little light loss. [Structure] In a cabinet 2, a halogen lamp 11 having a reflecting mirror 12, a pair of polarization beam splitters 13L and 13R, and a pair of liquid crystal panels 15L and 15 are provided.
It has built-in R etc. To each liquid crystal panel 15L, 15R, one video signal containing left and right images is alternately input for each field, and when no video signal is input, the video of the video signal of the previous field is displayed. To do.
Two polarizations 19L and 19R in the polarization beam splitter 13L whose polarization directions are orthogonal to each other are projected onto the screen 40 via one projection lens 4. In this way, the hold effect of each liquid crystal panel 15L, 15R is utilized, and the video signal of the previous field is held during the field period in which there is no signal, so that flickerless is achieved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal video projector device capable of projecting a stereoscopic image on a screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional video projector device for displaying a stereoscopic image, those shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 are known.

The stereoscopic projector device shown in FIG.
Images corresponding to (left) and R (right) are stored in two video discs or video cassettes, which are simultaneously played back by starting two players 121 and 122, and then L and R.
Polarizing glasses 126 which are projected on the same screen 125 by two video projectors 123, 124 which are orthogonally polarized (or circularly polarized) corresponding to the above, and which are orthogonally crossed on the left and right corresponding to the above L and R. It was a mechanism to realize stereoscopic viewing by viewing the left and right images independently with the left and right eyes.

On the other hand, the stereoscopic projector device shown in FIG. 11 is an example used for reproducing a VHD video disc. In this stereoscopic view example, L and R images are recorded in each field on a VHD video disk, reproduced by the VHD player 127 and displayed on the screen 125 by one projector 128, and the VHD is transmitted via the adapter 129. By controlling the left and right of the shutter-equipped glasses 130 for each field alternately under the control of the player 127, the left eye always sees the L image and the right eye sees the R image. there were.

[0005]

However, in the stereoscopic projector apparatus of FIG. 10 according to the above-mentioned conventional technique,
Video software is limited because a pair of laser discs and video cassettes are required. Also, two players and two projectors are required, and two players need to perform playback in synchronization with each other. There was a problem that the device was special and large-scale. Furthermore, in the above-described conventional stereoscopic projector device, it is necessary to adjust the projection direction, zoom ratio, focus, etc. of the two projectors separately to make them the same size on the screen, or to slightly shift them.
These adjustment operations were complicated.

On the other hand, in the stereoscopic projector apparatus of FIG. 11, the structure of the glasses is complicated and unsuitable for a large number of people to see, and when the left and right images are NTSC video signals, the image seen by one eye is the total number of fields. It was half (60 sheets / second) (30 sheets / second), and there was a problem that flicker was very noticeable.

Therefore, the present invention is to provide a video projector device capable of projecting a stereoscopic image on which a flicker is inconspicuous on the screen by a simple operation without loss of light.

[0008]

In a video projector device for projecting an image on a screen using one light source and two liquid crystal devices, the light of the light source is converted into two polarized lights which are orthogonal to each other by a polarization beam splitter. By splitting the light into the above two liquid crystal devices and inputting a video signal corresponding to the left eye and the right eye to each of the liquid crystal devices, the video images corresponding to the left eye and the right eye are polarized with respect to each other. Are projected on the screen as two projection lights orthogonal to each other.

[0009]

The light of one light source is split into two polarizations orthogonal to each other by the polarization beam splitter, and the split light is input to each liquid crystal device in a state where the polarization is utilized as it is. In this way, since the polarization of the light split by the polarization beam splitter is utilized as it is, the entire apparatus is compact and a stereoscopic image with little light loss can be obtained by a simple operation.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 3 show a video projector device 1 according to the first embodiment. The cabinet (device main body) 2 of the video projector device 1 is made of synthetic resin and has a substantially flat rectangular casing shape, and has a cylindrical ring 3 on the front surface.
Is rotatably supported. A projection lens 4 for forming an image on a screen 40 is provided in the ring 3, and when the ring 3 is rotated, the projection lens 4 can be focused. In addition, an operation button 5 for adjusting the zoom of the projection lens 4 and the volume of a power source or a speaker (not shown) is provided at the rear of the upper surface of the cabinet 2, and a ventilation hole is provided at the center of the upper surface of the cabinet 2. 6
Are formed in plural. Further, a lid 7 for replacing a halogen lamp 11 of an optical system 10 to be described later, which is built in the cabinet 2, is detachably attached to the rear portion of the cabinet 2 and the lower portion of the cabinet 2 is attached. Has a height determining screw 8 attached.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the optical system 10 has
One halogen lamp (light source) 11, a reflecting mirror 12 arranged so as to cover the halogen lamp 11,
They are arranged at an angle of 2 ° and the planes of polarization of incident light are orthogonal to each other 2
A pair of polarization beam splitters 13L for splitting into two lights (the split lights travel in directions different from each other by 90 °),
13R, a pair of plane mirrors 14L and 14R arranged at an angle of approximately 45 °, and a pair of transmissive rectangular plate-shaped liquid crystal (LCD) panels 15L and 15R as liquid crystal devices.
A vertical polarizing plate 16R, a horizontal polarizing plate 16L, and a printed circuit board 17 on which the signal processing circuit 20 shown in FIG. 4 is mounted.
It is composed of and.

As shown in FIG. 3, the light emitted from the halogen lamp 11 becomes substantially parallel light 18 by the reflecting mirror 12. The polarization of this light beam is in a state with no particular directivity, as indicated by * in FIGS. Further, the substantially parallel light 18 is transmitted through the polarization beam splitter 13R inclined at approximately 45 ° and the reflected light 18L (the transmitted light 18R is laterally polarized, and the reflected light 18L is longitudinally polarized). The vertical polarizing plate 16R has a vertical polarization of 19R.
Then, the light 19 obtained by combining the vertically polarized light 19R and the horizontally polarized light 19L by the horizontal polarizing plate 16L becomes the projected light 19 'by the projection lens 4. Further, the pair of liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R are arranged so that their optical distances are equal to the projection lens 4. Also,
The front and rear surfaces of each of the liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R are sandwiched by polarizing plates in orthogonal directions (not shown).
By applying a voltage to each of the polarizing plates to change the polarization direction, black and white gradation can be displayed.

The operation button 5 is used for adjusting the zoom of the projection lens 4, adjusting the volume of the speaker, and the like, and for the pair of liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R, two stereoscopic image signals with different timings are provided. Or enter (this case is abbreviated as “genuine 3D” below) or L for each field.
One field-skip type video signal containing (left) and R (right) images may be input (in this case, abbreviated as “field skip 3D” hereinafter), and stereoscopic (3
Or input a normal video signal that is not D) (in this case,
Hereafter, abbreviated as "normal")
This can be dealt with by switching a switch (not shown) of the operation button 5.

Next, the signal processing circuit 20 used when operating the predetermined buttons of the operation button 5 to switch to the above-mentioned three modes of "genuine 3D", "field skip 3D" and "normal". It will be described with reference to FIG.

A pair of video input terminals 21 and 22 shown in FIG. 4 are attached to the printed circuit board 16, and the pair of video input terminals 21 and 22 are exposed at the rear portion of the cabinet 2 as shown in FIG. . Then, in the "field skip 3D" and "normal" modes, the video signal is input only to the video input terminal 21, and
In the "D" mode, the R (right) video signal is input to the video input terminal 21, and the L (left) video signal is input to the video input terminal 22.
To input each. In each of these modes, when a switch (not shown) of the operation button 5 is switched, the signal input switch 23 and the V start signal control switch 24 are switched in conjunction with each other as shown in FIG.

The video signals input from the video input terminals 21 and 22 are amplified by the RGB drive amplifiers 25, and the amplified video signals composed of the RGB components are supplied to the sync separator 26 and the control circuit 2.
Each liquid crystal (LCD) panel 1 through a common LCD drive circuit composed of 7 and an AND gate 28 and an inversion circuit 29.
It is designed to be sent to 5L and 15R.

On the other hand, a video signal input from the video input terminal 21 and amplified by one of the RGB drive amplifiers 25 passes through the sync separator 26, and is a V sync which is a vertical sync signal and an H sync which is a horizontal sync signal. Is extracted and sent to the EVEN (even number) / ODD (odd number) discrimination circuit 30. This EVEN / ODD discrimination circuit 30
Outputs to the inverter 30a a digital signal (hereinafter referred to as an E / O signal) that is a rectangular wave inverted for each field based on the V sync and the H sync. The EVEN / ODD discriminating circuit 30 operates only when the V start signal control switch 24 is L (low). Further, since the V start signal control switch 24 is H (high) in each of the "normal" and "real 3D" modes, each of the liquid crystal panels 15L and 16R.
The common LCD drive circuit of the above is designed to work separately. In the "normal" mode, since the video signal input to the video input terminal 21 by the signal input switch 23 is input to the common LCD drive circuit, the pair of liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R display the same image. It is supposed to be displayed. Also, "real 3D"
In the mode, the signal input switch 23 switches,
The images of the two L and R stereoscopic video signals separately input to the video input terminals 21 and 22 are displayed on the respective liquid crystal panels 15L and 1L.
It is supposed to be displayed on 5R.

Further, by switching a switch (not shown) of the operation button 5, the V start signal control switch 24
By interlocking with and switching to L (low), the "field skip 3D" mode is set. At this time, the EVEN / ODD discrimination circuit 30 alternately supplies the image of the EVEN (even number) field to the liquid crystal panel 15R and the image of the ODD (odd number) field to the liquid crystal panel 15L, but in the opposite field, the V start signal ( R-V and LV start signals are not input, and the image of the previous field is held during the period when there is no signal due to the hold effect of each liquid crystal panel 15L, 15R, and as a result, there is no missing field. , Images without flicker (flickerless).

Next, FIG. 5 shows a timing chart of generation of the RV and LV start signals for starting the liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R in the "field skip 3D" mode. More specifically, the E / O signal, which is the output signal of the EVEN / ODD discrimination circuit 30, is a digital signal that is inverted every field by a video signal. In the case of the EVEN field, a positive signal is output.
In the case of the field, it becomes a negative signal. The R-V start signal is a signal generated by an E / O signal and a VD signal (a pulse signal for each field based on a vertical synchronizing signal included in the video signal of each RGB drive amplifier 25). / O signal and V generated for each field
When the D signal is a positive signal, the R-V start signal is generated as a positive signal in the AND gate 28. LV
The start signal is a signal generated by the E / O signal and the VD signal, is a negative signal of the E / O signal, and is VD
When the signal is a positive signal, the AND gate 28 outputs L-
The Vstart signal is generated as a positive signal. The R-V start signal or the L-V start signal thus generated is alternately generated for each field to reset the liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R, and each time, a video image based on a new stereoscopic video signal is displayed. be able to. That is, the intervals at which these start signals are generated are exactly one field, and the intervals (A, B) correspond to the intervals of one frame of the video signal. The LV start signal is generated in the odd field, and the RV start signal is generated in the even field. On the other hand, when liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R having a holding effect are used, the liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R have a property of holding the previous image until refreshed by any of these start signals. Therefore, the image refreshed by the LV start signal can hold the image in the EVEN field during the ODD field, and the image refreshed by the R-V start signal can hold the image in the ODD field during the EVEN field. It is like this.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 40 denotes a screen, which is made of a surface material that does not change the polarization direction. Reference numeral 50 denotes polarizing glasses, which have a horizontal linear polarization filter 51 for the left eye of the observer 60 and a vertical linear polarization filter 5 for the right eye.
It is marked with 2.

The video projector device 1 of the above embodiment
According to this, as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to easily enjoy a stereoscopic image by using one video projector device 1. At this time, by operating a predetermined button of the operation button 5 on the rear portion of the upper surface of the cabinet 2, three modes of "genuine 3D", "field skip 3D", and "normal" are switched by one switch (not shown) of the operation button 5. be able to.

Next, of the above three modes, "genuine 3"
The stereoscopic projection in the "D" mode will be described. Figure 2
As shown in 3, the halogen lamp 1 in the cabinet 2
The light emitted in 1 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 12 and is substantially parallel light 18
Becomes The substantially parallel light 18 enters the polarization beam splitter 13R and is split into a passing light 18R and a reflected light 18L. At this time, the transmitted light 18R becomes a horizontally polarized light and the reflected light 18L becomes a vertically polarized light. These reflected light 18L
And the passing light 18R maintains the polarization direction, and the plane mirror 1
It is reflected by 4L and 14R and changes its direction by 90 °.

The reflected light 18L and the passing light 18R whose directions are changed by the plane mirrors 14L and 14R enter the respective liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R. Then, the light passes through the horizontal polarizing plate 16L and the vertical polarizing plate 16R. When the reflected light 18L passes through the liquid crystal panel 15L and the horizontal polarizing plate 16L, it becomes horizontal polarized light 19L. In addition, the transmitted light 18R is the liquid crystal panel 15R.
When it passes through the vertical polarizing plate 16R, it becomes vertical polarized light 19R. This horizontal polarized light 19L is the polarized beam splitter 13
By L, the light passes through while maintaining the polarization direction. The vertical polarized light 19R is totally reflected by the polarization beam splitter 13L while maintaining the polarization direction. Then, the light 19 combined through the polarization beam splitter 13 is projected by the projection lens 4 as projection light 19 ′ onto the screen 40.

Since the screen 40 is made of a surface material such as a silver vinyl sheet which does not change the polarization direction, when the observer 60 puts on the polarized glasses 50, the right eye is vertically polarized, that is, the liquid crystal panel. The image of 15R is visible, and the left eye sees the polarized light in the horizontal direction, that is, the image of the liquid crystal panel 15L.
In the case of the "real 3D" mode, since different L and R stereoscopic video signals are input to the liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R, respectively, the viewer 60 can stereoscopically view the stereoscopic video. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 10, since the images projected from two video projectors are viewed by wearing polarized glasses, half of the light amount is lost. However, in the case of the present embodiment, the polarized beam is lost. Splitter 13R, 13
When the light passes through L, it is divided into light beams having polarization directions orthogonal to each other, and the liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R are put in this polarization direction and projected on the screen 40, so that a stereoscopic image with little light loss can be fully enjoyed. be able to.

In the "field skip 3D" mode, as shown in FIG. 5, when the EVEN / ODD discriminating circuit 30 is set to the ODD field or the EVEN field, the holding effect of the liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R causes the holding effect. Since the video signal of the previous field is held and displayed during the field period in which no signal is input, it is possible to project an image with reduced flicker.
That is, the EVEN field image and the ODD field image are alternately supplied to the liquid crystal panel 15R and the liquid crystal panel 15L, respectively, but in the opposite field, the V start signal is not input and the liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R are not supplied. Since the video signal of the previous field is held during the period when there is no signal due to the hold effect, as a result, there is no field with a missing image, and a video without flicker can be obtained. In particular, since the above video signal is held by the hold effect of the liquid crystal panels 15L and 15R, an extra expensive image memory or the like is not required, and a high quality image can be produced inexpensively with a small amount of power.

Further, in the case of the "normal" mode,
A normal video signal that is not 3D (stereoscopic) is supplied to each liquid crystal panel 15
Since it is put in L and 15R, it will be twice as bright as before. At this time, a higher resolution image can be obtained by shifting by half a pixel of the liquid crystal panel.

6 to 9 show a projector device 1'according to the second embodiment. A slide lever 31 is supported at the center of the upper surface of a cabinet (apparatus main body) 2'of the projector apparatus 1'so as to be slidable in the lateral direction. An arm portion 32a of a slide plate 32 is pivotally supported by a pin on the lower portion of the slide lever 31. This slide plate 32
One of the liquid crystal panels 15L is fixed to the liquid crystal panel 15L, and the liquid crystal panel 15L moves together with the slide lever 31.

As described above, the slide plate 32 has the arm portion 3
Since it is connected to the slide lever 31 by 2a, when the slide lever 31 is moved laterally left and right, one liquid crystal panel 15L moves laterally left and right. Then, the solid (3
D) When an image is displayed on the screen 40, by moving the slide lever 31, a stereoscopic image can be displayed far in front of the screen or can be displayed far behind the screen.

Furthermore, if this projector device 1'is used, it is possible to obtain a so-called invisible screen effect of displaying a normal 2D (two-dimensional) image that is not 3D (three-dimensional) in a pseudo three-dimensional manner. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the liquid crystal panel 15L is moved to the right, and the image on the screen 40 is moved to the left as shown on the screen 40 'to the approximate eye width D (≈65 m).
m) (according to the experiment, depending on the distance between the screen 40 and the observer 60, it may be moved by a distance of 35 to 120 mm). In this way, by slightly moving the left and right images, the position of the image can be seen toward the back of the screen 40, as shown in FIG. In this state,
When you see the actual video, you don't feel the position of the screen 40,
In the back, you can see a large, realistic image with a three-dimensional effect in close proximity, and you can fully enjoy powerful images even in a small room.

According to each of the above embodiments, the image projected on the pair of liquid crystal panels is projected on the screen by one projection lens, but it may be projected on the screen separately by two projection lenses. . Further, according to each of the above-described embodiments, the mode switching between the "field skip 3D" and the "normal" mode is manually performed, but an index is superimposed on the V blanking of the video signal, and this is automatically detected. You may make it switch. further,
Although only one liquid crystal panel is moved in the second embodiment, both liquid crystal panels may be moved.
In this case, the liquid crystal panel on the left side may be moved to the right and the liquid crystal panel on the right side may be simultaneously moved to the left via one slide lever and a link mechanism.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a video projector apparatus that projects an image on a screen by using one light source and two liquid crystal devices, the light from the light source is transmitted by a polarization beam splitter. Corresponding to the left eye and the right eye by splitting into two polarizations that are orthogonal to each other, inputting the light into the above two liquid crystal devices, and inputting a video signal corresponding to the left eye and the right eye to each liquid crystal device. By projecting the image to be projected onto the screen as two projection lights whose polarization directions are orthogonal to each other, the entire apparatus can be made compact, and the orthogonal polarizations split by the polarization beam splitter can be obtained. Can be utilized as it is, and an efficient stereoscopic image with little light loss can be easily obtained at low cost.

Further, two liquid crystal devices are built in the casing type apparatus main body, video signals corresponding to the left eye and the right eye are input to the two liquid crystal devices, and the two liquid crystal devices are projected in two polarization directions orthogonal to each other. In a video projector device capable of projecting a stereoscopic image as light, which is projected on a screen, with respect to one image signal containing left and right images for each field, the left and right image signals are equivalent to each other. By alternately inputting to one liquid crystal device and displaying the image of the video signal of the previous field when no video signal is input, the flicker is reduced by using the hold effect of each liquid crystal device above. It is possible to achieve high image quality without using an expensive image memory or the like.

Further, two liquid crystal devices are built in the casing type apparatus main body, video signals corresponding to the left eye and the right eye are input to these two liquid crystal devices, and the two liquid crystal devices are projected in two polarization directions orthogonal to each other. In a video projector device capable of projecting a stereoscopic image as light, which is capable of projecting a stereoscopic image, at least one liquid crystal device is movable in the lateral direction, and two image formations on the screen are movable. You can see a large screen image very close, and you can enjoy powerful images even in a small room.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a video projector device showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an optical system used in the video projector device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an optical system used in the video projector device.

FIG. 4 is a block configuration diagram of a signal processing circuit used in the video projector device.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing an operation of a signal processing circuit used in the video projector device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a video projector device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of the video projector device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of an optical system used in the video projector device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a usage example of the video projector device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a first example of a conventional stereoscopic projector device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a second example of a conventional stereoscopic projector device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1 '... Video projector device 2, 2' ... Cabinet (device body) 4 ... Projection lens 11 ... Halogen lamp (light source) 13L, 13R ... Polarizing beam splitter 15L, 15R ... Liquid crystal panel (liquid crystal device) 40 ... Screen 50 … Polarized glasses

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A video projector apparatus for projecting an image on a screen using one light source and two liquid crystal devices, wherein the light of the light source is divided into two polarizations orthogonal to each other by a polarization beam splitter, By inputting light to the above-mentioned two liquid crystal devices and inputting video signals corresponding to the left eye and the right eye to the respective liquid crystal devices, the polarization directions of the images corresponding to the left eye and the right eye are orthogonal to each other. A video projector device, characterized in that it is configured to project onto the screen as one projection light respectively. 2. The video projector device according to claim 1, wherein the two lights that have passed through the respective liquid crystal devices are combined into one by the polarization beam splitter, and the two lights are projected onto the screen by one projection lens. A video projector device characterized in that 3. The video projector device according to claim 2, wherein the projection light of the projection lens is circularly polarized light whose rotation directions are opposite to each other. 4. A housing-type device main body having two built-in liquid crystal devices, to which video signals corresponding to the left eye and the right eye are input, and the two liquid crystal devices are projected in two polarization directions orthogonal to each other. In a video projector device capable of projecting a stereoscopic image as light, the left and right image signals corresponding to one image signal containing a left image and a right image for each field. The video projector device is characterized in that the video signals of the previous field are displayed when the video signals are not input, by alternately inputting to two liquid crystal devices. 5. The video projector device according to claim 4, wherein the video signal of the previous field is held by the hold effect of the liquid crystal device, and the video of the video signal of the previous field is displayed on the liquid crystal device. A video projector device characterized in that 6. The video projector device according to claim 4, wherein two stereoscopic video signals of left and right are provided, and left and right for each field.
A video projector device characterized in that it is compatible with one stereoscopic video signal containing the image on the right. 7. The video projector device according to claim 4, wherein in the case of a normal video signal which is not a stereoscopic video signal, the above 2
A video projector device characterized by displaying the same image on two liquid crystal devices. 8. A housing-type device body is provided with two liquid crystal devices, video signals corresponding to the left eye and the right eye are input to the two liquid crystal devices, and the two liquid crystal devices are projected in two polarization directions orthogonal to each other. In a video projector device capable of projecting a stereoscopic image as light, which is capable of projecting a stereoscopic image, at least one liquid crystal device is horizontally movable, and two image formations on the screen are movable. Video projector equipment. 9. The video projector apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the same video signal is input to the two liquid crystal devices, and the same video is displayed on the screen as left and right two eyes apart from each other by an approximate pupil distance. By projecting the image for the left eye with the left eye and viewing the image for the right eye with polarizing glasses that can be seen with the right eye, the position of the image is different from the screen. A video projector device characterized in that it can be viewed.