Head-mounted display device and display control method for head-mounted display device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10645374-B2
Application number	US-201715433139-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 15, 2017
Priority date	Mar 4, 2016
Publication date	May 5, 2020
Grant date	May 5, 2020

Abstract

First and second display devices have first and second common display areas in which image display with common content to left and right eyes is performed. At least one of the first and second display devices has an extended display area. A display control unit generates a signal including common image information for the first and second common display areas and extension image information for the extended display area.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A head-mounted display device comprising:
a first display and a second display that perform image display to correspond to left and right eyes, respectively; and
a display controller that transmits a video signal for controlling display operations of the first and second displays and controls the image display, wherein:
the first display and second display have first and second common display areas, respectively, in which image display with common content is performed, and
the first display and the second display have a first extended display area and a second extended display area, respectively, formed by extending the first and second common display areas, respectively,
the first extended display area and the second extended display area are configured to display different images,
the display controller generates a signal including common image information for the first and second common display areas and extension image information for the first and second extended display areas, as the video signal to be transmitted to the first and second displays, and
in a case in which display is performed in the first and second extended display areas, the display controller displays an assistant image indicating that the display is performed in the first and second extended display areas in the first and second common display areas, respectively.

2. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the first and second displays perform, in the first and second extended display areas, image display with different content from display in the first and second common display areas, respectively.

3. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the first and second displays form a stereoscopic image in the image display in the first and second common display areas.

4. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the first and second displays perform image display including a range of at least a discrimination visual field as a recognition range formed by the first and second common display areas.

5. The head-mounted display device according to claim 4 , wherein
the first and second displays perform image display including a range of an angle of view of 10° as a recognition range formed by the first and second common display areas.

6. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the first and second displays perform image display for recognizing the first and second common display areas to be overlapped using center of optical axes of left and right eyes as standards.

7. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the first and second displays include first and second image display elements producing video light corresponding to left and right eyes.

8. The head-mounted display device according to claim 7 , wherein
the first and second image display elements each have one display panel region, and the display panel region is divided according to a first region in which the video light of the first and second common display areas is produced and a second region in which the video light of the extended display area is produced.

9. The head-mounted display device according to claim 7 , wherein
the first and second image display elements each have an individual display panel region according to the first and second common display areas and the extended display area.

10. The head-mounted display device according to claim 7 , wherein
the first and second displays shift centers of the display panel regions of the first and second image display elements from a central optical axis.

11. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the first and second extended display areas are continuously adjacent to an outer edge of the first common display area and the second common display area, respectively.

12. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the display controller includes a display mode controller that adjusts the common image information and the extension image information and is able to switch between a plurality of display modes with different image display forms in the first and second common display areas and the first and second extended display areas.

13. The head-mounted display device according to claim 12 , wherein
in the display mode controller, the plurality of display modes include a whole display mode in which a difference in brightness to which presence or absence of overlapping between the first and second common display areas and the first and second extended display areas is added is suppressed to be displayed and an attention display mode in which the difference in the brightness to which the presence or absence of the overlapping between the first and second common display areas and the first and second extended display areas is applied to be displayed.

14. The head-mounted display device according to claim 13 , wherein
in a case in which the display mode controller sets the whole display mode, the display controller performs display control such that luminance of the first and second common display areas is suppressed more than luminance of the first and second extended display areas.

15. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a visual line sensor that detects a visual line direction of an observer, wherein
the display controller switches a display form according to a detection result of the visual line sensor.

16. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , wherein
the display controller performs display control such that luminance of an area of a background image in the first and second extended display areas is suppressed more than luminance of an area of another image.

17. The head-mounted display device according to claim 1 , wherein
in a case in which display is performed in the first and second extended display areas, the display controller ends the display after elapse of a predetermined time and performs display with same content as the display in the first and second common display areas.

18. A display control method of a head-mounted display device including a first display and a second display that perform image display to be recognized to correspond to left and right eyes, respectively, the first display and the second display having first and second common display areas, respectively, in which image display with common content is performed, the first display and the second display having a first extended display and a second extended display area, respectively, formed by extending the first and second common display areas, respectively, and the first extended display area and the second extended display area being configured to display different images, the method comprising:
generating a signal including common image information for the first and second common display areas and extension image information for the first and second extended display areas as a video signal;
transmitting the signal to the first and second displays; and
in a case in which display is performed in the first and second extended display areas, displaying an assistant image indicating that the display is performed in the first and second extended display areas in the first and second common display areas, respectively.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Takeda Takashi
• Takagi Masayuki
• Miyao Toshiaki
• Komatsu Akira
• Totani Takahiro

Classifications

• G02B2027/0134

  of stereoscopic type · CPC title

• H04N2213/001

  Constructional or mechanical details · CPC title

• H04N13/139

  Format conversion, e.g. of frame-rate or size · CPC title

• G02B27/017

  Head mounted · CPC title

• H04N13/398

  Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof · CPC title