Display device and method for tracking a virtual visibility region

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12298522-B2
Application number	US-201816956352-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2018
Priority date	Dec 21, 2017
Publication date	May 13, 2025
Grant date	May 13, 2025

Abstract

The invention relates to a display device for representing two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional scenes. The display device comprises at least one illumination device to emit sufficiently coherent light, at least one spatial light modulation device, at least one optical system and a tracking device. A hologram is encoded into the at least one spatial light modulation device by means of a single-parallax encoding. The at least one optical system is provided to generate at least one virtual visibility region at the position of an eye of an observer. The encoding direction of the hologram on the spatial light modulation device is modifiable by means of the tracking device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A display device for representing two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional scenes, comprising:
at least one illumination device to emit sufficiently coherent light,
at least one spatial light modulation device into which a hologram is encoded by means of a single-parallax encoding,
at least one optical system, where the at least one optical system is provided to generate at least one virtual visibility region at the position of an eye of an observer, and
a tracking device, where the encoding direction of the hologram on the spatial light modulation device is modifiable by means of the tracking device,
wherein, while an eye of an observer remains located at a particular position, the encoding direction of the hologram is changeable between at least two non-coinciding directions and the encoding direction is switchable between the at least two directions based on the tracking device.

2. The display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one virtual visibility region is formed from a virtual observer window and a sweet spot, where the virtual observer window is provided in the encoding direction of the hologram and the sweet spot is provided in the non-encoding direction of the hologram.

3. The display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one position detection system is provided with which the position of an eye, in particular an eye pupil, of an observer of the scene is determinable.

4. The display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tracking device comprises at least one controllable optical element which is disposed between the at least one illumination device and an observer plane in which an observer of the scene is located.

5. The display device as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the at least one controllable optical element is designed as a polarization switch, wherein the tracking device comprises at least one passive deflection grating element, preferably a polarization grating element, and at least two passive scatter elements which scatter incident light in one direction only, where the passive deflection grating element and the at least two passive scatter elements operate in combination with the polarization switch.

6. The display device as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the at least two passive scatter elements are designed as volume gratings, where the at least two passive scatter elements have a different angular selectivity.

7. The display device as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the at least one controllable optical element is designed as a polarization switch, where the tracking device comprises at least one redirection element, preferably a polarization beam-splitter element, and at least two passive scatter elements which scatter incident light in each case in one direction only, where one of at least two different light paths is selectable by means of the controllable optical element and the redirection element, and a scatter element is provided in each case in each of the different light paths.

8. The display device as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the at least one controllable optical element or the at least two controllable optical elements is/are designed as scatter element(s), where the at least one controllable optical element scatters incident light in one direction only, where the at least two controllable optical elements scatter incident light in each case in a different direction.

9. The display device as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the at least one controllable optical element comprises two substrates between which a liquid crystal layer is embedded.

10. The display device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein at least one substrate of the at least one controllable optical element has a one-dimensional surface structure.

11. The display device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the surface structure has a grating period which varies randomly with the position on the substrate.

12. The display device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the substrate lying opposite the substrate with the surface structure is provided for the alignment of liquid crystals in the liquid crystal layer.

13. The display device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the liquid crystal material of the liquid crystal layer has a first refractive index and a second refractive index, where the first refractive index essentially corresponds to the refractive index of the surface structure, where the second refractive index is essentially different from the refractive index of the surface structure.

14. The display device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein, if a plurality of controllable optical elements are present in which at least one substrate has a one-dimensional surface structure, these controllable optical elements are disposed in the beam path in such a way that the one-dimensional surface structures of the individual controllable optical elements provided on at least one substrate in each case have a different orientation in relation to one another.

15. The display device as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the surface structures of the controllable optical elements are disposed at an angle of approx. 90° in relation to one another.

16. The display device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the substrates of the at least one controllable optical element in each case comprise an electrode arrangement, where the respective electrode arrangement comprises at least one electrode.

17. The display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tracking device comprises a passive scatter element which is designed as rotating.

18. The display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tracking device comprises at least two controllable optical elements.

19. The display device as claimed in claim 18 , wherein a first controllable optical element scatters incident light in a predefined first direction, where a second controllable optical element scatters light in a predefined second direction, where the first direction and the second direction are different.

20. The display device as claimed in claim 19 , wherein the encoding direction of the hologram is definable through corresponding control of the first controllable optical element and the second controllable optical element.

21. The display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one polarization element is provided upstream of the at least one controllable optical element in the light propagation direction.

22. The display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tracking device is designed as a filter arrangement which is provided to eliminate diffraction orders.

23. The display device as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the filter arrangement is designed as controllable.

24. The display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one light source of the at least one illumination device is designed as the tracking device, where the at least one light source is designed as controllable in order to modify the coherence property of the light which is to be emitted.

25. The display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the display device is designed as a holographic display device.

26. A head-mounted display, comprising a display device as claimed in claim 1 in each case for a left eye of an observer and for a right eye of an observer.

27. A method for representing two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional scenes by means of at least one illumination device to emit sufficiently coherent light, at least

Assignees

• Seereal Technolgies S A
• Seereal Tech S A

Inventors

• Leister Norbert
• Kroll Bo

Classifications

• G03H2001/2207

  Spatial filter, e.g. for suppressing higher diffraction orders · CPC title

• G02F1/292

  by controlled diffraction or phased-array beam steering (controlled diffraction for optical switching G02F1/31) · CPC title

• G02F1/19

  based on variable-reflection or variable-refraction elements not provided for in groups G02F1/015 - G02F1/169 · CPC title

• G02F1/1347

  Arrangement of liquid crystal layers or cells in which the final condition of one light beam is achieved by the addition of the effects of two or more layers or cells · CPC title

• G02F1/133711

  by organic films, e.g. polymeric films · CPC title