ADAPTABLE PARALLAX BARRIER SUPPORTING MIXED 2D AND STEREOSCOPIC 3D DISPLAY REGIONS

Abstract

A display system is provided that enables two-dimensional and three-dimensional images to be displayed. The display system includes a pixel array and a parallax barrier, and may include backlighting. The parallax barrier includes a plurality of barrier elements arranged in a barrier element array. Each barrier element is configured to be selectively opaque or transparent. The barrier element array is configured to filter light from the pixel array to form a plurality of images in a viewing space. Pairs of the images may be perceived by viewers in the viewing space as three-dimensional. Different regions of the barrier element array may be configured to filter light from the pixel array in different ways to form corresponding different images in the viewing space, including simultaneously delivering one or more two-dimensional views and/or three-dimensional views to viewers in the viewing space.

Description

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/291,818, filed on Dec. 31, 2009, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety; and

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/303,119, filed on Feb. 10, 2010, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to three-dimensional image displays.

2. Background Art

Images may be generated for display in various forms. For instance, television (TV) is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and displaying images in monochromatic (“black and white”) or color form. Conventionally, images are provided in analog form and are displayed by display devices in two-dimensions. More recently, images are being provided in digital form for display in two-dimensions on display devices having improved resolution (e.g., “high definition” or “HD”). Even more recently, images capable of being displayed in three-dimensions are being generated.

Conventional displays may use a variety of techniques to achieve three-dimensional image viewing functionality. For example, various types of glasses have been developed that may be worn by users to view three-dimensional images displayed by a conventional display. Examples of such glasses include glasses that utilize color filters or polarized filters. In each case, the lenses of the glasses pass two-dimensional images of differing perspective to the user's left and right eyes. The images are combined in the visual center of the brain of the user to be perceived as a three-dimensional image. In another example, synchronized left eye, right eye LCD (liquid crystal display) shutter glasses may be used with conventional two-dimensional displays to create a three-dimensional viewing illusion. In still another example, LCD display glasses are being used to display three-dimensional images to a user. The lenses of the LCD display glasses include corresponding displays that provide images of differing perspective to the user's eyes, to be perceived by the user as three-dimensional.

Problems exist with such techniques for viewing three-dimensional images. For instance, persons that use such displays and systems to view three-dimensional images may suffer from headaches, eyestrain, and/or nausea after long exposure. Furthermore, some content, such as two-dimensional text, may be more difficult to read and interpret when displayed three-dimensionally. To address these problems, some manufacturers have created display devices that may be toggled between three-dimensional viewing and two-dimensional viewing. A display device of this type may be switched to a three-dimensional mode for viewing of three-dimensional images, and may be switched to a two-dimensional mode for viewing of two-dimensional images (and/or to provide a respite from the viewing of three-dimensional images).

A parallax barrier is another example of a device that enables images to be displayed in three-dimensions. A parallax barrier includes of a layer of material with a series of precision slits. The parallax barrier is placed proximal to a display so that a user's eyes each see a different set of pixels to create a sense of depth through parallax. A disadvantage of parallax barriers is that the viewer must be positioned in a well-defined location in order to experience the three-dimensional effect. If the viewer moves his/her eyes away from this “sweet spot,” image flipping and/or exacerbation of the eyestrain, headaches and nausea that may be associated with prolonged three-dimensional image viewing may result. Conventional three-dimensional displays that utilize parallax barriers are also constrained in that the displays must be entirely in a two-dimensional image mode or a three-dimensional image mode at any time.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods, systems, and apparatuses are described for displays having adaptable parallax barriers substantially as shown in and/or described herein in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a display system, according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show block diagrams of examples of the display system of FIG. 1, according to embodiments.

FIG. 3 shows a view of a surface of a parallax barrier, according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show views of a barrier element of a barrier element array that is selected to be transparent and to be opaque, respectively, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart for generating three-dimensional images, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of an example of a display system, according to an embodiment.

FIGS. 8A and 8B shows view of example parallax barriers with non-blocking slits, according to embodiments.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of a barrier array controller, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows an example display system configured to generate three-dimensional images, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows the display system of FIG. 7 providing a three-dimensional image to a user, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 12 shows a process for forming a two-dimensional image, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows a process for modifying a parallax barrier to modify display characteristics, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 14 shows a view of the parallax barrier of FIG. 3 with increased spacing between non-blocking slits, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 15 shows a display system with increased spacing between non-blocking slits, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart for configuring a parallax barrier to enable two or more three-dimensional views to be simultaneously delivered to a viewer, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 17 shows a view of the parallax barrier of FIG. 3 with portions having different width non-blocking slits, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 18 shows a process for configuring a parallax barrier to display differently oriented three-dimensional images, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 19 shows a view of the parallax barrier of FIG. 3 with differently oriented non-blocking slits, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart that may be performed to enable the simultaneous display of two-dimensional and three-dimensional images, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 21 shows a display system configured to simultaneously generate two-dimensional and three-dimensional images, according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 22 and 23 show views of the barrier element array of FIG. 3 configured to enable the simultaneous display of two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of various sizes and shapes, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 24 shows a block diagram of a display environment, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 25 shows a block diagram of a remote device, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 26 shows a block diagram of a display device, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 27 shows a block diagram of an example display controller, according to an embodiment.

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

I. Introduction

The present specification discloses one or more embodiments that incorporate the features of the invention. The disclosed embodiment(s) merely exemplify the invention. The scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s). The invention is defined by the claims appended hereto.

References in the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

Furthermore, it should be understood that spatial descriptions (e.g., “above,” “below,” “up,” “left,” “right,” “down,” “top,” “bottom,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” etc.) used herein are for purposes of illustration only, and that practical implementations of the structures described herein can be spatially arranged in any orientation or manner.

II. Example Embodiments

Embodiments of the present invention relate to display devices that include a parallax barrier that may be dynamically modified, thereby changing the manner in which images are delivered to the eyes of one or more viewers. The parallax barrier may be configured to enable the adaptive display of multiple types of images to users. For instance, embodiments enable the adaptive accommodation of a changing viewer sweet spot, switching between two-dimensional (2D), stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D), and multi-view 3D images, as well as the simultaneous display of 2D, stereoscopic 3D, and multi-view 3D images. Example features of the parallax barrier that may be dynamically modified include one or more of a number of slits in the parallax barrier, the dimensions of each slit, the spacing between the slits, and the orientation of the slits. Slits of the parallax barrier may also be turned on or off in relation to certain regions of the screen such that simultaneous mixed 2D, stereoscopic 3D, and multi-view 3D presentations can be accommodated.

The following subsections describe numerous example embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of exemplary embodiments described herein.

A. Example Display System and Method Embodiments

In embodiments, a display device may include an adaptive parallax barrier to enable various display capabilities. For instance, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a display system 100, according to an example embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, system 100 includes a display device 112. Display device 112 is capable of displaying 2D and 3D images as described above. As shown in FIG. 1, display device 112 includes an image generator 102 and a parallax barrier 104. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, image generator 102 includes a pixel array 114 and may optionally include backlighting 116. Image generator 102 and parallax barrier 104 operate to generate 2D and/or 3D images that are viewable by users/viewers in a viewing space 106. Although parallax barrier 104 is shown positioned between image generator 102 and viewing space 106 in FIG. 1, as further described below, parallax barrier 104 may alternatively be positioned between portions of image generator 102 (e.g., between pixel array 114 and backlighting 116).

When present, backlighting 116 emits light that is filtered by parallax barrier 104, and the filtered light is received by pixel array 114, which imposes image information on the filtered light by performing further filtering. When backlighting 116 is not present, pixel array 114 may be configured to emit light which includes the image information, and the emitted light is filtered by parallax barrier 104. Parallax barrier 104 operates as an image filter or “light manipulator” to filter received light with a plurality of barrier elements (also referred to as “blocking regions”) that are selectively substantially opaque or transparent to enable three-dimensional images to be generated from the image information provided by pixel array 114. The image information may include one or more still images, motion (e.g., video) images, etc. As shown in FIG. 1, image generator 102 and parallax barrier 104 generate filtered light 110. Filtered light 110 may include one or more two-dimensional images and/or three-dimensional images (e.g., formed by a pair of two-dimensional images in filtered light 110), for instance. Filtered light 110 is received in viewing space 106 proximate to display device 112. One or more users may be present in viewing space 106 to view the images included in filtered light 110.

Display device 112 may be implemented in various ways. For instance, display device 112 may be a television display (e.g., an LCD (liquid crystal display) television, a plasma television, etc.), a computer monitor, or any other type of display device. Image generator 102 may be any suitable type or combination of light and image generating devices, including an LCD screen, a plasma screen, an LED (light emitting device) screen (e.g., an OLED (organic LED) screen), etc. Parallax barrier 104 may be any suitable light filtering device, including an LCD filter, a mechanical filter (e.g., that incorporates individually controllable shutters), etc., and may be configured in any manner, including as a thin-film device (e.g., formed of a stack of thin film layers), etc. Backlighting 116 may be any suitable light emitting device, including a panel of LEDs or other light emitting elements.

FIG. 2A shows a block diagram of a display system 200, which is an example of system 100 shown in FIG. 1, according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2A, system 200 includes a display device controller 202 and a display device 250 (which includes image generator 102 and parallax barrier 104). Display device 250 is an example of display device 112 in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2A, image generator 102 includes a pixel array 208 (which is an example of pixel array 114 of FIG. 1), and parallax barrier 104 includes a barrier element array 210. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2A, display controller 202 includes a pixel array controller 204 and a barrier array controller 206. These features of system 200 are described as follows.

Pixel array 208 includes a two-dimensional array of pixels (e.g., arranged in a grid or other distribution). Pixel array 208 is a self-illuminating or light-generating pixel array such that the pixels of pixel array 208 each emit light included in light 252 emitted from image generator 102. Each pixel may be a separately addressable light source (e.g., a pixel of a plasma display, an LCD display, an LED display such as an OLED display, or of other type of display). Each pixel of pixel array 208 may be individually controllable to vary color and intensity. In an embodiment, each pixel of pixel array 208 may include a plurality of sub-pixels that correspond to separate color channels, such as a trio of red, green, and blue sub-pixels included in each pixel.

Parallax barrier 104 is positioned proximate to a surface of pixel array 208. Barrier element array 210 is a layer of parallax barrier 104 that includes a plurality of barrier elements or blocking regions arranged in an array. Each barrier element of the array is configured to be selectively opaque or transparent. For instance, FIG. 3 shows a parallax barrier 300, according to an example embodiment. Parallax barrier 300 is an example of parallax barrier 104 of FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG. 3, parallax barrier 300 includes a barrier element array 302. Barrier element array 302 includes a plurality of barrier elements 304 arranged in a two-dimensional array (e.g., arranged in a grid), although in other embodiments, may include barrier elements 304 arranged in other ways. Barrier elements 304 may each be a pixel of an LCD, a moveable mechanical element (e.g., a hinged flap that passes light in a first position and blocks light in a second position), a magnetically actuated element, or other suitable barrier element. Each barrier element 304 is shown in FIG. 3 as rectangular (e.g., square) in shape, but in other embodiments may have other shapes.

For example, in one embodiment, each barrier element 304 may have a “band” shape that extends a vertical length of barrier element array 302, such that barrier element array 302 includes a single horizontal row of barrier elements 304. Each barrier element 304 may include one or more of such bands, and different portions of barrier element array 302 may include barrier elements 304 that include different numbers of such bands. One advantage of such a configuration is that barrier elements 304 extending a vertical length of barrier element array 302 do not need to have spacing between them because there is no need for drive signal routing in such space. For instance, in a two-dimensional LCD array configuration, such as TFT (thin film transistor) display, a transistor-plus-capacitor circuit is typically placed onsite at the corner of a single pixel in the array, and control signals for such transistors are routed between the LCD pixels (row-column control, for example). In a pixel configuration for a parallax barrier, local transistor control may not be necessary because barrier elements 304 may not need to be changing as rapidly as display pixels (e.g., pixels of pixel array 208). For a single row of vertical bands of barrier elements 304, control signals may be routed to the top and/or bottom of barrier elements 304. Because in such a configuration control signal routing between rows is not needed, the vertical bands can be arranged side-by-side with little-to-no space in between. Thus, if the vertical bands are thin and oriented edge-to-edge, one band or multiple adjacent bands (e.g., five bands) may comprise a barrier element 304 in a blocking state, followed by one band or multiple adjacent bands (e.g., two bands) that comprise a barrier element 304 in a non-blocking state (a slit), and so on. In the example of five bands in a blocking state and two bands in a non-blocking state, the five bands may combine to offer a single black barrier element of approximately 2.5 times the width of a single transparent slit with no spaces therein.

Barrier element array 302 may include any number of barrier elements 304. For example, in FIG. 3, barrier element array 302 includes twenty-eight barrier elements 304 along an x-axis and includes twenty barrier elements 304 along a y-axis, for a total number of five hundred and sixty barrier elements 304. However, these dimensions of barrier element array 302 and the total number of barrier elements 304 for barrier element array 302 shown in FIG. 3 are provided for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to be limiting. Barrier element array 302 may include any number of barrier elements 304, and may have any array dimensions, including ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, or even larger numbers of barrier elements 304 along each of the x- and y-axes. Barrier element array 302 of FIG. 3 is merely illustrative of larger barrier arrays that may be typically present in embodiments of parallax barrier 104. In embodiments, the width of one barrier element in a barrier element array may be a multiple or divisor of a corresponding display pixel width (e.g., a width of a pixel of pixel array 114). Similarly, a number of columns/rows in a barrier element array may be a multiple or divisor of a corresponding number of columns/rows of pixels in a corresponding pixel array.

Each barrier element 304 of barrier element array 302 is selectable to be substantially opaque or transparent. For instance, FIG. 4 shows a barrier element 304x that is selected to be substantially transparent, and FIG. 5 shows barrier element 304x when selected to be substantially opaque, according to example embodiments. When barrier element 304x is selected to be transparent, light 252 from pixel array 208 may pass through barrier element 304x (e.g., to viewing space 106). When barrier element 304x is selected to be opaque, light 252 from pixel array 208 is blocked from passing through barrier element 304x. By selecting some of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 to be transparent, and some of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 to be opaque, light 252 received at barrier element array 302 is filtered to generate filtered light 110. It is noted that in some embodiments, barrier elements may capable of being completely transparent or opaque, and in other embodiments, barrier elements may not be capable of being fully transparent or opaque. For instance, such barrier elements may be capable of being 95% transparent when considered to be “transparent” and may be capable of being 5% transparent when considered to be “opaque.” “Transparent” and “opaque” as used herein are intended to encompass barrier elements being substantially transparent (e.g., greater than 75% transparent, including completely transparent) and substantially opaque (e.g., less than 25% transparent, including completely opaque), respectively.

Display controller 202 is configured to generate control signals to enable display device 250 to display two-dimensional and three-dimensional images to users 218 in viewing space 106. For example, pixel array controller 204 is configured to generate a control signal 214 that is received by pixel array 208. Control signal 214 may include one or more control signals used to cause pixels of pixel array 208 to emit light 252 of particular desired colors and/or intensity. Barrier array controller 206 is configured to generate a control signal 216 that is received by barrier element array 210. Control signal 216 may include one or more control signals used to cause each of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 to be transparent or opaque. In this manner, barrier element array 210 filters light 252 to generate filtered light 110 that includes one or more two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional images that may be viewed by users 218 in viewing space 106.

For example, control signal 214 may control sets of pixels of pixel array 208 to each emit light representative of a respective image, to provide a plurality of images. Control signal 216 may control barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 210 to filter the light received from pixel array 208 according to the provided images such that one or more of the images are received by users 218 in two-dimensional form. For instance, control signal 216 may select one or more sets of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 to be transparent, to transmit one or more corresponding two-dimensional images or views to users 218. Furthermore, control signal 216 may control sections of barrier element array 210 to include opaque and transparent barrier elements 304 to filter the light received from pixel array 208 so that one or more pairs of images or views provided by pixel array 208 are each received by users 218 as a corresponding three-dimensional image or view. For example, control signal 216 may select parallel strips of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 to be transparent to form slits that enable three-dimensional images to be received by users 218.

In embodiments, control signal 216 may be generated by barrier array controller 206 to configure one or more characteristics of barrier element array 210. For example, control signal 216 may be generated to form any number of parallel strips of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 to be transparent, to modify the number and/or spacing of parallel strips of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 that are transparent, to select and/or modify a width and/or a length (in barrier elements 304) of one or more strips of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 that are transparent or opaque, to select and/or modify an orientation of one or more strips of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 that are transparent, to select one or more areas of barrier element array 302 to include all transparent or all opaque barrier elements 304, etc.

FIG. 2B shows a block diagram of a display system 220, which is another example of system 100 shown in FIG. 1, according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2B, system 220 includes display device controller 202 and a display device 260, which includes a pixel array 222, parallax barrier 104, and backlighting 116. Display device 260 is an example of display device 112 in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2B, parallax barrier 104 includes barrier element array 210 and backlighting 116 includes a light element array 236. Furthermore, display controller 202 includes a pixel array controller 228, barrier array controller 206, and a light source controller 230. Although separated by parallax barrier 104 in FIG. 2B, pixel array 222 and backlighting 116 form an example of image generator 102 of FIG. 1. These features of system 220 are described as follows.

Backlighting 116 is a backlight panel that emits light 238. Light element array 236 (or “backlight array”) of backlighting 116 includes a two-dimensional array of light sources. Such light sources may be arranged, for example, in a rectangular grid. Each light source in light element array 236 is individually addressable and controllable to select an amount of light emitted thereby. A single light source may comprise one or more light-emitting elements depending upon the implementation. In one embodiment, each light source in light element array 236 comprises a single light-emitting diode (LED) although this example is not intended to be limiting.

Parallax barrier 104 is positioned proximate to a surface of backlighting 116 (e.g., a surface of the backlight panel). As described above, barrier element array 210 is a layer of parallax barrier 104 that includes a plurality of barrier elements or blocking regions arranged in an array. Each barrier element of the array is configured to be selectively opaque or transparent. FIG. 3, as described above, shows a parallax barrier 300, which is an example of parallax barrier 104 of FIG. 2B. Barrier element array 210 filters light 238 received from backlighting 116 to generate filtered light 240. Filtered light 240 is configured to enable a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image (e.g., formed by a pair of two-dimensional images in filtered light 110) to be formed based on images subsequently imposed on filtered light 240 by pixel array 222.

Similarly to pixel array 208 of FIG. 2A, pixel array 222 of FIG. 2B includes a two-dimensional array of pixels (e.g., arranged in a grid or other distribution). However, pixel array 222 is not self-illuminating, and instead is a light filter that imposes images (e.g., in the form of color, grayscale, etc.) on filtered light 240 from parallax barrier 104 to generate filtered light 110 to include one or more images. Each pixel of pixel array 222 may be a separately addressable filter (e.g., a pixel of a plasma display, an LCD display, an LED display, or of other type of display). Each pixel of pixel array 208 may be individually controllable to vary the color imposed on the corresponding light passing through, and/or to vary the intensity of the passed light in filtered light 110. In an embodiment, each pixel of pixel array 222 may include a plurality of sub-pixels that correspond to separate color channels, such as a trio of red, green, and blue sub-pixels included in each pixel.

Display controller 202 of FIG. 2B is configured to generate control signals to enable display device 260 to display two-dimensional and three-dimensional images to users 218 in viewing space 106. For example, light source controller 230 within display controller 202 controls the amount of light emitted by each light source in light element array 236 by generating a control signal 234 that is received by light element array 236. Control signal 234 may include one or more control signals used to control the amount of light emitted by each light source in light element array 236 to generate light 238. As described above, barrier array controller 206 is configured to generate control signal 216 received by barrier element array 210. Control signal 216 may include one or more control signals used to cause each of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 to be transparent or opaque, to filter light 238 to generate filtered light 240. Pixel array controller 228 is configured to generate a control signal 232 that is received by pixel array 222. Control signal 232 may include one or more control signals used to cause pixels of pixel array 208 to impose desired images (e.g., colors, grayscale, etc.) on filtered light 240 as it passes through pixel array 208. In this manner, pixel array 222 generates filtered light 110 that includes one or more two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional images that may be viewed by users 218 in viewing space 106.

For example, control signal 234 may control sets of light sources of light element array 236 to emit light 238. Control signal 216 may control barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 210 to filter light 238 received from light element array 236 to enable filtered light 240 to enable two- and/or three-dimensionality. Control signal 232 may control sets of pixels of pixel array 222 to filter filtered light 240 according to respective images, to provide a plurality of images. For instance, control signal 216 may select one or more sets of the barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 to be transparent, to enable one or more corresponding two-dimensional images to be delivered to users 218. Furthermore, control signal 216 may control sections of barrier element array 210 to include opaque and transparent barrier elements 304 to filter the light received from light element array 236 so that one or more pairs of images provided by pixel array 222 are each enabled to be received by users 218 as a corresponding three-dimensional image. For example, control signal 216 may select parallel strips of barrier elements 304 of barrier element array 302 to be transparent to form slits that enable three-dimensional images to be received by users 218.

Two-dimensional and three-dimensional images may be generated by system 100 of FIG. 1 in various ways, in embodiments. For instance, FIG. 6 shows a flowchart 600 for generating images that are delivered to users in a viewing space, according to an example embodiment. Flowchart 600 may be performed by system 200 in FIG. 2A or system 220 of FIG. 2B, for example. Flowchart 600 is described with respect to FIG. 7, which shows a cross-sectional view of a display system 700. Display system 700 is an example embodiment of system 200 shown in FIG. 2A, and is shown for purposes of illustration. As shown in FIG. 7, system 700 includes a pixel array 702 and a barrier element array 704. In another embodiment, system 700 may further include backlighting in a configuration similar to display system 220 of FIG. 2B. Further structural and operational embodiments will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the discussion regarding flowchart 600. Flowchart 600 is described as follows.

Flowchart 600 begins with step 602. In step 602, light is received at an array of barrier elements. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, light 252 is received at parallax barrier 104 from pixel array 208 of image generator 102. Each pixel of pixel array 208 may generate light that is received at parallax barrier 104. As described as follows, depending on the particular display mode of parallax barrier 104, parallax barrier 104 may filter light 252 from pixel array 208 to generate a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image viewable in viewing space 106 by users 218. As described above with respect to FIG. 2B, alternatively, light 238 may be received by parallax barrier 104 from light element array 236.

In step 604, a first set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements is configured in the blocking state and a second set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements is configured in the non-blocking state to enable a viewer to be delivered a three-dimensional view. Three-dimensional image content may be provided for viewing in viewing space 106. In such case, referring to FIG. 2A or 2B, barrier array controller 206 may generate control signal 216 to configure barrier element array 210 to include transparent strips of barrier elements to enable a three-dimensional view to be formed. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, barrier element array 704 includes a plurality of barrier elements that are each either transparent (in a non-blocking state) or opaque (in a blocking state). Barrier elements that are blocking are indicated as barrier elements 710a-710f, and barrier elements that are non-blocking are indicated as barrier elements 712a-712e. Further barrier elements may be included in barrier element array 704 that are not visible in FIG. 7. Each of barrier elements 710a-710f and 712a-712e may include one or more barrier elements. Barrier elements 710 alternate with barrier elements 712 in series in the order of barrier elements 710a, 712a, 710b, 712b, 710c, 712c, 710d, 712d, 710e, 712e, and 710f. In this manner, blocking barrier elements 710 are alternated with non-blocking barrier elements 712 to form a plurality of parallel non-blocking or transparent slits in barrier element array 704.

For instance, FIG. 8A shows a view of parallax barrier 300 of FIG. 3 with transparent slits, according to an example embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8A, parallax barrier 300 includes barrier element array 302, which includes a plurality of barrier elements 304 arranged in a two-dimensional array. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8A, barrier element array 302 includes a plurality of parallel strips of barrier elements 304 that are selected to be non-blocking to form a plurality of parallel non-blocking strips (or “slits”) 802a-802g. As shown in FIG. 8A, parallel non-blocking strips 802a-802g (non-blocking slits) are alternated with parallel blocking or blocking strips 804a-804g of barrier elements 304 that are selected to be blocking. In the example of FIG. 8A, non-blocking strips 802a-802g and blocking strips 804a-804g each have a width (along the x-dimension) of two barrier elements 304, and have lengths that extend along the entire y-dimension (twenty barrier elements 304) of barrier element array 304, although in other embodiments, may have alternative dimensions. Non-blocking strips 802a-802g and blocking strips 804a-804g form a parallax barrier configuration for parallax barrier 300. The spacing (and number) of parallel non-blocking strips 802 in barrier element array 704 may be selectable by choosing any number and combination of particular strips of barrier elements 304 in barrier element array 302 to be non-blocking, to be alternated with blocking strips 804, as desired.

FIG. 8B shows a parallax barrier 310 that is another example of barrier element array 704 with parallel transparent slits, according to an embodiment. Similarly to parallax barrier 300 of FIG. 8A, parallax barrier 310 has includes a barrier element array 312, which includes a plurality of barrier elements 314 arranged in a two-dimensional array (28 by 1 array). Barrier elements 314 have widths (along the x-dimension) similar to the widths of barrier elements 304 in FIG. 8A, but have lengths that extend along the entire vertical length (y-dimension) of barrier element array 314. As shown in FIG. 8B, barrier element array 312 includes parallel non-blocking strips 802a-802g alternated with parallel blocking strips 804a-804g. In the example of FIG. 8B, parallel non-blocking strips 802a-802g and parallel blocking strips 804a-804g each have a width (along the x-dimension) of two barrier elements 314, and have lengths that extend along the entire y-dimension (one barrier element 314) of barrier element array 312.

Referring back to FIG. 6, in step 606, the light is filtered at the array of barrier elements to form the three-dimensional view in a viewing space. Barrier element array 210 of parallax barrier 210 is configured to filter light 252 received from pixel array 208 (FIG. 2A) or light 238 received from light element array 236 (FIG. 2B) according to whether barrier element array 210 is transparent or non-blocking (e.g., in a two-dimensional mode) or includes parallel non-blocking strips (e.g., in a three-dimensional mode). If one or more portions of barrier element array 210 are transparent (e.g., barrier element array 302 is shown entirely transparent in FIG. 3), those portions of barrier element array 210 function as “all pass” filters to substantially pass all of light 252 as filtered light 110 to deliver one or more corresponding two-dimensional images generated by pixel array 208 to viewing space 106, to be viewable as a two-dimensional images in a similar fashion as a conventional display. If barrier element array 210 includes one or more portions having parallel non-blocking strips (e.g., as shown for barrier element array 302 in FIGS. 8A and 8B), those portions of barrier element array 210 pass a portion of light 252 as filtered light 110 to deliver one or more corresponding three-dimensional images to viewing space 106.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, pixel array 702 includes a plurality of pixels 714a-714d and 716a-716d. Pixels 714 alternate with pixels 716, such that pixels 714a-714d and 716a-716d are arranged in series in the order of pixels 714a, 716a, 714b, 716b, 714c, 716c, 714d, and 716d. Further pixels may be included in pixel array 702 that are not visible in FIG. 7, including further pixels along the width dimension of pixel array 702 (e.g., in the left-right directions) as well as pixels along a length dimension of pixel array 702 (not visible in FIG. 7). Each of pixels 714a-714d and 716a-716d generates light, which emanates from display surface 724 of pixel array 702 (e.g., generally upward in FIG. 7) towards barrier element array 704. Some example indications of light emanating from pixels 714a-714d and 716a-716d are shown in FIG. 7 (as dotted lines), including light 724a and light 718a emanating from pixel 714a, light 724b, light 718b, and light 724c emanating from pixel 714b, etc.

Furthermore, light emanating from pixel array 702 is filtered by barrier element array 704 to form a plurality of images in a viewing space 726, including a first image 706a at a first location 708a and a second image 706b at a second location 708b. A portion of the light emanating from pixel array 702 is blocked by blocking barrier elements 710, while another portion of the light emanating from pixel array 702 passes through non-blocking barrier elements 712, according to the filtering by barrier element array 704. For instance, light 724a from pixel 714a is blocked by blocking barrier element 710a, and light 724b and light 724c from pixel 714b are blocked by blocking barrier elements 710b and 710c, respectively. In contrast, light 718a from pixel 714a is passed by non-blocking barrier element 712a and light 718b from pixel 714b is passed by non-blocking barrier element 712b.

By forming parallel non-blocking slits in a barrier element array, light from a pixel array can be filtered to form multiple images or views in a viewing space. For instance, system 700 shown in FIG. 7 is configured to form first and second images 706a and 706b at locations 708a and 708b, respectively, which are positioned at a distance 728 from pixel array 702 (as shown in FIG. 7, further instances of first and second images 706a and 706b may be formed in viewing space 726 according to system 700, in a repeating, alternating fashion). As described above, pixel array 702 includes a first set of pixels 714a-714d and a second set of pixels 716a-716d. Pixels 714a-714d correspond to first image 706a and pixels 716a-716d correspond to second image 706b. Due to the spacing of pixels 714a-714d and 716a-716d in pixel array 702, and the geometry of non-blocking barrier elements 712 in barrier element array 704, first and second images 706a and 706b are formed at locations 708a and 708b, respectively. As shown in FIG. 7, light 718a-718d from the first set of pixels 714a-714d is focused at location 708a to form first image 706a at location 708a. Light 720a-720d from the second set of pixels 716a-716d is focused at location 708b to form second image 706b at location 708b.

FIG. 7 shows a slit spacing 722 (center-to-center) of non-blocking barrier elements 712 in barrier element array 704. Spacing 722 may be determined to select locations for parallel non-blocking slits to be formed in barrier element array 704 for a particular image distance 728 at which images are desired to be formed (for viewing by users). For example, in an embodiment, if a spacing of pixels 714a-714d corresponding to an image is known, and a distance 728 at which the image is desired to be displayed is known, the spacing 722 between adjacent parallel non-blocking slits in barrier element array 704 may be selected. As shown in FIG. 9, in an embodiment, barrier array controller 206 (of FIG. 2A or 2B) may include a slit spacing calculator 902. Slit spacing calculator 902 is configured to calculate spacing 722 for a particular spacing of pixels and a desired distance for the corresponding image to be formed, according to corresponding parallax barrier configurations.

For instance, FIG. 10 shows an example display system 1000, according to an example embodiment. Display system 1000 is generally similar to system 700 shown in FIG. 7, and includes pixel array 702 and barrier element array 704. Pixel array 702 includes pixels 714a-714d and 716a-716d, and barrier element array 704 includes blocking barrier elements 710a-710f and non-blocking barrier elements 712a-712e. An image 1002 is desired to be formed at an image distance 1004 from pixel array 702 based on pixels 714a-714d. Barrier element array 704 is separated from pixel array 702 by a distance 1012. Adjacent pixels of pixels 714a-714d (corresponding to the desired image) are separated by a pixel separation distance 1006. Spacing 722 for adjacent non-blocking barrier elements 712a-712e (corresponding to non-blocking slits) is desired to be selected to enable image 1002 to be formed at distance 1004 from pixel array 702. For the configuration of display system 1000 in FIG. 10, the following equation (Equation 1) holds:

distance 1006/distance 1004=spacing 722/(distance 1004−distance 1012)  Equation 1

As such, spacing 722 may be calculated (e.g., by slit spacing calculator 902) according to Equation 2 shown below, where slit spacing 722 is less than pixel separation distance 1006:

spacing 722=distance 1006×(distance 1004−distance 1012)/distance 1004  Equation 2

For instance, in one example embodiment, distance 1006 may equal 1.0 mm, distance 1004 may equal 2.0 meters, and distance 1012 may equal 5.0 mm. In such an example, spacing 722 may be calculated according to Equation 2 as follows:

spacing 722=1.0×(2000−5)/2000=0.9975 mm

In the above example, the centers of adjacent non-blocking barrier elements 712a-712e may be separated by spacing 722 of 0.9975 mm to form image 1002 at 2.0 meters from pixel array 702. As shown in FIG. 10, light 1010a-1010d emanated by pixels 714a-714d, as filtered by barrier element array 704, forms image 1002 at location 1008. Separating the centers of adjacent non-blocking barrier elements 712a-712e by 0.9975 mm (or other determined distance) may be accomplished in various ways, depending on the particular configuration of barrier element array 704. For instance, in this example, a single barrier element width non-blocking slit may be formed in barrier element array 704 every 0.9975 mm. Alternatively, a non-blocking slit may be formed in barrier element array 704 every 0.9975 mm having a width of more than one barrier element.

For example, if spacing 722 corresponds to the width of two barrier elements, single non-blocking barrier elements 712 having a width of 0.9975/2=0.4988 mm may be alternated with single blocking barrier elements 710 having the width of 0.4988 mm in barrier element array 704. Alternatively, if spacing 722 corresponds to the width of more than two barrier elements, one or more non-blocking barrier elements may be alternated with one or more blocking barrier elements to for non-blocking slits every 0.9975 mm. In one example, single non-blocking barrier elements 712 having a width of 0.9975/399=0.0025 mm may be alternated with three hundred and ninety-eight blocking barrier elements 710 each having the width of 0.0025 mm in barrier element array 704. In another example, ten non-blocking barrier elements 712 each having a width of 0.0025 mm may be alternated with three hundred and eighty-nine blocking barrier elements 710 each having the width of 0.0025 mm in barrier element array 704.

Thus, referring to FIG. 7, first and second images 706a and 706b may be formed by display system 700 at a distance 728 from pixel array 702 by calculating a value for slit spacing 722 as described above. Equation 2 is provided as one example technique for selecting non-blocking slit spacing, for purposes of illustration. Alternatively, other techniques may be used to calculate and/or determine values for slit spacing 722. For instance, in an embodiment, a lookup table that includes pre-calculated values for slit spacing 722 may be maintained by barrier array controller 206. The lookup table may be used to look up values for slit spacing 722 for corresponding values of image distance 1004 and pixel spacing 1006.

It is noted that in the examples of FIGS. 7 and 10, pixel array 702 and barrier element array 704 are each shown as being substantially planar. In other embodiments, pixel array 702 and/or barrier element array 704 may be curved (e.g., concave or convex relative to viewing space 726). As such, equations, lookup tables, etc., used to calculate values for slit spacing 722 and/or other parameters of a display system may be configured to account for such curvature, in a manner as would be known to persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

First and second images 706a and 706b are configured to be perceived by a user as a three-dimensional image or view. For example, FIG. 11 shows display system 700 of FIG. 7, where a user 1104 receives first image 706a at a first eye location 1102a and second image 706b at a second eye location 1102b, according to an example embodiment. First and second images 706a and 706b may be generated by first set of pixels 714a-714d and second set of pixels 716a-716d as images that are slightly different perspective from each other. Images 706a and 706b are combined in the visual center of the brain of user 1104 to be perceived as a three-dimensional image or view.

In such an embodiment, first and second images 706a and 706b may be formed by display system 700 such that their centers are spaced apart a width of a user's pupils (e.g., an “interocular distance” 1106). For example, the spacing of first and second images 706a and 706b may be approximately 65 mm (or other suitable spacing) to generally be equivalent to interocular distance 1106. As described above, multiple instances of first and second images 706a and 706b may be formed by display system 700 that repeat in a viewing space. Thus, first and second images 706a and 706b shown in FIG. 11 that coincide with the left and right eyes of user 1104 may be adjacent first and second images 706a and 706b of the repeating instances that are separated by interocular distance 1106. Alternatively, first and second images 706a and 706b shown in FIG. 11 coinciding with the left and right eyes of user 1104 may be separated by one or more instances of first and second images 706a and 706b of the repeating instances that happen to be separated by interocular distance 1106.

It is noted that user 1102 of FIG. 11 may change positions in viewing space 106 (FIG. 1), and as such parallax barrier 104 may adapt to a different parallax barrier configuration to cause the three-dimensional view to be moved from the first position of user 1102 to the second position of user 1102. In such case, referring to FIG. 2A or 2B, barrier array controller 206 may generate control signal 216 to configure barrier element array 210 to include transparent strips of barrier elements configured to enable the three-dimensional view to be formed at the second position. The next subsection describes example embodiments for configuring barrier element array 210 into further configurations of blocking and non-blocking states to provide viewers with modified three-dimensional views.

Furthermore, although FIGS. 7 and 11 show display system 700 having a configuration similar to display system 200 of FIG. 2A, alternatively, display system 700 may be configured similarly to display system 220 of FIG. 2B to generate images 706a and 706b in viewing space 726. In such an embodiment, barrier element array 704 may be positioned between a backlighting panel (that is positioned where pixel array 702 is shown in FIGS. 7 and 10) and pixel array 702, and pixel array 702 is configured as a light filter (is not light emitting). The backlighting panel emits light that is filtered by barrier element array 704 as described above, and the filtered light is filtered by pixel array 702 to impose images on the light filtered by pixel array 702, forming images 706a and 706b as shown in FIGS. 7 and 10.

As described, in an embodiment, display system 700 may be configured to generate a two-dimensional image for viewing by users in a viewing space. For example, flowchart 600 (FIG. 6) may optionally include a step 1202 shown in FIG. 12 to enable a two-dimensional view to be delivered to users, according to an embodiment. In step 1202, the array of barrier elements is configured into a third configuration to deliver a two-dimensional view. For example, in the third configuration, barrier array controller 206 may generate control signal 216 to configure each barrier element of barrier element array 210 to be in the non-blocking state (transparent). In such case, barrier element array 210 may be configured similarly to barrier element array 302 shown in FIG. 3, where all barrier elements 304 are selected to be non-blocking. If barrier element array 210 is transparent, barrier element array 210 functions as an “all pass” filter to substantially pass all of light 252 (FIG. 2A) or light 238 (FIG. 2B) as filtered light 110 to deliver the two-dimensional image generated by pixel array 208 to viewing space 106, to be viewable as a two-dimensional image in a similar fashion as a conventional display.

B. Example Parallax Barrier Configurations

As described above, various characteristics of a parallax barrier may be modified to provide various parallax barrier configurations that deliver three-dimensional views with different characteristics and/or at different locations (e.g., at a changed viewer position). For instance, FIG. 13 shows a step 1302 that may be performed in flowchart 600 (FIG. 6) to provide a second or subsequent parallax barrier configuration, according to example embodiments. In step 1302, at least one of a distance between adjacent non-blocking slits of the plurality of parallel non-blocking slits or a width of at least one non-blocking slit of the plurality of parallel non-blocking slits is modified. For example, referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, a distance between adjacent non-blocking strips 802 (e.g., center-to-center slit spacing 722 of FIG. 7 and/or a width of one or more blocking strips 804) may be modified and/or a width of one or more non-blocking strips 802 may be modified. These and/or further parallax barrier parameters may be configured in any number of ways to create multiple additional parallax barrier configurations that each have a corresponding set of the barrier elements in the blocking state and a corresponding set of barrier elements in the non-blocking state to support a viewer located at any number of corresponding positions.

For instance, FIG. 14 shows a view of parallax barrier 300 of FIG. 3, according to an example embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, parallax barrier 300 includes barrier element array 302, which includes a plurality of barrier elements 304 arranged in a two-dimensional array. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 14, barrier element array 302 includes a plurality of parallel strips of barrier elements 304 that are selected to be non-blocking to form a plurality of parallel non-blocking strips 1402a-1402e. As shown in FIG. 14, parallel non-blocking strips 1402a-1402e are alternated with parallel blocking strips 1404a-1404f of barrier elements 304 that are selected to be blocking. In the example of FIG. 14, non-blocking strips 1402a-1402e each have a width (along the x-dimension) of two barrier elements 304, and blocking strips 1404a-1404f each have a width of three barrier elements 304. Thus, relative to FIGS. 8A and 8B, where blocking strips 804a-804g each have a width of two barrier elements 304, blocking strips 1404a-1404g have been modified to be wider to form another parallax barrier configuration.

In embodiments, blocking strips may be modified to be wider or narrower by any desired number of barrier elements 304, including a single barrier element (as in FIG. 14 versus FIG. 8A) or multiple barrier elements, including tens, hundreds, or even further numbers of barrier elements. A width of the blocking strips may be modified for various reasons. For example, the width of the blocking strips may be modified to be wider to reduce a resolution and/or an intensity of the display image(s), to increase a distance at which views are delivered, and/or to modify lateral positions of delivered views. Alternatively, the width of the blocking strips may be modified to be narrower to increase a resolution and/or an intensity of the display image(s), to decrease a distance at which views are delivered, and/or to modify lateral positions of delivered views.

For instance, FIG. 15 shows a display system 1500, according to an example embodiment. System 1500 is generally similar to system 700 of FIG. 7, with differences described as follows. As shown in FIG. 15, system 1500 includes a pixel array 1502 and a barrier element array 1504. System 1500 may also include display controller 202 of FIG. 2, which is not shown in FIG. 15 for ease of illustration. Pixel array 1502 includes a first set of pixels 1514a-1514d and a second set of pixels 1516a-1516d. First set of pixels 1514a-1514d and second set of pixels 1516a-1516d are configured to generate corresponding images or views that can be combined to be perceived as a single three-dimensional image or view. Pixels of the two sets of pixels are alternated in pixel array 1502 in the order of pixel 1514a, pixel 1516a, pixel 1514b, pixel 1516b, etc. Further pixels may be included in each set of pixels in pixel array 1502 that are not visible in FIG. 15, including hundreds, thousands, or millions of pixels in each set of pixels.

As shown in FIG. 15, barrier element array 1504 includes barrier elements that are each either transparent or opaque. As shown in FIG. 15, barrier elements that are blocking are indicated as barrier elements 1510a-1510f, and barrier elements that are non-blocking are indicated as barrier elements 1512a-1512e. Blocking barrier elements 1510 are alternated with non-blocking barrier elements 1512 to form a plurality of parallel non-blocking slits in barrier element array 1504, similarly to barrier element array 304 shown in FIG. 8A. Light emanating from pixel array 1502 is filtered by barrier element array 1504 to form first and second images 1506a and 1506b at locations 1508a and 1508b, respectively, in a manner as described above. As shown in FIG. 15, barrier elements 1512a-1512e are each wider relative to barrier elements 710a-710f of FIG. 7, while a spacing of pixels 1514a-1514d is similar to the spacing of pixels 714a-714d in FIG. 7. As such, a distance 1524 at which first and second images 1506a and 1506b are formed from pixel array 1502 is greater than distance 728 at which first and second images 706a and 706b are formed from pixel array 702 in FIG. 7. In this manner, if user 1104 (FIG. 11) has moved from a first position in viewing space 106 at distance 728 to a second position in viewing space 106 at distance 1524, the three-dimensional view may still be delivered to user 1104 by reconfiguring parallax barrier 704 from a first configuration to a second configuration. Configurations of parallax barrier 704 may enable views to be delivered to user 1104 at lesser and greater distances than distance 728.

For example, Equation 2 shown above may be rewritten as Equation 3 shown below to solve for distance 1004 in FIG. 10 as factor of spacing 722:

distance 1004=(distance 1006×distance 1012)/(distance 1006−spacing 722)  Equation 3

As indicated by Equation 3, if spacing 722 is less than the value of distance 1006, and is increased towards the value of distance 1006, distance 1004 increases. If spacing 722 is less than the value of distance 1006, and is decreased further from the value of distance 1006, distance 1004 decreases.

C. Example Embodiments Enabling Multiple Simultaneous Three-Dimensional Views

As described above, in embodiments, a parallax barrier may be configured to enable two or more three-dimensional views to be simultaneously delivered to a viewer. For example, in an embodiment, a flowchart 1600 shown in FIG. 16 may be performed during step 604 of flowchart 600 (FIG. 6) to enable multiple simultaneous three-dimensional views. In step 1602 of flowchart 1600, the first set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements are configured in the blocking state and the second set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements are configured in the non-blocking state to enable a viewer to be delivered the first three-dimensional view. In step 1604 of flowchart 1600, a third set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements are configured in the blocking state and a fourth set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements are configured in the non-blocking state to enable the viewer to be delivered a second three-dimensional view.

Thus, according to flowchart 1600, a first three-dimensional view is enabled by a first set of barrier elements in the blocking state and a second set of barrier elements in the non-blocking state, and a second three-dimensional view is enabled by a third set of barrier elements in the blocking state and a fourth set of barrier elements in the non-blocking state, where the first-fourth sets of barrier elements are non-overlapping. As such, a first portion of a display device corresponding to the first and second sets of barrier elements delivers the first three-dimensional view to the viewer, and a second portion of the display device corresponding to the third and fourth sets of barrier elements simultaneously delivers the first three-dimensional view to the viewer. In embodiments, a barrier element array may include any number of such portions (that each include a set of blocking elements and a set of non-blocking barrier elements) to simultaneously deliver a corresponding number of three-dimensional views. Furthermore, the different regions of the barrier element array may be configured differently to deliver three-dimensional views having different characteristics, including providing differing degrees of stereoscopic three-dimensionality, views at different distances from the display device, and/or other different characteristics described elsewhere herein.

For instance, as indicated in step 1302 (FIG. 13), a width of one or more non-blocking slits in a barrier element array may be modified. For example, FIG. 17 shows a view of parallax barrier 300 of FIG. 3 with different width transparent slits, according to an example embodiment. As shown in FIG. 17, parallax barrier 300 includes barrier element array 302, which includes a plurality of barrier elements 304 arranged in a two-dimensional array. A first portion 1710 (e.g., a left half) of barrier element array 302 includes a first set of parallel strips of barrier elements 304 that are selected to be non-blocking to form a first plurality of parallel non-blocking strips 1702a-1702d. As shown in FIG. 17, parallel non-blocking strips 1702a-1702d are alternated with a second set of parallel strips of barrier element 302 that are selected to be blocking—parallel blocking strips 1704a-1704d. In the example of FIG. 17, non-blocking strips 1702a-1702d each have a width (along the x-dimension) of two barrier elements 304, and blocking strips 1704a-1704d each have a width of two barrier elements 304.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 17, a second portion 1712 (e.g., a right half) of barrier element array 302 includes a third set of parallel strips of barrier elements 304 that are selected to be transparent to form a second plurality of parallel non-blocking strips 1706a-1706f. As shown in FIG. 17, parallel non-blocking strips 1706a-1706f are alternated with a fourth set of parallel strips of barrier element 302 that are selected to be blocking—parallel blocking strips 1708a-1708f. In the example of FIG. 17, non-blocking strips 1706a-1706f each have a width of one barrier element 304, and blocking strips 1708a-1708f each have a width of one barrier element 304. As such, in FIG. 17, first and third sets of parallel non-blocking strips 1702a-1702d and 1706a-1706f are present in barrier element array 302 that have different widths. First portion 1710 and second portion 1712 of barrier element array 302 enable corresponding three-dimensional views to be delivered to a viewer, according to steps 1602 and 1604 of flowchart 1600, respectively.

Thus, in embodiments, a width of non-blocking slits in a barrier element may be modified in different barrier array configurations. The width of the non-blocking slits may be modified to have any width of one or more barrier elements 304. Furthermore, one or more portions of a barrier element array may include non-blocking slits having widths that are different than the widths of non-blocking slits elsewhere in the barrier element array to provide corresponding three-dimensional views. The widths of non-blocking slits may be widened or narrowed for various reasons, including decreasing or increasing display resolution, decreasing or increasing clarity of images generated by one or more portions of the barrier element array, etc. Furthermore, other characteristics of the different portions of the barrier element array may be modified in a similar manner to enable multiple three-dimensional views to be delivered to a viewer from a display device, including modifying the distance between adjacent non-blocking slits, a width of the parallel non-blocking slits, etc.

D. Example Image Orientation Embodiments

As described above, in embodiments, parallel transparent slits may be implemented in a barrier element array to generate three-dimensional images. In such an embodiment, the slits are oriented such that an axis that crosses through both eyes of a user (e.g., user 1104 in FIG. 11) is perpendicular to an axis along the length of the transparent slits. As such, a user sitting or standing in a viewing space sits or stands such that their body is generally aligned parallel to the transparent slits. Thus, in an embodiment, an orientation of the transparent slits of a barrier element array may be selected to be aligned with the body of a user. Furthermore, according to flowchart 1600 of FIG. 16, the orientation of transparent slits of a barrier element array may be configured on a portion-by-portion of the barrier element array basis. Each section of the barrier element array may include transparent slits that are aligned with a corresponding user to simultaneously deliver multiple three-dimensional views of different orientations to users in a viewing space.

For instance, FIG. 18 shows a step 1802 that may be performed during flowchart 600, according to example embodiments. In step 1802, a first non-blocking strip of the plurality of parallel non-blocking slits is oriented perpendicularly to a second non-blocking strip of the plurality of parallel non-blocking slits. For instance, FIG. 19 shows a view of parallax barrier 300 of FIG. 3 with transparent slits having different orientations, according to an example embodiment. As shown in FIG. 19, parallax barrier 300 includes barrier element array 302, which includes a plurality of barrier elements 304 arranged in a two-dimensional array. A first portion 1910 (e.g., a bottom half) of barrier element array 302 includes a first plurality of parallel strips of barrier elements 304 that are selected to be non-blocking to form a first plurality of parallel non-blocking strips 1902a-1902e (each having a width of two barrier elements 304). As shown in FIG. 19, parallel non-blocking strips 1902a-1902e are alternated with parallel blocking strips 1904a-1904f of barrier elements 304 (each having a width of three barrier elements 304). Parallel non-blocking strips 1902a-1902e are oriented in a first direction (e.g., along a vertical axis).

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 19, a second portion 1912 (e.g., a top half) of barrier element array 302 includes a second plurality of parallel strips of barrier elements 304 that are selected to be non-blocking to form a second plurality of parallel non-blocking strips 1906a-1906d (each having a width of one barrier element 304). As shown in FIG. 19, parallel non-blocking strips 1906a-1906d are alternated with parallel blocking strips 1908a-1908c of barrier elements 304 (each having a width of two barrier elements 304). Parallel non-blocking strips 1906a-1906d are oriented in a second direction (e.g., along a horizontal axis).

As such, in FIG. 19, first and second pluralities of parallel non-blocking strips 1902a-1902e and 1906a-1906d are present in barrier element array 302 that are oriented perpendicularly to each other. The portion of barrier element array 302 that includes first plurality of parallel non-blocking strips 1902a-1902e may be configured to deliver a three-dimensional image in a viewing space (as described above) to be viewable by a user whose body is oriented vertically (e.g., sitting upright or standing up). The portion of barrier element array 302 that includes second plurality of parallel non-blocking strips 1906a-1906d may be configured to deliver a three-dimensional image in a viewing space (as described above) to be viewable by a user whose body is oriented horizontally (e.g., laying down). In this manner, users who are oriented differently relative to each other can still each be provided with a corresponding three-dimensional image that accommodates their position.

Note that in the example of FIG. 19, although a single portion (portion 1910) of barrier element array 302 is configured to generate a vertically oriented three-dimensional image, and a single portion (portion 1912) of barrier element array 302 is configured to generate a horizontally oriented three-dimensional image, any number of portions of a barrier element array may be configured to generate corresponding vertically oriented and/or horizontally oriented three-dimensional images. Furthermore, although horizontally and vertically oriented three-dimensional images are enabled by barrier element array 304 of FIG. 19, three-dimensional images of any orientation, including any angle between horizontal and vertical, may be enabled by providing parallel non-blocking strips in barrier element array 302 of the desired angle (and by providing corresponding pixels in the pixel array arranged according to the desired angle). For example, a single barrier-element width non-blocking strip angled between horizontal and vertical may be formed by placing a linear arrangement of barrier elements 304 distributed over multiple columns of barrier element array 302 in the non-blocking state.

E. Example Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Image Display Embodiments

In embodiments, a barrier element array may be configured to enable any combination and number of two-dimensional images and/or three-dimensional images to be displayed simultaneously. For example, the barrier element array may include one or more transparent portions to deliver one or more two-dimensional images and one or more portions that include parallel transparent slits to deliver one or more three-dimensional images. For instance, FIG. 20 shows a flowchart 2000 that may be performed during step 604 of flowchart 600 (FIG. 6) to enable the display of two-dimensional and three-dimensional images, according to an example embodiment. Flowchart 2000 is described as follows with respect to FIG. 21. FIG. 21 shows a display system 2100 configured to generate two-dimensional and three-dimensional images, according to an example embodiment.

In step 2002 of flowchart 2000, a first set of barrier elements of the barrier element array is configured to filter light from the first set of pixels to form a first image at a right eye location and to filter light from the second set of pixels to form a second image at a left eye location. For example, as shown in FIG. 21, system 2100 includes a pixel array 2102 and a barrier element array 2104. System 2100 may also include display controller 202 of FIG. 2, which is not shown in FIG. 21 for ease of illustration. Pixel array 2102 includes a first set of pixels 2114a-2114d and a second set of pixels 2116a-2116c. First set of pixels 2114a-2114d and second set of pixels 2116a-2116c are configured to generate images at left-eye and right-eye locations that combine to form a three-dimensional image in a similar fashion as described above (e.g., with respect to FIGS. 7 and 11). Pixels of the two sets of pixels are alternated in pixel array 2102 in the order of pixel 2114a, pixel 2116a, pixel 2114b, pixel 2116b, etc. (further pixels may be included). Barrier element array 2104 includes a first portion 2118 and a second portion 2120. First portion 2118 of barrier element array 2104 is positioned adjacent to first and second sets of pixels 2114a-2114d and 2116a-2116c. First portion 2118 includes barrier elements that are blocking indicated as barrier elements 2110a-2110e, and barrier elements that are non-blocking are indicated as barrier elements 2112a-2112d. Blocking barrier elements 2110 are alternated with non-blocking barrier elements 2112 to form a plurality of parallel non-blocking slits in barrier element array 2104, similarly to barrier element array 304 shown in FIG. 8. Light emanating from pixel array 2102 is filtered by portion 2118 of barrier element array 2104 to deliver first and second images 2106a and 2106b, respectively, to a user in viewing space as described above.

In step 2004, a second set of barrier elements of the barrier element array is selected to be non-blocking to pass light from the third set of pixels to form a third image. For example, as shown in FIG. 21, pixel array 2102 further includes a third set of pixels 2108a and 2108b (further pixels may be included in the third set of pixels). Second portion 2120 of barrier element array 2104 is positioned adjacent to third set of pixels 2108a-2108b. Second portion 2120 includes barrier elements that are non-blocking, indicated as barrier elements 2112e. No blocking barrier elements are included in second portion 2120. As such, light emanating from third set of pixels 2108a-2108b passes through second portion 2120 of barrier element array 2104 without being filtered to be delivered as a third image 2106c to the user in the viewing space. Third image 2106c is a two-dimensional image, and may be viewable throughout the viewing space.

As such, in FIG. 21, a three-dimensional image (based on the combination of first and second images 2106a and 2106b) and a two-dimensional image are generated by display system 2100. Although in the example of FIG. 21 a single three-dimensional image and a single two-dimensional image are generated by display system 2100, any number of two-dimensional and three-dimensional images may be simultaneously generated by a display system, in embodiments. Furthermore, the two-dimensional and three-dimensional images may have any size. For instance, FIGS. 22 and 23 show views of barrier element array 302 of FIG. 3 configured to enable the simultaneous display of two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of various sizes, according to example embodiments. In FIG. 22, a first portion 2202 of barrier element array 302 is configured similarly to barrier element array 300 of FIG. 8, including a plurality of parallel non-blocking strips alternated with parallel blocking strips that together fill first portion 2202. A second portion 2204 of barrier element array 302 is surrounded by first portion 2202. Second portion 2204 is a rectangular shaped portion of barrier element array 302 that includes a two-dimensional array of barrier elements 304 that are non-blocking. Thus, in FIG. 22, barrier element array 302 is configured to enable a three-dimensional image to be generated by pixels of a pixel array that are adjacent to barrier elements of first portion 2202, and to enable a two-dimensional image to be generated by pixels of the pixel array that are adjacent to barrier elements inside of second portion 2204.

In FIG. 23, barrier element array 302 includes a first portion 2302 and a second portion 2304. First portion 2302 includes a two-dimensional array of barrier elements 304 that are non-blocking. Second portion 2304 is rectangular shaped, and is contained within first portion 2302. Second portion 2304 includes a plurality of parallel non-blocking strips alternated with parallel blocking strips that together fill second portion 2304 of barrier element array 302. Thus, in FIG. 23, barrier element array 302 is configured to enable a two-dimensional image to be generated by pixels of a pixel array that are adjacent to barrier elements of first portion 2302, and to enable a three-dimensional image to be generated by pixels of the pixel array that are adjacent to barrier elements inside of second portion 2304.

It is noted that although second portions 2204 and 2304 are shown for illustrative purposes in FIGS. 22 and 23 as being rectangular areas, second portions 2204 and 2304 may have other shapes, including circular, triangular or other polygon, irregular, or any other shape (e.g., a shape of a person, a cartoon character, object, etc.).

Furthermore, although flowchart 2000 (and FIGS. 21-23) relate to a two-dimensional image and a three-dimensional image being provided by a display system simultaneously, in embodiments, two or more two-dimensional images or two or more three-dimensional images may be provided by a display system simultaneously. For instance, in an embodiment, step 2002 of flowchart 2000 may be repeated to form fourth and fifth images corresponding to another three-dimensional image. Additionally or alternatively, step 2004 may be repeated to form a sixth image corresponding to another two-dimensional image. Any number of additional two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional images may be formed in this manner by corresponding regions of a display.

F. Example Viewer Position Determining and Image Tuning Embodiments

As described above, parallax barriers may be reconfigured to change the locations of delivered views based on changing viewer positions. As such, a position of a viewer may be determined/tracked so that a parallax barrier may be reconfigured to deliver views consistent with the changing position of the viewer. In embodiments, a position of a viewer may be determined/tracked by determining a position of the viewer directly, or by determining a position of a device associated with the viewer (e.g., a device worn by the viewer, held by the viewer, sitting in the viewer's lap, in the viewer's pocket, sitting next the viewer, etc.). If multiple viewers are in a viewing space that are being delivered corresponding views (e.g., first and second viewers being delivered first and second three-dimensional views, respectively), the position of each viewer may be determined so that a parallax barrier may be reconfigured to deliver the views consistent with the changing positions of the viewers.

For instance, FIG. 24 shows a block diagram of a display environment 2400, according to an example embodiment. As shown in FIG. 24, display environment 2400 includes a display device 2402, a remote device 2404, and a viewer 2406. Display device 2402 is an example of display system 112 of FIG. 1, and may be configured similarly to display device 250 (FIG. 2A) or display device 260 (FIG. 2B) in embodiments. Viewer 2406 is delivered a three-dimensional view 2408 by display device 2402 (display device 2402 may optionally also deliver a two-dimensional view to viewer 2406). Remote device 2404 is a device that viewer 2406 may use to interact with display device 2402. For example, remote device 2404 may be a remote control, a headset, game controller, a smart phone, or other device. Display device 2402 and/or remote device 2404 may operate to provide position information 2410 regarding user 2406 to display device 2402. Display device 2402 may use position information 2410 to reconfigure a parallax barrier of display device 2402 to enable view 2408 to be delivered to viewer 2406 at various positions for viewer 2406. For example, display device 2402 and/or remote device 2404 may use positioning techniques to track the position of viewer 2406.

Remote device 2404 may be configured in various ways to enable the position of viewer 2406 to be tracked. For instance, FIG. 25 shows a block diagram of remote device 2404, according to an example embodiment. As shown in FIG. 25, remote device 2404 may include a transmitter 2502, a positioning module 2504, a position calculator 2506, a user interface module 2508, one or more camera(s) 2510, and an image processing system 2512. Remote device 2404 may include one or more of these elements shown in FIG. 25, depending on the particular embodiment. These elements of remote device 2404 are described as follows.

Positioning module 2504 may be included in remote device 2404 to determine a position of remote device 2404 according to a positioning technique, such triangulation or trilateration. For instance, positioning module 2504 may include one or more receivers that receive satellite broadcast signals (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) module that receives signals from GPS satellites). Position calculator 2506 may calculate the position of remote device 2404 by precisely timing the received signals according to GPS techniques. In another embodiment, positioning module 2504 may include one or more receivers that receive signals transmitted by display device 2402 that are used by position calculator 2506 to calculate the position of remote device 2404. In other embodiments, positioning module 2504 and position calculator 2506 may implement other types of positioning techniques.

User interface module 2508 may be present to enable viewer 2406 to interact with remote device 2404. For example, user interface module 2508 may include any number and combination of user interface elements, such as a keyboard, a thumb wheel, a pointing device, a roller ball, a stick pointer, a joystick, a thumb pad, a display, a touch sensitive display, any number of virtual interface elements, a voice recognition system, a haptic interface, and/or other user interface elements described elsewhere herein or otherwise known. User interface module 2508 may be configured to enable viewer 2406 to manually enter position information for viewer 2406 into remote device 2404, including manually entering coordinates of viewer 2406 in viewing space 106, entering an indication of a predetermined location in viewing space 106 into remote device 2404 (e.g., a “location A”, a “seat D,” etc.), or providing position information in any other manner.

Camera(s) 2510 may be present in remote device 2404 to enable optical position detection of viewer 2406. For example, camera(s) 2510 may be pointed by viewer 2406 at display device 2402, which may display a symbol or code, and one or more images of the displayed symbol or code may be captured by camera(s) 2510. Image processing system 2512 may receive the captured image(s), and determine a position of remote device 2404 relative to display device 2402 based on the captured image(s). For example, in an embodiment, camera(s) 2510 may include a pair of cameras, and image processing system 2512 may perform dual image processing to determine the position of remote device 2404 relative to display device 2402.

Transmitter 2502 is configured to transmit position information 2410 to display device 2402 from remote device 2404. Position information 2410 may include a determined position for remote device 2404 (e.g., calculated by position calculator 2506 or image processing system 2512), and/or may include captured data (e.g., received signal data received by positioning module 2504, images captured by camera(s) 2510, etc.) so that display device 2402 may determine the position of remote device 2404 based on the captured data.

Display device 2402 may have any form, such as any one or more of a display or monitor, a game console, a set top box, a stereo receiver, a computer, any other display device mentioned elsewhere herein or otherwise known, or any combination of such devices. Display device 2402 may be configured in various ways to enable the position of viewer 2406 to be tracked. For instance, FIG. 26 shows a block diagram of display device 2402, according to an example embodiment. As shown in FIG. 25, display device 2402 may include a position determiner module 2614 configured to determine a position of one or more viewers. Position determiner module 2614 may include a receiver 2602, one or more transmitter(s) 2604, a position calculator 2606, a microphone array 2608, one or more camera(s) 2610, and an image processing system 2512. Position determiner module 2614 may include one or more of these elements, depending on the particular embodiment. As shown in FIG. 26, position determiner module 2614 generates position information 2616 based on one or more of receiver 2602, transmitter(s) 2604, position calculator 2606, microphone array 2608, camera(s) 2610, and image processing system 2512. Position information 2616 may be received by display controller 202, and used by display controller 242 to adapt display device 2402 (e.g., adapting one or more of parallax barrier 104, pixel array 114, and/or backlighting 116 of FIG. 1 according to corresponding control signals) to deliver views to viewer 2406 as viewer 2406 may reposition within a viewing space. These elements of display device 2402 are described as follows.

When present, microphone array 2608 includes one or more microphones that may be positioned in various microphone locations in and/or around display device 2402 to capture sounds (e.g., voice) from viewer 2406. Microphone array 2608 produces signals representative of the received sounds, which may be received by position calculator 2606. Position calculator 2606 may be configured to use the received signals to determine the location of viewer 2406. For example, position calculator 2606 may use voice recognition techniques to determine that the sounds are received from viewer 2406, and may perform audio localization techniques to determine a position of viewer 2406 based on the sounds.

Camera(s) 2610 may be present in display device 2402 to enable optical position detection of viewer 2406. For example, camera(s) 2610 may be pointed from display device 2402 to viewing space 106 to capture images of viewer 2406 and/or remote device 2404. Viewer 2406 and/or remote device 2404 may optionally display a symbol or code, and the displayed symbol or code may be captured in the images. Image processing system 2612 may receive the captured image(s), and determine a position of viewer 2406 and/or remote device 2404 relative to display device 2402 based on the captured image(s) (e.g., using facial recognition, image processing of the symbol or code, etc.). For example, in an embodiment, camera(s) 2610 may include a pair of cameras, and image processing system 2612 may perform dual image processing to determine the position of viewer 2406 and/or remote device 2404 relative to display device 2402.

When present, transmitter(s) may be configured to transmit signals that may be received by positioning module 2504 to determine a position of remote device 2404, as described above with respect to FIG. 25.

Receiver 2602 may be configured to receive position information 2410 from remote device 2404. As described above, position information 2410 may include a determined position for remote device 2404 and/or may include captured data (e.g., received signal data, images, etc.). Display device 2402 may determine the position of remote device 2404 based on the captured data. For example, position calculator 2506 may determine a position of remote device 2404 based on the signal data received by positioning module 2504 at remote device 2404. Alternatively, image processing system 2512 may determine a position of remote device 2404 based on the images captured by camera(s) 2510 at remote device 2404.

In embodiments with multiple viewers that are receiving corresponding different views, the position of each viewer may be tracked in a similar manner (e.g., each viewer may have a corresponding remote device 2404) so that display device 2402 may be adapted to deliver views to the multiple viewers as they may reposition within the viewing space.

III. Example Display Controller Implementations

Display controller 202, pixel array controller 204, barrier array controller 206, pixel array controller 228, light source controller 230, slit spacing calculator 902, positioning module 2504, position calculator 2506, image processing system 2512, position determiner module 2614, position calculator 2606, and image processing system 2612 may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. For example, display controller 202, pixel array controller 204, barrier array controller 206, pixel array controller 228, light source controller 230, slit spacing calculator 902, positioning module 2504, position calculator 2506, image processing system 2512, position determiner module 2614, position calculator 2606, and/or image processing system 2612 may be implemented as computer program code configured to be executed in one or more processors. Alternatively, display controller 202, pixel array controller 204, barrier array controller 206, pixel array controller 228, light source controller 230, slit spacing calculator 902, positioning module 2504, position calculator 2506, image processing system 2512, position determiner module 2614, position calculator 2606, and/or image processing system 2612 may be implemented as hardware logic/electrical circuitry.

For instance, FIG. 27 shows a block diagram of an example implementation of display controller 202, according to an embodiment. In embodiments, display controller 202 may include one or more of the elements shown in FIG. 27. As shown in the example of FIG. 27, display controller 202 may include one or more processors (also called central processing units, or CPUs), such as a processor 2704. Processor 2704 is connected to a communication infrastructure 2702, such as a communication bus. In some embodiments, processor 2704 can simultaneously operate multiple computing threads.

Display controller 202 also includes a primary or main memory 2706, such as random access memory (RAM). Main memory 2706 has stored therein control logic 2728A (computer software), and data.

Display controller 202 also includes one or more secondary storage devices 2710. Secondary storage devices 2710 include, for example, a hard disk drive 2712 and/or a removable storage device or drive 2714, as well as other types of storage devices, such as memory cards and memory sticks. For instance, display controller 202 may include an industry standard interface, such a universal serial bus (USB) interface for interfacing with devices such as a memory stick. Removable storage drive 2714 represents a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disk drive, an optical storage device, tape backup, etc.

Removable storage drive 2714 interacts with a removable storage unit 2716. Removable storage unit 2716 includes a computer useable or readable storage medium 2724 having stored therein computer software 2728B (control logic) and/or data. Removable storage unit 2716 represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, compact disk, DVD, optical storage disk, or any other computer data storage device. Removable storage drive 2714 reads from and/or writes to removable storage unit 2716 in a well known manner.

Display controller 202 further includes a communication or network interface 2718. Communication interface 2718 enables the display controller 202 to communicate with remote devices. For example, communication interface 2718 allows display controller 202 to communicate over communication networks or mediums 2742 (representing a form of a computer useable or readable medium), such as LANs, WANs, the Internet, etc. Network interface 2718 may interface with remote sites or networks via wired or wireless connections.

Control logic 2728C may be transmitted to and from display controller 202 via the communication medium 2742.

Any apparatus or manufacture comprising a computer useable or readable medium having control logic (software) stored therein is referred to herein as a computer program product or program storage device. This includes, but is not limited to, display controller 202, main memory 2706, secondary storage devices 2710, and removable storage unit 2716. Such computer program products, having control logic stored therein that, when executed by one or more data processing devices, cause such data processing devices to operate as described herein, represent embodiments of the invention.

Devices in which embodiments may be implemented may include storage, such as storage drives, memory devices, and further types of computer-readable media. Examples of such computer-readable storage media include a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk, a removable optical disk, flash memory cards, digital video disks, random access memories (RAMs), read only memories (ROM), and the like. As used herein, the terms “computer program medium” and “computer-readable medium” are used to generally refer to the hard disk associated with a hard disk drive, a removable magnetic disk, a removable optical disk (e.g., CDROMs, DVDs, etc.), zip disks, tapes, magnetic storage devices, MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) storage, nanotechnology-based storage devices, as well as other media such as flash memory cards, digital video discs, RAM devices, ROM devices, and the like. Such computer-readable storage media may store program modules that include computer program logic for display controller 202, pixel array controller 204, barrier array controller 206, pixel array controller 228, light source controller 230, slit spacing calculator 902, positioning module 2504, position calculator 2506, image processing system 2512, position determiner module 2614, position calculator 2606, image processing system 2612, flowchart 600, step 1202, step 1302, flowchart 1600, step 1802, flowchart 2000 (including any one or more steps of flowcharts 600, 1600, and 2000), and/or further embodiments of the present invention described herein. Embodiments of the invention are directed to computer program products comprising such logic (e.g., in the form of program code or software) stored on any computer useable medium. Such program code, when executed in one or more processors, causes a device to operate as described herein.

The invention can work with software, hardware, and/or operating system implementations other than those described herein. Any software, hardware, and operating system implementations suitable for performing the functions described herein can be used.

As described herein, display controller 202 may be implemented in association with a variety of types of display devices. Such display devices may be implemented in or in association with a variety of types of media devices, such as a stand-alone display (e.g., a television display such as flat panel display, etc.), a computer, a game console, a set top box, a digital video recorder (DVR), etc. Media content that is delivered in two-dimensional or three-dimensional form according to embodiments described herein may be stored locally or received from remote locations. For instance, such media content may be locally stored for playback (replay TV, DVR), may be stored in removable memory (e.g. DVDs, memory sticks, etc.), may be received on wireless and/or wired pathways through a network such as a home network, through Internet download streaming, through a cable network, a satellite network, and/or a fiber network, etc. For instance, FIG. 27 shows a first media content 2730A that is stored in hard disk drive 2712, a second media content 2730B that is stored in storage medium 2724 of removable storage unit 2716, and a third media content 2730C that may be remotely stored and received over communication medium 2722 by communication interface 2718. Media content 2730 may be stored and/or received in these manners and/or in other ways.

IV. Conclusion

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A display system that delivers multiple pairs of left eye views and right eye views to a viewer, the viewer being enabled to perceive each delivered pair as a three-dimensional view, the display system comprising:

a pixel array; and

an array of barrier elements positioned proximate to the pixel array, each of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements having a blocking state and a non-blocking state;

a first set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the blocking state and a second set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the non-blocking state;

a third set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the blocking state and a fourth set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the non-blocking state; and

the first and second sets of barrier elements being configured to enable a first three-dimensional view to be delivered to a viewer, and the third and fourth sets of barrier elements being configured to enable a second three-dimensional view to be delivered to the viewer simultaneously to the first three-dimensional view.

2. The display system of claim 1, wherein the pixel array includes a first set of pixels, a second set of pixels, a third set of pixels, and a fourth set of pixels; and

wherein the first and second sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements filter light from the pixel array to form a first image corresponding to the first set of pixels at a first right eye location and to form a second image corresponding to the second set of pixels at a first left eye location, and the third and fourth sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements filter light from the pixel array to form a third image corresponding to the third set of pixels at a second right eye location and to form a fourth image corresponding to the fourth set of pixels at a second left eye location.

3. The display system of claim 2, wherein the pixel array further includes a fifth set of pixels; and

wherein a fifth set of barrier elements of the array of barrier elements is selected to be non-blocking to pass light from the fifth set of pixels to form a fifth image, the fifth image being configured to be perceived as a two-dimensional image by the viewer.

4. The display system of claim 1, further comprising:

a backlighting panel;

wherein the pixel array includes a first set of pixels, a second set of pixels, a third set of pixels, and a fourth set of pixels;

wherein the array of barrier elements is positioned between the backlighting panel and the pixel array, and the pixel array is positioned between the array of barrier elements and a viewing space;

wherein the backlighting panel emits light that is filtered by the first and second sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements, and the light filtered by the first and second sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements is filtered by the first and second sets of pixels to deliver the first three-dimensional view to the viewer; and

wherein the light emitted by the backlighting panel is filtered by the third and fourth sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements, and the light filtered by the third and fourth sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements is filtered by the third and fourth sets of pixels to deliver the second three-dimensional view to the viewer.

5. The display system of claim 4, wherein the pixel array further includes a fifth set of pixels;

wherein a fifth set of barrier elements of the array of barrier elements is selected to be non-blocking; and

wherein the light emitted by the backlighting panel passes through the fifth set of barrier elements and the fifth set of pixels to deliver the two-dimensional image to the viewer.

6. The display system of claim 1, wherein the barrier elements of the first set are arranged in a first plurality of parallel blocking strips and the barrier elements of the second set are arranged in a first plurality of parallel non-blocking strips interleaved with the first plurality of blocking parallel strips; and

wherein the barrier elements of the third set are arranged in a second plurality of parallel blocking strips and the barrier elements of the fourth set are arranged in a second plurality of parallel non-blocking strips interleaved with the second plurality of blocking parallel strips.

7. The display system of claim 6, wherein a non-blocking strip of the first plurality of parallel non-blocking strips has a first width corresponding to a first number of barrier elements selected to be non-blocking, and a non-blocking strip of the second plurality of parallel non-blocking strips has a second width corresponding to a second number of barrier elements selected to be non-blocking, the first width being different from the second width.

8. The display system of claim 6, wherein a non-blocking strip of the first plurality of parallel non-blocking strips is oriented perpendicularly to a non-blocking strip of the second plurality of parallel non-blocking strips.

9. The display system of claim 8, wherein the first three-dimensional image is oriented perpendicularly to the second three-dimensional image.

10. The display system of claim 1, wherein the first three-dimensional image is oriented parallel to the second three-dimensional image.

11. A display system that delivers multiple views to a viewer, the display system comprising:

a pixel array; and

an array of barrier elements positioned proximate to the pixel array, each of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements having a blocking state and a non-blocking state;

a first set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the blocking state and a second set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the non-blocking state;

a third set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the non-blocking state; and

the first and second sets of barrier elements being configured to enable a three-dimensional view to be delivered to a viewer, and the third set of barrier elements being configured to enable a two-dimensional view to be delivered to the viewer simultaneously to the three-dimensional view.

12. The display system of claim 11, wherein the pixel array includes a first set of pixels, a second set of pixels, and a third set of pixels;

wherein the first and second sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements filter light from the pixel array to form a first image corresponding to the first set of pixels at a first right eye location and to form a second image corresponding to the second set of pixels at a first left eye location, the first image and the second image being configured to be perceived as the three-dimensional view by the viewer; and

wherein the third set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements passes light from the third set of pixels to form a third image configured to be perceived as the two-dimensional view by the viewer.

13. A method for delivering multiple pairs of left eye views and right eye views to a viewer, the viewer being enabled to perceive each delivered pair as a three-dimensional view, the method comprising:

receiving light at an array of barrier elements, each of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements having a blocking state and a non-blocking state;

configuring a first set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements in the blocking state and a second set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the non-blocking state to enable a first three-dimensional view to be delivered to a viewer; and

configuring a third set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements in the blocking state and a fourth set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the non-blocking state to enable a second three-dimensional view to be delivered to the viewer.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein a pixel array includes a first set of pixels, a second set of pixels, a third set of pixels, and a fourth set of pixels, the method further comprising:

filtering light from the pixel array with the first and second sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements to form a first image corresponding to the first set of pixels at a first right eye location and to form a second image corresponding to the second set of pixels at a first left eye location; and

filtering light from the pixel array with the third and fourth sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements to form a third image corresponding to the third set of pixels at a second right eye location and to form a fourth image corresponding to the fourth set of pixels at a second left eye location.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the pixel array further includes a fifth set of pixels, the method further comprising:

selecting a fifth set of barrier elements of the array of barrier elements to be non-blocking to pass light from the fifth set of pixels to form a fifth image, the fifth image being configured to be perceived as a two-dimensional image by the viewer.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the pixel array includes a first set of pixels, a second set of pixels, a third set of pixels, and a fourth set of pixels, wherein said receiving light at an array of barrier elements comprises: the method further comprising:

receiving the light from a backlighting panel;

filtering the light received from the backlighting panel by the first and second sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements and the first and second sets of pixels to deliver the first three-dimensional view to the viewer; and

filtering the light received from the backlighting panel by the third and fourth sets of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements and the third and fourth sets of pixels to deliver the second three-dimensional view to the viewer.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the pixel array further includes a fifth set of pixels, the method further comprising:

configuring a fifth set of barrier elements of the array of barrier elements to be non-blocking; and

enabling the light received from the backlighting panel to pass through the fifth set of barrier elements and the fifth set of pixels to deliver the two-dimensional image to the viewer.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein said configuring a first set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements in the blocking state and a second set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the non-blocking state to enable a first three-dimensional view to be delivered to a viewer comprises: wherein said configuring a third set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements in the blocking state and a fourth set of the barrier elements of the array of barrier elements being in the non-blocking state to enable a second three-dimensional view to be delivered to the viewer comprises:

configuring the barrier elements of the first set in a first plurality of parallel blocking strips and the barrier elements of the second set in a first plurality of parallel non-blocking strips interleaved with the first plurality of blocking parallel strips; and

configuring the barrier elements of the third set in a second plurality of parallel blocking strips and the barrier elements of the fourth set in a second plurality of parallel non-blocking strips interleaved with the second plurality of blocking parallel strips.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

configuring a non-blocking strip of the first plurality of parallel non-blocking strips to have a first width corresponding to a first number of barrier elements selected to be non-blocking; and

configuring a non-blocking strip of the second plurality of parallel non-blocking strips to have a second width corresponding to a second number of barrier elements selected to be non-blocking, the first width being different from the second width.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

orienting a non-blocking strip of the first plurality of parallel non-blocking strips perpendicularly to a non-blocking strip of the second plurality of parallel non-blocking strips.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first three-dimensional image is oriented perpendicularly to the second three-dimensional image.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein the first three-dimensional image is oriented parallel to the second three-dimensional image.