Autostereoscopic display

Claim 2

A display as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that the or each display device (9) and the optical system (8, 77, 82, 86, 89, 90, 92, 131, 132, 182, 184, 192) cooperate to form at least three windows.

Claim 3

A display as claimed in Claim 2, characterised in that the or each display device (9) and the optical system (8, 77, 82, 86, 89, 90, 92, 131, 132, 182, 184, 192) cooperate to form three windows.

Claim 4

A display as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the or each display device (9) and the optical system (8, 77, 82, 86, 89, 90, 92, 131, 132, 182, 184, 192) cooperate to repeat the windows in a plurality of lobes.

Claim 5

A display as claimed in Claim 4, characterised in that the lobes overlap.

Claim 6

A display as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the at least one display device (9) comprises a spatial light modulator comprising a plurality of picture elements (50) arranged as rows extending in a first direction and columns extending in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction, the picture elements (50) being arranged in groups of N, where N is an integer greater than one, adjacent picture elements (50) of each group overlapping with each other in the first direction.

Claim 7

A display as claimed in Claim 6, characterised in that the picture elements (50) of each group are disposed in two adjacent rows.

Claim 8

A display as claimed in Claims 6 or 7, characterised in that each of the picture elements (50) has a substantially constant vertical aperture.

Claim 9

A display as claimed in any one of Claims 6 to 8, characterised in that adjacent groups of picture elements (50) overlap with each other in the first direction.

Claim 10

A display as claimed in any one of Claims 6 to 9, characterised in that the width of each picture element (50) is substantially equal to one and a half times the lateral pitch of the picture elements.

Claim 11

A display as claimed in any one of Claims 6 to 10, characterised in that the modulator (9) is a light-emissive device.

Claim 12

A display as claimed in any one of Claims 6 to 10, characterised in that the modulator (9) is a light-transmissive device.

Claim 13

A display as claimed in Claim 12, characterised in that the modulator (9) comprises a liquid crystal device.

Claim 14

A display as claimed in any one of Claims 6 to 13, characterised in that the optical system comprises a parallax device (8) having a plurality of parallax generating elements which extend in the second direction and each of which is aligned with N columns of picture elements (50).

Claim 15

A display as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, in which the at least one display device (9) comprises a spatial light modulator comprising a plurality of picture elements (50) arranged as rows extending in a first direction and columns extending in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction, the picture elements (50) being arranged in groups of N, where N is an integer greater than one, the optical system comprising: a first parallax device (184) having a plurality of parallax generating elements which extend in the second direction and each of which is aligned with N columns of picture elements; and a second parallax device (182) having a plurality of parallax generating elements which extend in the second direction and each of which is aligned with a respective column of picture elements.

Claim 16

A display as claimed in Claim 2 or 3 or in any one of Claims 4 to 15 when dependent on Claim 2, characterised by an observer tracker (112, 312) for determining the position of an observer, and an image controller (110, 310) responsive to the observer tracker (112, 312) for dividing the image displayed by the or each display device (9) such that a window which contains a left eye (L) of the observer receive left eye view data, a window which contains a right eye (R) of the observer receives right eye view data, and, when an eye of the observer is in a region where adjacent windows overlap, one of the adjacent windows receives black view data.

Claim 17

A display as claimed in Claim 16, characterised in that the observer tracker (112, 312) is arranged to determine the positions of a plurality of observers and there are provided at least three windows per observer.

Claim 18

A display as claimed in Claim 16, characterised in that the image controller (112, 312) is arranged, when an observer eye is in a region where adjacent windows overlap, to switch the image data received in one of the adjacent windows from black to image data and simultaneously to switch the image data received in the other of adjacent windows from image data to black.

Claim 19

A display as claimed in Claim 2 or 3 or in any one of Claims 4 to 15 when dependent in Claim 2, characterised by an observer tracker (112, 312) for determining the position of an observer, and an image controller (110, 310) responsive to the observer tracker (112, 312) for dividing the image supplied to the windows in regions across a display surface such that: a left eye of the observer perceives only left eye image information; a right eye of the observer perceives only right eye image information; and, in areas where an observer eye receives light in two of the windows, one of the two windows is switched to black.

Claim 20

A display as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the at least one display device (9) and the optical system (8, 77, 82, 86, 89, 90, 92, 131, 132, 182, 184, 192) cooperate to form the windows with a lateral pitch substantially equal to 2e/N, where e is an average interocular separation and N is the number of windows per lobe.