Image display apparatus and methods for displaying images

1. An image display apparatus, comprising:

a display device including a polarizer;

a liquid crystal panel including a first liquid region of a first liquid crystal orientation and a second liquid crystal region of a second liquid crystal orientation, wherein the first liquid crystal orientation is different from the second crystal orientation; and

a lenticular lens including a cavity to contain a third liquid crystal region of a third liquid crystal orientation and a fourth liquid crystal region of a fourth liquid crystal orientation, wherein the third liquid crystal orientation is different from the fourth crystal orientation,

wherein the liquid crystal panel is disposed between the lenticular lens and the display device, and the first liquid crystal region corresponds to the third liquid crystal region, and the second liquid crystal region corresponds to the fourth liquid crystal region.

2. The image display apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first liquid crystal orientation is vertical to the second liquid crystal orientation, and the third liquid crystal orientation is vertical to the fourth liquid crystal orientation.

3. The image display apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the third and fourth liquid crystal regions have an ordinary refractive index (n o ) and an extraordinary refractive index (n e ), wherein the n o and n e have a difference of 0.01 to 2.0.

4. The image display apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the third and fourth liquid crystal regions have an ordinary refractive index (n o ) similar to a refractive index of the lenticular lens.

5. The image display apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the third liquid crystal region and the fourth liquid crystal region includes a solidified liquid crystal composition.

6. The image display apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a control circuit on a surface of the cavity.

7. The image display apparatus as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the control circuit comprises an active circuit or a passive circuit.

8. A method for displaying images, comprising:

providing the image display apparatus as claimed in claim 1 to display images, wherein the images travelling through the polarizer have a first polarization direction; and

driving the liquid crystal panel to modulate the first liquid crystal orientation of the first liquid crystal region and the second liquid crystal orientation of the second liquid crystal region, wherein the images travelling through the first liquid crystal region have a second polarization direction, the images travelling through the second liquid crystal region have the first polarization direction, and the first polarization direction is different from the second polarization direction,

wherein the third liquid crystal orientation of the third liquid crystal region is vertical to the second polarization direction, and the fourth liquid crystal orientation of the fourth liquid crystal region is vertical to the first polarization direction,

wherein the images travelling through the third and fourth liquid crystal regions and the lenticular lens enter right and left eyes of a viewer, and

wherein the viewer sees the images of a two-dimensional mode.

9. A method for displaying images, comprising:

providing a polarized glass to a viewer, wherein the polarized glass includes a first glass for images of a first polarization direction travelling therethrough and a second glass for images of a second polarization direction travelling therethrough,

providing the image display apparatus as claimed in claim 1 to display images, wherein the images travelling through the polarizer have the first polarization direction; and

driving the liquid crystal panel to modulate the first liquid crystal orientation of the first liquid crystal region and the second liquid crystal orientation of the second liquid crystal region, wherein the images travelling through the first liquid crystal region have the second polarization direction, the images travelling through the second liquid crystal region have the first polarization direction, and the first polarization direction is different from the second polarization direction,

wherein the third liquid crystal orientation of the third liquid crystal region is vertical to the second polarization direction, and the fourth liquid crystal orientation of the fourth liquid crystal region is vertical to the first polarization direction,

wherein the images travelling through the third liquid crystal region have the second polarization direction to further travel through the lenticular lens and the second glass, and the images travelling through the fourth liquid crystal region have the first polarization direction to further travel through the lenticular lens and the first glass, and

wherein the viewer sees the images of a three-dimensional mode.

10. A method for displaying images, comprising:

providing the image display apparatus as claimed in claim 1 to display images, wherein the images travelling through the polarizer have a first polarization direction; and

driving the liquid crystal panel to modulate the first liquid crystal orientation of the first liquid crystal region and the second liquid crystal orientation of the second liquid crystal region, wherein the images travelling through the first liquid crystal region have a first polarization direction, the images travelling through the second liquid crystal region have the second polarization direction, and the first polarization direction is different from the second polarization direction;

wherein the third liquid crystal orientation of the third liquid crystal region is parallel to the second polarization direction, and the fourth liquid crystal orientation of the fourth liquid crystal region is parallel to the first polarization direction,

wherein the images travelling through an interface between the third and fourth liquid crystal regions and the lenticular lens are deflected to right and left eyes of a viewer, and

wherein the viewer sees the images of a three-dimensional mode.