Resonant modulation of varifocal liquid membrane lens to provide multiple concurrent focal planes in VR display for realistic focus cues

1. A near-eye display system comprising:

a display assembly comprising at least one display panel;

a display driver to drive the display assembly to display a sequence of frames based on a frame clock signal having a first frequency;

a pair of liquid membrane lenses facing the display assembly;

a lens driver having an output coupled to an input of each of liquid membrane lenses of the pair, the lens driver to generate at the output a periodic, continuously variable driving signal having a second frequency, wherein the first frequency is twice the second frequency;

a rendering component to render the sequence of frames such that the sequence of frames repeatedly alternates between a frame rendered for a first focal length and a frame rendered for a second focal length; and

wherein the driving signal controls the amplitude of the driving signal so as to cause a focal power of each liquid membrane lens to cycle between a maximum focal power and a minimum focal power at the second frequency such that display of each frame rendered for the first focal length is synchronized to a first point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has a first focal power and such that display of each frame rendered for the second focal length is synchronized to a second point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has second focal power.

2. The near-eye display system of claim 1 , wherein:

the second frequency is substantially equal to a resonant frequency or a harmonic frequency of the liquid membrane lens.

3. The near-eye display system of claim 1 , wherein:

pixels of the display panel for of each frame of the sequence of frames are illuminated for a duration less than a duration of the period of the frame clock signal; and

the first point and second point are synchronized to timing of illumination of pixels of the display panel for the corresponding frames.

4. The near-eye display system of claim 1 , wherein:

the first focal power is substantially equal to the maximum focal power; and

the second focal power is substantially equal to the minimum focal power.

5. The near-eye display system of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of frames represents virtual reality (VR) content for stereoscopic display.

6. A near-eye display system comprising:

a display assembly comprising at least one display panel;

a display driver to drive the display assembly to display a sequence of frames based on a frame clock signal having a first frequency;

a pair of liquid membrane lenses facing the display assembly;

a lens driver having an output coupled to an input of each of liquid membrane lenses of the pair, the lens driver to generate at the output a periodic, continuously variable driving signal having a second frequency, wherein the first frequency is an integer multiple of the second frequency;

a rendering component to render the sequence of frames such that the sequence of frames repeatedly sequences through a frame rendered for a first focal length, a frame rendered for a second focal length, a frame rendered for a third focal length, and a frame rendered for a fourth focal length;

wherein the driving signal controls the amplitude of the driving signal so as to cause a focal power of the liquid membrane lens to cycle between a total maximum focal power, a local minimum focal power, a local maximum focal power, and a total minimum focal power at the second frequency such that display of each frame rendered for the first focal length is synchronized to a first point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has a first focal power, display of each frame rendered for the second focal length is synchronized to a second point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has second focal power, display of each frame rendered for the third focal length is synchronized to a third point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has third focal power; and display of each frame rendered for the fourth focal length is synchronized to a fourth point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has fourth focal power; and

wherein the first frequency is four times the second frequency.

7. The near-eye display system of claim 6 , wherein:

the second frequency is substantially equal to a harmonic frequency of the liquid membrane lens.

8. The near-eye display system of claim 6 , wherein the near-eye display system is a head mounted display system.

9. The near-eye display system of claim 6 , wherein the sequence of frames represents virtual reality (VR) content for stereoscopic display.

10. In a near-eye display system, a method comprising:

driving a display panel to display a sequence of frames based on a frame clock signal having a first frequency;

modulating a pair of liquid membrane lenses facing the display panel to continuously and cyclically vary a focal power of each of the liquid membrane lenses at a second frequency, wherein the first frequency is twice the second frequency;

rendering the sequence of display frames such that the sequence of frames repeatedly alternates between a frame rendered for a first focal length and a frame rendered for a second focal length; and

wherein modulating the pair of liquid membrane lenses comprises continuously varying a focal power of each liquid membrane lens so that each liquid membrane lens cycles between a maximum focal power and a minimum focal power at the second frequency such that display of each frame rendered for the first focal length is synchronized to a first point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has a first focal power and such that display of each frame rendered for the second focal length is synchronized to a second point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has second focal power.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the second frequency is substantially equal to resonant frequency or a harmonic frequency of the pair of liquid membrane lenses.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

driving the display panel comprises driving the display panel to display each frame of the sequence such that illumination of pixels of the display panel for the frame has a duration less than a duration of the period of the frame clock signal; and

the first point and second point are synchronized to timing of the illumination of pixels of the display panel for the corresponding frames.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the first focal power is substantially equal to the maximum focal power; and

the second focal power is substantially equal to the minimum focal power.

14. In a near-eye display system, a method comprising:

driving a display panel to display a sequence of frames based on a frame clock signal having a first frequency;

modulating a pair of liquid membrane lenses facing the display panel to continuously and cyclically vary a focal power of each of the liquid membrane lenses at a second frequency, wherein the first frequency is an integer multiple of the second frequency;

rendering the sequence of frames such that the sequence of frames repeatedly sequences through a frame rendered for a first focal length, a frame rendered for a second focal length, a frame rendered for a third focal length, and a frame rendered for a fourth focal length;

wherein modulating the pair of liquid membrane lenses comprises continuously varying a focal power of each liquid membrane lens so that each liquid membrane lens cycles between a total maximum focal power, a local minimum focal power, a local maximum focal power, and a total minimum focal power at the second frequency such that display of each frame rendered for the first focal length is synchronized to a first point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has a first focal power, display of each frame rendered for the second focal length is synchronized to a second point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has second focal power, display of each frame rendered for the third focal length is synchronized to a third point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has third focal power; and display of each frame rendered for the fourth focal length is synchronized to a fourth point in a corresponding cycle at which the liquid membrane lens has fourth focal power; and

wherein the first frequency is four times the second frequency.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

the second frequency is substantially equal to a resonant frequency or a harmonic frequency of the liquid membrane lens.

16. In a near-eye display system, a method comprising:

rendering a sequence of display frames, each display frame rendered for a corresponding focal length of a set of discrete focal lengths;

displaying the sequence of display frames at a display panel with low persistence;

synchronizing modulation of a pair of liquid membrane lenses facing the display panel such that during display of each display frame of the sequence, a focal power exhibited by each of the liquid membrane lenses is correlated to the focal length at which the display frame was rendered;

displaying the sequence of display frames comprises displaying the sequence of display frames at a first frequency; and

synchronizing modulation of the pair of liquid membrane lenses comprises continuously and cyclically varying the focal power of each of the liquid membrane lenses at a second frequency, the first frequency being N times the second frequency, wherein N represents the number of discrete focal lengths in the set of discrete focal lengths.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the sequence of display frames represents virtual reality (VR) content for stereoscopic display.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein N is two.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein N is four.