Near-eye display assembly with adjustable resolution and frame rate

1. A near-eye display (NED) comprising:

a controller including one or more processors configured to generate display instructions based in part on content, wherein the display instructions describe a resolution within an adjustable range of resolutions and a frame rate within an adjustable range of frame rates;

an electronic display configured to emit a plurality of light rays at the frame rate based on the display instructions;

a scanning assembly configured to shift a direction of at least one of the plurality of light rays based on the display instructions; and

an optical assembly configured to control a field of view at an eye box and to direct the plurality of light rays including the at least one shifted light ray toward the eye box to form a virtual display that displays the content at the resolution and the frame rate.

2. The NED of claim 1 , wherein the resolution within the adjustable range of resolutions is inversely proportional to the frame rate within the adjustable range of frame rates.

3. The NED of claim 1 , wherein the virtual display comprises a first portion of the virtual display having a first resolution and a second portion of the virtual display having a second resolution, wherein the first resolution and the second resolution are within the adjustable range of resolutions.

4. The NED of claim 3 , wherein the first portion of the virtual display having the first resolution is presented with a first color depth and the second portion of the virtual display having the second resolution is presented with a second color depth, wherein the first color depth is greater than the second color depth.

5. The NED of claim 3 further comprising:

an eye tracking assembly comprising a camera configured to track a gaze location of a user, and

wherein the controller is further configured to:

dynamically set the first portion of the virtual display to coincide with the gaze location, wherein the first resolution is associated with a foveal resolution of a model of a human eye.

6. The NED of claim 5 wherein the second resolution comprises a range of resolutions that map to a resolution profile of a non-foveal region of the model of the human eye.

7. The NED of claim 1 , wherein the scanning assembly is further configured to shift a relative position of the electronic display to the optical assembly by shifting the electronic display.

8. The NED of claim 1 , wherein the scanning assembly is further configured to shift a relative position of the electronic display to the optical assembly by shifting the optical assembly.

9. The NED of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine that the content comprises an object moving faster than a threshold value in a field of view of the NED; and

generate the display instructions so as to present the content with an increased frame rate, but reduced resolution.

10. The NED of claim 9 , wherein the electronic display is configured to:

generate one or more synthetic frames using one or more frames from the content and one or more future positions of the NED; and

upsample the content from a first frame rate to a second frame rate using one or more synthetic frames to generate augmented content, wherein the second frame rate is faster than the first frame rate.

11. The NED of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

identify a frame rate adjustment flag in the content;

determine a target frame rate within the adjustable range of frame rates based in part on the frame rate adjustment flag; and

generate the display instructions so as to present the content with at the target frame rate.

12. The NED of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine a target resolution within the adjustable range of resolutions based in part on the frame rate adjustment flag.

13. A method comprising:

generating, via a controller, display instructions based in part on content, wherein the display instructions describe a resolution within an adjustable range of resolutions and a frame rate within an adjustable range of frame rates;

emitting, via an electronic display, a plurality of light rays at the frame rate based on the display instructions;

shifting, via a scanning assembly, a direction of at least one of the plurality of light rays based on the display instructions; and

directing, via an optical assembly, the plurality of light rays including the at least one shifted light ray toward an eye box to form a virtual display that displays the content at the resolution and the frame rate.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the resolution within the adjustable range of resolutions is inversely proportional to the frame rate within the adjustable range of frame rates.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the virtual display comprises a first portion of the virtual display having a first resolution and a second portion of the virtual display having a second resolution, wherein the first resolution and the second resolution are within the adjustable range of resolutions.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first portion of the virtual display having the first resolution is presented with a first color depth and the second portion of the virtual display having the second resolution is presented with a second color depth, wherein the first color depth is greater than the second color depth.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the virtual display comprises a first portion of the virtual display having a first resolution and a second portion of the virtual display having a second resolution, and the first resolution and the second resolution are within the adjustable range of resolutions, the method further comprising:

tracking a gaze location of a user; and

dynamically setting the first portion of the virtual display to coincide with the gaze location, wherein the first resolution is associated with a foveal resolution of a model of a human eye.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the shifting the direction of at least one of the plurality of light rays based on the display instructions further comprises:

shifting the electronic display to shift a relative position of the electronic display to the optical assembly.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the shifting the direction of at least one of the light rays based on the display instructions further comprises:

shifting the optical assembly to shift a relative position of the electronic display to the optical assembly.

20. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

determining that the content comprises an object moving faster than a threshold value in a field of view of the NED; and

generating the display instructions so as to present the content with an increased frame rate, but reduced resolution.