Multiview display and method with dynamically reconfigurable multiview pixels
A multiview display employs an array of multibeam elements configured to provide directional light beams having different principal angular directions corresponding to different view directions of the multiview display. Moreover, the multiview display includes an array of light valves configured to modulate the directional light beams as a multiview image to be displayed by the multiview display, where a multiview pixel of the multiview display includes a set of light valves of the light valve array corresponding to a multibeam element of the multibeam element plurality and being configured to modulate directional light beams from the multibeam element. Furthermore, a shape of the multiview pixel is dynamically reconfigurable to provide the multiview image having a dynamic field of view (FOV). The FOV may be modified based on a monitored orientation of the multiview display, a monitored position of a user relative to the multiview display, or both.
1. A multiview display comprising:
a plurality of multibeam elements spaced apart from one another and configured to provide directional light beams having different principal angular directions corresponding to different view directions of the multiview display; and
an array of light valves configured to modulate the directional light beams as a multiview image to be displayed by the multiview display,
the array of light valves being tiled into mutually exclusive sets with a tiling that is dynamically reconfigurable to provide the multiview image having a dynamic field of view (FOV),
each light valve of each set of light valves being located to modulate a single directional light beam from a corresponding single multibeam element of the plurality of multibeam elements.
2. The multiview display of claim 1 , further comprising a light guide configured to guide light in a propagation direction along the light guide as guided light, a multibeam element of the multibeam element plurality being configured to scatter out a portion of the guided light as a plurality of the directional light beams, wherein a size of the multibeam element is comparable to a size of a light valve in the light valve array.
3. The multiview display of claim 2 , wherein the multibeam element comprising one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-reflective element, and a micro-refractive element configured to scatter out the guided light portion.
4. The multiview display of claim 2 , further comprising a light source optically coupled to an input of the light guide, the light source being configured to provide the light to the light guide, the guided light one or both of having a non-zero propagation angle and being collimated according to a predetermined collimation factor.
5. The multiview display of claim 1 , wherein each set of the mutually exclusive sets has a shape that comprises one of a diamond, a square, a horizontal rectangle, a vertical rectangle, or a step-wise shape.
6. The multiview display of claim 5 , wherein the multiview display is configured to monitor a position of a user relative to the multiview display, the shape being dynamically reconfigurable based on the monitored position.
7. The multiview display of claim 1 , wherein the multiview display is configured to monitor an orientation of the multiview display, the tiling of the array of light valves being dynamically reconfigured based on the monitored orientation.
8. The multiview display of claim 1 , wherein the tiling of the array of light valves is dynamically reconfigured based on a content of the multiview image to be displayed by the multiview display.
9. The multiview display of claim 1 , wherein the tiling of the array of light valves is dynamically reconfigurable such that each set of the mutually exclusive sets has a shape that is dynamically reconfigurable between a first rectangular shape having a width that is greater than a length and second rectangular shape having a width that is less than length, the first rectangular shape being configured to provide a greater number of views in a horizontal direction and the second rectangular shape being configured to provide a greater number of views in a vertical direction.
10. A multiview display comprising:
a light guide configured to guide light along a length of the light guide as guided light;
a plurality of multibeam elements configured to scatter out from the light guide a portion of the guided light as directional light beams having different principal angular directions corresponding to different view directions of the multiview display; and
an array of light valves configured to modulate the directional light beams as a multiview image,
the array of light valves being tiled into mutually exclusive sets with a tiling that is dynamically reconfigurable to provide the multiview image having a dynamic field of view (FOV) based on a condition of the multiview display,
each light valve of each set of light valves being located to modulate a single directional light beam from a corresponding single multibeam element of the plurality of multibeam elements.
11. The multiview display of claim 10 , wherein the multiview display is configured to one or both of monitor a position of a user relative to the multiview display and monitor an orientation of the multiview display, the tiling of the array of light valves being dynamically reconfigured based on one or both of the monitored position and orientation.
12. The multiview display of claim 10 , wherein a size of the multibeam element is comparable to a size of a light valve in the sets of light valves, the multibeam element comprising one or more of a diffraction grating, a micro-reflective element, and a micro-refractive element configured to scatter out the guided light portion.
13. The multiview display of claim 10 , wherein the tiling of the array of light valves is dynamically reconfigured based on a content of the multiview image to be displayed by the multiview display.
14. A method of multiview display operation, the method comprising:
providing directional light beams having different principal angular directions corresponding to different view directions of a multiview image using a plurality of multibeam elements spaced apart from one another;
modulating the directional light beams to display the multiview image using an array of light valves, the array of light valves being tiled into mutually exclusive sets with a tiling that is dynamically reconfigurable to provide the multiview image having a dynamic field of view (FOV), each light valve of each set of light valves being located to modulate a single directional light beam from a corresponding single multibeam element of the plurality of multibeam elements; and
dynamically reconfiguring the tiling of the array of light valves according to a condition of the multiview display to provide the dynamic field of view (FOV) based on the condition of the multiview display.
15. The method of multiview display operation of claim 14 , further comprising guiding light along a light guide as guided light, wherein a multibeam element of the multibeam element plurality being configured to scatter out a portion of the guided light from the light guide as a plurality of the directional light beams, a size of the multibeam element being comparable to a size of a light valve in the light valve array.
16. The method of multiview display operation of claim 14 , further comprising one or both of monitoring an orientation of the multiview display and monitoring a position of a user relative to the multiview display to provide the multiview display condition, wherein dynamically reconfiguring the tiling of the array of light valves employs one or both of the monitored orientation and the monitored user position to determine the dynamic FOV of the multiview image.
17. The method of multiview display operation of claim 14 , wherein the multiview display condition is determined by a content of the multiview image being displayed on the multiview display.
18. The method of multiview display operation of claim 14 , wherein dynamically reconfiguring the tiling of the array of light valves comprises switching between a first rectangular shape having a width that is greater than a length and second rectangular shape having a width that is less than length, the first rectangular shape providing a greater number of views in a horizontal direction and the second rectangular shape providing a greater number of views in a vertical direction.