Autostereoscopic display system and method

Abstract

An autostereoscopic display system includes a three-dimensional (3D) image converter configured to arrange a multiplicity of views, and a display device being coupled to receive the multiple arranged views. The arranged views include views arranged in forward order of view angle and views arranged in reverse order of view angle, the views in forward order and the views in reverse order being alternately arranged on each line of the display device.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An autostereoscopic display system, comprising:
 a three-dimensional (3D) image converter coupled to receive a plurality of views of different view angles, and configured to arrange the plurality of views; and 
 a display device coupled to receive the plurality of arranged views; 
 wherein the plurality of arranged views includes views arranged in forward order of view angle and views arranged in reverse order of view angle, the views in forward order and the views in reverse order being alternately arranged on each line of the display device, the views arranged in forward order being arranged from a left view angle toward a right view angle, and the views arranged in reverse order being arranged from a right view angle toward a left view angle; 
 and further wherein disparity between any two adiacent views of the plurality of arranged views is less than a predetermined threshold that allows for perceiving the two adiacent views as a stereoscopic vision by a viewer. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a view generating device configured to generate the plurality of views based on subset of views. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 2 , wherein the view generating device comprises:
 a depth estimation unit coupled to receive and process the subset of views, thereby generating disparity information about the subset of views; and 
 an image synthesizer configured to generate the plurality of views based on the disparity information. 
 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3 , wherein the image synthesizer comprises a depth-image-based rendering (DIBR) unit. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a lens array covering the display device, the lens array including a plurality of magnifying lenses, designed so that when viewed from different angles, different views of different view angles are magnified respectively. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5 , wherein the lens array comprises a lenticular lens array. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the views arranged in reverse order are continuously arranged. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the views arranged in reverse order are intermittently arranged. 
     
     
       9. An autostereoscopic display method, comprising:
 receiving a plurality of views of different view angles; 
 arranging the plurality of views; and 
 displaying the plurality of arranged views on a display device; 
 wherein the plurality of arranged views includes views arranged in forward order of view angle and views arranged in reverse order of view angle, the views in forward order and the views in reverse order being alternately arranged on each line of the display device, the views arranged in forward order being arranged from a left view angle toward a right view angle; and the views arranged in reverse order being arranged from a right view angle toward a left view angle; 
 and further wherein disparity between any two adiacent views of the plurality of arranged views is less than a predetermined threshold that allows for perceiving the two adiacent views as a stereoscopic vision by a viewer. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising a step of generating the plurality of views based on subset of views. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of generating plurality of views comprises:
 receiving and processing the subset of views to generate disparity information about the subset of views; and 
 generating the plurality of views based on the disparity information. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the step of generating the plurality of views based on the disparity information is performed by a depth-image-based rendering (DIBR) unit. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the display device is covered with a lens array, the lens array including a plurality of magnifying lenses, designed so that when viewed from different angles, different views of different view angles are magnified respectively. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the lens array comprises a lenticular lens array. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the views arranged in reverse order are continuously arranged. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the views arranged in reverse order are intermittently arranged.