Google Patent | Near-eye Display With Sparse Sampling Super-resolution

Patent: Near-eye Display With Sparse Sampling Super-resolution

Publication Number: 20180343434

Publication Date: 2018-11-29

Applicants: Google LLC

Abstract

A near-eye display system includes display panel to display a near-eye lightfield frame comprising an array of elemental images and a lenslet array to present the integral lightfield frame to a user’s eye. The system further includes a rendering component to generate an array of elemental images based at least in part on a sparse sampling of a source image to decrease an overlap of image data contained within each individual elemental of the array of elemental images. A method of operation of the near-eye display system includes generating an array of elemental images forming the integral lightfield frame based on a sparse sampling of the current viewpoint of the subject object to decrease an overlap of image data contained within each individual elemental image of the array.

BACKGROUND 

Head-mounted displays (HMDs) and other near-eye display systems can utilize an integral lightfield display or other computational display to provide effective display of three-dimensional (3D) graphics. Generally, the integral lightfield display employs one or more display panels and an array of lenslets, pinholes, or other optic features that overlie the one or more display panels. A rendering system renders an array of elemental images, with each elemental image representing an image or view of an object or scene from a corresponding perspective or virtual camera position. Such integral lightfield displays typically exhibit a tradeoff between resolution and eye relief (i.e., distance from which the user's eye can obtain a full field of view). Conventional near-eye display system employing an integral lightfield display typically sacrifice spatial resolution due to overlap in the lenslet projector-array.