High-resolution compact reflective liquid crystal displays have been developed in recent years. The eyepiece optical system is compact, but it remains difficult to achieve a very wide FOV using LCDs of this type. To achieve a wide FOV, it is preferable to use an optical system in which an intermediate image is formed. However, this intermediate-image system ends up making displays very large compared to those using the eyepiece optical system. To solve this problem, we have developed a new optical system, called the "shuttle" optical system, in which a shuttle (bidirectional) optical path is formed in a decentered FFS (free-form surface) optical system with an intermediate image. The shuttle optical system allows the intermediate-image optical system to be compact. Through the use of this shuttle optical system as well as electronic distortion-compensation, we have developed a high-resolution SXGA compact video see-through HMD with a high FOV of 76 degrees for mixed reality.

Date Published: 16 April 2008
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 6955, Head- and Helmet-Mounted Displays XIII: Design and Applications, 695503 (16 April 2008); doi: 10.1117/12.777436

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6955:
Head- and Helmet-Mounted Displays XIII: Design and Applications
Randall W. Brown; Peter L. Marasco; Thomas H. Harding; Sion A. Jennings, Editor(s)