1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to a three-dimensional display apparatus. In particular, the present invention is directed to a display comprised of a plurality of pixels, each pixel being comprised of a plurality of cells, which is capable of displaying an image in three-dimensions.
2. Description of Related Art
The ability to accurately recreate images in three dimensions has long been sought after. Three-dimensional displays may be very important in such areas as entertainment, medical imagery, architectural design, and a plethora of other areas. The result of this long felt need for three-dimensional displays has been the development of advanced ways of tricking the human brain into believing that the images seen by the eye are in three dimensions.
For example, computers may use perspective drawing techniques to represent three dimensions on a two dimensional screen. Some pictures and optical illusions, when stared at, give the impression of some depth due to the brain""s pattern recognition capabilities and the brain""s desire to interpret what is seen in a meaningful way. xe2x80x9cVirtual realityxe2x80x9d goggles make use of doubling a two dimensional perspective image so that the brain interprets the perspective as depth. Other methods of tricking the brain, such as holography and 3D glasses, have been used with limited success.
Thus, the attempts at creating three-dimensional imagery have failed at creating an actual three-dimensional display and must therefore, rely on tricks to fool the human brain into believing what is seen is a three-dimensional image. In view of the above, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus to provide an actual three-dimensional image.
The present invention provides a three-dimensional display apparatus that does not require tricks or illusions to represent objects in three dimensions. The display is comprised of a plurality of pixels which are, in turn, comprised of a plurality of cells.
The cells include a plurality of cell walls, a cell lens wall and a cell base. The cells further include an anode and a cathode. The cell is filled with a gas that is excited by electrical discharges. A phosphorus material is applied to the anode, or nearby the anode, such that when an electrical discharge is created between the anode and the cathode, the gas is electrically excited causing the gas to emit ultraviolet radiation. The ultraviolet radiation causes the phosphorus material to emit visible light according to a color of the phosphorus material. An anode having a phosphorus material of a certain color applied to it or nearby it will be identified by the color of the phosphorus material. Thus, for example, an anode having a red colored phosphorus material applied to it will be identified as a red anode.
A plurality of cells are combined to create a pixel. Each pixel has at least one cathode and at least one anode of each color red, green and blue. By controlling the intensities and durations of the charge to each of the anodes of the respective colors red, green and blue, every color in the visible spectrum is producible. The pixel may further include a lens for helping to focus the visible light such that the light is perceivable by a viewer in six directions, thereby creating a three-dimensional light source.
A plurality of the pixels are combined to create a three-dimensional display. The three-dimensional display is controlled by a control system that determines which of the pixels to turn on and which to turn off, as well as the intensities of the light that the cells of the pixels produce and the duration of their illumination. Based on this determination, the control system sends electrical signals along addressable anode bus lines, cathode lines, and the like, to cause the selected pixels to illuminate. The combination of illuminated pixels, which are three-dimensional light sources, in a three-dimensional matrix creates a three-dimensional display. The three-dimensional display is an actual three-dimensional display and is not based on optical illusions or perspective trickery.