According to one embodiment, a liquid crystal optical device includes a first substrate unit, a second substrate unit, a liquid crystal layer, and a driver. The first substrate unit includes first electrodes, a second electrode, and a third electrode. The second substrate unit includes an opposing electrode provided on a second surface opposing the first surface. The liquid crystal layer is provided between the first substrate unit and the second substrate unit. The driver sets the first electrodes, the second electrode and the third electrode to a first potential, a second potential and a third potential respectively. A distance between the first electrode and the second electrode is longer than a distance between the second electrode and the third electrode. A difference between the first potential and the second potential is larger than a difference between the second potential and the third potential.

A display device according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a display unit that displays an image including a plurality of viewpoint images; and a separator that includes a plurality of first electrodes that form, at a first pitch, a plurality of first unit separators that separate the plurality of viewpoint images, a plurality of second electrodes that form a plurality of second unit separators at a second pitch which is different from the first pitch, and a liquid crystal layer. The plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of second electrodes are opposed to each other with the liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween.

A switchable autostereoscopic display device includes a display panel having an array of display pixels for producing a display, and a lens arrangement for directing the output from different pixels to different spatial positions to enable a stereoscopic image to be viewed. The lens arrangement is in a plane parallel to the display panel and includes an electrically switchable LC layer which defines a lens pattern or a lens replica pattern. The LC alignment of the LC layer is electrically switchable such that the lens arrangement is switchable between 2D and 3D modes. In the 2D mode, the LC alignment is in a first direction substantially within the plane of the lens arrangement; and in the 3D mode, the LC alignment is in a second, perpendicular direction also substantially within the plane of the lens arrangement. The light output of the display panel is polarized in the second direction.

A liquid crystal lens includes first and second electrodes facing each other, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first and second electrodes. The first electrode includes at least one unit pattern. The unit pattern includes a pattern electrode and an aperture. The pattern electrode is disposed adjacent to a boundary of the unit pattern and the aperture is disposed inside the pattern electrode.

A double-layered liquid crystal lens in which two liquid crystal layers are disposed, and a 3D display apparatus. In a 3D display mode, under control of an electric field, liquid crystal molecules of a first liquid crystal layer are deflected to form a plurality of first lenticular lens structures. In case of switching from the 3D display mode into a 2D display mode, under the control of an electric field, liquid crystal molecules in a second liquid crystal layer are deflected to form a plurality of second lenticular lens structures; the second lenticular lens structures are mirror symmetric to the corresponding first lenticular lens structures, so as to compensate a phase delay of a light modulated by the first lenticular lens structures, such that the light passes through the double-layered liquid crystal lens without deflection, and thus a normal 2D display state is realized.

A 3D display device having a lens-switching function. The device includes an LCD picture layer, a lens-array plate, an LCD shielding pattern layer, and a synchronous picture providing system. The synchronous picture providing system is connected with the LCD picture layer and the LCD shielding pattern layer such that the LCD picture layer and the LCD shielding pattern layer are synchronous to respectively display a 3D picture and a shielded pattern. Through increasing an area of black shielding pattern, an edge of each lens unit corresponding to the shielding region is shielded, the area of a single light transparent region is reduced, and a light transparent aperture of a lens unit corresponding to the shielding region is reduced in order to eliminate a cross talk generated by scattering and bluntness at the edge.

An autostereoscopic display uses a beam control system and a pixelated spatial light modulator. Different display modes are provided for the displayed image as a whole or for image portions. These different modes provide different relationships between angular view resolution, spatial resolution and temporal resolution. The different modes make use of different amounts of beam spread produced by the beam control system.

A liquid crystal (LC) lens, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device are provided. The LC lens comprises a first substrate, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate. A plurality of electrode groups is disposed on the first substrate; each electrode group comprises a plurality of mutually insulated electrodes; and a transparent partition is disposed between two adjacent electrode groups. The LC lens can avoid LC disclination in the area between two adjacent strip electrode groups and hence avoid the influence of 3D display effect.

A 2D/3D switching apparatus includes a switching layer that includes a cylindrical lens grating and a cavity defined by a cylindrical curved surface of the cylindrical lens grating and a cover, a container for storing a transparent liquid that has a refractive index equal to a refractive index of a material of the cylindrical lens grating, and a vacuum pump respectively connected with the cavity of the switching layer and the container. The vacuum pump injects the transparent liquid from the container to the cavity of the switching layer, or injects the transparent liquid from the cavity to the container.

In one implementation, a method of operating a lenticular display is performed by a device including a processor, non-transitory memory, an image sensor, and a lenticular display. The method includes displaying, via the lenticular display, first content at a horizontal angle of a first user and second content, different than the first content, at a horizontal angle of a second user. The method further includes displaying, via the lenticular display, the first content at a second horizontal angle of the first user and the second content at a second horizontal angle of the second user.