Apparatus for and method of displaying image and computer-readable recording medium

An image display apparatus comprising:

• a projection screen including a central screen area and side screen areas defined at opposing lateral sides of said central screen area, said side screen areas being successively inclined toward an observer position from which front surfaces of said central screen area and said side screen areas are viewed;
• image projecting means for projecting images based on image data for display onto rear surfaces of said central screen area and said side screen areas, said image projecting means projecting from a projector position substantially centrally aligned with said central screen area;
• each of said side screen areas having a first width defined by a distance from a first lateral edge to a second lateral edge thereof;
• each of said side screen areas having a perceived width as viewed from a viewing direction of said image projecting means which is a distance subtending a view angle defined by sightings from said projector position to said first and second lateral edges and extending from one of said first and second lateral edges which is closest to said projector position in a direction orthogonal to said viewing direction;
• each of said side screen areas having a horizontal distortion ratio defined therefor which is a horizontal elongation ratio of said first width to said perceived width of each of said side screen areas;
• and
• control means for horizontally correcting image position data from a three dimensional environment for images projected onto respective ones of said side screen areas of said projection screen by multiplying said image position data by an inverse of said horizontal distortion ratio for each of said side screen areas to precompress horizontally said image position data, and producing said image data for display therefrom, whereby horizontal distortion of the images projected on said side screen areas is at least partially corrected for.

A method of projecting images comprising the steps of:

• providing a projection screen including a central screen area and side screen areas defined at opposing lateral sides of said central screen area, said side screen areas being successively inclined toward an observer position from which front surfaces of said central screen area and said side screen areas are viewed;
• providing an image projecting means for projecting images based on image data for display onto rear surfaces of said central screen area and said side screen areas, said image projecting means projecting from a projector position substantially centrally aligned with said central screen area;
• determining a first width, of each of said side screen areas, defined by a distance from a first lateral edge to a second lateral edge of each of said side screen areas;
• determining a perceived width, of each of said side screen areas as viewed from a viewing direction of said image projecting means, each perceived width being a distance subtending a view angle defined by sightlines from said projector position to said first and second lateral edges and extending from one of said first and second lateral edges which is closest to said projector position in a direction orthogonal to said viewing direction for respective ones of said side screen areas;
• determining a horizontal distortion ratio for each of said side screen areas which is a horizontal elongation ratio of said first width to said perceived width of each of said side screen areas;
• and
• horizontally correcting image position data from a three dimensional environment for images projected onto respective ones of said side screen areas of said projection screen by multiplying said image position data by an inverse of said horizontal distortion ratio for each of said side screen areas to precompress horizontally said image position data, and producing said image data for display therefrom, whereby horizontal distortion of the images projected on said side screen areas is at least partially corrected for.