Head up display apparatus and display control method thereof

A display control method of a head up display apparatus displaying, to a driver, a virtual image superimposed on scenery ahead of a vehicle by projecting an image onto a windshield or a combiner of the vehicle, comprising:

• an image input step of receiving an image captured by a camera as input and extracting a predetermined object from the image;
• an information acquiring step of acquiring object information containing a position of the object inside the image and distance information containing a distance from the object in a space;
• an image creating step of creating an image of the virtual image to be superimposed on the object;
• a converting step of performing a conversion processing for correcting a position of a display area that is a range in which the image is displayable in a visual recognition area of the windshield or the combiner and a display position of the image inside the display area at least in a vertical up and down direction;
• a display controlling step of performing control for superimposing the image on the visual recognition area by using data caused after the correction;
• and
• a display step of superimposing the image on the visual recognition area in accordance with the control,
• wherein, in the converting step, the conversion processing is performed so that the display position of the image inside the display area matches the position of the object caused when the object is watched from a point-of-view position of the driver as a basic setting through the visual recognition area.

A head up display apparatus displaying, to a driver, a virtual image superimposed on scenery ahead of a vehicle by projecting an image onto a windshield or a combiner of the vehicle, comprising:

• an image input unit configured to receive an image captured by a camera mounted on a vehicle as input and extract information related to a predetermined object from the image;
• an information acquiring unit configured to acquire object information containing a position of the object inside the image input by the image input unit and distance information containing a distance from the object in a space;
• an image creating unit configured to create an image of the virtual image to be superimposed on the object, based on the information acquired by the information acquiring unit;
• a converter configured to, by using the acquired information from the information acquiring unit, perform a conversion processing for correcting a position of a display area that is a range in which the image created by the image creating unit is displayable in a visual recognition area of the windshield or the combiner and a display position of the image inside the display area at least in a vertical up and down direction;
• a display controller configured to correct the image by using the converter, and perform control for superimposing the image on the visual recognition area by using data caused after the correction;
• and
• a display configured to superimpose the image on the visual recognition area in accordance with the control,
• wherein the display includes:
• an optical system configured to guide image light of the image to the visual recognition area, the optical system including a mirror, and an angle of which is changeable, and having a configuration in which a position of the display area inside the visual recognition area is changed by change of a projection position of the image light onto the visual recognition area in accordance with the angle;
• a driving unit configured to perform driving so as to change the angle of the mirror on the basis of an operation of the driver or the control;
• and
• a detector configured to detect the angle of the mirror, and
• wherein a position of the display area inside the visual recognition area is changed by change of a projection position of the image light onto the visual recognition area in accordance with the angle of the mirror, and
• the converter performs the conversion processing so that the display position of the image inside the display area matches the position of the object caused when the object is watched from a point-of-view position of the driver as a basic setting in accordance with the angle of the mirror through the visual recognition area.

A display control method of a head up display apparatus displaying, to a driver, a virtual image superimposed on scenery ahead of the vehicle by projecting an image onto a windshield or a combiner of a vehicle, comprising:

• an image input step of receiving an image captured by a camera as input and extracting a predetermined object from the image;
• an information acquiring step of acquiring object information containing a position of the object inside the image and distance information containing a distance from the object in a space;
• an image creating step of creating an image of the virtual image to be superimposed on the object;
• a converting step of, by using the acquired information, performing a conversion processing for correcting a position of a display area that is a range in which the image is displayable in a visual recognition area of the windshield or the combiner and a display position of the image inside the display area at least in a vertical up and down direction;
• and
• a display controlling step of performing control for superimposing the image on the visual recognition area by using data caused after the correction,
• wherein, as a display superimposing the image on the visual recognition area in accordance with the control, the head up display apparatus includes:
• an optical system configured to guide image light of the image to the visual recognition area, the optical system including a mirror, an angle of which is changeable, and having a configuration in which a position of the display area inside the visual recognition area is changed by change of a projection position of the image light onto the visual recognition area in accordance with the angle;
• a driving unit configured to perform driving so as to change the angle of the mirror on the basis of an operation of the driver or the control;
• and
• a detector configured to detect the angle of the mirror, and
• in the converting step, the conversion processing is performed so that the display position of the image inside the display area matches the position of the object caused when the object is watched from a point-of-view position of the driver as a basic setting in accordance with the angle of the mirror through the visual recognition area.

A head up display apparatus displaying, to a driver, a virtual image superimposed on scenery ahead of a vehicle by projecting an image onto a windshield or a combiner of the vehicle, comprising:

• an image input unit configured to receive an image captured by a camera mounted on the vehicle as input and extract information related to a predetermined object from the image;
• an information acquiring unit configured to acquire object information containing a position of the object inside the image input by the image input unit, distance information containing a distance from the object in a space, and point-of-view information containing a point-of-view position of the driver who is watching a visual recognition area of the windshield or the combiner;
• an image creating unit configured to create an image of the virtual image to be superimposed on the object, based on the information acquired by the information acquiring unit;
• a converter configured to, by using the acquired information from the information acquiring unit, perform a conversion processing for correcting a position of a display area that is a range in which the image is displayable in the visual recognition area and a display position of the an image inside the a display area at least in a vertical up and down direction;
• a display controller configured to correct the image by using the converter and perform control for superimposing the image on the visual recognition area by using data caused after the correction;
• and
• a display configured to superimpose the image on the visual recognition area by projection display in accordance with the control of the display controller,
• wherein the converter performs the conversion processing so that the display position of the image inside the display area matches the position of the object caused when the object is watched from the point-of-view position of the driver through the visual recognition area.

A display control method of a head up display apparatus displaying, to a driver, a virtual image superimposed on scenery ahead of a vehicle by projecting an image onto a windshield or a combiner of the vehicle, comprising:

• an image input step of receiving an image captured by a camera as input and extracting a predetermined object from the image;
• an information acquiring step of acquiring object information containing a position of the object inside the image, distance information containing a distance from the object in a space, and point-of-view information containing a point-of-view position of the driver who is watching a visual recognition area of the windshield or the combiner;
• an image creating step of creating an image of the virtual image to be superimposed on the object;
• a converting step of, by using the acquired information, performing a conversion processing for correcting a position of a display area that is a range in which the image is displayable in the visual recognition area and a display position of the image inside the display area at least in a vertical up and down direction;
• a display controlling step of performing control for superimposing the image on the visual recognition area by using data caused after the correction;
• and
• a display step of superimposing the image on the visual recognition area by projection display in accordance with the control,
• wherein, in the converting step, the conversion processing is performed so that the display position of the image inside the display area matches the position of the object caused when the object is watched from the point-of-view position of the driver through the visual recognition area.