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  Information processing deviceUSPTO Application #: 20070097021Title: Information processing device Abstract: There is provided an information processing apparatus which occupies a small space and which is capable of supplying image information having high definition and high resolution. An information processing apparatus of the invention employs a head mount display (HMD) utilizing compact flat panel displays as a display device for displaying information. The use of a head mount display as the display device of the information processing apparatus prevents any reduction in a work space. It also makes it possible to change the size of a virtual display screen freely. In addition, the information processing apparatus of the invention is capable of displaying a plurality of pieces of information on the virtual display screen at a time. (end of abstract) Agent: Cook, Alex, Mcfarron, Manzo, Cummings & Mehler Ltd - Chicago, IL, US Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Jun Koyama, Yoshiharu Hirakata USPTO Applicaton #: 20070097021 - Class: 345008000 (USPTO) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070097021. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention: [0002] The presents invention relates to an information processing device and a system utilizing a head mount display (HMD). [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art: [0004] Users who deal with electronic information have carried out information processing operations using an information processing apparatus as schematically shown in FIG. 20. In the context of this specification, "information processing operation" means input, acquisition, transmission, exchange, storage, administration and the like of information carried out using a computer or the like. [0005] An input terminal 2001 which is a keyboard, mouse or the like is a device to allow a user to perform an operation of inputting information. A controller 2002 such as a computer connected to the input terminal 2001 is a device to perform processes such as storage, calculation and communication of information. A display device 2003 such as a CRT is a device for outputting information and displaying the same as an image. [0006] In a conventional information processing apparatus, a display device 2003 such as a CRT occupies a large part of a space on a work desk on which the information processing apparatus is operated. Further, the recent increase in the amount of information (characters, images and the like) has resulted in a need for displaying a plurality of pieces of information at a time. [0007] In order to recognize a plurality of pieces of information with reliability, attempts have been made to increase the size of the screens of display devices. However, the volume and weight of a conventional display device such as a CRT have become considerably large with an increase in the screen size, which has made the display device unsuitable for daily use. Further, continued use for a long period of time has been avoided because it has bad influence on human eyes (fatigue, amblyopia and the like). [0008] This has resulted in the spread of flat panel display devices whose bodies are smaller in depth and lighter than those of CRTs. Especially, products utilizing a liquid crystal panel are widely used among such flat panel displays. [0009] Compact liquid crystal panels are portable because they are very light. Liquid crystal panels are advantageous also in that they have less influence on human eyes compared to CRTs. However, they are expensive as display devices for daily use when they are in large screen sizes because they suffer from bad yield of production. [0010] Although flat panel displays such as liquid crystal displays have recently come in practice to replace CRTs as described above, a display of an information processing apparatus still occupies a large part of a space on a work desk. [0011] The present invention has been conceived taking the above-described problem into consideration, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel information processing apparatus in which the above-describe problem is solved. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0012] In an information processing apparatus (device) according to the present invention, a head mount display (HMD) utilizing a compact flat panel display (typically a liquid crystal display) is used as a display for displaying information. The use of a head mount display as a display device for an information processing apparatus makes it possible to solve the problem of the size of a display device encountered in the prior art. A head mount display is advantageous in that it does not reduce an operating space because it is mounted on an operator's head during use and in that the size of a virtual display screen thereof can be freely changed. [0013] A head mount display (HMD) displays an image in a position a few centimeters ahead the user's eyes using an optical system to cause the user's eyes to recognize the image with a sense of virtual reality as if it is displayed on a large display device. [0014] An HMD used in an information processing apparatus according to the present invention has high resolution unlike those in the prior art which have low display resolution, can be driven at a high speed and can display a plurality of pieces of information on a virtual display screen thereof. [0015] Since conventional HMDs have had low resolution, it has been difficult in practice to recognize characters with them. Further, conventional HMDs give fatigue of a considerable degree when used a few hours continuously. In addition, they can result in symptoms that resemble car sickness. Therefore, they are unsuitable as display devices for information processing apparatuses. It is believed that such problems with conventional HMDs can adversely affect eyes and are very much serious from the viewpoint of health. [0016] One of the most significant problems of HMDs is flickers in images provided by HMDs. Such flickers in images are caused by alternating driving performed to prevent the deterioration of liquid crystal materials and to maintain the quality of display. When the inversion period of the positive and negative polarities of a voltage applied to each pixel (inversion period) is in a frequency band which is visible to human eyes (on the order of about 30 Hz), a flicker is visually recognized as a result of a slight difference between a display from an image signal that appears when the signal has the positive polarity and a display that appears when the signal has the negative polarity. [0017] An HMD utilizing a liquid crystal panel having high definition and resolution will have a very high driving frequency. For example, the NTSC and HDTV standards specify required numbers of pixels of about 400,000 and about 2,000,000, respectively. Therefore, the maximum frequency of an input image signal is at about 6 MHz according to the NTSC standard and is in the range from about 20 MHz to about 30 MHz according to the HDTV standard. In order to display such an image signal accurately, a clock signal is required which is at a frequency several times higher than that of the image signal (e.g., within the range from about 50 MHz to about 60 MHz). [0018] In a conventional HMD, it has been difficult to drive the liquid crystal display by accurately alternating such an image signal and clock signal having a high frequency band. The reason is that it has been impossible to manufacture thin film transistors (TFTs) that can accurately operate in such a high frequency from amorphous silicon or polycrystalline silicon. [0019] When an image signal having a dot clock at a very high speed is to be displayed, conventional TFTs have had in a problem in that inaccurate display results from phase shift, noises, the rounding of a signal waveform and the like because periods for writing the image signal in display pixels become short. [0020] An HMD used in an information processing apparatus according to the present invention utilizes TFTs that can be driven at a high speed in a liquid crystal panel incorporated therein. This makes it possible to provide an HMD having high definition and resolution that is free from flickers in images. [0021] Configurations of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention will now be described. [0022] According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus characterized in that it comprises: Continue reading... Full patent description for Information processing device Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Information processing device patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Information processing device or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Display device Next Patent Application: Display apparatus for automatically visualizing an application landscape Industry Class: Computer graphics processing, operator interface processing, and selective visual display systems ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Information processing device patent info. 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