US Patent 7265902 Display apparatus switchable between a two-dimensional display and a three-dimensional display

A display apparatus (20) includes a display panel (22) having pixels, a movable light shielding plate (23), and a light deflection plate (24). The light shielding plate is interposed between the display panel and the light deflection plate, and includes strip-shaped transparent portions (231) and strip-shaped non-transparent portions (232) alternately arranged thereat. The light deflection plate includes a transparent substrate (243) having light deflection elements (2411) formed thereon. The light deflection elements are arranged in rows, which are spaced apart at predetermined intervals. The light deflection elements respectively correspond to individual pixels of the display panel. When the light shielding plate is positioned so that the transparent portions correspond to the light deflection elements, the light deflection elements operate to provide 3D images. When the light shielding plate is positioned so that the non-transparent portions correspond to the light deflection elements, the light deflection plate operates to provide 2D images.