A brand-new glasses-free 3D light field display screen system with a significantly extended viewing distance represents a crucial step towards compact, realistic-looking 3D display screens that might be used for televisions, portable electronics, and table-top devices. Credit: Wen Qiao, Soochow University
New approach lays foundation for compact 3D display screens that create more sensible virtual scenes.
Scientists have actually demonstrated a model glasses-free 3D light field display system with a considerably extended seeing range thanks to a freshly developed flat lens. The system is an essential step towards compact, realistic-looking 3D display screens that might be used for tvs, portable electronic devices, and table-top devices.
Light field displays use a thick field of light rays to produce full-color real-time 3D videos that can be viewed without glasses. This method to producing a 3D display screen allows numerous individuals to see the virtual scene simultaneously, just like a genuine 3D item.
The scientists thoroughly designed diffractive flat lenses that were then intertwined to develop a pixelated view modulator, the optical part that creates the various viewpoints for a scene in a light field screen. A 3D screen that develops 4 views like the one envisioned would include four of these lenses, each of which converges the light into an unique view. Intertwining numerous of these lenses enabled them to produce a pixelated view modulator, the optical part that develops the different perspectives for a scene in a light field display screen. A 3D display that creates four views, for example, would use 4 of these lenses, each of which converges the light into an unique view.
The display screen also displayed a light performance that reached 82%, much higher than other similar 3D screen systems that have been reported.
” Most light field 3D display screens have a restricted watching variety, which triggers the 3D virtual image to deteriorate as the observer moves farther away from the gadget,” stated research team leader Wen Qiao from Soochow University. “The nanostructured flat lens we developed is simply 100 microns thick and has a very large depth of focus, which enables a top quality virtual 3D scene to be seen from further away.”
In Optica, Optica Publishing Groups journal for high-impact research, the scientists report that their prototype display exhibits high effectiveness and high color fidelity over viewing distances from 24 cm to 90 cm. These qualities all combine to create a more practical viewing experience.
The researchers thoroughly created diffractive flat lenses that were then intertwined to develop a pixelated view modulator, the optical component that develops the different viewpoints for a scene in a light field display. A 3D display screen that creates 4 views like the one pictured would integrate 4 of these lenses, each of which assembles the light into a special view. Credit: Wen Qiao, Soochow University
” We established this brand-new innovation in hopes of producing display screens that could allow individuals to feel as if they were really together throughout a video conference,” stated Qiao. “With the ongoing development of nanotechnology, we visualize that glasses-free 3D display screens will become a typical part of everyday life and will alter the method people engage with computer systems.”
Producing several views
When looked at from various angles, light field screens create practical images by predicting various views that permit the 3D scene to look the very same. The focal length of the lenses used to produce these views is the limiting factor when it comes to viewing distance.
To conquer this, the researchers carefully developed a new diffractive flat lens by pattern nanostructures onto a flat surface in a way that focuses light. Intertwining several of these lenses allowed them to develop a pixelated view modulator, the optical part that creates the various viewpoints for a scene in a light field screen. A 3D display that creates 4 views, for example, would use four of these lenses, each of which converges the light into an unique view.
” Because flat lenses provide superior light manipulating ability compared to conventional glass lenses, they can be utilized to resolve formidable problems such as minimal motion parallax, crosstalk, visual fatigue, and minimal watching distances in 3D display screens,” stated Qiao.
Testing the prototype
After revealing that the lens accomplished high resolution when focusing the red, green, and blue light used by LCDs to create images, the scientists incorporated them into a 4-inch model 3D light field display with seeing ranges between 24 and 90 centimeters.
The display formed a smooth horizontal parallax with a crosstalk below 26% over all viewing ranges, which implies there were couple of errors that would trigger eye pressure or make the image look unrealistic. The screen likewise exhibited a light effectiveness that reached 82%, much higher than other similar 3D display screen systems that have been reported. High light performance is important for creating a bright virtual image, particularly for applications where power consumption matters such as portable electronics.
Although the prototype showed a viewing angle of just 9 degrees, the scientists state this could be bigger to practically 180 degrees by optimizing the style of the nanostructures utilized to make the flat lenses. In addition to studying this, they prepare to further enhance the light performance by developing a more sophisticated style algorithm for manipulating the light beam at each pixel. They mention that much easier methods to fabricate the nanostructures would also be needed for this type of screen to be practical to produce.
Recommendation: “Vector light field display based upon a linked flat lens with big depth of focus” by Fengbin Zhou, Feng Zhou, Yang Chen, Jianyu Hua, Wen Qiao, and Linsen Chen, 10 March 2022, Optica.DOI: 10.1364/ OPTICA.439613.