Three?dimensional display utilizing a diffractive optical element and an active matrix liquid crystal display

Abstract

We describe the design, construction, and performance of the first real‐time autostereoscopic three‐dimensional (3‐D) display based on the partial pixel 3‐D display architecture. The primary optical components of the 3‐D display are an active‐matrix liquid crystal display and a diffractive optical element (DOE). The display operates at video frame rates and is driven with a conventional VGA signal. Three‐dimensional animations with horizontal motion parallax are readily viewable as sets of stereo images. Formation of the virtual viewing slits by diffraction from the partial pixel apertures is experimentally verified. The measured contrast and perceived brightness of the display are excellent, but there are minor flaws in image quality due to secondary images. The source of these images and how they may be eliminated is discussed. The effects of manufacturing‐related systematic errors in the DOE are also analyzed. © 1996 Society of Photo−Optical Instrumentation Engineers.