Color-image generation by use of binary-phase holograms

Synthesis of three-dimensional light fields with binary spatial light modulators

Computation of a binary spatial light modulator (SLM) pattern that generates a desired light field is a challenging quantization problem for which several algorithms have been proposed, mainly for far-field or Fourier plane reconstructions. We study this problem assuming that the desired light field is synthesized within a volumetric region in the non-far-field range after free space propagation from the SLM plane. We use Fresnel and Rayleigh-Sommerfeld scalar diffraction theories for propagation of light. We show that, when the desired field is confined to a sufficiently narrow region of space, the ideal gray-level complex-valued SLM pattern generating it becomes sufficiently low pass (oversampled) so it can be successfully halftoned into a binary SLM pattern by solving two decoupled real-valued constrained halftoning problems. Our simulation results indicate that, when the synthesis region is considered, the binary SLM is indistinguishable from a lower resolution full complex gray-level SLM. In our approach, free space propagation related computations are done only once at the beginning, and the rest of the computation time is spent on carrying out standard image halftoning.

Design and fabrication of stacked, computer generated holograms for multicolor image generation

We present a diffractive optical element consisting of computer-generated holograms and dielectric multilayer mirrors in a stratified setup. Illuminated with a white laser beam, consisting of three single lasers with wavelengths of 635 nm, 543 nm, and 473 nm, this element enables the far field projection of arbitrary, multicolor images. Certain advantages of holographic image generation, e.g., the possibility of a large depth of focus and a very easy optical setup, are maintained with the new element.

Full-color autostereoscopic 3D display system using color-dispersion-compensated synthetic phase holograms

A novel full-color autostereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) display system has been developed using color-dispersion-compensated (CDC) synthetic phase holograms (SPHs) on a phase-type spatial light modulator. To design the CDC phase holograms, we used a modified iterative Fourier transform algorithm with scaling constants and phase quantization level constraints. We obtained a high diffraction efficiency (~90.04%), a large signal-to-noise ratio (~9.57dB), and a low reconstruction error (~0.0011) from our simulation results. Each optimized phase hologram was synthesized with each CDC directional hologram for red, green, and blue wavelengths for full-color autostereoscopic 3D display. The CDC SPHs were composed and modulated by only one phase-type spatial light modulator. We have demonstrated experimentally that the designed CDC SPHs are able to generate full-color autostereoscopic 3D images and video frames very well, without any use of glasses.