Several methods of increasing the speed and simplicity of the computation of off-axis transmission holograms are presented, with applications to the real-time display ofholographic images. The bipolar intensity approach allows for the real-valued linear summation of interference fringes, a factor of 2 speed increase, and the elimination of image noise caused by object self-interference. An order of magnitude speed increase is obtained through the use of a precomputed look-up table containing a large array of elemental interference patterns corresponding to point source contributions from each of the possible locations in image space. Results achieved using a data-parallelsupercomputer to compute horizontal-parallaxonly holographic patterns containing six megasamples indicate that an image comprised of 10,000 points with arbitrary brightness (gray scale) can be computed in under 1 s. Implemented on a common workstation, the look-up table approach increases computation speed by a factor of 43.

We present a method for computing holographic patterns for the generation of three-dimensional (3-D) holographic images at interactive speeds. We used this method to render holograms on a conventional computer graphics workstation. The framebuffer system supplied signals directly to a real-time holographic ("holovideo") display. We developed an efficient algorithm for computing an image-plane stereogram, a type of hologram that allowed for several computational simplifications. The rendering algorithm generated the holographic pattern by compositing a sequence of view images that were rendered using a recentering shear-camera geometry. Computational efficiencies of our rendering method allowed the workstation to calculate a 6-megabyte holographic pattern in under 2 seconds, over 100 times faster than traditional computing methods. Data-transfer time was negligible. Holovideo displays are ideal for numerous 3-D visualization applications, and promise to provide 3-D images with extreme realism. Although the focus of this work was on fast computation for holovideo, the computed holograms can be displayed using other holographic media. We present our method for generating holographic patterns, preceded by a background section containing an introduction to optical and computational holography and holographic displays.

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We present an electro-optical apparatus capable of displaying a computer generated hologram (CGH) in real time. The CGH is calculated by a supercomputer, read from a fast frame buffer, and transmitted to a high-bandwidth acousto-optic modulator (AOM). Coherent light is modulated by the AOM and optically processed to produce a three-dimensional image with horizontal parallax.

Computer graphics is confined chiefly to flat images. Images may look three-dimensional (3D), and sometimes create the illusion of 3D when displayed, for example, on a stereoscopic display [16, 13, 12]. Nevertheless, when viewing an image on most display systems, the human visual system (HVS) sees a flat plane of pixels. Volumetric displays can create a 3D computer graphics image, but fail to provide many visual depth cues (e.g. shading texture gradients) and cannot provide the powerful depth cue of overlap (occlusion). Discrete parallax displays (such as lenticular displays) promise to create 3D images with all of the depth cues, but are limited by achievable resolution. Only a real-time electronic holographic ("holovideo") display [11, 6, 8, 7, 9, 21, 22, 20, 2] can create a truly 3D computer graphics image with all of the depth cues (motion parallax, ocular accommodation, occlusion, etc.) and resolution sufficient to provide extreme realism [13]. Holovideo displays promise to enhance numerous applications in the creation and manipulation of information, including telepresence, education, medical imaging, interactive design and scientific visualization.The technology of electronic interactive three-dimensional holographic displays is in its first decade. Though fancied in popular science fiction, only recently have researchers created the first real holovideo systems by confronting the two basic requirements of electronic holography: computational speed and high-bandwidth modulation of visible light. This article describes the approaches used to address these problems, as well as emerging technologies and techniques that provide firm footing for the development of practical holovideo.