Abstract:The technologies and advances in the field of three-dimensional (3D) displays within the past two decades are reviewed. Specifically, the developments in diffractive, refractive, reflective and occlusive 3D display strategies are discussed, highlighting the advantages and limitations of the associated systems. The partial pixel and the partial object pixel architectures associated with autostereoscopic displays are discussed in some detail, while other techniques are briefly introduced. It is shown that major breakthroughs occurred with the development of computer-generated holography (CGH), liquid crystal arrays (LCA) and other spatial light modulators (SLM), and also the discrete fabrication of diffractive and holographic optical elements (DOE and HOE), micromirror arrays, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). These techniques and components have enabled the implementation of spatially and angularly multiplexed 3D images and scenes with potentially dynamic (time-varying) features.

The characteristics of a dual-input hybrid acousto-optic device are investigated numerically and experimentally. The device, which operates as a set-reset flip-flop, uses the well-known bistable acousto-optic device with feedback to which two input beams are applied. The resulting flip-flop is analyzed numerically by use of nonlinear dynamical and nonlinear circuit-modeling techniques, and some of its properties are demonstrated experimentally.

No abstract

No abstract

A pixelated holographic stereogram is proposed and experimentally studied for the emulation of a spatially multiplexed composite three-dimensional (3-D) pixel display. With this approach, pixelated holograms are utilized to compose spatially multiplexed images. Each composite pixel in the holographic optical element array has a diffraction pattern that scatters light into predefined spatial directions. Under reconstruction, each pixel generates different intensities along a range of viewing angles. When the composite holographic pixel array is assembled, it has the capability to deliver 3-D effects. The technique, together with a novel recording scheme that is designed to synthesize a computerized 3-D display system based on this concept, is described in some detail.