Genaro Saavedra

Progress in 3-D Multiperspective Display by Integral Imaging

Three-dimensional (3-D) imaging techniques have the potential to establish a future mass-market in the fields of entertainment and communications. Integral imaging (InI), which can capture and display true 3-D color images, has been seen as the right technology for 3-D viewing for audiences of more than one person. Due to the advanced degree of its development, InI technology could be ready for massive commercialization in the coming years. This development is the result of a strong research effort performed over the past few years. In this sense, this paper is devoted to reviewing some recent advances in InI, which have allowed improvement in the response of InI systems to the problems of the limited depth of field, poor axial and lateral resolution, pseudoscopic-to-orthoscopic conversion, production of 3-D images with continuous relief, or the limited range of viewing angles of InI monitors.

Fractal zone plates

Fractal zone plates (FZPs), i.e., zone plates with a fractal structure, are described. The focusing properties of this new type of zone plate are compared with those of conventional Fresnel zone plates. It is shown that the axial irradiance exhibited by the FZP has self-similarity properties that can be correlated to those of the diffracting aperture.

Formation of real, orthoscopic integral images by smart pixel mapping

Integral imaging systems are imaging devices that provide 3D images of 3D objects. When integral imaging systems work in their standard configuration the provided reconstructed images are pseudoscopic; that is, are reversed in depth. In this paper we present, for the first time we believe, a technique for formation of real, undistorted, orthoscopic integral images by direct pickup. The technique is based on a smart mapping of pixels of an elemental-images set. Simulated imaging experiments are presented to support our proposal.

Enhanced viewing-angle integral imaging by multiple-axis telecentric relay system

One of the main limitations of integral imaging is the narrow viewing angle. This drawback comes from the limited field of view of microlenses during the pickup and display. We propose a novel all-optical technique which allows the substantial increase of the field of view of any microlens and therefore of the viewing angle of integral-imaging displays.

Enhanced depth of field integral imaging with sensor resolution constraints

One of the main challenges in integral imaging is to overcome the limited depth of field. Although it is widely assumed that such limitation is mainly imposed by diffraction due to lenslet imaging, we show that the most restricting factor is the pixelated structure of the sensor (CCD). In this context, we demonstrate that by proper reduction of the fill factor of pickup microlenses, the depth of field can be substantially improved with no deterioration of lateral resolution.

Multifacet structure of observed reconstructed integral images

Three-dimensional images generated by an integral imaging system suffer from degradations in the form of grid of multiple facets. This multifacet structure breaks the continuity of the observed image and therefore reduces its visual quality. We perform an analysis of this effect and present the guidelines in the design of lenslet imaging parameters for optimization of viewing conditions with respect to the multifacet degradation. We consider the optimization of the system in terms of field of view, observer position and pupil function, lenslet parameters, and type of reconstruction. Numerical tests are presented to verify the theoretical analysis.

3D integral imaging display by smart pseudoscopic-to-orthoscopic conversion (SPOC)

Previously, we reported a digital technique for formation of real, non-distorted, orthoscopic integral images by direct pickup. However the technique was constrained to the case of symmetric image capture and display systems. Here, we report a more general algorithm which allows the pseudoscopic to orthoscopic transformation with full control over the display parameters so that one can generate a set of synthetic elemental images that suits the characteristics of the Integral-Imaging monitor and permits control over the depth and size of the reconstructed 3D scene.

Tunable axial superresolution by annular binary filters. Application to confocal microscopy

We present a set of annular binary pupil filters for increasing the axial resolving capacity of imaging systems. The filters consist of two transparent annuli of the same area. It is shown that by changing the area of the transparent regions it is possible to obtain a tunable reduction of the width of the central lobe of the axial point spread function of the imaging system. However, this reduction is accompanied by a severe increase of the strength of secondary lobes, what can make these filters not very useful when used in conventional imaging systems. That is why we propose to use these filters for apodizing confocal microscopy systems. It is shown that in this case an important reduction is achieved in the volume of the central lobe of the three-dimensional point spread function.

Extended depth-of-field 3-D display and visualization by combination of amplitude-modulated microlenses and deconvolution tools

One of the main challenges in 3-D display and visualization is to overcome its limited depth of field. Such limitation is due to the fast deterioration of lateral resolution for out-of-focus object positions. Here we propose a new method to significantly extend the depth of field. The method is based on the combined benefits of a proper amplitude modulation of the microlenses, and the application of deconvolution tools. Numerical tests are presented to verify the theoretical analysis.

White-light imaging with fractal zone plates.

We report the achievement of the first images to our knowledge obtained with a fractal zone plates (FraZPs). FraZPs are diffractive lenses characterized by the fractal structure of their foci. This property predicts an improved performance of FraZPs as image forming devices with an extended depth of field and predicts a reduced chromatic aberration under white-light illumination. These theoretical predictions are confirmed experimentally in this work. We show that the polychromatic modulation transfer function of a FraZP affected by defocus is about two times better than one corresponding to a Fresnel zone plate.