Masako Kashiwagi

30.3: Autostereoscopic Partial 2-D/3-D Switchable Display Using Liquid-Crystal Gradient Index Lens

We developed 12-inch 9-view autostereoscopic partial 2-D/3-D switchable display using liquid crystal gradient index (GRIN) lens. We simulated optically by the stacked refraction-index distribution model and optimized liquid crystal (LC) material and electrode structure. The prototype achieved wide viewing angle and good 3-D image quality with mosaic color filter and vertical lens.

Effect of light ray overlap between neighboring parallax images in autostereoscopic 3D displays

A display system with lens arrays at the front of a high-resolution LCD has been known as a method to realize an autostereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) display. In these displays, a light ray overlap between neighboring parallax images affects the image quality. In this study, the overlap effects were investigated for the one-dimensional (horizontal parallax only) integral imaging (1D-II) method. We fabricated samples of 1D-II displays with different levels of light ray overlaps and evaluated the 3D image by subjective assessment. It is found that the 1D-II display utilizing the proper parallax overlaps can eliminate banding artifact and have good 3D image quality within the wide range of a viewing area.

LC GRIN lens mode with wide viewing angle for rotatable 2D/3D tablet

To widen the vertical and horizontal angular ranges where the lens performs well, the off-axis performance of a liquid crystal gradient index (LC GRIN) lens is analyzed by the combined simulation system of an LC director simulator and a ray-tracing simulator. We found that the angular difference between an LC alignment direction and an electrode array direction of the LC GRIN lens is one of significant parameters, and detailed conditions of structure are established. The measurement result shows that the developed structure reduces the degradation ratio in a luminance profile from 61% to 3.2%. We have applied a user tracking system for the rotatable 3D display, equipped with a detection of a panel orientation and a face position. As a result, we have developed a rotatable 2D/3D tablet whose 3D viewing azimuth angle is over 30° in both landscape and portrait orientations.

Prototyping and optical evaluation of 9-in. OCB time-division-multiplexing 18-view 3-D display

— An integral imaging time-division-multiplexing 18-view 3-D display based on the one-dimensional integral-imaging (1-D-II) technique using a 9-in. OCB-LCD, lenticular sheet, and active shutter has been developed. By simulating a lens shape and a shutter structure and analyzing the light-beam profile of the increasing-parallax-number region to find the best conditions, depth range, and viewing angle were an enhanced and a brighter and flicker-less 3-D image with smooth motion parallax was obtained.