Philip Surman

State of the Art in Stereoscopic and Autostereoscopic Displays

Underlying principles of stereoscopic direct-view displays, binocular head-mounted displays, and autostereoscopic direct-view displays are explained and some early work as well as the state of the art in those technologies are reviewed. Stereoscopic displays require eyewear and can be categorized based on the multiplexing scheme as: 1) color multiplexed (old technology but there are some recent developments; low-quality due to color reproduction and crosstalk issues; simple and does not require additional electronics hardware); 2) polarization multiplexed (requires polarized light output and polarization-based passive eyewear; high-resolution and high-quality displays available); and 3) time multiplexed (requires faster display hardware and active glasses synchronized with the display; high-resolution commercial products available). Binocular head-mounted displays can readily provide 3-D, virtual images, immersive experience, and more possibilities for interactive displays. However, the bulk of the optics, matching of the left and right ocular images and obtaining a large field of view make the designs quite challenging. Some of the recent developments using unconventional optical relays allow for thin form factors and open up new possibilities. Autostereoscopic displays are very attractive as they do not require any eyewear. There are many possibilities in this category including: two-view (the simplest implementations are with a parallax barrier or a lenticular screen), multiview, head tracked (requires active optics to redirect the rays to a moving viewer), and super multiview (potentially can solve the accommodation-convergence mismatch problem). Earlier 3-D booms did not last long mainly due to the unavailability of enabling technologies and the content. Current developments in the hardware technologies provide a renewed interest in 3-D displays both from the consumers and the display manufacturers, which is evidenced by the recent commercial products and new research results in this field.

Advanced three-dimensional television system technologies

We describe the goals of the ATTEST project, which started in March 2002 as part of the Information Society Technologies (IST) programme, sponsored by the European Commission. In the 2-year project, several industrial and academic partners cooperate towards a flexible, 2D-compatible and commercially feasible 3D-TV system-for broadcast environments. An entire 3D-video chain will be developed. We discuss the goals for content creation, coding, transmission, display and the central role that human 3D perception research will play in optimizing the entire chain. The goals include the development of a new 3D camera, algorithms to convert existing 2D-video material into 3D, a 2D-compatible coding and transmission scheme for 3D video using MPEG-2/4/7, and two new autostereoscopic displays. With the combination of industrial and academic partners and the technological progress obtained from earlier 3D projects, we expect to achieve the ATTEST goal of developing the first commercially feasible European 3D-TV broadcast system.

Head tracked 3d displays

It is anticipated that head tracked 3D displays will provide the next generation of display suitable for widespread use. Although there is an extensive range of 3D display types currently available, head tracked displays have the advantage that they present the minimum amount of image information necessary for the perception of 3D. The advantages and disadvantages of the various 3D approaches are considered and a single and a multi-user head tracked display are described. Future work based on the findings of a prototype multi-user display that has been constructed is considered.

A Roadmap for Autostereoscopic Multi-Viewer Domestic TV Displays

This paper presents a brief overview of the current technologies and technical approaches that may lead to viable and user-acceptable domestic autostereoscopic multi-viewer television displays. It illustrates the performance attributes of the various technological approaches and points to the most likely approaches to succeed within the next 10 years. Finally, it shows possible timescales for the enabling technologies for 3D display, and concludes that multi-user autostereoscopic displays may be the first to gain widespread use

HELIUM3D: A laser-scanned head-tracked autostereoscopic display

Abstract A multi‐user autostereoscopic display based on laser scanning is described in this paper. It does not require the wearing of special glasses; it can provide 3D to several viewers who have a large degree of freedom of movement; and it requires the display of only a minimum amount of information. The display operates by providing regions in the viewing field, referred to as “exit pupils,” which follow the positions of the viewers’ eyes under the control of a multi‐user head tracker. The display incorporates an RGB laser illumination source that illuminates a light engine. The light directions are controlled by a spatial light modulator, and a front screen assembly incorporates a novel Gabor superlens. Its operating principle is explained in this paper, as is the construction of three iterations of the display. Finally, a method of developing the display into one that is suitable for television applications is described.

Measurement and evaluation of head tracked auto-stereoscopic displays

This paper describes objective and subjective display-related measurement methods to evaluate the performance of a laser illuminated head tracked auto-stereoscopic display. Essential characteristics are speckle, exit pupils and crosstalk. The described methods are used to evaluate a first prototype of an auto-stereoscopic display developed within the European Union-funded HELIUM3D project.

Emerging autostereoscopic displays

Displays that will be the first generation of glasses-free systems, with the exception of the head-tracked displays described in chapter ▶Headand Eye-Tracking Solutions for Autostereoscopic and Holographic 3D Displays, are covered in this chapter. These include both non-head-tracked and various head-tracked approaches. Non-head-tracked displays require the display of increased amounts of information ranging from currently available methods where the number of views presented is typically less than ten to super multiview and light field displays where up to an effective display resolution of around 100 megapixels is required. Head-tracked displays, although they can P. Surman (*) • I. Sexton Imaging and Displays Research Group, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK e-mail: psurman@dmu.ac.uk; sexton@dmu.ac.uk # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 J. Chen et al. (eds.), Handbook of Visual Display Technology, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-35947-7_115-2 1 be fairly complex, enable the minimum of two views only to be displayed for all users to comfortably see stereo. List of Abbreviations AC Accommodation/convergence DMD Digital micromirror device LCD Liquid crystal display LCOS Liquid crystal on silicon PWM Pulse width modulation SLM Spatial light modulator SMV Super multi-view XGA Extended graphics array

The construction and performance of a multi-viewer 3DTV display

De Montfort University is developing a 3D display which is capable of supplying 3D to several viewers who do not have to wear special glasses, and who are able to move freely over a room-sized area. The device consists of a single liquid crystal display that presents a stereo-pair by employing spatial multiplexing, and has its conventional backlight replaced by novel steering optics controlled by the position of a head position tracker. This is achieved using arrays of novel coaxial optical elements in conjunction with high-density white light emitting diode arrays. The operation of the steering and multiplexing optics will be explained. The prototype display, which uses a four-target electromagnetic head tracker, and incorporates a folded optical system, will be described.