Why Holographic 3D Light Field Displays are Impossible, and How to Build One Anyway

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Abbreviated Title: SMPTE Mot. Imag. J
Volume: 132, No. 10, pp. 13–26
Abstract: In recent years, we have seen immense improvement in video quality culminating in today’s ultrahigh-definition with high dynamic range and wide color gamut. Viewers can no longer benefit from increases in resolution in flat, 2D images; they simply cannot see any more detail. Yet, both consumers and producers are looking for improved displays, including 3D displays. There have been repeated attempts to introduce stereoscopic 3D over many decades. These have either failed completely or lacked conspicuous success. Yet, people still seem fascinated by true 3D displays, such as laser-generated holograms. If high-quality true 3D displays were physically and commercially viable, it would be a transformative technology set to replace the billions of 2D displays currently in use. The consequences for the industry, both hardware and content production, would be enormous. This article seeks to address the potential for light field displays to become the next, and ultimate, display technology. In so doing, it discusses the underlying principles of light field displays and contrasts them to stereoscopic 3D with its many limitations. Producing high-quality light field displays is a very significant challenge. A huge amount of information must be conveyed to viewers so that they can see high-resolution images at different depths and from different perspectives. Light field displays are based on underlying 2D displays. Foremost among the technical challenges is the huge number of pixels required. While early commercial light field displays are already available, i they have limited spatial resolution and a very limited depth of field. The experience of viewing is something like viewing a puppet theater. Unfortunately, their conventional, century-old approach does not scale to large depths of field. This article describes how a light field display’s depth of field depends on the characteristics of the display. Based on conventional 2D sampling theory, it gives the absolute resolution of the display (that is the smallest object, say mm, that can be resolved). But viewers actually perceive angular resolution, so the analysis is adjusted accordingly. The analysis reveals the enormous number of pixels required for a large depth of field and, consequently, why existing approaches are untenable. By analyzing the image formation process from the viewer’s perspective, the article shows that many fewer pixels are required to achieve a large depth of field. Even so, more resolution is required. It is shown how this can be provided by rendering images over multiple frames, benefiting from the higher frame rates now becoming available. The analyses are complemented by an example, based on a seven-year-old display resolution, to demonstrate the viability of this approach. Considering current commercial, and near future, displays, the approach scales to larger, higher-resolution displays. Light field displays were not viable a few years ago. However, advancements in display technology and a better understanding of appropriate image rendering, presented here, imply that they have become practical and will become more so in the future.
Publication Date: 2023-11-01
DOI: 10.5594/JMI.2023.3278792
ISSN: Print: 1545-0279 | Electronic: 2160-2492
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3278792
Author(s): Tim Borer
bio
Tim Borer has worked for many years in broadcasting research and development at BBC and elsewhere. His work includes video processing, standards conversion, networked production, video compression, high-dynamic-range video and, of course, light fields. He is a chartered engineer (U.K.), Senior Member of the IEEE and SMPTE Fellow.
Keyword(s): 3D Video, Depth of Field, Holographic Display, Integral Imaging, Light Field Display, Stereoscopic
Copyright: © 2023 SMPTE

Bibliographic Reference(s)

T. Borer, “Sampling Requirements for Lightfield Displays With a Large Depth of Field,” Proc. SPIE 10997, Three-Dimensional Imaging, Visualization, and Display 2019, vol. 10997, May 14, 2019, doi: 10.1117/12.2522372. Accessed: May 16, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp-pdf-files/WHP370.pdf EXTERNAL
P. Rotter, “Why Did the 3D Revolution Fail?: The Present and Future of Stereoscopy (Commentary),” IEEE Technol. Soc. Mag., 36(1):81–85, 2017. EXTERNAL
“Integral Photography: A New Discovery by Professor Lippmann by the French Correspondent of the Scientific American.” Accessed: May 16, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/integral-photography/techniques can achieve a uniform resolution across the whole depth range. While early commercial light field displays are available, they have quite low spatial resolution and a limited depth of field. The images they produce have to be viewed “in a box” limited by their depth of field. This is an unacceptable constraint for the video industry and for other applications. The issue of depth of field must be resolved before light field displays can achieve wide acceptance. This article describes a way in which this can be done. Figure 20 shows the stark difference between the resolution generated by the conventional approach and through sharing ray angles across hogels and frames. Both traces in the figure are based on the same, “4K,” underlying display resolution. The example is based on a display resolution first introduced in the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium smartphone in 2015. The latest version of this smartphone has a 120-Hz frame rate, almost exactly in line with the example in this article. In the intervening years since the “4K” Xperia was first introduced, there have been substantial improvements EXTERNAL
M. Hamilton, N. Wells, and A. Soares, “On Requirements for Field of Light Displays to Pass the Visual Turing Test,” 2022 IEEE Int. Symp. on Multimedia (ISM), Italy, pp. 86–87, 2022, doi: 10.1109/ISM55400.2022.00019. EXTERNAL
“Stereo-Blind: People Who Can’t See 3D,” Media College, Jan. 19, 2010. Accessed: May 16, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.mediacollege.com/3d/depth-perception/stereoblind.html EXTERNAL
M. Zwicker, W. Matusik, F. Durand, H. Pfister, and C. Forlines, “Antialiasing for Automultiscopic 3D Displays,” ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 Sketches Article 107, 2006. EXTERNAL
M. Lucente, “Diffraction-Specific Fringe Computation for Electro-Holography,” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sept. 1994. EXTERNAL
D. Katzmaier , “Shambling Corpse of 3D TV Finally Falls Down Dead,” CNET, Jan. 17, 2017. Accessed: May 16, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.cnet.com/news/shambling-corpse-of-3d-tv-finally-falls-down-dead EXTERNAL
J. Geng, “Three-Dimensional Display Technologies,” Adv. Opt. Photon., 5:456–535, 2013. EXTERNAL
G. Lippmann, “Epreuves Réversibles. Photographies Integrals (Reversible Prints. Integral Photographs),” Comptes Rendus l’Acad. Sci., 146(9):446–451, 1908. EXTERNAL

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Tim Borer; Why Holographic 3D Light Field Displays are Impossible, and How to Build One Anyway, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 10, 2023); SMPTE, 2023. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3278792

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Tim Borer; Why Holographic 3D Light Field Displays are Impossible, and How to Build One Anyway, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 10, 2023); SMPTE, 2023. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3278792

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Tim Borer; Why Holographic 3D Light Field Displays are Impossible, and How to Build One Anyway, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 10, 2023); SMPTE, 2023
doi: 10.5594/JMI.2023.3278792
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/JMI.2023.3278792

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Tim Borer; <cite id="bib-10-5594-jmi-2023-3278792">Why Holographic 3D Light Field Displays are Impossible, and How to Build One Anyway</cite>, SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal ( Volume: 132, Issue: 10, 2023); SMPTE, 2023
<span class="doi">10.5594/JMI.2023.3278792</span>
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