Aktina vision: full-parallax light field display system with resolution of 330,000 pixels using top-hat diffusing screen

Abstract

Light field displays technologies are popular glasses-free three-dimensional (3D) display methods, whereby natural 3D images can be viewed by precisely reproducing light rays from the objects. However, sufficient display performances cannot be obtained with conventional display techniques because reproduction of a great number of high-density light rays is required for high quality 3D images. Therefore, we develop a novel light field display method named Aktina Vision, which consists of a special 3D screen with isotropic narrow diffusion characteristics and a display optical system for projecting high-density light rays. In this method, multi-view images with horizontal and vertical parallaxes are projected onto the 3D screen at various angles in a superposed manner. The 3D screen has narrow diffusion angle and top-hat diffusion characteristics for optimal widening of the light rays according to the discrete intervals between the rays. 3D images with high resolution and depth-reproducibility can be displayed by suppressing crosstalk between light rays and reproducing them with continuous luminance distribution. We prototype a display system using 14 exclusively designed 4K projectors and develop a light field calibration technique. The reproduction of 3D images with a resolution of approximately 330,000 pixels, which is three times higher than that of conventional display methods using a lens array, and viewing angles of 35.1° in the horizontal direction and 4.7° in the vertical direction is realized by projecting 350 multiview images in a superposed manner.