Full-color stereoscopic imaging with a single-pixel photodetector

Abstract

We present an optical system for stereoscopic color imaging by using a single-pixel detector. The system works by illuminating the input scene with a sequence of microstructured light patterns generated by a color digital light projector (DLP). A single monochromatic photodiode, synchronized with the DLP, measures the light scattered by the object for each pattern. The image is recovered computationally by applying compressive sensing techniques. The RGB chromatic components of the image are discriminated by exploiting the time-multiplexed color codification of the DLP. The stereoscopic pair is obtained by splitting the light field generated by the DLP and projecting microstructured light patterns onto the sample from two different directions. The experimental setup is configured by simple optical components, a commercial photodiode and an off-the-shelf DLP projector. Color stereoscopic images of a 3-D scene obtained with this system are shown.