Abstract
We improved the three-dimensional (3D) crosstalk level of multi-view 3D displays using a lens array with small f-number, thereby facilitating a wide 3D viewing window. In particular, we designed a polarization-dependent-switching liquid crystal (LC)-based gradient refractive index (GRIN) lens array that could be switched between 2D and 3D viewing modes. For the GRIN lens with a small f-number (1.08), we studied the effect of the interfacial curvature between the plano-concave isotropic polymer layer and the plano-convex birefringent LC layer on the aberration properties. We examined the conventional spherical, quadratic polynomial aspherical, and a high-order (fourth-order) polynomial aspherical curvature. For the high-order polynomial aspherical curvature, the achievable transverse spherical aberration (TSA = 10.2 µm) was considerably lower than that with the spherical (TSA = 100.3 µm) and quadratic polynomial aspherical (TSA = 30.4 µm) curvatures. Consequently, the angular luminance distributions for each view were sharper for the high-order polynomial interfacial curvature. We designed multi-view (43-view) 3D displays using the arrays of switchable LC lenses with different curvatures, and the average adjacent crosstalk levels within the entire viewing window (50°) were 68.5%, 73.3%, and 60.0% for the spherical, quadratic polynomial aspherical, and high-order polynomial aspherical curvatures, respectively.
Highlights
Three-dimensional (3D) displays enhance viewer experience by providing 3D depth information of objects as opposed to 2D displays
Compared with conventional passive plano-convex lens arrays used in autostereoscopic 3D displays without the 2D/3D mode conversion function, the aberration problem is relatively more severe for a switchable liquid crystal (LC) gradient refractive index (GRIN) lens with flat surfaces because of the additional ray distortion at the air-substrate interface [30]; the problem worsens for lenses with a considerably smaller f -number required for mobile 3D displays, resulting in high 3D crosstalk levels
By varying the interfacial curvature profiles (conventional spherical, quadratic polynomial aspherical, and high-order polynomial aspherical curvatures), we investigated the TSA properties of lens arrays and their effects on the
Summary
Three-dimensional (3D) displays enhance viewer experience by providing 3D depth information of objects as opposed to 2D displays. For high-resolution mobile panels, because of the use of periodically patterned electrodes, the lens fill factor of the LC-based GRIN lens array decreases considerably with a decrease in the lens pitch Another method for realizing switchable ray focusing is to exploit the birefringent properties of the LC, but without electrically switching the LC in an LC-based GRIN lens. Compared with conventional passive plano-convex lens arrays used in autostereoscopic 3D displays without the 2D/3D mode conversion function, the aberration problem is relatively more severe for a switchable LC GRIN lens with flat surfaces because of the additional ray distortion at the air-substrate interface [30]; the problem worsens for lenses with a considerably smaller f -number required for mobile 3D displays, resulting in high 3D crosstalk levels. The average value of adjacent-view crosstalk levels was 60.0% for the high-order polynomial aspherical curvature, which was lower than those of the spherical and quadratic polynomial aspherical curvatures by more than 8.5% and 13.3%, respectively
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