Polarization Fields: Dynamic Light Field Display using Multi-Layer LCDs
Polarization-based vs. attenuation-based multi-layer LCDs. (Top, Left) An attenuation-based light field display requires stacking liquid crystal panels with polarizers between each layer. This construction effectively creates a programmable transparency stack. (Top, Right) Polarization-based light field displays improve optical efficiency using a single pair of crossed polarizers. (Bottom) Corresponding photographs of the prototype configured as a an attenuation-based vs. polarization-based multi-layer LCD. Image credit: MIT Media Lab, Camera Culture Group; UBC, Imager Laboratory
We introduce polarization field displays as an optically-efficient design for dynamic light field display using multi-layered LCDs. Such displays consist of a stacked set of liquid crystal panels with a single pair of crossed linear polarizers. Each layer is modeled as a spatially-controllable polarization rotator, as opposed to a conventional spatial light modulator that directly attenuates light. Color display is achieved using field sequential color illumination with monochromatic LCDs, mitigating severe attenuation and moiré occurring with layered color filter arrays. We demonstrate such displays can be controlled, at interactive refresh rates, by adopting the SART algorithm to tomographically solve for the optimal spatially-varying polarization state rotations applied by each layer. We validate our design by constructing a prototype using modified off-the-shelf panels. We demonstrate interactive display using a GPU-based SART implementation supporting both polarization-based and attenuation-based architectures. Experiments characterize the accuracy of our image formation model, verifying polarization field displays achieve increased brightness, higher resolution, and extended depth of field, as compared to existing automultiscopic display methods for dual-layer and multi-layer LCDs.
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Citation
D. Lanman, G. Wetzstein, M. Hirsch, W. Heidrich, R. Raskar. Polarization Fields: Dynamic Light Field Display using Multi-Layer LCDs. Proc. of SIGGRAPH Asia 2011 (ACM Transactions on Graphics 30, 6), 2011.
BibTeX
@article{Lanman_et_al:2011:PolarizationFields,
author = {D. Lanman and G. Wetzstein and M. Hirsch and W. Heidrich and R. Raskar},
title = {Polarization Fields: Dynamic Light Field Display using Multi-Layer {LCD}s},
journal = {ACM Trans. Graph.},
volume = {30},
number = {6},
year = {2011},
publisher = {ACM},
address = {New York, NY, USA}
}
[via MIT Media Lab]
Category: Articles, Computer Science, SIGGRAPH Asia
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