| Abstract: | Abstract— The wide‐viewing freedom often requested by users of autostereoscopic displays can be delivered by spatial multiplexing of multiple views in which a sequence of images is directed into respective directions by a suitable autostereoscopic optical system. This gives rise to two important design considerations — the optical efficiency and the resolution efficiency of the device. Optical efficiency is particularly important in portable devices such as cell phones. A comparison is given between lens and barrier systems for various spatial multiplexing arrangements. Parallax‐barrier displays suffer from reduced optical efficiency as the number of views presented increases whereas throughput efficiency is independent of the number of views for lens displays. An autostereoscopic optical system is presented for the emerging class of highly efficient polarizer‐free displays. Resolution efficiency can be evaluated by investigating quantitative and subjective comparisons of resolution losses and pixel appearance in each 3‐D image. Specifically, 2.2‐in.‐diagonal 2‐D/3‐D panel performance has been assessed using Nyquist boundaries, human‐visual contrast‐sensitivity models, and autostereoscopic‐display optical output simulations. Four‐view vertical Polarization‐Activated Microlens technology with either QVGA mosaic or VGA striped pixel arrangements is a strong candidate for an optimum compromise between display brightness, viewing angle, and 3‐D pixel appearance. |
