3D Display System Based on Spherical Wave Field Synthesis

We present a novel concept and first experimental results of a new type of 3D display, which is based on the synthesis of spherical waves. The setup comprises a lens array (LA) with apertures in the millimeter range and a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. Each pixel of the LCD creates a spherical wave cutout that propagates towards the observer. During the displaying process, the curvature of the spherical waves is dynamically changed by either changing the distance between LA and LCD or by adapting the focal lengths of the lenses. Since the system, similar to holography, seeks to approximate the wavefront of a natural scene, it provides true depth information to the observer and therefore avoids any vergence-accommodation conflict (VAC).