Abstract: A method for finding and subsequently tracking the 3-D coordinates of a pair of eyes in at least one face, including receiving image data, which contains a sequence of at least one digital video signal of at least one image sensor, finding eyes or tracking previously found eyes in the image data, ascertaining the 3-D coordinates of the found or tracked eyes, associating the found or tracked eyes with a pair of eyes and providing the 3-D coordinates of the pair of eyes.

Abstract: A spatial light modulator comprising pixels, where for each pixel, a light field amplitude transmitted by the pixel is modulated by an electrowetting cell and/or a light field phase transmitted by the pixel is modulated by an electrowetting cell.

Abstract: An apparatus for the reconstruction of computer-generated video holograms has the object of reconstructing bandwidth-limited holograms with high luminance and image quality in a display having low installation depth, low weight, and reduced effort during production. The apparatus has a focal center field having diffractive optical elements, which conduct coherent light after modulation by a light modulator matrix, which is coded using a video hologram, to an eye position, wherein said light reconstructs a three-dimensional scene in the space spanned by the viewing window and said light modulator.

Abstract: A 3D display device with controllable device for tracking visibility regions is disclosed, and includes a controllable device for tracking a visibility region, generated by way of superposition of light source images, in a observer plane of the display device. In preferred embodiments, the cladding of a waveguide comprises at least one material with optical properties of an anisotropic liquid, or at least two materials with optical properties of an isotropic liquid; a matrix arrangement of control electrodes defines multiple positions to be generated for local exit points in the cladding of the waveguide at which the total reflection is locally cancelled; and a system controller modifies positions of the output coupling points for superposing the output-coupled light through the lens array to the visibility region by displacing an output coupling point, or by switching off one output coupling point and switching on another one.

Abstract: A holographic reconstruction system and method for the three-dimensional reconstruction of object light points of a scene is disclosed. The system includes spatial light modulation means which modulate light waves capable of interference with at least one video hologram, focusing means which focus the modulated light waves so that a viewer can view the reconstructed object light points of the scene from a visibility region that is thereby produced by focusing, and deflection means which position the visibility region by aligning the modulated light waves. The holographic reconstruction system includes deflection control means for controlling the deflection means to sequentially adjust the visibility region to different contiguous viewing positions, and light controlling means for switching the light waves in synchronicity with the deflection control means.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a light modulating device, comprising a SLM and a pixelated optical element, in which a group of at least two adjacent pixels of the SLM in combination with a corresponding group of pixels in the pixelated optical element form a macropixel, the pixelated optical element being of a type such that its pixels comprise a fixed content, each macropixel being used to represent a numerical value which is manifested physically by the states of the pixels of the SLM and the content of the pixels of the pixelated optical element which form the macropixel.

Abstract: The object of the invention is to improve the quality of encoding a CGH of a three-dimensional object on a light modulator with the help of an iterative method with phase encoding and thus to improve the reconstruction quality. Based on given object data sets, a two-dimensional distribution of N complex values of a wave field in a virtual observer window (2), which is located within a transformation area (1), is calculated. The distribution forms there a distribution of complex set-point values, which serves as a basis for comparison for an iterative calculation of the code.

Abstract: An individual, controllable light modulator is configured with a regular pixel structure, for realizing different types of modulation. The spatial light modulator can be realized transmissively and reflectively. The light modulator contains at least one addressable, transmissive layer with a pixel structure and at least one substrate layer with retro-reflecting elements, as well as modulation control means for controlling the modulation of the pixels. The modulation control means produce a number of macropixels from at least two adjacent pixels, to which a selected modulation characteristic is assigned. The retro-reflecting elements are disposed consecutively in such a manner in the substrate layer that, in each case, a retro-reflecting element covers two adjacent pixels of a macropixel of the addressable layer, in order to direct a light bundle, incident in each case on one pixel of a macropixel, sequentially, through further pixels of the macropixel to modulate the incident light bundle.

Abstract: Disclosed is an illumination unit comprising a strip-type optical wave guide and an imaging means, and providing a very high light efficiency with a reduced number of primary light sources. The illumination unit enables the production of a coherent plane wave field having a temporal and spatial coherence required for holographic reconstructions. The strip-type optical wave guide contains extraction elements for extracting injected coherent light guided into an observer plane by imaging elements via a controllable light modulation means. During the injection of light, the extraction elements form a grid of secondary light sources which are arranged in the front focal plane of the imaging elements and carry out the spatial coherence in at least one dimension. A secondary light source and an imaging element are associated with each other in order to guide the extracted light through the controllable light modulation means in a collimated manner.

Abstract: Disclosed is a holographic display including a spatial light modulator (SLM) with pixels, the SLM pixels being on a substrate, the SLM including circuitry which is on the same substrate as the SLM pixels, the circuitry operable to perform calculations which provide an encoding of the SLM.

Abstract: A spatial light modulator for modulating light field amplitude comprises a surface relief grating adapted to act as a diffractive lens, where a material is used to fill at least one groove of a surface grating structure, such that a controllable refractive index birefringence of the material inside the surface relief grating is controlled by an electric field, which leads to a controllable intensity at a fixed focal point.

Abstract: An optical unit for dynamically shaping a wavefront is disclosed, having light modulation cells disposed regularly in cell fields, and locally influencing partial light waves in a propagating light wavefront. Each cell field is connected to a cell controller separately adjusting the optical behavior of the light modulator cells. Serially-disposed fields, each having modulator cells, are located in the light path of the light wavefront. Cell control means adjust the modulator cells in a first cell field such that the modulator cells discretely implement a phase shift having a continuous phase value, and in a second cell field such that the modulator cells implement a prism function having a continuous directional value for the partial light waves. A focusing means for the emitted wavefront is also located in the light path of the optical unit, guiding the partial light waves at an output pupil of the optical unit.

Abstract: The invention relates to an active matrix with data driver circuit and selection driver circuit, where the active matrix is electrically connected with the driver circuits and where it comprises electrowetting cells (EW cells) arranged in rows and columns. An EW cell comprises at least two electrodes, which are connected through at least one transistor with data lines and row lines of the driver circuits. The electrodes which are provided for controlling the EW cell are connected with the same data line and with two different control lines, where the selection driver circuit simultaneously activates the transistors which are connected with the individual selection lines by control signals and where it connects the electrodes of the respective EW cell locally so to achieve a medium voltage value.

Abstract: The detection of the position of observer eyes in large object planes by a camera system with eye finder modules is disclosed, each of which comprises a camera with an objective lens and a camera chip. An embodiment is based on a camera system with two eye finder modules, where each eye finder module comprises an objective lens and a camera chip for detecting and determining the position of observer eyes in at least one object plane, and where the camera system is connected with a control unit.

Abstract: A holographic reconstruction system is disclosed with spatial light modulation means, modulating interferable light waves from light sources with at least one video hologram, comprising optical focusing means, focusing the modulated light waves with the reconstructed object light points for at least one eye position for the eyes of observers and controllable electro-optical deflector means, which direct the focused modulated light waves with the reconstructed light points to at least one eye position in order to reduce the aberrations. The reconstruction system has the optical focusing means in a field of focusing elements, wherein each focusing element is provided with at least one interferable light source. The electro-optical deflector means lie in the light path of the interferable light waves after the optical focusing mean and have at least one field of deflector elements, which has at least one separately controllable electro-optical deflector element for each focusing element.

Abstract: In known light modulation means, complex phase and amplitude values for modulating light waves are implemented and modulated either separately by two different light modulation means or a light modulation means having two layers of double-refracting materials, leading to increased expenses for material and adjustment. A new device is disclosed that simplifies the modulation of light waves in phase and amplitude in a single light modulation means made of double-refracting material. In a device having regularly disposed, controllable light-modulated elements having a double-refracting material for complex modulation of coherent light waves, and a modulation controller controlling the force-induced alignment of the optical axes of the molecules of the double-refracting material, means are provided for independently aligning the optical axes of the molecules in the light-modulating elements in two dimensions. The alignment can take place by electrical, magnetic, or optical acting means.

Abstract: Disclosed is a display for the holographic reconstruction of a three-dimensional scene using means which allow a reduction of speckle patterns. Speckle patterns result in the graining of a holographic reconstruction and worsen the quality thereof. The 3D scene is incoherently superimposed with itself chronologically or spatially in the eye of the observer. The modulated wave fronts of each reconstructed object point of the scene are shifted relative to themselves in the reconstruction beam path and superimposed in the eye of the observer. The shifting may occur one-dimensionally and two-dimensionally. Each object point is multiplied with itself in the eye of the observer in accordance with the number of the shifted wave fronts. The various speckle patterns over which the eye of the observer averages are also multiplied. Speckle patterns are reduced and the reconstruction quality is thus increased in holographic displays.

Abstract: A holographic reconstruction system is disclosed for the three-dimensional reconstruction of object light spots of a scene, comprising spatial light modulation means which modulate interference-capable light waves of illumination means with at least one video hologram, and optical focussing means which focus the modulated light waves with the reconstructed object light spots for at least one eye position of the observer's eyes. An electro-optical deflection means controlled by a system controller focuses the modulated light wave with the reconstructed object light spots on at least one eye position and tracks them when the eye position changes. The electro-optical deflection means is a controllable optical diffraction grating with a variable surface relief structure consisting of separately controllable microcells.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and device for the generation of reconstructions of information encoded on spatial light modulators by way of illumination with coherent incident waves. The invention includes the following steps: Splitting of the incident wave into at least two incident sub-waves, Modulation of the incident sub-waves with the help of selected apodisation functions so to form modulated incident sub-waves, Direction of the modulated incident sub-waves towards the corresponding, spatially separated and pixel-matrix-shifted spatial light modulators, Diffraction of the modulated incident sub-waves at the encoded pixels of the respective spatial light modulators, Additive combination of the sub-waves emitted by the respective spatial light modulators to form one common emitted wave, and Transformation of the emitted wave into the Fourier plane with the help of a projection system.

Abstract: A device for minimizing diffraction-related dispersion in spatial light modulators for holographically reconstructing colored representations is disclosed, and comprises a spatial light modulator designed as a diffractive optical element and provided with controllable structures, and at least one light source illuminating the spatial light modulator. Wavelength-dependent visible ranges associated with a predefined higher order of diffraction have a lateral chromatic offset relative to the position of the extensions of said visible ranges at a defined viewer's level, said lateral chromatic offset being in relation to the normal line to the surface of the spatial light modulator. The quality of reconstruction is improved regardless of the direction of incidence and emergence of the light.