Omnidirectional multiview three-dimensional display based on direction-selective light-emitting diode array

A volumetric display system based on a rotating light-emitting diode (LED) array panel can realize a three-dimensional (3-D) display truthfully in the space, but the drawback is missing the occlusion of a 3-D image. We propose an omnidirectional 3-D display with correct occlusion based on a direction-selective LED array panel, which is realized by setting a direction-convergent diaphragm array in front of the LED array. Every diaphragm restricts a light-emitting characteristic of every LED. By using direction-convergent diaphragm array, the observer around the display system can only see one image displayed by the LED array at the corresponding position. With the high-speed rotation of the LED panel, a series of views of a 3-D scene are displayed every angle patch in one circle. We set up an acquisition system to record 180 views of the 3-D scene with a rotating camera along a circle, and then the 180 images are displayed sequentially on the rotating direction-selective LED array to get a 360 deg 3-D display. This 3-D display technology has two main advantages: easy to get viewer-position-dependent correct occlusion and simplify the 3-D data preprocessing process which is helpful to real-time 3-D display. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3552664]