Light-field display
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorKurt Akeley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A light-field display is provided that renders a light-field at one or more viewing apertures through a microlens array. The light-field display includes a display such as a monitor that is positioned behind the microlens array. The monitor and the microlens array are positioned so that light emitted from a pixel of the monitor reaches the one or more apertures through at most one microlens from the microlens array. For each microlens in the microlens array, the pixels of the monitor visible through that microlens of the microlens array at the one or more apertures is determined, and a light-field is then rendered at each of the one or more viewing apertures by rendering the determined pixels corresponding to each microlens.
Claims20
A light-field display comprising:
- a display device comprising a plurality of pixels;
- a microlens array placed at a separation distance from the pixels of the display device;
- and
- a processor communicatively coupled to the display device and adapted to:
- determine a location of a first viewing aperture that is used to view a light-field generated by the light-field display;
- determine, for each microlens of the microlens array, the pixels of the display device that are visible at the first viewing aperture through the microlens;
- and
- render, for each microlens of the microlens array, the determined pixels of the display device that are visible at the first viewing aperture through the microlens to display the light-field to a viewer at the first viewing aperture.
A method for generating a light-field display, comprising:
- positioning a microlens array at a microlens separation from a display device comprising a plurality of pixels;
- determining a location of a first viewing aperture in front of the microlens array, wherein the first viewing aperture is used to view a light-field generated by the light-field display;
- for each microlens of the microlens array, determining pixels of the display device that are visible at the first viewing aperture through the microlens of the microlens array;
- and
- for each microlens of the microlens array, rendering the determined pixels to display a portion of the light-field at the first viewing aperture through the microlens of the microlens array.
A method for generating a light-field display, comprising:
- positioning a microlens array in front of a display at a separation distance, wherein the display comprises a plurality of pixels;
- determining a location of a first viewing aperture in front of the microlens array, wherein the first viewing aperture is used to view a light-field generated by the light-field display;
- determining a location of a second viewing aperture in front of the microlens array, wherein the second viewing aperture is used to view the light-field generated by the light-field display;
- for each microlens in the microlens array, determining pixels of the display that are visible at the first viewing aperture through the microlens of the microlens array;
- for each microlens in the microlens array, determining pixels of the display that are visible at the second viewing aperture through the microlens of the microlens array;
- and
- for each microlens in the microlens array, alternatively rendering the determined pixels that are visible at the first viewing aperture through the microlens of the microlens array and the determined pixels that are visible at the second viewing aperture through the microlens of the microlens array.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.