There is disclosed a projector arranged to project a light pattern. The projector comprises a spatial light modulator and a light source. The spatial light modulator has an array of pixels arranged to display a phase pattern. The array of pixels may be a substantially planar array of pixels. Each pixel comprises liquid crystals having a director rotatable in a plane of rotation between a first direction and a second direction. The light source is arranged to illuminate the array of pixels with polarised light such that the light is spatially-modulated in accordance with the phase pattern to form the light pattern. It may be said that the light pattern corresponds to the phase pattern. The angle of incidence of the light on the array of pixels is greater than zero and the light is s-polarised. The first direction is parallel to the polarisation direction of the light. The second direction is in the plane of incidence.

Techniques for holographic display by modulating optical images in amplitude and phase via a layer of liquid crystals are described. According to one aspect of the techniques, a voltage being applied or coupled across the layer of liquid crystals is controlled by gradually increasing the voltage from a low level to a high level to perform the AM in a first range and the PM in second range, where the characteristics of the liquid crystals is significant, for example, by increasing the thickness or optical birefringence of the layer of liquid crystals.

Methods, apparatus, devices, and systems for three-dimensional (3D) displaying objects are provided. In one aspect, a method includes obtaining data including respective primitive data for primitives corresponding to an object, determining an electromagnetic (EM) field contribution to each element of a display for each of the primitives by calculating an EM field propagation from the primitive to the element, generating a sum of the EM field contributions from the primitives for each of the elements, transmitting to each of the elements a respective control signal for modulating at least one property of the element based on the sum of the EM field contributions, and transmitting a timing control signal to an illuminator to activate the illuminator to illuminate light on the display, such that the light is caused by the modulated elements of the display to form a volumetric light field corresponding to the object.

The invention relates to a light modulation device for a display for representing two- and/or three-dimensional image content or image sequences. The light modulation device comprises a light modulator and a controller. The phase and/or the amplitude of a light wave field, which is substantially collimated, can be varied by means of the light modulator depending on the location of the light modulator. The light modulator can be actuated by means of the control device. According to the invention, in the direction of propagation of the light wave field, at least one diffracting unit is arranged downstream of the light modulator. The diffracting unit has a variable diffracting structure. By means of the diffracting structure, the light wave field varied by the light modulator can be diffracted in a variable and predeterminable manner. Further, the present invention relates to a display and a method for producing a light modulation device.

A tunable-liquid-crystal-grating-based holographic true 3D display system comprises a laser, a filter, a beam expander, a semi-transparent semi-reflective mirror, a spatial light modulator, a lens I, a diaphragm, a tunable liquid crystal grating, a polaroid, a signal controller, a lens II and a receiving screen. The laser, the filter and the beam expander are used for generating collimated incident light. The spatial light modulator is loaded with a hologram of a 3D object. The diaphragm is positioned behind the lens I for eliminating a high-order diffracted light in the holographic true 3D display. The tunable liquid crystal grating is located on the back focal plane of the lens I and on the front focal plane of the lens II, and the signal controller is used for synchronously controlling the voltage of the tunable liquid crystal grating and the generation and loading of the hologram.

An optical system includes a plurality of internal apertures, a plurality of external optical assemblies and a telescope assembly positioned between the plurality of internal apertures and the plurality of external optical assemblies. Each internal aperture is operable to receive a corresponding aperture-specific optical signal. Each external optical assembly corresponds to one of the internal apertures, and each external optical assembly is operable to direct the aperture-specific optical signal of the corresponding internal aperture in a corresponding external direction. The external direction for each external optical assembly is independently controllable and the telescope assembly defines a shared optical train arranged to direct the aperture-specific optical signals between each internal aperture and the corresponding external optical assembly.

Provided is a complex light modulator including a phase modulator, and an amplitude modulator, wherein the phase modulator and the amplitude modulator are configured to generate a first complex pixel having first complex light modulation characteristics and a second complex pixel having second complex light modulation characteristics, wherein the first complex pixel includes first sub-complex pixels that are provided in a 3×3 format and are configured to implement the first complex light modulation characteristics, wherein the second complex pixel includes second sub-complex pixels that are provided in a 3×3 format and are configured to implement the second complex light modulation characteristics, and wherein the first complex pixel and the second complex pixel respectively include a first overlapping pixel that is included in the first sub-complex pixels and the second sub-complex pixels.

A gating and a 3D holographic display device are provided. The grating includes grating electrodes and spacing pillars disposed between a first substrate and a second substrate opposite to the first substrate. The grating electrodes extend along a first direction and are arranged along a second direction. Along a plane parallel to the first substrate, positions of spacing pillars are referred to as matrix points. The spacing pillars correspond to the matrix points; the matrix points include multiple first matrix point units arranged as an array. A minimum repeating unit of the matrix points includes four first matrix point units located at four vertices of a first quadrilateral. Two adjacent sides of the first quadrilateral are defined as a first unit vector and a second unit vector, respectively; and an angle between the first unit vector and the second unit vector is α1, and 0°≤α1≤90°.

A gating and a 3D holographic display device are provided. The grating includes grating electrodes and spacing pillars disposed between a first substrate and a second substrate opposite to the first substrate. The grating electrodes extend along a first direction and are arranged along a second direction. Along a plane parallel to the first substrate, positions of spacing pillars are referred to as matrix points. The spacing pillars correspond to the matrix points; the matrix points include multiple first matrix point units arranged as an array. A minimum repeating unit of the matrix points includes four first matrix point units located at four vertices of a first quadrilateral. Two adjacent sides of the first quadrilateral are defined as a first unit vector and a second unit vector, respectively; and an angle between the first unit vector and the second unit vector is α1, and 0°≤α1≤90°.

Augmented reality glasses include near eye displays the include sources of imagewise amplitude modulated light optical coupled to spatial phase modulators or active zone plate modulators and optically coupled to eye coupling optics. The sources of imagewise amplitude modulated light can include emissive 2D display panels or light sources coupled to imagewise amplitude modulators. The eye coupling optics can include volume holographic diffraction gratings.