Disclosed are an active complex spatial light modulation method and apparatus for an ultra-low noise holographic display. The active complex spatial light modulation apparatus includes a substrate and a petal antenna including three petal patterns arranged on the substrate, dividing a complex plane into three phase sections, and modulating the input light into three-phase amplitude values corresponding to the phase sections. The petal antenna may have a point symmetry shape based on the center point of the petal antenna.

Image persistence of the spatial light modulator is suppressed. A projection device (1) includes: an illumination optical system (12) that emits light; an information processing unit (20) that generates a hologram pattern based on an input image; a spatial light modulator (14) that forms the hologram pattern generated by the information processing unit and transmits light emitted by the illumination optical system; and a projection optical system (16) that projects an output of the spatial light modulator onto a projection surface and projects an output image, and the information processing unit generates the new hologram pattern obtained by shifting the hologram pattern in a predetermined direction for every predetermined frame.

A holographic microscope configured to observe a sample is provided. The holographic microscope includes a light source, a light splitting element, a polarizing element, a phase modulation element, a light combining element, and a photosensitive element. The light source is configured to provide an illumination beam. The illuminating beam is transmitted through the light splitting element to form a first light beam and a second light beam, and the sample is disposed on a transmission path of the first light beam. The polarizing element and the phase modulation element are disposed on the transmission path of the first light beam or the second light beam. The first light beam and the second light beam are transmitted to the light combining element to form an interference beam. The photosensitive element is disposed on a transmission path of the interference beam to receive the interference beam to generate an optical signal.

A method for displaying a modified phase mask on a spatial light modulator (SLM), including: modifying, by a processor, a phase mask by combining the phase mask with a virtual lens pattern, the virtual lens pattern having a focal length; displaying, by the SLM in communication with the processor, the modified phase mask on the SLM; and projecting, by a light source in communication with the processor, the light source through the SLM to form an intensity pattern at a distance from the SLM corresponding to the focal length of the virtual lens pattern, the intensity pattern being based on the phase mask.

A device for combining light beams which interact with adjacently arranged pixels of a light modulator, having a beam splitting component, a beam combining component, and a beam superposition component. The beam splitting component is configured such that incident light beams are split into a first subbeam and a second subbeam so that the first subbeam propagates toward a first pixel of the light modulator and the second subbeam propagates toward a second pixel of the light modulator. The beam combining component is configured and arranged so that the first subbeam and the second subbeam are combined after interaction with pixels of the light modulator. The beam splitting component and the beam combining component are configured and arranged in such a way that a sum of optical path lengths of the first subbeam and the second subbeam is respectively constant for different angles of incidence.

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.

Provided is a multi-image display apparatus including a light source configured to emit light, a spatial light modulator configured to provide a first image by modulating the light emitted from the light source, and an optical system configured to transmit the first image provided by the spatial light modulator to a viewer, wherein the optical system is configured such that a travelling path of the first image provided by the spatial light modulator includes a first optical path in a first direction, a second optical path in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, and a third optical path in a third direction orthogonal to the first direction and the second direction, respectively, and wherein the optical system is configured such that the first image and a second image provided from an optical path different from the travelling path of the first image are provided to the viewer.

A holographic image generation system including a spatial light modulator; a light source; a temporal modulator; a light sensor and a demodulator. The spatial light modulator has pixels. The light source illuminates the spatial light modulator. The temporal light modulator modulates an output intensity of the light source over time to encode holographic data representing a hologram. The light sensor is associated with a spatial light modulator and receives light from the light source and generates a signal representative of the output intensity of the light source. The demodulator is connected to the light sensor to receive the signal. The demodulator decodes the signal to obtain the holographic data. The demodulator is connected to the spatial light modulator to set the pixels of the spatial light modulator in accordance with the holographic data to display the hologram ready for illumination by the light source to form a holographic reconstruction.

A light irradiation device includes a Gaussian beam output unit for outputting light having a light intensity distribution that conforms to a Gaussian distribution, a spatial light modulator for receiving the light and modulating the light by presenting a CGH, an optical system for converging the modulated light, and an amplitude mask arranged on at least one of an optical axis between the Gaussian beam output unit and the spatial light modulator and an optical axis between the spatial light modulator and the optical system. The amplitude mask has a circular-shaped first region centered on the optical axis and an annular-shaped second region that surrounds the first region. Transmittance in the second region continuously decreases as a distance from the optical axis increases.

Light from an array of laser light sources are spread to cover the modulating face of a DMD or other modulator. The spread may be performed, for example, by a varying curvature array of lenslets, each laser light directed at one of the lenslets. Light from neighboring and/or nearby light sources overlap at a modulator. The lasers are energized at different energy/brightness levels causing the light illuminating the modulator to itself be modulated (locally dimmed). The modulator then further modulates the locally dimmed lights to produce a desired image. A projector according to the invention may utilize, for example, a single modulator sequentially illuminated or separate primary color modulators simultaneously illuminated.