Projection displays include a highlight projector and a main projector. Highlights projected by the highlight projector boost luminance in highlight areas of a base image projected by the main projector. Various highlight projectors including steerable beams, holographic projectors and spatial light modulators are described.

A system for displaying three dimensional (3D) images. The system includes a 3D display operating in a first state to display a 3D image by outputting light into a viewing space and operating in a second state in which the 3D image is not displayed. The system further includes a screen element positioned between the 3D display and the viewing space. The screen element reflects light from the viewing space to appear opaque to a viewer in the viewing space when the 3D display operates in the second state. The screen element transmits the light output by the 3D display, whereby the 3D display image is perceivable by the viewer in the viewing space. The screen element includes a sheet of mesh or netting material that transmits light output by the 3D display through its pores or openings and may be a planar sheet of scrim or tulle.

A head-up display is described. A spatial light modulator is arranged to display a diffractive pattern of first picture content and/or second picture content. A screen assembly has first and second diffusers arranged in a stepped configuration so that the first diffuser is spatially offset from the second diffuser by a perpendicular distance. A light source is arranged to illuminate the diffractive pattern such that the first picture content is formed on the first diffuser and/or the second picture content is formed on the second diffuser. An optical system comprising at least one optical element having optical power is arranged so that the first and second diffusers have different object distances to the optical system.

A holographic display system for a motor vehicle includes a light source for generating a beam of coherent light and a spatial light modulator (SLM) having a two-dimensional pixel array. The two-dimensional pixel array modulates the beam of coherent light for generating a plurality of subframes, with each subframe being associated with one of a plurality of partial fields of view. The system further includes a scanner for directing the subframes onto associated sections of a display surface. The system further includes a computer having a memory including instructions, such that a processor is programmed to control the two-dimensional pixel array of the SLM for generating the subframes. The processor is further programmed to control the scanner for directing the subframes onto associated sections of the display surface and displaying a reconstructed image within a full field of view, which includes each of the partial fields of view.

A holographic display apparatus including a freeform curved surface and an operating method of the holographic display apparatus are provided. The holographic display apparatus includes: an image generator configured to generate a hologram image by modulating light; an optical system including a freeform curved surface for forming the hologram image generated by the image generator in a predetermined depth; and a processor configured to generate a computer-generated hologram (CGH) based on three-dimensional image information by using a phase map including information about an optical aberration with respect to the freeform curved surface and to control the image generator to modulate the light based on the CGH.

Projection displays include a highlight projector and a main projector. Highlights projected by the highlight projector boost luminance in highlight areas of a base image projected by the main projector. Various highlight projectors are based on steerable beams, holographic projectors, and spatial light modulators. A Fourier transform component and a mask positioned on the Fourier plane thereof are used to attenuate or eliminate selected spatial frequencies, e.g., to increase peak luminance without raising the black level of the projected image.

A system for making a holographic medium for use in generating light patterns for eye tracking includes a light source configured to provide light and a beam splitter configured to separate the light into a first portion of the light and a second portion of the light that is spatially separated from the first portion of the light. The system also includes a first set of optical elements configured to transmit the first portion of the light for providing a first wide-field beam onto an optically recordable medium and one or more diffractive optical elements configured to receive the second portion of the light and project a plurality of separate light patterns onto the optically recordable medium for forming the holographic medium.

Methods, apparatus, devices, and systems for displaying three-dimensional objects by individually diffracting different colors of light are provided. In one aspect, an optical device includes: a first optically diffractive component including a first diffractive structure configured to diffract a first color of light having a first incident angle at a first diffracted angle, a second optically diffractive component including a second diffractive structure configured to diffract a second color of light having a second incident angle at a second diffracted angle, a first reflective layer configured to totally reflect the first color of light having the first incident angle and transmit the second color of light, and a second reflective layer configured to totally reflect the second color of light having the second incident angle. The first reflective layer is between the first and second diffractive structures, and the second diffractive structure is between the first and second reflective layers.

An augmented reality display device (such as a head mounted device) includes a partially transparent and partially reflective lens, a laser light source, a radio frequency source, a display controller, an acousto-optical modulator, and a microelectromechanical (MEMS) device. The laser light source generates light. The radio frequency (RF) source generates a RF signal. The display controller generates a synchronization signal. The acousto-optical modulator receives at least a portion of the light, modulates the light based on the RF signal, and provides modulated light. The MEMS device receives the synchronization signal from the display controller and reflects the modulated light towards the partially transparent and partially reflective lens. The MEMS device determines a direction in which the modulated light reflects based on the synchronization signal and the partially transparent and partially reflective lens reflecting the modulated laser light towards an eye of a user of the augmented realty display device.

An illumination apparatus that illuminates an illumination zone having a first direction and a second direction crossing the first direction is provided with a light source to emit a coherent light beam, and a diffraction optical device to diffract the coherent light beam incident from the light source. The diffraction optical device diffracts the incident coherent light beam so that a width of the illumination zone in the second direction gradually becomes wider along the first direction of the illumination zone from a nearer side to the diffraction optical device.