Resolution enhancement of light field displays using a polarization-dependent virtual-moving liquid crystalline polymer-lenticular lens array with rapid switching operation

We propose an effective method to enhance resolution in light field (LF) three-dimensional (3D) displays using a virtual-moving liquid crystalline polymer-lenticular lens array (LCP-LLA) combined with a time-sequential polarization control scheme and rapid lateral switching of periodic focusing operations. The virtual-moving LCP-LLA is custom-fabricated by stacking two LCP-LLAs with a half sub-pixel pitch offset, enabling a time-sequential virtual lateral shift of the focal plane. Additionally, we enhance the angular resolution of reconstructed 3D images by optimizing the lateral shifting configurations of the stacked LCP-LLAs in alignment with the sub-pixel arrangement of the display panel. These approaches notably minimize spatial resolution loss while improving angular resolution with a fixed panel configuration, based on the optical properties of the custom-designed virtual-moving LCP-LLA. Experimental validation demonstrates the efficacy of this method, achieving two-fold enhancement in angular resolution for 3D images with 20 viewpoints, without compromising spatial resolution.