Reduction of optical aberration induced by refraction of light in a parallax barrier based autostereoscopic 3D display

Abstract

We investigate the optical aberration effects caused by light refraction in a parallax barrier (PB) based autostereoscopic 3D display to reduce image crosstalk and to avoid distortion of optical properties designed such as optimum viewing distance (OVD). We compare three different structures of the parallax barriers by numerical simulation and experiment, two of which use glass substrates for transform-free PB patterns, while the other one assumes no use of such substrates but a set of thin PB slits in free space. For cases of using PB patterned glass substrate, we consider two different orientations of a PB glass substrate inserted between a display panel and a viewing zone, distinguishable by optical refraction that can occur either after or before PB patterned slits. For improved image quality, we suggest use of the glass substrate with the PB pattern facing the viewing zone, which is installed to allow an air gap between the display panel and PB. It is revealed that this PB structure that can also hold a benefit of rigidity of the slit pattern, does not suffer from a significantly curved feature of the OVD line or alteration of the OVD values from the designed one, thus offering reduced crosstalk. The relevant discussion is provided with the experimental measurement and the simulation results on the optical properties.