Depth of Field Enhanced Integral Imaging Display System

Large depth of field (DOF) is a core pursuit in integral imaging (InIm). In this paper, we propose a DOF-enhanced InIm display system comprising a transmissive mirror device (TMD), a semi-transparent mirror (STM), two 2D displays, and a micro-lens array (MLA). The two 2D displays pre-render two sets of elemental image arrays (EIAs), each corresponding to a distinct depth plane. The STM spatially coaxializes the two EIAs emitted by the two 2D displays. At the same time, the TMD collaborates with the STM to adjust the effective projection distances of the coaxialized EIAs onto the MLA to different values. The MLA couples with the two EIAs projected at different effective distances, enabling the reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) images at two separate central depth planes (CDPs). This system solves the narrow DOF issue in conventional InIm displays by reconstructing 3D images at two separate CDPs, thus enhancing the DOF. Notably, the proposed system achieves an approximate two-fold increase in DOF compared to a conventional one. A prototype of the DOF-enhanced InIm display system is constructed, and experimental results verify its feasibility.