Simultaneous Color Computer Generated Holography

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel framework for simultaneous color computer-generated holography that enhances display quality and maintains a compact setup, advancing AR/VR holographic display technology.

Contribution

It presents a new method combining neural network wavefront propagation and perceptual loss to optimize simultaneous color holograms with full SLM frame rate.

Findings

Improved hologram quality over existing methods

Maintains a compact optical setup suitable for head-mounted displays

Achieves real-time frame rate for color holography

Abstract

Computer generated holography has long been touted as the future of augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) displays, but has yet to be realized in practice. Previous high-quality, color holographic displays have made either a 3$\times$ sacrifice on frame rate by using a sequential color illumination scheme or used more than one spatial light modulator (SLM) and/or bulky, complex optical setups. The reduced frame rate of sequential color introduces distracting judder and color fringing in the presence of head motion while the form factor of current simultaneous color systems is incompatible with a head-mounted display. In this work, we propose a framework for simultaneous color holography that allows the use of the full SLM frame rate while maintaining a compact and simple optical setup. Simultaneous color holograms are optimized through the use of a perceptual loss function, a physics-based neural network wavefront propagator, and a camera-calibrated forward model. We measurably improve hologram quality compared to other simultaneous color methods and move one step closer to the realization of color holographic displays for AR/VR.