Flat-Panel See-Through Three-Dimensional Display Based on Integral Imaging Using a Transparent Polarized Point Light Source Array

This study proposes a technique to implement see-through three-dimensional (3-D) display based on point light source integral imaging. This display consists of an edge-lit light guide plate, a polarizer array, and a transparent liquid crystal display (LCD) panel without rear polarizer. The combination of the light guide plate and the polarizer array act as a transparent polarized point light source array (PLSA), and reconstructs the 3-D image with the elemental image array loaded on the LCD panel. The background rays passing through the gaps in the polarized PLSA carry the object information and implement see-through property. The experimental system is constructed based on 1-D integral imaging to verify the proposed method. The see-through and superposition capabilities of the proposed method are demonstrated.