Optics for full-parallax holographic stereograms

In the evolution of synthetic holography as a viable medium for industrial design and scientific visualization, the inclusion of full parallax represents a logical next step from the previous horizontal parallax-only approaches. The significant increase in full-parallax information content implies the need for high speed perspective view synthesis, optimized mechano-optical recording systems, and novel hologram illumination approaches. This paper outlines recording techniques for producing full-parallax holographic stereograms of computer-synthesized and acquired data. We document on-the-fly high-speed rendering software that integrates the printing and image-synthesis steps. In the interest of hologram printer size control, approaches for optical image plane enlargement are highlighted, and successful examples of A4-size (30 cm X 21 cm) full- parallax images are presented. We assess perspective-view array and image-plane pixel resolutions and their effect on overall image quality, in particular with respect to medium- size formats. Finally, we demonstrate optimized illumination techniques for controlling image clarity, including dispersion-compensated and edge-illuminated approaches.