Quantitative characterization of holographic displays based on liquid-crystal-on-silicon spatial light modulator

• Published in: Current applied physics 2020, 20(10), , pp.1136-1144
• Main Authors: Song, Hong Joo, Lee, Jeongno, Han, Chul Jong, Park, Kyoungwon, Lee, Yong Hyun, Song, Nam Chol, Park, Jung Ho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Holography; Image quality; Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS); Quantification; Resolution; Speckle size; 물리학
• ISSN: 1567-1739; 1878-1675
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cap.2020.07.014

This report discusses the effect of speckle size on the quality of holographic images based on a liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) spatial light modulator (SLM). Further, it proposes methods of quantifying the average speckle size and holographic image resolution. These methods enable both characteristics to be compared using the same unit (the number of pixels in the holographic image), providing an intuitive and effective comparative analysis method. In particular, by varying the LCoS resolution ratio, the change in the resolvable minimum pixels of the holographic image is interpreted in conjunction with the average speckle size; moreover, an analysis of the correlation between the latter two is presented. This approach, based on LCoS resolution division, could provide useful insights into single-SLM-based, full-color holographic displays using space division. Furthermore, it could be extended to other components, including more advanced LCoS SLMs, and used to identify the relative effects on image quality with speckles. [Display omitted] •A method for quantifying speckle size and its effect on image quality is proposed.•Speckle size and resolution of images are tracked by LCoS resolution ratios.•LCoS resolution ratio of a single SLM based holographic display was studied.•Image resolution is interpreted by speckle size, and their correlation is analyzed.•Method can be extended to study the relative effects of variables on images.