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

Abstract

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.