Polygon-based computer-generated holography: a review of fundamentals and recent progress [Invited]

Abstract

In this review paper, we first provide comprehensive tutorials on two classical methods of polygon-based computergenerated holography: the traditional method (also called the fast-Fourier-transform-based method) and the analytical method. Indeed, other modern polygon-based methods build on the idea of the two methods. We will then present some selective methods with recent developments and progress and compare their computational reconstructions in terms of calculation speed and image quality, among other things. Finally, we discuss and propose a fast analytical method called the fast 3D affine transformation method, and based on the method, we present a numerical reconstruction of a computer-generated hologram (CGH) of a 3D surface consisting of 49,272 processed polygons of the face of a real person without the use of graphic processing units; to the best of our knowledge, this represents a state-of-the-art numerical result in polygon-based computed-generated holography. Finally, we also show optical reconstructions of such a CGH and another CGH of the Stanford bunny of 59,996 polygons with 31,724 processed polygons after back-face culling. We hope that this paper will bring out some of the essence of polygon-based computer-generated holography and provide some insights for future research.

Review of computer-generated hologram algorithms for color dynamic holographic three-dimensional display

“…In the last decades, numerous fast computation algorithms have been proposed to accelerate CGH generation. From the perspective of the computational primitive, the algorithms can be divided into three main categories: (a) point-based method 33 , (b) polygon-based method 34 and (c) layer-based method as shown in Fig. 3 .…”

Fast 3D Analytical Affine Transformation for Polygon-Based Computer-Generated Holograms

“…The essence of polygon-based methods is the diffraction calculation between non-parallel planes. Polygon-based methods can be divided into two categories; one is the traditional method based on sampling [8]. This method needs to sample each tilted polygon that is not parallel to the hologram in the spatial and frequency domains.…”

“…Time-consuming interpolation is needed to alleviate sampling distortion. The other method is the analytical method [8]. Unlike the traditional method, sampling in the spatial domain to obtain the spectrum of a tilted polygon is not needed.…”

“…Compared with the traditional method, the analytical method effectively reduces the amount of calculations. However, shaping and texture mapping are not easily included in the analytical methods as compared with the traditional methods [8].…”

“…Holographic 3D display is a technology to reconstruct 3D wave-front by using light wave diffraction information based on the principle of wave optics. Because the wave-front information of the 3D scene is reconstructed, it can provide all the depth cues required by the human eye [6][7][8]. The wave-front recording process of holography can be completed and simulated by a computer to generate the so-called computer-generated holograms (CGHs).…”