A method has been proposed to reduce the communication overhead in computer-generated hologram (CGH) calculations on parallel and distributed computing devices. The method uses the shifting property of Fourier transform to decompose calculations, thereby avoiding data dependency and communication. This enables the full potential of parallel and distributed computing devices. The proposed method is verified by simulation and optical experiments and can achieve a 20 times speed improvement compared to conventional methods, while using large data sizes. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America