Depth-enhanced integral 3D imaging using a polarization-multiplexed display with different optical path lengths

Depth-enhanced integral three-dimensional (3D) imaging using different optical path lengths and polarization selective mirror pair is proposed. In this approach, the enhancement of image depth is achieved by repositioning two types of elemental image planes, thus effectively two central depth planes are obtained. The system makes use of two-arm-structure that has different optical path lengths and polarization selective mirrors. The primary advantage of our proposed method is that we can observe 3D images that maintain some level of viewing resolution with large depth difference without any mechanical moving part. We experimentally demonstrated our proposal by reconstructing real and virtual images with the depth difference of 140 mm successfully.