Aberration analysis of a wedge-plate display system

The aberration characteristics of a wedge-plate display optical system are analyzed. The study shows that a kink-like feature is inherent in the ray-intercept curve due to either the onset of the dark zone in imaging or the coincidence of the ray direction with the vertex. Third-order aberration coefficients are deduced, and the total amount of aberration is investigated to illustrate the basic limitations of image quality in this type of display. The issue of design optimization is also investigated based on the aberration characteristics. A numerical example of a 50 in. display with a 1:10 thickness and a diagonal screen length ratio is also provided. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.