Alioscopy Technology Overview

In everyday life, we perceive depth in our environment thanks to different sets of information processed by our brain. Most of us see with two eyes and binocular vision is, of course, essential. It feeds our brain at all time with slightly offset views of a scene: the greater the disparity, the closer the object. At the same time, converging nearby or far away gives our brain hints of distances.

There are many monocular parameters though, simultaneously taken into account by our brain. Perspective is one of them. Painters have used the perspective since the Renaissance to represent depth in a landscape. Perspective lines, along with the size of objects, are indications of depth. Occlusion is another one and our brain knows that objects hiding others are necessarily placed in front. Reflections and shadows, among others, also contribute to the global sensation.

When watching television, both eyes see the same view. There is no sensation of depth except for perspective. 3D television and 3D cinema, on the other hand, produce a real sensation of depth. They require special stereoscopic films, combining two views, one for the left and one for the right eye. Viewers wearing special glasses will only see the left view with the left eye and the right view with the right eye. This recreates a binocular effect and produces a true sensation of depth.

Alioscopy displays are called auto-stereoscopic. They produce the same sensation of depth as described above, but without needing cumbersome eyewear. They are instead equipped with an array of lenticular lenses, casting different images onto each eye. Instead of combining two views, Alioscopy films actually multiplex 8 offset views of a scene. This is why Alioscopy displays are also called multiview displays.

How does it work ?

• Alioscopy 3D displays are based on standard Full HD LCD displays, carefully chosen for the compliance of their LCD panel.
• Each pixel on the panel combines 3 colored sub-pixels (red, green and blue).

• A Full HD display has 2 million pixels forming a matrix.

• An array of small cylindrical lenses is positioned on the panel in a slant.
• Each cylindrical lens covers 8 sub-pixels very accurately. Alioscopy manufactures its lenses with a precision of 1/100th of a micron.

• Each sub-pixel is used for a different point of view. It therefore provides both color and disparity information.
• Each lens overlapping 8 different points of view works as a magnifying lens, allowing for one only to be seen through the lens from any given angle.
• Because both eyes are not in the same place, they actually see two different points of view.
• This stereo effect produces a sensation of depth.

Benefits of the technology

• The array of micro-lenses on the display replaces the eyewear generally required to enjoy 3D.
• Displaying 8 points of view enables multiple viewers to stand freely where they please.
• The 42" or 47" display can be seen anywhere from 6’ to 30’, with an ideal viewing distance of 13’, spread over a 100° angle.
• The display doesn’t distort content when moving in front of it.
• The lenticular lens array doesn’t alter brightness and colors and shows beautiful crisp images.
• The display can show standard 2D content losslessly, granting backward compatibility with all existing sources.