Study of evaluation metrics for image qualities of 2-view type stereoscopic and auto-stereoscopic displays

With the increasing usage of 3D compatible displays, the optical quality assessment of these displays is more and more important. Besides stereoscopic display,　one of the amazing 3D displays is an auto-stereoscopic display without using extra glasses for the observers. Auto-stereoscopic display will definitely be the main stream of the 3D display market in the near future. Since two-view parallax-barrier type auto-stereoscopic displays have been applied in the handheld display market such as handheld game machines, digital photo frame, digital cameras and mobile phones for a while, we focus on this kind of auto-stereoscopic display in this study.
3D display quality assessment is the bedrock for the 3D display industry, so 3D display metrology is getting more and more important with rapidly growing 3D market. For the auto-stereoscopic display, the image quality for observers depends on both the viewing distance and viewing angle. Therefore, there are designated eye positions (DEPs) which are the best viewing positions for each eye at the viewing plane and OVD (optimal viewing distance) is proposed as a viewing distance providing the viewer with the optimal stereoscopic experience. Besides, a viewing zone (VZ), in which an observer is free to move and can still perceive good stereopsis, is another important issue for the auto-stereoscopic display. Although there have been lots of studies on VZ, deeper researches are still needed for further understanding. Thus this study proposes a novel evaluation method to describe VZ by a novel formula and discussing the affecting factors for VZ of the parallax barrier auto-stereoscopic display, such as the refraction index of panel glass, the system crosstalk, and the uniformity, by the geometric and the ray tracing methods, respectively.
This study provides not only the evaluation metrics for crosstalk, DEPs, OVD and VZ of an auto-stereoscopic display in a very clear and coherent manner, but also relates the image quality assessment to the design parameters which will be a valuable reference to the auto-stereoscopic display metrology, display standard, 3D human factor studies, as well as system designers.