We have often reported on the use of lenticular lenses on LFDs to create autostereoscopic displays, but the Kanagawa Institute of Technology was using this kind of lens on an LCD to create different images, depending on the point of view of the viewer. The group is intending to develop solutions for digital signage.
We mentioned that Sharp, for example, had developed this kind of display using barrier technology, but the researchers told us that this tends to reduce the brightness, something that they are very reluctant to do for public display applications. The group has been able to use UltraHD displays and has contacts with Sharp and others for 8K displays. The Institute had combined the display technology with a very impressive directional speaker system, which truly is directional in a straight beam. Walk into the line of the beam and the sound is clear (although somewhat lacking in bass) but move off axis and the sound disappears completely. This means that different audio can be combined with each image on the display.
The work builds on the development of the ExPixel FPGA that the group showed last year and that allowed dual viewing on polarising passive 3D displays. There is optimism that the core technology can be applied to very large displays, such as LEDs in stadiums. That would allow different images to be shown to different parts of the audience in the stadium from the same display. For more information, check www.shirai.la
