Real-time relighting of digital holograms based on wavefront recording plane method.

Relighting is an important technique in photography which enables the optical properties of a picture to be modified without retaking it again. However, different from an optical image, a digital hologram cannot be relit by simply varying the value of individual pixel, as each of them is representing holistic information of the entire object scene. In this paper, we propose a fast method for the relighting of a digital hologram. First, the latter is projected to a virtual wavefront recording plane (WRP) that is located close to the object scene. Next, the WRP is relit, and subsequently expanded into a full hologram. Experiment results have demonstrated that our proposed method is capable of relighting a 2048x2048 hologram at a rate of over 50 frames per second. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time relighting is considered in the context of holography.

Enhancing the pictorial content of digital holograms at 100 frames per second.

We report a low complexity, non-iterative method for enhancing the sharpness, brightness, and contrast of the pictorial content that is recorded in a digital hologram, without the need of re-generating the latter from the original object scene. In our proposed method, the hologram is first back-projected to a 2-D virtual diffraction plane (VDP) which is located at close proximity to the original object points. Next the field distribution on the VDP, which shares similar optical properties as the object scene, is enhanced. Subsequently, the processed VDP is expanded into a full hologram. We demonstrate two types of enhancement: a modified histogram equalization to improve the brightness and contrast, and localized high-boost-filtering (LHBF) to increase the sharpness. Experiment results have demonstrated that our proposed method is capable of enhancing a 2048x2048 hologram at a rate of around 100 frames per second. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time real-time image enhancement is considered in the context of digital holography.

Binary mask programmable hologram.

We report, for the first time, the concept and generation of a novel Fresnel hologram called the digital binary mask programmable hologram (BMPH). A BMPH is comprised of a static, high resolution binary grating that is overlaid with a lower resolution binary mask. The reconstructed image of the BMPH can be programmed to approximate a target image (including both intensity and depth information) by configuring the pattern of the binary mask with a simple genetic algorithm (SGA). As the low resolution binary mask can be realized with less stringent display technology, our method enables the development of simple and economical holographic video display.

Fast reconstruction of sectional images in digital holography.

Past research has demonstrated that a three-dimensional object scene can be converted into a digital hologram. Subsequently, the object scene can be reconstructed from the hologram with an iterative blind sectional image reconstruction (BSIR) method. However, the computation is extremely intensive, and escalated with the size of holograms. To overcome this problem, we propose a fast BSIR method that reconstructs sectional images with less out-of-focus haze. While the technique proposed here is applicable in general to holography for sectioning, we use holograms acquired by optical scanning holography as examples to show the method's effectiveness.

Fast numerical generation and encryption of computer-generated Fresnel holograms.

In the past two decades, generation and encryption of holographic images have been identified as two important areas of investigation in digital holography. The integration of these two technologies has enabled images to be encrypted with more dimensions of freedom on top of simply employing the encryption keys. Despite the moderate success attained to date, and the rapid advancement of computing technology in recent years, the heavy computation load involved in these two processes remains a major bottleneck in the evolution of the digital holography technology. To alleviate this problem, we have proposed a fast and economical solution which is capable of generating, and at the same time encrypting, holograms with numerical means. In our method, the hologram formation mechanism is decomposed into a pair of one-dimensional (1D) processes. In the first stage, a given three-dimensional (3D) scene is partitioned into a stack of uniformed spaced horizontal planes and converted into a set of hologram sublines. Next, the sublines are expanded to a hologram by convolving it with a 1D reference signal. To encrypt the hologram, the reference signal is first convolved with a key function in the form of a maximum length sequence (also known as MLS, or M-sequence). The use of a MLS has two advantages. First, an MLS is spectrally flat so that it will not jeopardize the frequency spectrum of the hologram. Second, the autocorrelation function of an MLS is close to a train of Kronecker delta function. As a result, the encrypted hologram can be decoded by correlating it with the same key that is adopted in the encoding process. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method can be applied to generate and encrypt holograms with a small number of computations. In addition, the encrypted hologram can be decoded and reconstructed to the original 3D scene with good fidelity.