Effect of illumination in an integral imaging system with large depth of focus

We present the characteristics of integral imaging systems with large depth of focus (DOF) by use of two kinds of illumination: plane illumination and diffusing illumination. For each system, we perform ray analysis based on ray optics. To check the visual quality through optical experiments, we use an average image of observed images picked up at various positions within a large DOF. The synthesized elemental images for a three-dimensional (3-D) object with two character patterns were displayed in an optical system and its reconstruction experiments are performed. Experimental results show that use of diffusing illumination can improve visual quality of reconstruction 3-D images in depth-priority integral imaging.