Integral three-dimensional television based on superhigh-definition video system

In an integral three-dimensional television (integral 3-D TV) system, 3-D images are reconstructed by integrating the light beams from elemental images captured by a pickup system. 160(H) x 118(V) elemental images are used for reconstruction in this system. We use a camera with 2000 scanning lines for the pickup system and a high-resolution liquid crystal display for the display system and have achieved an integral 3-D TV system with approximately 3000(H) x 2000(V) effective pixels. Comparisons with theoretical resolution and viewing angle are performed, and it is shown that the resolution and viewing angle of 3-D images are improved about 2 times and 1.5 times respectively compared to previous system. The accuracy of alignment of microlenses is another factor that should be considered for integral 3-D TV system. If the lens array of the pickup system or display system is not aligned accurately, positional errors of elemental images may occur, which cause the 3-D image to be reconstructed at an incorrect position. The relation between positional errors of elemental image and reconstructed image is also shown. As a result, the 3-D images reconstructed far from the lens array are greatly influenced by such positional error.