Many R&D sectors have a growing need to display more pixels in digital displays, as data, image size and supercomputer output continue to increase. This demand has been met, within the High Performance Computing (HPC) community, by tiling multiple projected images into a composite image of larger pixel capacity and display area. However problems of color and illumination non-uniformities between projectors reduce the perceptual quality of the composite image and may limit its utility in other applications. In this paper we review such displays in the context of their motivating applications from Computational Science and Engineering (CS&E). That community is using 25-30 Mega-pixel displays and is close to implementing 50-100 Mega-pixel systems, albeit with reduced image quality. We present further results characterizing our compact, tiled projector array. The system uses a common light source with a single set of dichroic filters to reduce image non-uniformities. Photometric variations between projectors are lowered by individually tuning contrast, brightness or gamma curves of the D-ILA chips, allowing near seamless tiling of the projected images. We report photometric measurements characterizing the display and its optical losses. The total image capacity for a 3 x 1 array is 3840 by 1024 pixels at a resolution of 80 dpi. Increases, beyond 50-100 Mega-pixels are possible with next-generation D-ILA chips in production at QXGA (2k x 1.5k) native resolution and laboratory demonstration of QHDTV (3.8k x 2k). Advances in newer technologies may permit the manufacture of high pixel density and high capacity displays.
The demand for more pixels in digital displays is beginning to be met as manufacturers increase the native resolution of projector chips. Tiling several projectors still offers one solution to augment the pixel capacity of a display. However problems of color and illumination uniformity across projectors need to be addressed as well as the computer software required to drive such devices. In this paper we present the results obtained on a desktop size tiled projector array of three D-ILA projectors sharing a common illumination source. The composite image on a 3 x 1 array, is 3840 by 1024 pixels with a resolution of about 80 dpi. The system preserves desktop resolution, is compact and can fit in a normal room or laboratory. A fiber optic beam splitting system and a single set of red, green and blue dichroic filters are the key to color and illumination uniformity. The D-ILA chips inside each projector can be adjusted individually to set or change characteristics such as contrast, brightness or gamma curves. The projectors were matched carefully and photometric variations were corrected, leading to a seamless tiled image. Photometric measurements were performed to characterize the display and losses through the optical paths, and are reported here. This system is driven by a small PC computer cluster fitted with graphics cards and is running Linux. The Chromium API can be used for tiling graphics tiles across the display and interfacing to users' software applications. There is potential for scaling the design to accommodate larger arrays, up to 4x5 projectors, increasing display system capacity to 50 Megapixels. Further increases, beyond 100 Megapixels can be anticipated with new generation D-ILA chips capable of projecting QXGA (2k x 1.5k), with ongoing evolution as QUXGA (4k x 2k) becomes available.
Users needs for more pixels in displays are starting to be met as manufacturers increase the native resolution of projector chips. Tiling several projectors still offers a solution to augment the pixel capacity of a display. However problems of color and illumination uniformity across projectors need to be addressed as well as the computer software required to drive such devices. We present a novel, compact, high-resolution, uniform, tiled projection computer display. All projectors are illuminated by a common light source, utilizing a fiber optic beam splitting system and a single set of red, green and blue dichroic filters. This ensures uniform illumination across the tiled projected images, a single color temperature, color balance and stability, with improved image uniformity. The display performance is characterized by photometric measurements. We investigate also spectral losses in the screen material. The utility of the new display system is illustrated by a scientific application in air-borne radar imaging for archaeology.
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