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Lasers for phase only Holographic projection and head up display applications

Conference Paper · October 2013

DOI: 10.1109/HPD.2013.6706598

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 Lasers for Phase Only Holographic Projection and
Head Up Display Applications
D. Masiyano1*, N. Collings2, J. Christmas1
1
Two Trees Photonics LTD, Beaufort Court, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, MK5 8HL, UK (*email: dackson.masiyano@2tp.com)
2
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, CB3 0FA, UK
Abstract—We have developed a laser holographic projection
engine that is an order of magnitude more optically efficient
than conventional projection displays. The image is formed by
beam propagation from the hologram plane, which places
stricter demands on the light source when compared to
conventional displays. In this paper we discuss the laser
requirements (technical and commercial) for Holographic
projection.
Index Terms—Spatial light modulator, Holographic projector
I. INTRODUCTION
A utomotive Head Up Displays (HUDs) are rapidly
gaining acceptance due to the demonstrable safety
benefits coupled with a high retention rate among users [1,5].
The HUD image appears to float over the bonnet of the car
(typically 2 to 2.5 meters from the driver’s eyes) and presents
drivers with important data such as current speed, warnings
and navigation information so drivers no longer have to take
their eyes off the road (Fig 1). Benefits include [1, 2]:
Reduced ‘eyes off the road time; 15 to 50 metres blind
flight in the 0.8 sec it takes to read the speedometer and
10% reduction in glance frequency to instrument cluster
Reduced eyestrain as the display is matched to scene
Separated area for driving information (less clutter)
Potential for augmented reality (road signs, navigation)
Worldwide sales amounted to 1.2 million units (2% of
vehicles sold) in 2012 and are projected to increase to 9.1
million in 2020 [3].
Fig. 1. (a) HUD symbology. (b) Automotive HUD schematic. (c) TFT HUD
with LED backlight. (d) Information content. Images from [2].
Automotive HUD pose very challenging requirements for
display technologies; conflicting requirements of high
luminance and high contrast ratios (night and day), the HUD
must be robust enough to survive 10,000 operating hours
whilst being subjected to wide operating and storage
temperatures as well as mechanical vibrations, there is limited
1. This technology has matured and it is difficult to imagine further significant gains/innovation.
20 978-1-4799-2748-7/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE
packaging space behind the instrument cluster. Additionally,
in systems that use the windscreen as the combiner, the
optical designer has to mitigate the consequent distortion and
astigmatism and ghost image from secondary reflection.
Current HUDs are based on presenting a virtual image of a
TFT/LCD panel by use of mirrors with the windscreen
serving as the combiner (Fig 1(c)). Progress has been made in
the past 10 years to improve the poor efficiency and reduce
volume [4]. In the first generation less than 1% of the
500000cd/m2 produced by LEDs made it to the drivers eyes
[4, 5]. More modern back lights now comprise of 15 white
LEDs and revisions to the optical design and materials have
resulted in a reduction in both the volume and weight of the
HUD unit by almost 50 percent to 3.8 litres and 1.5 kilograms
respectively [4].
The use of TFT/LCD based displays places a fundamental
limit on the achievable efficiency and miniaturization and
therefore it will become1 increasingly difficult for this
technology to meet future specifications and features that are
being demanded by car manufactures [5, 6]. At Two Trees
Photonics (2TP), we have developed a laser holographic
HUD that meets the current requirements and is one of the
best placed technologies to meet future specifications, i.e.
high efficiency (a must for electric vehicles), higher
brightness (>20000cd/m2), small package (< 2 litres) and
enhance the driving experience by offering new features such
as augmented reality.
II. PHASE ONLY HOLOGRAPHY
2TP’s phase only holographic projection engine is a
powerful alternative to conventional projection displays; the
image is formed by writing a phase only hologram
(representative of the image) onto a customised spatial light
modulator (SLM) [8-11]. The image is formed by wavefront
reconstruction (Fig 2).
Fig. 2. Principle of image formation by phase only holography.
References [8-11] provide more detailed information. Here
is a summary of the unique features.
High brightness and efficiency: The principal advantage
of phase only holography (POH) is that the image is formed
according to Fourier holographic principles as opposed to
blocking unwanted light to get dark pixels. POH is an order of
magnitude more optically efficient (43%) than a conventional
projection display (4-6%). This advantage is further enhanced
in low information content2 applications such as HUDs
specification of the next generation head up displays. One of
the key enabling technologies is the availability of high
performance semiconductor lasers that meets both the
holographic projection requirements as well as the
environmental and commercial considerations.
(a) Collimating lens (b) Angular divergence
complexity

(c)Beam ellipticity (d) Diffraction limited spot size

Fig. 3. Virtual image of 2TP laser holographic HUD

Fig. 4. Laser requirements for holographic HUD
Simple optical architecture: In its simplest form only two
components are required; a spatially coherent light source and Table 1. Laser requirements for holographic laser HUD
an SLM. In practice we use cost effective physical lenses and Requirement Effect
more complex software lenses (written onto SLM) to correct Wavelengths Blue: 440-480nm Green: 515- Luminance
for residual aberrations. 550nm Red: 620nm-642nm Colour gamut
Robust and fault tolerant: Each SLM pixel contributes to Output power 250mW-500mW for very high Brightness
all pixels in the image hence faults in the SLM or dust on the luminance displays
optics are not readily apparent in the projected image [11]. Spatial coherence Approx. device diagonal Contrast, speckle
Linear > 100:1 extinction ratio Contrast, efficiency
Relaxation of manufacturing tolerances: Alignment/bore polarization
sighting of the optical system is achieved by adding Focused beam Diffraction limited spot Resolution
holographic correction functions to the hologram. Ellipticity Matched to aspect ratio of SLM Efficiency, cost/lens
Brilliant colours/wide colour gamut: Even without the e.g 1920x1080 [10,11] complexity
Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect3, laser HUDs cover more Lifetime AutoHUD > 10,000hrs Reduced number of
lasers > 200mw
ambient light scenarios than LCD-HUDs with LED light Thermal Passive or active cooling to Increased stability
sources [7]. management maintain 60 deg C of output power
High dynamic range: Night time dimming is easily
Device size Compact Reduced HUD size
achieved without loss of contrast ratio (by reducing laser Cost of Red and Blue lasers available at Needs to be cost
current). This is very problematic for TFT HUDs. semiconductor ~USD10-12 for large volumes. competitive with
diode lasers Direct green lasers 3x more high power LEDs.
III. LASERS FOR HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION
The use of beam propagation to form the image places REFERENCES
stricter demands (summarized in Table 1) on the light source [1] M.Moell, “Color HUD for Automotive Applications”, Technical
Report, Troy, MI
when compared to a conventional display [11].
[2] G.Franz, “Technologies for automotive HUDS, SID ME, Dresden 2010
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the penalty being speckle noise and the associated up-display-sales-poised-to-soar-ihs-says#axzz2f5B54NwL
suppression techniques; high linear polarization extinction [4] http://www.automotive-eetimes.com/en/continental-brings-second-
ratio; focused spot sizes of the order of tens of microns as this generation-head-up-displays-to-series-3-
bmw.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222902143
is directly related to the reconstructed image resolution. [5] E. Buckley, “Pixtronix DMSTM technology for head-up displays”,
In the case of semiconductor laser diodes: Emitter size and Pixtronix, SID Vehicles and Photons, 2011
astigmatism are the limiting factors for system resolution (Fig [6] R. Isele, M.Zobl, “Automotive displays; development of displays,”
SID ME, Dresden, 2010
4 (b&d)). Also, if the ellipticity does not map to the aspect
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ratio of the SLM, expensive/complex/anamorphic optics may displays using LED and laser light sources,” in Proc. SID Symposium,
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truncation techniques may be employed (Fig 4(c)). Additional [8] J. L. Christmas, “Real-time holography for displays”, Ph.D.
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requirements are imposed by the operating environment and
[9] N. Collings, et al, "The applications and technology of phase-only
commercial considerations such as cost and life time. liquid crystal on silicon devices" IEEE/OSA J.Displ.Tech 2010.
[10] A. Georgiou, J. Christmas, et al, "Liquid crystal over silicon device
IV. CONCLUSION characteristics for holographic projection of high-definition television
images," Appl. Opt. 47, 4793-4803 (2008)
We have demonstrated that, not only does a Laser
[11] N. Collings et al Holographic projection based on tapered lasers and
Holographic HUD meet the current automotive requirements, nematic liquid crystal on silicon devices. Proc. SPIE 7775, Liquid
it also has the potential to meet and even exceed the target Crystals XIV, 777504 (August 17, 2011)

2. For example, if only 20% of the pixels are on at the display (typical HUD image), a TFT HUD converts 80% of the photons to heat; whereas in 2TPs
Holographic Display the majority of the photons can be redirected to form the image.
3. Highly saturated light sources appear brighter than less saturated sources.

2013 High Power Diode Laser and Systems Conference (HPD) 21

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