See-through characteristics of direct-view augmented reality holographic near-eye display

Recently, Augmented Reality (AR) near-eye display (NED) glasses approach to commercialization thanks to technological advancements. Most AR NED glasses use transparent optical combiners, such as diffractive waveguides and holographic optical element reflectors, to display AR images on a virtual plane. In these types of AR glasses, the overall optical systems more complicated. In this study, we investigate the see-through characteristics of a direct-view AR NED using a transparent LCD with wave optic modeling and simulation. In particular, we simulate diffraction problems caused by the pixel layout of transparent displays and light smearing at points where a bright light source is located and propose a panel layout optimization method to address these issues. Additionally, we introduce a computer-generated hologram (CGH) optimization algorithm that enhances the visibility of holographic images for viewer through the virtual plane in the direct-view AR NED with the proposed panel structure.