Analysis and optimization of pixel usage of light-field conversion from multi-camera setups to 3D light-field displays

Light-field (LF) 3D displays require vast amount of views representing the original scene when using pure light-ray interpolation to convert multi-camera content to display-specific LF representation. Synthetic and real multi-camera setups are both used to feed these displays with image-based data, however the layout, number, frustum, and resolution of these cameras are mostly suboptimal. Storage and transmission of LF data is an issue, especially considering that some of the captured / rendered pixels are left unused while generating the final image. LF displays can have significantly different requirements for camera setups due to differences in Field of View (FOV), angular resolution and spatial resolution. An analysis of typical camera setups and LF display setups, and the typical patterns in pixel usage resulting from the combination of these setups are presented. Based on this analysis, an optimization method for virtual camera setups is proposed. As virtual cameras have wide range of adjustment possibilities, highly optimized setups for specific displays can be achieved.