Complex modulation computer-generated hologram by a fast hybrid point-source/wave-field approach

We propose a fast Computer-Generated Hologram (CGH) computation method based on a hybrid point-source/wave-field approach. Whereas previously proposed methods tried to reduce the computational complexity of the point-source or the wave-field approaches independently, our method uses the two approaches together and therefore takes advantages from both of them. The algorithm consists of three steps. First, the 3D scene is sliced into several depth layers parallel to the hologram plane. Then, for each layer, we compute the complex wave scattered by this layer either using a wave-field or a point-source approach according to a threshold criterion on the number of points within the layer. Finally, we sum up the complex waves scattered by all the depth layers in order to obtain the final CGH. Experimental results reveal that this combination of approaches does not produce any visible artifact and outperforms both the point-source and wave-field approaches.