In May 2020 Looking Glass Factory began shipping its 8K holographic display, a glasses-free light field monitor that uses 33.2 million pixels and a 45-element light field to give a 3D effect, as TechCrunch reported. It was aimed at enterprise users in fields such as medical imaging, mapping, automotive, architecture and engineering, with pricing available only on request. This post records that launch and explains, in simple terms, how such a display works.
Key takeaways (May 2020)
- Looking Glass Factory's 8K display started shipping in May 2020, as reported by TechCrunch.
- It drives 33.2 million pixels, which matches an 8K panel of 7,680 by 4,320 pixels.
- Those pixels are shared across a 45-element light field, so several viewers can see depth without glasses or a headset.
- Target markets were enterprise: medical imaging, mapping, automotive, architecture and engineering.
- Prices were quoted on request only, which put it beyond most home users at the time.
What was announced
Looking Glass announced that its 8K holographic display was shipping, using 33.2 million pixels and a 45-element light field to provide the 3D effect. The target markets were medical imaging, mapping, automotive, architecture and engineering. A press release tied to the announcement featured people from these fields who were excited about what the technology could mean. Epic Games CTO Kim Libreri was quoted as saying:
"Having access to a glasses-free holographic display is a massive breakthrough, and presents an exciting prospect for teams working in immersive computer graphics, visualization, and content creation. The Looking Glass holographic display provides a stunning level of realism, and we look forward to seeing the innovations that emerge with the support of Unreal Engine generated content."
The company offered pricing quotes only on request through its site, which made it likely to be cost-prohibitive for anyone just looking to improve a remote working setup. As TechCrunch noted in its earlier coverage, the company was targeting enterprise users with early applications, organisations that generally have money to spend on state-of-the-art hardware. More consumer-focused uses, including gaming, could follow further down the road.
How a light field display works
A normal monitor sends the same image in every direction, so both eyes see the same picture and depth has to be faked with shading and perspective. A light field display instead sends different images in different directions. An optical layer over the panel, typically a lenticular lens sheet, steers light from different groups of pixels towards different viewing angles. Each eye, being in a slightly different position, sees a slightly different view, and the brain fuses the two into a sense of depth. Moving your head brings new views into sight, so you can look around the object.
| Display type | What each eye sees | Needs glasses or headset | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary 2D monitor | The same image | No | Many |
| Stereoscopic 3D (glasses) | Two fixed views | Yes | Many, same two views |
| VR headset | Two views that track the head | Yes | One |
| Light field display | Different views by viewing angle | No | Several, each with their own angle |
The pixel budget
The trade-off is resolution. The panel's pixels are shared between all the views. As an illustrative calculation, 33.2 million pixels divided evenly across 45 views leaves about 0.74 million pixels per view, roughly the detail of a 1,000 by 740 image, even though the panel itself is 8K. This is why light field displays need very high resolution panels: much of the raw pixel count is spent on depth rather than on sharpness. The rendering load is also heavy, since the graphics system has to draw many views of the scene for every frame, which is where engines such as Unreal Engine come in.
Why it matters for engineers
- Medical imaging: viewing CT or MRI volumes in 3D without a headset makes it easier for a group to discuss the same scan.
- Automotive and engineering design: CAD models can be reviewed in depth by a team around one screen.
- Mapping and architecture: terrain and building models are easier to read with true parallax.
- Semiconductors: displays like this rely on high pixel-density panels, capable GPUs to render many views, and fast video links to carry the data, all areas of steady demand for chips.
FAQ
Is this a true hologram?
Not in the strict optical sense of interference patterns. It is a light field display, which reproduces many viewing angles of a scene. "Holographic" is the term the company uses for the glasses-free 3D effect.
Does it need glasses or a headset?
No. Depth comes from the different views sent to each eye, so several people can look at it together.
How much did the 8K display cost?
Looking Glass did not publish a price at launch; quotes were given on request.
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