Holographic display system for dynamic synthesis of 3D light fields with increased space bandwidth product

We present a new method for the generation of a dynamic wave field with high space bandwidth product (SBP). The dynamic wave field is generated from several wave fields diffracted by a display which comprises multiple spatial light modulators (SLMs) each having a comparably low SBP. In contrast to similar approaches in stereoscopy, we describe how the independently generated wave fields can be coherently superposed. A major benefit of the scheme is that the display system may be extended to provide an even larger display. A compact experimental configuration which is composed of four phase-only SLMs to realize the coherent combination of independent wave fields is presented. Effects of important technical parameters of the display system on the wave field generated across the observation plane are investigated. These effects include, e.g., the tilt of the individual SLM and the gap between the active areas of multiple SLMs. As an example of application, holographic reconstruction of a 3D object with parallax effects is demonstrated.