Compact high-resolution aerial display using freeform-mirror aerial projection with digital predistortion

Conventional aerial display systems such as aerial imaging by retro-reflection (AIRR) and array-based aerial-imaging elements face challenges related to luminance, resolution, and system size. We propose freeform-mirror aerial projection with digital predistortion (FMAP-DP), which combines magnified reflective imaging by a single continuous freeform mirror with image-side digital predistortion. A prototype achieved a center luminance of 160.8 cd/m² and reduced the magnitude of the maximum TV distortion from 5.24% to 1.10% (signed value after correction: -1.10%). Five-viewpoint measurements at 0.80 lp/mm yielded ROI CTF values of 0.88-0.93 and full-AIA mean line-pair CTF values of 0.80-0.86. The LCD-only luminance non-uniformity was 27%, whereas the aerial-image non-uniformity was 62%, identifying luminance uniformity as a remaining limitation of the prototype.