Spectral synthesis provides 2-D videos on a 1-D screen with 360°-visibility and mirror-immunity

Abstract: Spatial-light-modulator (SLM)-based tunable sources have complex setups. A simpler setup, comprising an SLM-projector and a dispersive element, synthesizes light as effectively, based on a Superposition of Newtonian Spectra (SNS). As a generalization of SNS, two-dimensional (2-D) grayscale videos are spectrally encoded on a one-dimensional (1-D), translucent screen, and viewed through another dispersive element. This Projected-Image Circumlineascopy (PICS) produces semitransparent, rainbow-coloured, virtual 2-D videos that face every viewer anywhere around the 1-D screen. They are invariant under reflection of the 1-D screen in mirrors parallel to it. SNS bandwidth and PICS image geometry are calculated using geometric optics and Dispersion Diagrams.