Trilite Trixels: Autostereoscopic 3D technology for outdoor digital signage displays

Trixels is the concept, based on laser beams and moving mirrors, developed by the Austrian startup Trilite to effectively produce 3D images at the size of an outdoor digital signage and billboard screen without loss of viewing angles, as if it were a kind of hologram, y sin necesidad de gafas 3D.

The development of Trillite, in collaboration with the Vienna University of Technology and financing of the European Union, to produce Trixels, a technological concept based on laser beams and moving mirrors, aims to display autostereoscopic 3D images (without glasses), like those already offered by many televisions, but on large format outdoor screens.

each pixel, or Trixel in the Trilite name, consists of three laser diodes (rojo, green and blue) which are combined with a small mobile mirror that allows generating different colors that are directed to the eyes of the spectators. The mirror directs the laser beams through the field of view, from left to right. During that movement, The laser intensity is modulated so that different laser flashes are sent in different directions

The measurements of whole units of 9x6x5 mm., make the average distance at which viewers or users typically view a large-format digital signage screen merge into a single 3D image (at an inappropriate distance, Passersby will only see a 2D image).

As Fernando Saint Julien assures, director general de Trilite, “We are taking the next step in the evolution of large-scale outdoor digital signage displays.”, allowing viewers to view the images of these systems in 3D, all this without having to wear special glasses”.

Autostereoscopic system applications are often limited in screen size, glow, number of zones and maximum 3D viewing distances, Mandatory requirements for effective operation in large format dooh systems. Besides, conventional autostereoscopic elements used indoors, such as lenses or parallax barriers, cannot adapt to these types of outdoor displays due to the inherent loss of resolution and brightness, which would reduce both the image quality and its readability in sunlight.

In this sense, Trilite's CTO, Franz Fidler, explains that “we have developed a multi-view autostereoscopic concept with modular laser display that offers, in theory, thousands of 3D viewing zones, at a maximum 3D viewing distance of up to 60 meters and bright enough and readable in direct sunlight”.

The differential of this technological proposal is that “while other companies use very complex micro-optics, we put together a red laser, green and blue in a unique, airtight package containing a single micro-lens.”, Matiza Fidler.

Until now, the company has developed a very basic prototype with Trixel technology, which offers 5×3 pixels, although “we are working on a second prototype that will display color images at a much higher resolution.”. The crucial and critical point is to work with the individual laser pixels”, puntulliza Jörg Reitterer, another of the Trilite developers.

The possibilities that this technology can offer in dooh screens in high traffic points, public events, stadiums, concerts, etc. They are practically infinite, as well as its impact on the audience and the commercial sector.

Trilite will show the possibilities of its Trixels at Spie Photonics West 2015, the most important photonics competition, laser and biomedical optics, which is celebrated from 7 al 12 February in San Francisco (California – United States), and hopes to commercialize its development at the end of 2016.