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Samsung Patent Describes Holographic TV Technology (consumerist.com)

Patently Mobile is reporting about a new patent application filed by Samsung that lays out new holographic TV technology. Slashdot reader Rick Schumann writes via Consumerist: Holographic displays as described by Samsung would be able to make the depth the brain perceives consistent with the focus of the eyes. Lasers would be used to project holograms that float in front of the screen, which of course sounds a heck of a lot like a mini Princess Leia telling Obi-Wan Kenobi he's her only hope. The display apparatus could also include an eye tracking unit that would locate an observer's pupils and adjust how far it has to project the holographic image for optimum viewing.

Worth noting: This is just a patent application; no indication of even a working prototype.


52 comments

  1. Getting closer to holodecks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But remember, holoboobies are only half the battle. Someone still needs to invent a way to make them touchable.

    And no, this doesn't fucking count.

    1. Re:Getting closer to holodecks. by amalcolm · · Score: 1

      Why not just get a date .... oh, sorry, I forgot, this is Slashdot!

      --
      Time for bed, said Zebedee - boing
    2. Re: Getting closer to holodecks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was playing a holographic backlit projection device in color that outdid the Star Wars version in 2001 in Waikiki Hawaii.

      So why is this new?

    3. Re:Getting closer to holodecks. by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

      the flames are so real I can feel them.

    4. Re:Getting closer to holodecks. by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 1
      --

      "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
    5. Re:Getting closer to holodecks. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Why not just get a date .... oh, sorry, I forgot, this is Slashdot!

      And you might go to jail if you touch real boobies!

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re:Getting closer to holodecks. by niks42 · · Score: 1

      You just need to switch to Hard Light holograms. Worked for Rimmer.

    7. Re:Getting closer to holodecks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not just get a date .... oh, sorry, I forgot, this is Slashdot!

      And you might go to jail if you touch real boobies!

      But according to the new emperor-elect, its ok to go up and grab a handful of p*ssy, so why not boobies at the same time?

  2. Great... by ctrl-alt-canc · · Score: 2

    ...for viewing the towering inferno: it is a Samsung product, after all.

    1. Re:Great... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or perhaps "Krakatoa, East Of Java".
      (What's a little bit of Geography being off, when Samsung is making new Mountains...)

    2. Re:Great... by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      You could look up the patent application on your phone and it will Burn After Reading.

      Which is, coincidentally, the UK government's plan for Birmingham should the US invade.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  3. "Just" A Patent Application? by Compulawyer · · Score: 4, Informative

    In this context, you can be sure there is more. The patent laws of the US and other countries require that the application (and consequently, any issued patent) describe the invention in sufficient detail so that someone of ordinary skill in the art area to which the invention most nearly pertains can make and use the invention. You don't have to build one, but you do have to provide enough detail so that someone else could build one.

    --

    Laws affecting technology will always be bad until enough techies become lawyers.

    1. Re:"Just" A Patent Application? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the theory anyway.

      Another theory is to grant the patent and let people challenge if they think it's invalid.

    2. Re:"Just" A Patent Application? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The requirement should be to be able to build a functional one. I can come up with all kinds of stuff that you could physically build but won't work.

    3. Re:"Just" A Patent Application? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They'll work. They'll do something totally useless. Utility isn't a condition.

    4. Re:"Just" A Patent Application? by zalas · · Score: 1

      Does anyone have a link to the actual patent application? The summary on the linked blog pretty much gives no details about the specifics of the patent (i.e., pretty much any design for a holographic display would have the components listed in the summary of the patent given by the blog) The big elephants in the room are: (1) how do you build a spatial light modulator that has micron-size pixels and yet be big enough to comfortably view a big image, and (2) how do you compute in real time what values those pixels need to be? A holographic display would need one or two orders of magnitude higher pixel density than Apple's "Retina Displays". The summary unfortunately sounds like the equivalent of "we present a patent for making a horse-drawn carriage, wherein you have a horse and it's attached to a carriage, which may be made of metal or wood or some other material, and wow look at the equation that gives you the shape of one of the pieces of the carriage!"

  4. Eye tracking.. by sTERNKERN · · Score: 3, Informative

    means it is only for one person, or a few. This is not the holodeck you are looking for.

    1. Re:Eye tracking.. by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      I don't understand why eye tracking is necessary at all. In a pre-digital physics class (late '70s) we had holograms. They consisted of photographic film with moire patterns. They needed no eye tracking, and in fact that tech came decades later.

      Oh, wait--I just figured it out. The eye tracking is to make sure what you're seeing is what they want you to see. With a film hologram, it's like looking out a window. The eye tracking keeps you at the middle of the window. So this will likely be not for large TVs, but phone or tablet sized devices.

      The linked article and submission got one thing bass askwards. Holograms aren't like Star Wars. With a hologram, the image is behind the screen, not in front. It's true 3D, not just stereoscopy like today's "3D". Holograms are completely 3D, again, like looking out a window.

    2. Re:Eye tracking.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holographic plates you remember from the 70s aren't animated nor generated in real time, which is why there is a huge difference between current display technology and actual holographic techniques (at least for the physics definition). There is some work on animating and dynamically controlling the phase and intensity of a display to give a true holographic display, but the current slow refresh rates, low resolutions, and high costs make it useless for something like a TV or computer monitor. It is currently used only for research equipment, such as fixing the phase front of high quality lasers.

  5. In related news by Tyrannicsupremacy · · Score: 0

    Samsung submits patent for exploding TV technology.

    --
    http://i.cubeupload.com/T6cyLu.png
  6. Advertising Tagline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Explosions so real you can you can feel the heat and smell the smoke! An experience only Samsung can bring you.

  7. Lets hope it does not explode by fatgeekuk · · Score: 1

    Like samsung phones, washing machines....

    1. Re:Lets hope it does not explode by Kartu · · Score: 1

      Anecdotal evidence is... anecdotal. At work we had Apple laptop (pre Intel one), with exploded battery (torn aluminium looked scary)

  8. Forget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Forget this! Tell us more about fighting fake news and why we need censorship!

  9. Meh... by Rei · · Score: 4, Funny

    Crooked Leia, storing classified information in a private server... did you know that she's still under investigation by the empire for doing so?

    --
    It's times like this I wish I had a friend named 'The Professor'.
    1. Re:Meh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh it's worse, much worse than that. Receiving Stolen Goods. Treason. Conspiracy. Resisting Arrest. Assault and Battery. Perjury. Flight to Avoid Prosecution. Trespass. Destruction of Government Property. Piloting without a License. Extortion. Smuggling. Concealing Arms. Alienation of Affection. The list goes on and on, and she must be guilty by the overwhelming preponderance of legally recorded evidence, even if any individual action can be argued to have reasonable cause.
      But she is one of those Elites with good connections, and I doubt that they will ever even Indict her.
      You wouldn't believe me, if I told you who her Father _really_ is.

    2. Re:Meh... by goombah99 · · Score: 1

      The farce is with you, master Rei.

      --
      Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    3. Re:Meh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you forget the part where she is a leader of a violent terrorist network?

  10. Oh dear... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does this mean that the government has a machine that can see the future and the past?

  11. Not new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... locate an observer's pupils and adjust ...

    This is not new, 3D-refracting devices have already supplied proof of concept: The flaw is obvious; they do not work for an audience bigger than one.

    ... make the depth the brain perceives ...

    The point of the hologram is, the eye can move around the image and always experience depth perception: A flat viewing surface means the 'mobility' of the eye is limited to a 40 degree arc.

    The best 'holograph' so far, is a spinning projector and viewing screen watched through a polarized lens: No matter what the movement of the eye, the spinning screen presents an image from a similarly placed camera on the source, while the polarized lens prevents adjacent images (from adjacent cameras), presented as the screen continues to move, ghosting over the correct image.

    1. Re:Not new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The point of the hologram is, the eye can move around the image and always experience depth perception:"
      There is another problem, a psychological one, that we only unconsciously perceive until it is pointed out. Depth perception has two components, one having to do with Stereoscopic vision, the Classic "3D Look". The other is how we perceive distances through Depth of Field. The Lens of the eye changes shape to provide Focus, and the Iris of the eye constricts or dilates to limit Depth of Field as occasion and interest demands.
        This is a classic trick of Portrait Photography. Start at say F16, adjust fixed lighting, exposure and unsmiling model so that she has constricted pupils looking at the camera, and foreground and background are clearly defined. Then start reducing the light in half-stop steps, every 30 seconds or so, and adjust the Camera Iris for correct exposure and continue shooting away until the Camera Lens is fully open, as are the Irises of the now smiling Model's eyes, while foreground and background slowly lose focus. All the visual effects of unconscious Arousal. Very difficult with Moving Pictures, as Kubrick found out while shooting "Barry Lyndon".

      A simpler method is to use a Zoom lens linked to an axial Track, so that the Actor's Face retains the same projected FOV as background and foreground zoom in or out; the "Dolly Zoom", first popularly used by Hitchcock in "Vertigo". But unless a lot of care is taken, the Irises generally remain the same size, while the eyes as the Camera gets closer, tend to cross... which can be unintentionally very funny.

      This can get very complicated, so we usually end up with that artificial "3D look", so familiar to the Victorians with their handheld Stereoscopic Viewers.

  12. US6025810 Hyper-light-speed antenna by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.google.com/patents/US6025810

    Maybe is emitting Cerenkov radiation ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation ?
    Do you think this have any real application ?
    So much fantasy in this patents,
    you would think by now we should have those damn flying machines.
    After all we passed October 21 2015, back in the future already.

    1. Re:US6025810 Hyper-light-speed antenna by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Maybe is emitting Cerenkov radiation ?"

      Cherenkov Radiation in Air is impractical, as the Energy needed for the Betas is too high at atmospheric pressure. A much more practical means is by the use of accelerated Ions to ionize the Air directly, thus:
      https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Cyclotron_with_glowing_beam.jpg

      Good if one is fond of Blue.
      BTW, that is the old 60" Crocker Cyclotron, moved from Berkeley to UC Davis after the 88" Cyclotron was constructed, and still in use, as is the 88". Those old Cyclotrons can pile up the years, but it's not the years, it's the mileage. I kept a few mementos.
      Once, when Josh Silver was trying to optically record the Spectra of +9 and +10 20Ne on film, I had this idea. We were using Luis Alvarez's old HILAC, and....

    2. Re: US6025810 Hyper-light-speed antenna by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The screen glass cover act as medium not the air. If the screen cover can manipulate the speed of light then we can manipulate depth perception.

  13. Love it by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    With the burning enthusiasm of ardent supporters it will sure become, like some Samsung products, an explosive success.

  14. this was done by a student several years ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The kid did it with the wii bar and got hired by microsoft to do the connect.

  15. Sounds interesting. by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

    Sounds interesting but unless the price point was the same as a regular HDTV or close, I'm not going to feel any need to spend the extra on one. I don't really see much point in 2K or 4K or 3D sets. I'm sure they're great, and if they're the same price as a regular HD set (or just a little more) I might spring for it, but if they're $100+ more than an HD set- meh. I'm fine with slightly older TV technology thanks!

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  16. "sounds a heck of a lot like a mini Princess Leia" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It really pisses me off when crappy "journalists" use "heck" and try to appeal to large audiences.

  17. Already patented by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unfortunately Magic Leap already has a patent on tracking the user's accommodation (focus) and displaying an image that takes that into account. It's in US 2015/0243093A1, paragraph 0109. And the reason I know that, was because I invented exactly the same thing, and only realized that it wasn't patentable when the lawyer's search found this fleeting reference buried deep within a patent that has very little to do with eye tracking. That was a bad day.

  18. boring and not holographic by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    This is boring technology, even the lady in the patent isn't impressed with it!

    Anyway, what the "Eye Tracking Unit" indicates is that this isn't actually a hologram but rather more tomfoolery of giving your eyes two different images. The problem with this is it won't look 3D when more than one person is looking at it.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:boring and not holographic by logicnazi · · Score: 1

      It may suggest they've figured out a way to efficiently compute the wavefront using eye tracking as a simplifying assumption. That could be useful since, rather than running into difficulty as the number of viewers increases, the technology would approach true holographic projection as the number of eyes tracked and computational power was increased.

      --

      If you liked this thought maybe you would find my blog nice too:

  19. Re:"sounds a heck of a lot like a mini Princess Le by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

    Yeah! I prefer when they try appeal to small audiences or use more offensive words. Damn journalists using non-offensive but casual language.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  20. Terrible article by impossiblefork · · Score: 2

    A system of this type has already been built by the German development company Seereal. Fraunhofer developed special anti-reflection coatings that allowed the construction of laser beam expansion systems for that display. Their system also used eye tracking.

    I haven't seen the patent claims, but from what I see in the article I can't say that there's anything novel there. The article is absolutely terrible as a report on a patent, with it being obvious that the author knows nothing about what he writes, either about patents or technology. For example, there is no mention of the patent claims, no mention of similar technology and an unsupported claim that the device is revolutionary.

  21. how does this wrok by goombah99 · · Score: 3

    I've actually seen these devices in action a decade ago (at Darpa Tech) and it's stunning. but I never understood how they worked. Yes I understand the hologram part of this. The two things I don't understand are
    1) I would think that the pitch of the spatial light modulator elements has to be much finer than the wavelength of light. Yet the surface on which these operate are enormous which would mean length/pitch would be an insane number of controllable pixels.

    2) The ones I saw were black and white. Not black and green or black and red. So how are they getting the "white" part if this. lasers are monochormatic. There are white light holograms but if I recall correctly these usually give up one axis of holographic dispersion to make the other axis multi-color. and even then they usually are haloed with fringing rainbows (like the Visa card Dove).

    So how do they pull off these two tricks?

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  22. Eye tracking problem? by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    If a system uses eye tracking to decide how to display something, doesn't that mean it's necessarily limited to a single user experience?

    1. Re:Eye tracking problem? by logicnazi · · Score: 1

      Don't think so. It still uses the underlying display technology of a holographic display so in theory the display technology should have the ability to fully reconstruct the light field. The problem with this approach is it is computationally very expensive to compute the wavefront. Hopefully, the eye tracking is just to simplify this computational task and one could just track as many eyes as computational power allowed.

      --

      If you liked this thought maybe you would find my blog nice too:

  23. I'll bet the movie explosions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...look real!

  24. not so new, still needs magic to work by eastjesus · · Score: 1

    I've seen this idea proposed at least since the mid 1980's. The problem is the so-called "spatial light modulator" which doesn't exist beyond something a few millimetres on a side capable of not much more than making a fuzzy dot, and that only in the monochromatic light of the laser. The problems, to be practical, are being able to produce a plane larger than the area to be viewed that can change the phase of the source light precisely (with fractional wavelength accuracy) in real time at a density of greater than 25,000 pixels per linear inch and the bandwidth and computing horsepower to run it. No one has shown a way it can be done with today's technology for arbitrary images even though there has been much interesting work put into it over the decades. It's still out of reach for now. There is a way to address the issues and we can produce full colour displays that have both horizontal and vertical parallax as well as addressing the focus issue. Gabriel Lippmann, who won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1908 for his invention of a method of true spectral colour photography that were actually true full colour holograms which he produced a half a century before Dennis Gabor's work, also proposed a method of 3D imaging which became known as Integral Photography. Using an array of tiny lenses (NOT prisms as in lenticular displays) one can reconstruct wavefronts using a subtractive approach (subtracting phase components from discrete samples of white diffuse light) instead of the additive one used in modern holography. Numerous examples of varying quality exist going back many decades. Although impractical at the time, today it can be done. Back in the mid 1980's I received a patent (US patent 4,878,735) on using diffractive elements for the lens array and have a description of the technology in terms of it being an optical computing architecture (which I called "Integral MicroOptics") at http://www.eastjesus.net/tech/... (with some pictures if you are interested). Interestingly, the Patent office introduced a typo in the title of the patent calling "zone plates" "tone plates" and that has never been fixed! (Being a musician, I've always gotten a laugh out of that!)

    1. Re:not so new, still needs magic to work by logicnazi · · Score: 1

      It's not the SLM so much as the computational power needed to feed it. The SLMs seem to exist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      As for computation...that's hard but maybe you could just precompute it for video

      --

      If you liked this thought maybe you would find my blog nice too:

  25. Bullshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Patent applications haven't ACTUALLY matched up with the patented item in a good 30+ years. Lots of people have gone on record stating that the patents they produced, while covering an invention which made them money, were not actually technically accurate to the device to stop people from being able to copy the patent application in order to work around the patented aspects of their devices.

    Go see how many devices you can replicate based off their post 1980 patent application and documentation that work exactly the same as the manufactured device.

  26. I think Samsung is just patent trolling by dsoodak · · Score: 1

    The difficult part of making a holographic display is the "transmissive light spatial modulator", as its referred to in the patent application. Since the patent tries to cover any conceivable device that would have this functionality, it is unlikely that they know how to make one themselves. Most of the main "innovations" are things which I realized after a couple of days thought on the subject (with just an undergraduate physics degree and no professional experience), so I can only imagine that they are so obvious to an actual expert in the field that they are not even worth mentioning.

  27. Anyone Know What Actualy Novelty Is Claimed? by logicnazi · · Score: 1

    The descriptions of the patent all seem to just describe a standard holographic display (look on wikipedia). You have a light source, a screen that either affects the amplitude or phase of the light, and then some lenses to properly display that light.

    It was my understanding that the hard part has always been doing the light calculations in real time. Going from a 3D description of a scene to the wavefront passing through the screen isn't trivial.

    --

    If you liked this thought maybe you would find my blog nice too: