Mixed reality head mounted display (HMD) freeform prism systems are widely applied with one surface in total internal reflection (TIR). This however limits the angle of the incident rays and decreases the design freedom. To avoid this, two seldom used design forms of HMD systems are studied and compared to the general applied TIR HMD optics. One of them is a catadioptric HMD system, consisting of one lens and two mirrors, the other is a prism HMD with a different folding geometry. The designs are compared for a field of view of 40°×30° and an increased field of view of 50°×30°. The evaluation indicates good performance; in particular the prism with an alternate folding geometry indicates advantages in both performance and size.

Date Published: 26 June 2017
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 10335, Digital Optical Technologies 2017, 1033506 (26 June 2017); doi: 10.1117/12.2270190

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10335:
Digital Optical Technologies 2017
Bernard C. Kress; Peter Schelkens, Editor(s)