Hardware-accelerated multiscopic image generation

1 . A hardware apparatus for generating an output image for a multiscopic display, the multiscopic display comprising an array of light-emitting cells and a multiscopic optical element comprising a plurality of multiscopic cells, the hardware apparatus comprising:

an input interface configured to receive:

a first image and a second image corresponding to a first eye and a second eye of at least one user, respectively, wherein the first image and the second image are provided at an intermediate image resolution that is lower than a full image resolution of the output image; and

metadata indicating, for a given multiscopic cell of the multiscopic optical element, relative locations of light-emitting cells on whose optical path the given multiscopic cell lies that can be employed to emit light toward the first eye, and relative locations of light-emitting cells on whose optical path the given multiscopic cell lies that can be employed to emit light toward the second eye;

processing circuitry configured to operate in a streaming manner to:

for the given multiscopic cell, determine, based on the metadata and calibration parameters specific to the multiscopic display, which light-emitting cells of the array are to be employed to emit light toward the first eye and which light-emitting cells of the array are to be employed to emit light toward the second eye, wherein the calibration parameters indicate a positional relationship between the light-emitting cells of the array and the multiscopic cells of the multiscopic optical element; and

obtain emission values for the determined light-emitting cells based on the first image and the second image; and

an output interface configured to output the output image, the output image comprising emission values for the array of light-emitting cells.

2 . The hardware apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the relative locations of light-emitting cells are expressed as a range with respect to a reference position on the given multiscopic cell.

3 . The hardware apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the calibration parameters comprise at least one of:

a signed distance of a leftmost light-emitting cell, from among light-emitting cells that lie on a given row of the array and on whose optical path the given multiscopic cell lies, from the reference position on the given multiscopic cell;

a delta of the signed distance between the given row and a next row of the array;

a pitch of the multiscopic optical element along the given row.

4 . The hardware apparatus of claim 1 , wherein when determining the light-emitting cells, the processing circuitry is configured to interpolate the metadata to correspond to the full image resolution of the output image.

5 . The hardware apparatus of claim 1 , wherein when obtaining the emission values, the processing circuitry is configured to interpolate the first image and the second image on a per-light-emitting-cell basis to obtain the emission values at the full image resolution of the output image.

6 . The hardware apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

for a given segment of the first image, determine an amount of crosstalk toward the first eye, based on at least the second image; and

adjust intensity values in the given segment of the first image, based on the amount of crosstalk determined for the given segment, wherein the intensity values are adjusted prior to obtaining the emission values for the light-emitting cells.

7 . The hardware apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to apply at least one image processing technique to at least one of: the first image, the second image.

8 . A multiscopic display system comprising:

a multiscopic display comprising an array of light-emitting cells and a multiscopic optical element comprising a plurality of multiscopic cells;

a hardware apparatus of claim 1 ; and

a processing unit configured to:

generate a first image and a second image corresponding to a first eye and a second eye of at least one user, respectively;

generate metadata indicating relative locations of light-emitting cells that can be employed to emit light toward the first eye and the second eye with respect to multiscopic cells of the multiscopic optical element; and

provide the first image, the second image, and the metadata to the hardware apparatus.

9 . The multiscopic display system of claim 8 , wherein the hardware apparatus is integrated on a semiconductor device that also implements the processing unit.

10 . The multiscopic display system of claim 8 , wherein the hardware apparatus is implemented as a separate device arranged in-line between the processing unit and the multiscopic display.

11 . The multiscopic display system of claim 8 , wherein the hardware apparatus is integrated with display electronics of the multiscopic display.

12 . A method for generating an output image for a multiscopic display, the multiscopic display comprising an array of light-emitting cells and a multiscopic optical element comprising a plurality of multiscopic cells, the method comprising:

receiving a first image and a second image corresponding to a first eye and a second eye of at least one user, respectively, wherein the first image and the second image are provided at an intermediate image resolution that is lower than a full image resolution of the output image;

receiving metadata indicating, for a given multiscopic cell of the multiscopic optical element, relative locations of light-emitting cells on whose optical path the given multiscopic cell lies that can be employed to emit light toward the first eye, and relative locations of light-emitting cells on whose optical path the given multiscopic cell lies that can be employed to emit light toward the second eye;

for the given multiscopic cell, determining, based on the metadata and calibration parameters specific to the multiscopic display, which light-emitting cells of the array are to be employed to emit light toward the first eye and which light-emitting cells of the array are to be employed to emit light toward the second eye, wherein the calibration parameters indicate a positional relationship between the light-emitting cells of the array and the multiscopic cells of the multiscopic optical element;

obtaining emission values for the determined light-emitting cells based on the first image and the second image; and

outputting the output image, the output image comprising emission values for the array of light-emitting cells,

wherein determining the light-emitting cells, obtaining the emission values and outputting the output image are performed in a streaming manner.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the light-emitting cells comprises interpolating the metadata to correspond to the full image resolution of the output image.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein obtaining the emission values comprises interpolating the first image and the second image on a per-light-emitting-cell basis to obtain the emission values at the full image resolution of the output image.

15 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

for a given segment of the first image, determining an amount of crosstalk toward the first eye, based on at least the second image; and

adjusting intensity values in the given segment of the first image, based on the amount of crosstalk determined for the given segment, wherein the intensity values are adjusted prior to obtaining the emission values for the light-emitting cells.

16 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising applying at least one image processing technique to at least one of: the first image, the second image.