Future directions in visual display systems

  • Authors:
  • Ed Lantz

  • Affiliations:
  • Spitz, Inc., Chadds Ford, PA

  • Venue:
  • ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics
  • Year:
  • 1997

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

Visual displays have evolved in several parallel application areas including television, computer monitors, graphics monitors, portable displays, projection displays and most recently, immersive displays. Film, too, has matured as the highest resolution display medium available. One might mistakenly proclaim that today's visual displays produce an image quality which nearly matches that of our perception. The truth is that primitive cave petroglyphs viewed in fire-light far exceed the visual capacity of any modern imaging and display system. Our visual displays only represent a small piece of what our eyes perceive to be reality.Consider the visual content in a highly ornate architectural space such as the Sistine Chapel. One is immersed within great columns, arches and a ceiling covered with Michelangelo's paintings containing hundreds of human figures. One could argue that this space is a vast immersive display system designed to invoke a sense of awe and communicate a biblical world view. The environment is static, but viewing it involves a great deal of eye, head and body motion. Even our best large-format film displays are at a loss to reproduce the range of colors, dynamic range of intensities, field of view and level of detail present in such a space.Visual displays are arguably becoming our primary means of information delivery. Their design can profoundly affect how we daily communicate and interact with information. As image capture, generation and display technologies advance, we will see visual systems improve in both realism and level of immersion. Arrayed display systems are already providing a leap in simultaneous wide field of view and high resolution. These advances are fundamentally changing the way in which information can be represented by increasing information bandwidth and enabling a deeper engagement of our visual senses.