Analysis and design of wide-angle foveated optical systems based on transmissive liquid crystal spatial light modulators

Optical foveated imaging using liquid crystal (LC) spatial light modulators (SLMs) has received considerable attention in recent years as a potential approach to reducing size and complexity in fast wideangle lenses. We cover a theoretical study quantifying the diffraction efficiency and image quality of foveated optical systems (FOSs) based on transmissive LC SLMs. A practical design example of a fast wideangle FOS based on the current transmissive LC SLM technology is proposed. (C) 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3122006]