AR/VR Optics – Pancake VR

Introduction to the Quantum Pancake Optomechanical Module

In Pancake optics, refraction, reflection, and polarization of light are combined to achieve a shorter optical path. The result is thinner near-to-eye devices with better imaging quality than regular wearable displays. The famous META, PICO, and Apple have released their Pancake XR headsets. Under the leadership of technology giants like these, Pancake VR optics are gradually becoming more widespread, and they will be a standard feature of ordinary headsets.

PANCAKE VR optics are vital to the functionality of virtual reality equipment, but they pose great technical difficulty. Metavision Technology is one of the few companies worldwide that can provide complete pancake optic systems and components for industrial applications and consumer product design.

A image showcasing the sleek and compact design of Metavision's Pancake Optical System, highlighting its advanced VR optics and miniled technology for enhanced virtual reality experiences.

Quantum: A Professional Grade Pancake Optomechanical Module Featuring Local Dimming

Metavision's new Pancake optomechanical module, Quantum, incorporates BOE's advanced COG (chip on glass) mini-led backlight technology.

It contains two pieces of 2.48" panels with a resolution of 1800*1920px at a frequency of 90Hz featuring quantum dot enhancement film and the semiconductor technology of miniled backlight, allowing its advantages like ultra-high contrast ratio(a stunning 1 million-to-1 contrast ratio), 30% wider color gamut, the world's most advanced Pancake VR optic system with local dimming.

The Quantum module incorporates BOE’s semiconductor technology of COG (chip-on-glass) miniled backlight. The active-matrix (AM) driving COG miniled backlight technology features ultra-high brightness and color gamut and integrates accurate local dimming, ensuring more accurate and exquisite light control on each light unit. It also makes the design of ultra-thin products possible, thanks to its bottom-edge driving line design.

PCB Substrate

Glass Substrate

AM Driving

High Transfer Efficiency

COG MINILED-AM DRIVING

Unlike 2D visual technology, which focuses on resolution only, VR optics must consider how display and optics work together as an entire system and the human eye's final viewing effect. The visual experience of virtual reality is determined by several factors, including resolution (number of pixels and PPD), sharpness (picture details), color and immersion.

Pixel Per Degree

A VR display comprises millions of tiny pixels, each displaying a different color. The edges of the pixels become visible due to gaps between them if viewed up close.

That means pixel density is essential to creating a realistic VR experience. VR optic system with higher resolutions and pixel densities have fewer visible pixels.

The Quantum module features 1800*1920px (per eye) at a frequency of 90Hz with 22PPD, featuring a higher PPD on the market.

Lower and higher PPD comparison

Resolution and PPI are essentially locked to the screen; PPD is locked to your eyeball.
Although PPI (pixels per inch) is often used to gauge the sharpness of a display, it can be misleading. If the raw pixels are not large and all those are expanded to fit FOV, then image quality will still look bad even if you have a high PPI!
The Quantum module PPD:22; The PICO 4 PPD:20.8

Lower and higher PPD comparison

Infinite Contrast Ratio

"Light Has Quality, Quantity, Color, And Direction, Which Provide Shape, Texture, And Character To Your Images"

The Miniled is 40 times smaller than conventional LEDs, allowing more LED pieces to fit on the display. The miniled is directly bonded to the glass substrate, allowing faster data transmission and more precise dimming control on each unit.

This ensures that each backlight unit is adjusted for brightness according to the needs, resulting in higher content quality with deep blacks, natural colors, and ultra-high brightness. Thanks to the miniled and local dimming technology, the Quantum model achieves a stunning 1000000:1 contrast ratio.

Contrast Comparison - approx. 30% Difference

Picture Details Sharpness

Sharpness combines resolution with contrast which determines how much detail can be seen by the human eye. A critical way to measure sharpness is the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), which evaluates the performance of an optical lens.

MTF can be quite useful in quantifying both loss of contrast and resolution. At center MTF (0°), the Quantum module exhibits an MTF that is 90% featuring an impressed excellent performance on the market.

“Every lens can be characterized by its MTF, which “is a measure of the ability of an optical system to transfer various levels of detail from object to image”
At center MTF (0°), Quantum module MTF: 90% (S T), the highest on the market.

MTF Line Pair contrast test example

Source: Edmund Optics

Better Immersion

True Color

The Quantum Dot Enhancement Film attached to the backlight helps realize a wider color gamut by adjusting the emission spectrum of quantum dots. The Quantum Dot coating technology enables the module to support a wide DCI-P3 color gamut (126% sRGB color gamut), which is 30% higher than a traditional display.

The Quantum module features 1 billion colors (the technology provides unparalleled color representation capable of reproducing nature-equivalent shades and hues.) and gives a Delta-E of less than 2, which is the benchmark for color accuracy in human vision.

P3

sRGB

More Immersion Experience

Pancake Optic technology allows a folded design that lets light be reflected back and forth between films and lenses, breaking the shackles of traditional optic design.

The Quantum module features only 21.3mm thickness, which adopts advanced multi layers films coating technology to make the design even more compact based on its previous pancake optical solutions.

Furthermore, the local dimming technology supports eye tracking to quickly adjust the light, allowing users to have a better immersive experience.

Overall speaking, the Quantum module features the most advanced miniled and quantum dot film technology, providing better pixel density (clarity), color gamut (true and vivid color), contrast (the right light matters) , and immersion (thinner and lighter design, responding to eye tracking), making it outstanding from the competition.