Lichtveld

Lichtveld, the Dutch term for light field, is a concept in optics that describes the distribution of light rays in space, including their position, direction, and radiance. In formal terms, a light field encodes the amount of light traveling through every point in a scene along every possible direction, often represented as a four-dimensional function L(x, y, u, v) that maps spatial coordinates (x, y) and angular directions (u, v). The plenoptic function generalizes this idea to include wavelength and time, but the four-dimensional light field is a common practical model for static scenes.

In practice, light fields can be captured with plenoptic cameras that place a microlens array between the main lens and the sensor, recording angular information about incoming light rays. This enables post-capture refocusing, depth estimation, and novel view synthesis, supporting advanced computational photography and 3D editing workflows. In computer graphics and vision, the light-field approach underpins techniques such as light-field rendering and depth-based rendering, which simulate new viewpoints and focus effects from captured data.

Historically, the concept arose from ray-based descriptions of vision and imaging. Seminal work by Levoy and Hanrahan laid the groundwork for light-field rendering, while later developments by Ng and colleagues popularized plenoptic photography with dedicated capture devices. Applications have grown beyond photography to virtual reality, augmented reality, and light-field displays. Key challenges include managing large data volumes, achieving a balance between spatial and angular resolution, and the calibration and processing requirements needed for accurate reconstruction.