In a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, a three-dimensional
scene is reproduced on a specialized light display which offers full
multiviewpoint capability and auto-stereoscopic views. The displayed image
is produced using a set of M two-dimensional images of the scene collected
at a set of distinct spatial locations. These M two-dimensional images are
processed through a specialized mathematical encoding scheme to obtain a
set of N.times.K display-excitation electrical-input signals, where K is
the number of pixels in the display, and N.ltoreq.M is the number of
individual light-radiating elements within one pixel. The display is thus
comprised of a total of N.times.K light-radiating elements. Each of the K
pixels is adapted for control of their associated radiance patterns. The
display is connected for response to the set of N.times.K
display-excitation electrical-input signals. In this manner, the display
provides a multiviewpoint and autostereoscopic three-dimensional image
associated with the original three-dimensional scene. An alternative
embodiment of the invention is utilized to provide efficient storage and
display of 3D computer graphics images.