PADO Hologram

Differentiable Holography, Documented as a Framework

An open-source computer-generated holography framework built on top of PADO, a PyTorch differentiable optics library.

This site is the high-level guide to the repository: what it is trying to become, how it is organized, which workflows already exist, and where contributors can help grow it next. The underlying PADO optics core was originally developed by the POSTECH Computer Graphics Lab.

Get Started Read the Vision Find by Task

PADO can also be read as PADO (파도), the Korean word for wave. The repository uses that name both literally, for the optical waves it simulates, and socially, for the momentum of a research community building reusable holography tools together.

What You Will Find Here

This MkDocs site is meant to be self-contained and practical. It focuses on architecture, workflows, reference maps, and contributor-facing context before you dive into the lower-level API details.

• Repository direction

  Why PADO Hologram exists, how it relates to upstream PADO, and what kind of long-term research stack it aims to become.

• Architecture and boundaries

  Where the optics core ends, where pado_hologram begins, and why that split matters for maintainability.

• Workflow guides

  Phase-only CGH, display-aware encoding, multi-plane composition, and Hydra-based experiment entry points.

• Reference maps

  A human-readable map of the main modules before you dive into the code or the deeper Sphinx API reference.

Find What You Need

If you are here for something specific, start from one of these pages:

• I want to install and run something quickly

  Start with installation, imports, and the smallest CLI-backed or Hydra-compatible experiments.

• I want to understand the repository structure

  See how pado, pado_hologram, MkDocs, Sphinx, tests, and notebooks fit together.

• I want to understand the architecture choices

  Learn why the optics core and the holography layer are intentionally kept separate.

• I want the experiment entry points

  Find CLI commands, Hydra compatibility, backend choices, and the current workflow scope.

• I want device-aware SLM details

  Go straight to LCOS/LUT-based phase encoding and the current display-model bridge.

• I want to help build this project

  Jump to contribution priorities, scope, and the broader project direction.

Current Capabilities

• Phase-only baselines

  Compact Gerchberg-Saxton helpers and pipeline composition for first-pass hologram generation.

• DPAC support

  Double-phase amplitude coding as part of the growing higher-level CGH algorithm layer.

• Device-aware encoding

  pado.display remains a compatibility bridge for LUT-based LCOS/SLM behavior while higher-level wrappers live in pado_hologram.

• Experiment orchestration

  CLI-backed and Hydra-compatible runs for reproducibility without pushing configuration complexity into the lower-level optics core.

Recommended Reading Path

1. Start with Vision for the repository’s long-term direction.
2. Move to Installation and Quickstart for a first working run.
3. Read Architecture Overview and Core vs Hologram.
4. Continue with Phase-Only CGH, Device Modeling, and Experiments and Hydra.
5. Use Module Reference Map when you want to jump into the codebase.

Audience

PADO Hologram is intended as a shared home for people working on holography and computational imaging from backgrounds such as computer science, electrical engineering, optics, physics, perception science, and neighboring areas that care about wave-based computation and display.

The goal is to move beyond fragmented one-off codebases and toward a maintained, reusable, and well-documented stack for differentiable holography.