A system for emulating an over-the-air environment for testing a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) unit under test (UUT). The system may comprise a lens system that receives light from the LiDAR UUT and a plurality of optical processing chains. The system may generate light into free space based on the optical signals processed by each chain. The system may process received light optically to maintain coherence with light received from the LiDAR unit under test and may process all points in a LiDAR image simultaneously. The system may operate to emulate an over-the-air environment for a time-of-flight LiDAR UUT, a frequency modulated continuous wave LiDAR UUT, and/or a flash LiDAR UUT.