Paper
11 September 2008 Digital image processing as an integral component of optical design
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
The design of modern imaging systems is intricately concerned with the control of optical aberrations in systems that can be manufactured at acceptable cost and with acceptable manufacturing tolerances. Traditionally this involves a multi-parameter optimisation of the lens optics to achieve acceptable image quality at the detector. There is increasing interest in a more generalised approach whereby digital image processing is incorporated into the design process and the performance metric to be optimised is quality of the image at the output of the image processor. This introduces the possibility of manipulating the optical transfer function of the optics such that the overall sensitivity of the imaging system to optical aberrations is reduced. Although these hybrid optical/digital techniques, sometimes referred as wavefront coding, have on occasion been presented as a panacea, it is more realistic to consider them as an additional parameter in the optimisation process. We will discuss the trade-offs involved in the application of wavefront coding to low-cost imaging systems for use in the thermal infrared and visible imaging systems, showing how very useful performance enhancements can be achieved in practical systems.
© (2008) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Andrew R. Harvey, Tom Vettenburg, Mads Demenikov, Bertrand Lucotte, Gonzalo Muyo, Andrew Wood, Nicholas Bustin, Amritpal Singh, and Ewan Findlay "Digital image processing as an integral component of optical design", Proc. SPIE 7061, Novel Optical Systems Design and Optimization XI, 706104 (11 September 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.798581
Lens.org Logo
CITATIONS
Cited by 4 scholarly publications.
Advertisement
Advertisement
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission  Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace
KEYWORDS
Imaging systems

Modulation transfer functions

Image restoration

Thermography

Optical design

Digital image processing

Image processing

Back to Top