Scene-referenced noise and SNR for Dynamic Range measurements

Owned by Henry Koren
Last updated: Apr 06, 2024 by Norman Koren
5 min read

The problem — in the post on Dynamic Range (DR), DR is defined as the range of exposure, i.e., scene (object) brightness, over which a camera responds with good contrast and good Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). The basic problem is that brightness noise, which is used to calculate scene SNR, cannot be measured directly. The scene SNR must be derived from measurable quantities (the signal S, typically measured in pixels, and noise, which we call Npixels).

The math — In most interchangeable image files, the signal S (typically in units of pixel level) is not linearly related to the scene (or object) luminance. S is a function of scene luminance Lscene, i.e.,

Interchangeable image files are designed to be displayed by applying a gamma curve to S.

     where display gamma is often 2.2.

For the widely used sRGB color space, gamma deviates slightly from 2.2.

Although fencoding sometimes approximates L1/(display gamma), it is typically more complex, with a “shoulder” region (a region of reduced slope) in the highlights to help improve pictorial quality by minimizing highlight “burnout”.

Now suppose there is a perturbation ΔLscene in the scene luminance, i.e., noise Nscene. The change in signal S, ΔS, caused by this noise is 

The standard Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) for signal S, corresponding to Lscene is

SNRstandard is often a poor representation of scene appearance because it is strongly affected by the slope of S with respect to Lscene ( dS/dLscene), which is often not constant over the range of L. For example, the slope is reduced in the “shoulder” region. A low value of the slope will result in a high value of SNRstandard that doesn’t represent the scene. 

To remedy this situation we define a scene-referenced noise, Nscene-ref, that gives the same SNR as the scene itself: SNRscene = Lscene / Nscene. The resulting SNR = SNRscene-ref  is a much better representation of the scene appearance. 

SNRscene-ref  = SNRscene is a key part of dynamic range (DR) calculations, where DR is limited by the range of illumination where SNRscene-ref  is greater than a set of specified values ({10, 4, 1, 1} = {20, 12, 6, 0 dB}, which correspond to “high”, “medium-high’, “medium”, and “low” quality levels. (We have found these indications to be somewhat optimistic.)

as a function of is displayed in Color/Tone and Stepchart results. (Color/Tone is generally recommended because it has more results and operates in both interactive and fixed, batch-capable modes). is derived from the data used to create this plot, which has to be smoothed (modestly — not aggressively) for good results. Results from the JPEG file (the camera also outputs raw) are shown because they illustrate the “shoulder” — the region of reduced slope in the highlights. 

 

Panasonic G3, ISO 160, in-camera JPEG, run with Color/Tone Auto (Multitest).
Note the “shoulder.” The horizontal bars in the lower plot show
the range of exposure for SNRscene-ref = 20, 12, and 6dB.

 

The human vision perspective:
F-stop noise and scene (or scene-referenced) SNR

The human eye responds to relative luminance differences. That’s why we think of exposure in terms of zones, f-stops, or EV (exposure value), where a change of one unit corresponds to a factor of 2 change in exposure. The eye’s relative sensitivity is expressed by the Weber-Fechner law,

     ΔL ≈ 0.01 L  –or–  ΔL/L ≈ 0.01

where ΔL is the smallest luminance difference the eye can distinguish. This equation is approximate. Effective ΔL tends to be larger in dark areas of scenes and prints due to visual interference (flare light) from bright areas.

When light is encoded by a camera into pixel levels, the scene contrast is usually altered, as explained in Gamma, Tonal Response, and related concepts. Low contrast encoding would tend to have lower noise (and better Signal-to-Noise Ratio, SNR) than higher contrast cameras. Because dynamic range is based on the scene, we need to remove the camera’s encoding. The result is called scene-referenced noise or SNR with units proportional to the luminance level.

Expressing noise in relative luminance units, such as f-stops, corresponds more closely to the eye’s response than standard pixel or voltage units. Noise in f-stops = Nf-stop is obtained by dividing the noise in pixel level units by the number of pixel levels per f-stop. (We use “f-stop” rather than “zone” or “EV” out of habit; any are OK.) Note that 1 f-stop = 0.301 Optical density units = 6.02dB (decibels) = log2(luminance).

Nf-stop is the scene noise in (logarithmic) units of f-stops, and must be distinguished from linear scene noise, Nscene, which has the same linear units as scene luminance Lscene. For signal in pixels = S,

Using

where Npixels is the measured noise in pixels and  is the derivative of the signal (pixel level) with respect to scene luminance (exposure) measured in f-stops = log2(luminance). 

ln(2) = 0.6931 has been dropped to maintain backwards compatibility with older Imatest calculations. Noting that luminance (exposure) is the signal level of the scene,

The key to these calculations is that the scene-referenced Signal-to-Noise Ratio, calculated from the measured signal S and noise Npixels must be the same as the scene SNR, which is based on Nscene, which cannot be measured directly.

   

the equation for Scene-referenced noise, , which enables to be calculated directly from   is given above.

Displays in Stepchart, Color/Tone Interactive, and Color/Tone Auto offer a choice between f-stop noise or Scene-referenced SNR (expressed as a ratio or in dB). Note that SNRscene-ref decreases as the slope of the tonal response curve decreases (often the result of flare light in dark patches).

The above-right image illustrates how the pixel spacing between f-stops (and hence d(pixel)/d(f-stop)) decreases with decreasing brightness. This causes f-stop noise to increase with decreasing brightness, visible in the figures above.

Since f-stop noise and scene-referenced SNR are functions of scene luminance, largely independent of image signal processing and fogging from flare light, they are an excellent indicators of real-world camera performance. They are the basis of Imatest Dynamic Range measurements.