Imatest is excited to attend Electronic Imaging 2023 in San Francisco, California! For the first time in three years, the conference will take place in-person January 15-19th. Imatest will have a strong presence, with several of our engineers giving talks and presentations. You can also check out our booth to talk with one of our expert engineers and watch a demo of our new stray light (flare) fixture. Click the drop-downs below to learn more about Imatest’s involvement (events listed in chronological order):
Monday, January 16, 2023, 10:40AM – Image Quality and Systems Performance (IQSP) Conference
The global impact of camera phones is multi-faceted, influencing technological advances, user interface design, cloud storage, and image sharing methodologies. The sheer volume of camera phone ownership has dwarfed the existing number of digital still cameras as the camera phone market segment grew from tens of millions in early acceptance years in Japan to annual global sales volumes of over 1 billion for nearly 10 years and counting. This has enabled and pushed forward revolutionary image quality advancement of the incorporated cameras in the multifunctional devices, progressing from 0.11MP image sensors with 2-inch displays in 1999 to current maximums of 200 MP sensors and 8-inch foldable displays. This overview will provide example images and image quality metrics showing the progression over the past twenty years. Content will also highlight significant technological advancements impacting image quality attributes such as resolution, low light performance, dynamic range, zoom, and bokeh.
Monday, January 16, 2023, 11:20AM – Image Quality and Systems Performance (IQSP) Conference
We describe a new calculation of camera information capacity, C, derived from standard 4:1 contrast ratio slanted edges, that takes advantage of an overlooked capability of the slanted edge that allows the variance and hence the noise of the edge to be calculated in addition to the mean. The average signal and noise power derived from the edge can be entered into the Shannon-Hartley equation to calculate the information capacity of the 4:1 edge signal, C[4]. Since C[4] is highly sensitive to exposure, we have developed a more consistent metric, C[max], derived from the maximum allowed signal in the file, making it an excellent approximation of the camera’s maximum information capacity. Information capacities C[4] and C[max] are excellent figures of merit for system performance because they combine the effects of MTF and noise. They have great potential for predicting the performance of Machine Vision and Artificial Intelligence systems. They are easy to calculate, requiring no extra effort beyond the standard slanted-edge MTF calculation.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023, 12:00PM – Autonomous Vehicles and Machines (AVM) Conference
Stray light (also called flare) is any light that reaches the detector (i.e., the image sensor) other than through the designed optical path. Depending on the mechanism causing stray light, it can introduce phantom objects (ghosts) within the scene, reduce contrast over portions of the image, and effectively reduce system dynamic range. These factors can adversely affect the application performance of the camera and, therefore, stray light measurement is to be included in the upcoming IEEE-P2020 standard for measuring automotive image quality. The stray light of a camera can be measured by capturing images of a bright light source positioned at different angles in (or outside of) the camera’s field of view and then processing those captured images into metric images with associated summary statistics. However, the setup and light source can have a significant impact on the measurement. In this paper, we present lessons learned and various technical elements to consider for stray light (flare) testing of digital imaging systems. These elements include the radiometric (e.g., brightness) and geometric (e.g., size) qualities of the light source and setup. Results are to be presented at the conference.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023, 5:30PM to 7PM – Imaging Sensors and Systems 2023 Interactive Papers Session
The EMVA 1288 Standard offers a unified method for the objective measurement and analysis of specification parameters for image sensors, particularly those used in the computer vision industry. Models for both linear and non-linear sensor responses are presented in the version 4.0 release of the standard, and are applied in the characterization of a commercial DSLR camera sensor. From image capture to analysis, this paper details the equipment, methodologies, and analyses used in the implementation of the latest standard in a controlled lab setting, serving as both a proof of concept and an evaluation of the presentation and comprehensibility of the standard from a user perspective. Measurements and analyses are made to quantify linearity, sensitivity, noise, nonuniformity, and dark current of the chosen sensor, according to the methods laid out in the EMVA 1288 standard. This paper details the realistic implementation of these processes in a controlled lab environment and discusses potential flaws and difficulties in the standard, as well as complications introduced by nonideal experimental variables.
Main Exhibit
Tuesday and Wednesday, January 17 and 18, 2023, Daytime
Imatest LLC, Thad Baringer
Learn more about the Imatest Stray Light (Flare) Fixture
Demonstration Session
Tuesday, January 18, 2023, 5:30-7PM
Imatest LLC, Jackson Knappen, Meg Borek
The highly-popular symposium demonstration sessions provide authors with an additional opportunity to showcase their work.