The Impact of Flare Light on Dynamic Range
Norman Koren’s talk at the Electronic Imaging 2018 Image Quality and System Performance (IQSP) conference, January 29, 2018.
HDR image sensors can reach a dynamic range of 120 dB or more, but real cameras rarely come close, because flare light (veiling glare) from reflections inside the lens fogs the dark parts of the image. The talk shows how flare depends on the test chart itself, so different grayscale charts give different dynamic range results, and how glare spread and tone mapping can make those results misleading. It proposes a new definition, dynamic range as the range of illumination where low-contrast detail is still visible, and a contrast resolution chart that measures it directly, even on tone-mapped images. That matters most where people and obstacles in shadows must be seen, as in automotive and security cameras.
Read the paper’s abstract and more in Measuring the impact of flare light on dynamic range.
