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1.9. Spatial Distribution of Optical Information.

The document discusses spatial frequency, which describes the periodic distributions of light and dark in an image. High spatial frequencies correspond to fine details while low frequencies correspond to global shape. The modulation transfer function describes how well an optical system transfers different spatial frequencies from the object to the image.

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46 views15 pages

1.9. Spatial Distribution of Optical Information.

The document discusses spatial frequency, which describes the periodic distributions of light and dark in an image. High spatial frequencies correspond to fine details while low frequencies correspond to global shape. The modulation transfer function describes how well an optical system transfers different spatial frequencies from the object to the image.

Uploaded by

aevadf760
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Spatial distribution of

optical information
ALISHA REGMI, M.Optom, B.Optom
Assistant Professor , Himalaya Eye Institute
SPATIAL FREQUENCY
• Spatial frequency is a characteristic of any structure that
is periodic across position in space.
• The spatial frequency is a measure of how often sinusoidal
components of the structure repeat per unit of distance.
• The units for spatial frequency are repetitions per unit length, more
commonly called cycles per unit length (e.g., cycles/mm).
• The spatial frequency information can also be converted to angular
terms such as cycles per radian, cycles per degree, or cycles per
minute.
• The quality of the information transferred from the object plane to
the image plane by an optical system is a function of the spatial
frequency.
• Information for the lower spatial frequencies can still be transferred
by the optical system even though the higher spatial frequencies are
wiped out.
• To completely judge the quality of an optical system, we need to
know how it images each of the spatial frequencies present in the
object.
A castle scene with a
variety of spatial
frequency components.
• In the context of Visual perception
• sinusoidal gratings are frequently used to probe the capabilities of
the visual system.
• The stimuli, spatial frequency is expressed as the number of cycles
per degree of visual angle.

• Sine-wave gratings also differ from one another in amplitude (the


magnitude of difference in intensity between light and dark
stripes), and angle
• Spatial frequency describes the periodic distributions of light
and dark in an image.

• High spatial frequencies correspond to features such as sharp


edges and fine details, whereas low spatial frequencies
correspond to features such as global shape.
• A crude way to analyze the information transfer for a given spatial
frequency is to use a chart consisting of equally spaced black and
white bars.
• The repetition rate of each set of bars (one white and one black)
determines the spatial frequency.
• The method of analysis consists of comparing the modulation (also
called visibility or contrast) in the object to the resulting modulation
in the image. The modulation M is defined as
a. low frequency square wave grating, c. A higher frequency square wave grating
b. Its luminance distribution d. Its luminance distribution.
Object luminance distribution (solid) for a sine wave grating vs that
of a square wave grating (dashed) of the same frequency.
The Modulation Transfer Function
• For incoherent light, the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the optical
system for the object spatial frequency f is the ratio

• where Mi is the sinusoidal image modulation and M0 is the sinusoidal


object modulation.
• A perfect optical system preserves the modulation, so so the MTF is 1.
• For optical systems with blur, aberrations, scattering, etc., the image
modulation is decreased, so the MTF is less than 1.
• When the image is completely blurred out, the information is lost and the
MTF is zero. Hence, 0<MTF<1.
Spread Functions
• The point spread function (PSF) describes the response of a
focused optical imaging system to a point source or point
object. (A telescope forming an image of a distant star is a good
example.)
• The point spread function is a relative measure of the luminous flux
at the positions around the ideal point image.
• In a diffraction-limited system, the point spread function is
determined by the Fraunhofer diffraction pattern (Airy's disk and its
rings). In the presence of aberrations, misfocus, or scatter, the light is
spread even more.
Spatial-frequency theory
• The spatial-frequency theory refers to the theory that the visual
cortex operates on a code of spatial frequency, not on the code of
straight edges and lines
• In support of this theory is the experimental observation that the
visual cortex neurons respond even more robustly to sine-wave
gratings that are placed at specific angles in their receptive fields than
they do to edges or bars.
• Most neurons in the primary visual cortex respond best when a sine-
wave grating of a particular frequency is presented at a particular
angle in a particular location in the visual field.
• Perception of a particular stimulus depends on relative firing rates of
neural codes.
• For example, in color coding by the three cones in the human retina,
there is no special significance to the cone that is firing most strongly,
what matters is the relative rate of firing of all three simultaneously.
• a strong firing rate in response to a particular stimulus should not be
interpreted as indicating that the neuron is somehow specialized for
that stimulus, since there is an unlimited equivalence class of stimuli
capable of producing similar firing rates.
• The spatial-frequency theory of vision is based on two physical
principles:
1.Any visual stimulus can be represented by plotting the intensity of
the light along lines running through it.
2.Any curve can be broken down into constituent sine waves
• Thank you

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