Image Acquisition Devices
Introduction
In machine vision systems, the job of the image acquisition device is to receive a pattern of illumination from an optical system and convert this varying photon signal into a varying electrical signal that is a true representation of its spatial and temporal variations. To build such a device requires combining an image sensor with electronics to operate it in a form that meets the optical, electrical, mechanical and environmental requirements of the system in which it must operate. This combination is called a camera. Because the operation and performance of a camera is often largely constrained by the image sensor in it, an understanding of sensor characteristics can speed identification of cameras suitable for particular tasks.
Like all transducers, image sensors have limitations – in signal handling capacity, in noise, in linearity, in stability and in time response. Uniquely, image sensors are subject to limitations in spatial resolution, in...
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Gilblom, D.L. (2012). Cameras. In: Batchelor, B.G. (eds) Machine Vision Handbook. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-169-1_10
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