Imaging

This part of the book will discuss imaging, the transduction of optical signals to electrical systems. Our discussion will center on the two fundamental components of any imaging system: optics and the image sensor. We begin with an overview of optics in imaging systems, covering core concepts such as the pinhole model, lenses, aberrations, and diffraction limits. We also explain key photographic concepts, including depth of field, magnification, and field of view, and introduce computational models of imaging through the lens of linear system theory. We then turn to image sensors, examining the basic principles by which optical signals are converted to electrical charges and then to digital values. We will introduce hardware implementations of these processes for both monochromatic and color sensing. Finally, we will discuss how the raw sensor signals are processed to yield images that can be consumed by human or machine vision systems.