Photonics Dictionary

A pixel, short for "picture element," is the smallest controllable element of a digital image or display. It is a fundamental unit that represents a single point in a raster image, which is a grid of...

Pixel binning, also known as pixel merging or pixel combining, is a technique used in digital imaging and camera technology. It involves the combining or grouping of adjacent pixels on an image...

In digital image processing, a subcategory of frame processing that treats each pixel in terms of its relationship to adjacent pixels. Perceived brightness trends facilitate spatial filtering.

Pixel pitch refers to the distance between the centers of two adjacent pixels on a display screen or imaging sensor. It is typically measured in millimeters and is a crucial specification in...

An array of active optical devices (modulators, laser diodes and/or detectors), each of whose electrical inputs or outputs are directly connected to electronic logic circuits, which also are a part...

When applied to LCD grids, the active matrix is a means of supplying power to pixels by use of a transistor and capacitor. The transistor functions with leads in operation with its respective row and...

An OLED display that has an integrated electronic backplane as its substrate. Active-matrix OLED displays use at least two thin-film transistors (TFTs) to control the on-current at each OLED cell or...

An OLED display that has an integrated electronic backplane as its substrate. Active-matrix OLED displays use at least two thin-film transistors (TFTs) to control the on-current at each OLED cell or...

The process of adjusting input pixel by pixel at the filter plane to adapt to nondeal phase behavior in an optical correlator.

In display technology, an expression of resolution given by the number of pixels in both the horizontal and the vertical axes of a cathode-ray tube or similar device.

A device that prevents electrons from a saturated pixel in a CCD imaging device from spilling into an adjacent pixel. The antiblooming gate drains a pixel of any charge in excess of its full-well...

A frame taken with a CCD camera over an exposure length of zero seconds with the lens cap on or the shutter closed and no light reaching the sensor. This frame shows the electronic noise in the...

It is often necessary to estimate the value of what a pixel would be between neighboring pixels. This is accomplished by interpolating (or inserting) the value of a pixel between neighboring pixels....

An imaging technique that labels all gray pixels as either black or white before processing begins.

Combining adjacent pixels into one larger pixel, resulting in increased sensitivity and lower resolution, or, in image analysis, excluding objects based on shape, position or area.

A data transfer function that moves a rectangular group of pixels between bit maps. Often used in displaying cursors and pop-up windows.

In computer graphics, the assignment of each pixel on a display screen to its own switch in the computer memory.

A group of adjacent pixels in an image representing the same value, as all black in a binary image.

The degree to which a pixel in a digital image represents the analog brightness of the corresponding point in the original image. It is dependent largely on the number of bits devoted to representing...

A CCD camera, or charge-coupled device camera, is a type of digital camera that utilizes a CCD image sensor to capture and record images. CCD cameras are widely used in various applications,...

A CCD image sensor, or charge-coupled device image sensor, is a type of electronic device used to convert optical images into electronic signals. It is a key component in digital cameras, camcorders,...

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a type of electronic image sensor used in various imaging devices, including digital cameras, camcorders, and scientific instruments. It consists of an integrated...

A charge-injection device (CID) refers to a class of devices that manipulate and detect electrical charge within a semiconductor material. Charge-coupled devices are a specific implementation of this...

A CMOS camera refers to an imaging device that employs a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to capture digital images. CMOS cameras have become ubiquitous due to their low...

A CMOS image sensor, short for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor image sensor, is a type of semiconductor device used to capture visual information and convert it into electrical signals for...

An image-enhancement technique in which each pixel is subjected to a mathematical operation that groups it with its nearest neighbors and calculates its value accordingly.

The group of adjacent pixels on which the convolution process is carried out.

A method of resampling in which a 16-pixel neighborhood around a given pixel from the original image is used to calculate the final brightness value of that pixel in the corrected image.

A detector array refers to a collection of individual detector elements arranged in a two-dimensional grid or matrix format. Each element within the array is capable of detecting electromagnetic...

A method of coding image data by storing in memory only differences in brightness of each pixel from that of its nearest horizontal neighbors: that is, it is the change in brightness rather than the...

A pixel-based computer graphics system that simulates the tools of an artist.

A step-by-step method of reducing the amount of data in a digital video signal to transmit or store a high-quality image. The digitized picture is analyzed, and fine detail and redundant pixels,...

In image processing, a morphology operator in which a structuring element or probe of a particular shape is moved over the input image; wherever at least one pixel of the probe touches the boundary...

A mode of laser printing in which each pixel is printed four times, providing sharper lines and a continuous tone from one-quarter the amount of image data, compared with single-raster output.

A type of mosaic detector array that combines features of scanning and staring sensors by using a small rapid scanning motion (see saccadic motion) over a few pixels at a time.

In image processing, the location of edges by employing templates that respond to the first or second derivative of gray-scale intensity in the neighborhood of each pixel.

An EMCCD (electron-multiplying charge-coupled device) camera is a type of scientific camera specifically designed for low-light imaging applications that require high sensitivity and fast readout...

In target tracking, a technique for speeding up the image processing by removing bunches of pixels that are outside the area of interest.

An electrophoretic display, often referred to as an electronic paper display or e-paper display, is a type of electronic visual display technology used in electronic devices for the purpose of...

An electrowetting display (EWD) is a type of electronic display technology that utilizes the principles of electrowetting to control the behavior of colored oil droplets on a hydrophobic surface....

In image processing, a morphology operator in which a structuring element or probe of a particular shape is moved over the input image. Where the probe fits completely within the boundaries of a...

An event-based image sensor, also known as a dynamic vision sensor (DVS), is a type of digital imaging device designed to capture visual information in a highly efficient and unique way compared to...

The ratio of active to inactive areas on a pixel.