Photonics Dictionary

Photographing of terrain on the ground and objects in the air by cameras mounted in aircraft; utilized in satellites, multispectral scanning and intricate data handling systems.

The use of photographs -- motion picture or still -- to establish if a particular event exists.

The use of photographs to record astronomical objects and phenomena for purposes of physical observation and measurement of motion, radiation and spectra.

The photographic recording of gas bubbles produced when particles traverse liquid hydrogen in a bubble chamber.

The photographic recording of an action by taking a series of still pictures at regular intervals throughout the action.

The application of photography, with the exception of radiography, to obtain pictures of parts or the whole of a patient to make a diagnosis.

A form of photography in which an electronic camera converts an image to an electronic signal that is stored in digital format on magnetic media or film.

The photographic recording of an image formed by the alteration in electrical properties of the sensitive materials and induced by the action of light.

The photographing of objects within generally inaccessible areas using endoscopes with camera attachments.

The photographic recording of a subject that exhibits luminescence only for an extremely short time (10-8 s) after the exciting source is removed. In the process, the subject may be illuminated by...

The application of ultraviolet, x-ray, infrared and conventional photography to law enforcement.

Photography involving the recording of events that occur too fast to be perceived by the human eye or recorded by conventional photographic techniques. See high-speed movie camera; high-speed...

The photographic recording of images on a medium sensitive to infrared radiation, using a source capable of emitting in the infrared and a filter that transmits only infrared radiation.

A type of additive color photography using a lenticular structure impressed on a film base and a camera lens with a filter having three sectors of red, blue and green. Exposure of the film through...

A type of stereoscopic photography in which a pair of lenses focuses a pair of images, relative to the positions of the two eyes, onto film through a lenticular screen, which records the images as an...

the photography of very close, and typically small objects with a magnification of approximately 1:1

The photographic recording of objects or events in a manner that allows quantitative information to be derived from the photograph. An example is the film made by a cinetheodolite in photographing a...

The use of narrow bandpass filters and special photographic emulsions to discern features of a surface that would not be easily recognizable with regular black-and-white or color photographic methods.

The methods and techniques used to obtain medical photographs of the human eye. To photograph the exterior of the eye, conventional still photographic equipment and procedures are used. Similarly, in...

The transmission of photographic images or pictures by radio waves.

A photographic method used to obtain an image of a subject by means of its reflectance of incident ultraviolet radiation. An ultraviolet source is used to irradiate the subject, while the reflected...

The formation of a picture or image in which the density gradients in a volume of flow are rendered visible. The image is formed by refraction and scattering from areas of varying refractive index.

The photographic recording of visible and ultraviolet spectra on an ordinary photograph.

The photographing of a scene from positions corresponding to the locations of both eyes. A viewing device is used to present one picture to each eye for fusion of the retinal images, giving a...

1. A method of photographing distant objects with a lens of long focal length. 2. The reproduction of photographs over a distance by means of electricity.

Photographic recording of rapid events at a rate exceeding 106 frames per second.

The process of microphotography that involves the reduction of the original at a ratio greater than 100 to 1. The process is usually accomplished by the use of a reduced-scale negative, which, in...

The field of photography concerned with the recording of subjects beneath the water with a watertight, water-resistant camera system.

In photography, the density gradient across an edge separating light from darkness, a physically measurable quantity that correlates well with subjectively observed sharpness of definition. By...

A process of color photography in which colors are added one to another in the form of light, rather than as colorants, to obtain color synthesis.

With respect to photography, the change in the density-exposure relations, for small details of the photographic image, that is noted when compared with the density-exposure relations for large...

Film designed especially for the needs and conditions encountered in aerial photography. It is produced in a variety of widths, lengths and emulsions.

In aerial photography, the geometric method of indicating the three-dimensional location of ground points from a pair of aerial photographs.

Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or coma, are minimized or eliminated. In an optical system, aberrations are...

An apochromat, often referred to as an apochromatic lens or apochromatic objective, is a type of optical system designed to minimize chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration occurs when different...

Area scan, in the context of imaging and cameras, refers to a method of capturing an entire two-dimensional image in a single snapshot or exposure. Unlike line scan, which captures images one line at...

An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical lenses, which have a constant curvature across their surfaces, aspheric lenses...

In aerial photography, the ratio derived from a stereoscopic pair of photographs that represents the air-base length divided by the flight altitude.

A blur circle refers to the out-of-focus region in an image captured by an optical system. When an object in a scene is not in perfect focus, its image is spread out into a circular shape on the...

In photography, the technique of taking multiple pictures of the same subject at different exposures to compensate for exposure miscalculations. Automatic bracketing is a feature on some cameras.

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 graph used in photography to portray the increase of a film's density as its time of exposure increases.

Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon that occurs when different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by a lens or optical system, leading to a failure to focus all colors to the same...

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...