Death, Taxes and Shot Noise

Dietmar A. Dowe

Have you ever watched a live video line from your fine camera on an oscilloscope? Were you bothered by the pixels bouncing up and down from time to time?

The sensor manufacturer promised a signal-to-noise ratio of 1000:1, and you designed your signal conditioning amplifier as well as possible but still you distrust it. You hook the scope's probe directly to the sensor output and increase sensitivity. Pixels bounce. You check power supplies and clocking and make other improvements. But pixels still bounce....

Meet the author

Dietmar A. Dowe is a member of the scanner development staff at CGK Computer Gesellschaft Konstanz mbH in Konstanz, Germany. He has an engineering degree from the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt.