Photonics Dictionary

An instrument used to record rapidly varying currents or voltages. An oscillograph may consist of a cathode-ray tube oscilloscope with a camera attachment, or a mirror galvanometer with a lamp and...

A camera designed to form a continuous record of an expansive section of the horizon. The typical panoramic camera is mounted to rotate about a vertical axis. A slit opening in the film plane and the...

The special cameras, film and other means for forming maps by aerial photography.

Photogrammetry is a technique used to obtain accurate three-dimensional measurements of objects and environments through the analysis of photographs or imagery. It involves extracting information...

The maximum angle of view that can be recorded by a camera. Field is a function of lens focal length and film format.

A still or motion-picture camera designed to photograph through a microscope. Photomicrographic equipment usually contains a beamsplitter or other means for simultaneously viewing, orienting and...

The use of a microscope in photographing objects. A device for photomicrography includes a light source, microscope and camera mounted on a rigid base.

A type of copying camera in which the object is placed on a horizontal easel and photographed by a horizontal camera above the easel through a 90° reversing prism. The image is recorded on a...

A lensless photographic camera that uses a small sharp-edged hole as its aperture. The light passed by this aperture onto the camera's film plane produces a soft-edged image that has a wide field 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...

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...

A camera system used for microphotography in which the document to be recorded is on a flat bed, perpendicular to the lens axis. The camera head is located above the copyboard on a column and may be...

A photographic camera designed to produce reproduction film of visual information (pictures, line drawings, graphs) for printing purposes.

A photographic camera and processing system used to form a usable record of the subject in a short time, usually a few seconds, for immediate analysis.

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...

A special-purpose camera used by ophthalmologists to photograph the retina of the eye. The optical system operates through the eye pupil, and the illuminant must be able to send light into the eye...

Rolling shutter artifacts are distortions or visual anomalies that can occur in images or videos captured by cameras with rolling shutter sensors. A rolling shutter is a type of image sensor that...

A camera system used for microphotography that has a structure, such as a cylinder or surveyor belt, to rotate the documents to be recorded. The image is fixed relative to film motion and exposure is...

A type of motion-picture camera in which single frames are photographed either automatically at a predetermined rate (as slow as one frame per minute or hour), or whenever the operator presses a key....

An exaggerated depth appearance in stereo photographs caused by the lenses in the camera being farther apart than the eyes of the viewer.

A motion-picture camera that can be advanced one frame at a time, either randomly or at set intervals. Used in animation and time-lapse photography.

A streak camera is a specialized instrument used to capture and analyze ultrafast phenomena, such as extremely short pulses of light or rapidly changing events. Unlike traditional cameras that...

A term referring to various processes for forming visible images outside of a camera to be photographed on ordinary film. Unlike regular infrared photography, thermal photography is an indirect...

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

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot onboard. UAVs are remotely controlled or autonomously operated, and they can be used for various...

An aerial photograph produced when the optical axis of the camera is perpendicular to the surface below.

A wide-angle lens is a type of camera lens that has a shorter focal length than a standard or normal lens, allowing it to capture a broader field of view. Wide-angle lenses are characterized by their...

A diagnostic instrument that uses a photocathode design to see a broad range of x-ray radiation by streaking the photographic image continuously in time. It produces time- and space-resolved...