An astronomical telescope is a type of optical instrument designed to gather and magnify light from distant celestial objects for observation and analysis. It typically consists of two main optical components: an objective lens or mirror, and an...

Also called sine wave response and contrast transfer function. The modulation transfer function is the ratio of the...

A fluorescent screen refers to a phosphorescent or fluorescent-coated surface that emits visible light when exposed to other...

A ruggedized scintillation counter used in oil well logging. The cylindrical housing contains a gamma ray source, a...

A high-quality, narrow-angle lens of high aperture designed for low magnification in the recording of cathode-ray tube...

A camera that records its images electrostatically on plastic tape; used in situations where radiation would have an adverse...

A hologram having an image scale that is orders of magnitude smaller than microfiche images.

A source that attempts to create the characteristics of an ideal blackbody. It consists of a cavity, generally spherical,...

Also known as a white-light interferometer. Measures surface texture and shape from nanometer-scale roughness to...

Single-mode fiber that preserves the plane of polarization of the light launched into it as the beam propagates through its...

A mirror whose coating serves to reflect visible radiation while transmitting the infrared.

A pixel, short for "picture element," is the smallest controllable element of a digital image or display. It is a...

A type of interferometer in which two coils of optical fiber are arranged so that light from a single source travels...

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of...

The subtractive imbibing process of transferring color prints on paper whereby the dyes from three separately prepared...

A thick meniscus lens arranged concentric with the center of curvature of a spherical mirror to produce an image free of...

A confocal resonator, also known as a confocal cavity or confocal laser resonator, is a type of optical resonator...

An optical element located at an image plane, containing a pattern that assists in pointing an instrument or measuring...

1. An optical device used for projection of enlarged images of transparencies or lantern slides on a screen. 2. A device...

A mirror employed with a very high incidence angle to form a pair of coherent light sources by reflection, and therefore...

A swept-source laser, also known as a wavelength-swept laser, is a type of laser that rapidly and continuously changes its...

A satellite-borne remote sensing device capable of transmitting images at 10 and 20 m resolution from an altitude of 830 km,...

The organ of vision or light sensitivity.

1. To center an image or place it in any part of the television screen desired. Also applies to stills. 2. A single image of...

Also known as Fresnel reflection. That portion of the incident radiation that is reflected from the surface of a refractive...

An intensity distribution (intensity as a function of radial distance from the beam center) which is given by the Gaussian...

A high-speed, narrow-field lens consisting of two achromats spaced about the aperture stop. Its uses include portrait...

A machine vision system is an integrated combination of hardware and software components designed to capture, process, and...

A solid-state panel of the photoconductor-electroluminescent type. The photoconductive layer, sensitive to x-rays, is coated...

In digital image processing, a subcategory of frame processing that transforms pixel brightness and contrast through use of...

A phenomenon, exploited for medical imaging, in which the nuclei of material placed in a strong magnetic field will absorb...

The inability to perceive visual images (visible radiant energy). In human beings, blindness is defined as a visual acuity...

The formula describing the spectral radiant emittance of a perfect blackbody as a function of its temperature and the...

A scanning probe microscope that analyzes the surface of a specimen by recording the intensity of light as it is focused...

A laser in which the transition involved in stimulated emission of radiation takes place between two levels of an ionized...

The letter form used on visual performance test charts. The overall letter height is equal to five times the thickness of...

The generation of a grating on a concave spherical blank by the holographic process. In this way, ghost images and intense...

Hardware installed on fiber cable ends to provide cable attachment to a transmitter, receiver or other cable. Usually a...

1. In the geometric sense, an abbreviation for the term "sagitta,'' the height of a curve measured from the chord. ...

The efficiency of scattering by an atom in a particular direction, expressed as: where AA is the amplitude of the wave from...

A compact high-pressure light source in which an electrical discharge between electrodes spaced no more than 12 mm apart...

In an optical system with a series of lenses, images formed prior to the final focal plane.

A beamsplitter is an optical device for dividing a beam into two or more separate beams. A simple beamsplitter may be a very...

The Weissenberg method, named after the German physicist Karl Weissenberg, is a technique used in x-ray crystallography for...

An instrument, similar in design to regular binoculars, that can transmit and enlarge infrared images.

The unit solid angle subtended at the center of a sphere by an area on its surface equivalent to the square of the radius;...

The instrument used to collect thermal radiation information on an object by scanning. It consists basically of a detector,...

Concave and convex spherical mirrors are types of curved mirrors that have surfaces shaped like segments of spheres. These...

A laser that has a surface-emitting semiconductor gain element coupled to an external mirror designed to complete the laser...

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that integrates digital information, typically in the form of computer-generated...

When light is transmitted through matter, part of the light is scattered in random directions. A small part of the scattered...

An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical...

The ray that passes through the center of the aperture stop in an optical system. It often is called the principal ray of an...

The process whereby white light is separated into its component wavelengths. Light beams of different wavelengths are...

A factor of an equation of the Faraday effect, which is the rotation of the plane of light polarization by transparent...

In an optical system, the gradual reduction of image illuminance as the off-axis angle increases, resulting from limitations...

An eyepiece located at the near end of the microscope tube. It often is a simple Huygens eyepiece, but compensating and...

A refracting telescope that yields an erect image by the use of a positive lens for its objective and a negative lens for...

An InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) camera is a type of imaging device that utilizes InGaAs sensors to capture images in the...

Also known as constant angle or constant deviation fringes. The interference fringes observed with dense flat plates near...

Light consisting of a single wavelength or a very narrow band of wavelengths.

Raman spectroscopy is a technique used in analytical chemistry and physics to study vibrational, rotational, and other...

An EMCCD (electron-multiplying charge-coupled device) camera is a type of scientific camera specifically designed for...

In optics and photonics, "phase" refers to a property of electromagnetic waves, such as light, that describes the position...

A camera with a very high aperture lens or mirror system for photographing x-ray fluorescent screen images, mainly to save...

An array or mosaic of optical surfaces. May be a number of lenses closely packed to form multiple images or many parallel...

A lens assembly made up of three lens elements that may or may not be cemented.

An arc discharge tube having a grid that is used to start the discharge through an atmosphere of inert gas or vapor at low...

A measure of the relative difference in refractive index between two optical materials. Most commonly used in fiber optics...

A two-mirror lens design used in astronomical telescopes, the primary being a parabola, the secondary a smaller hyperbola....

The creation of a planned sequence of data input that is obtained while airborne for use in aerial photogrammetry and other...

A machine vision lens is a specialized optical lens designed for use in machine vision systems, which are used for automated...

Solid-state laser geometry in which the standard rod is replaced by a slab of laser material. Often called...

A hyperspectral imaging camera is a sophisticated imaging device capable of capturing and processing data across a wide...

A term pertaining to devices (generally optical) designed for use with both eyes viewing through a single exit pupil. The...

An optical instrument for forming the spectrum of a light source and recording it on a film. The dispersing medium may be a...

The range of angle or solid angle values by which light may enter an optical system.

Pixel binning, also known as pixel merging or pixel combining, is a technique used in digital imaging and camera technology....

Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is an advanced optical imaging technique used in microscopy to enhance the...

A mask-alignment microscope used to produce and inspect microcircuits in the electronics industry. It provides flat-field,...

MWIR stands for mid-wave infrared, referring to a specific range of wavelengths within the infrared spectrum. Infrared...

Calculations of lens aberrations whereby the first two terms of the series expansion are the only ones employed....

An interferometric method for describing the surface shape of large coated or uncoated optical flats. The procedure uses a...

The photographic filming of the action of x-ray images recorded on a fluorescent screen by means of large lens apertures and...

A measure of the transmittance through an optical medium. Optical density equals the log to the base 10 of the reciprocal of...

The process of creating a large, panoramic image by aligning and joining a set of smaller images. Image processing is used...

A surface that envelops a bundle of rays or bundle of normals to the wave surface. It may be observed as a hollow, luminous...

In a lens or lens system, that surface at which the projections of an entering and exiting ray intersect. Also known as the...

Specified curved optic intended for maximum collection of light, including off-axis rays, before leaving the exit aperture.

The superposition of satellite or aerial images with a map in order to process and remove distortion. Uses reference points...

An image of an object that appears above the object's true position as the result of abnormal refraction of the image rays...

A source of light will not cast a distinct shadow of an interfering, opaque object, but will cast a shadow having two parts:...

Also known as radiation thermometer. A pyrometer in which the radiant intensity from the source to be measured is used to...

The Foucault test is performed by moving a knife edge laterally into the image of a small point source. The eye, or a...

An electron microscope that uses a beam of electrons -- accelerated to high energy and focused on the sample -- to scan the...

In image processing, the mathematical relationships that link pixel brightnesses of input images to those of output images...

An optical system that superimposes a synthetic display providing navigational or weapon-aiming information on a pilot's or...

Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is an advanced imaging technique that combines holography and digital image processing...

An optical system that is designed to produce a high temperature in a specified area by the optical direction and...

A term applied to the recording of video images by means of magnetic tape or disc, so that the image's record can be played...

A laser-pumped crystal with nonlinear optical properties inside of an optical resonator in which the output generates...

A measure of the dispersive properties of a glass. The relative dispersion is defined as: where C, D, and F refer to the...

The circle that contains the slit, grating and primary astigmatic focus of a concave diffraction grating.

Micro-optical coherence tomography (micro-OCT) is an imaging technique that is an adaptation of optical coherence tomography...

In spectroscopy, the false images arranged symmetrically on both sides of the true line and caused by irregularities in the...

An optical element having plane-inclined surfaces. Usually the faces are inclined toward one another at very small angles....

Law relating the illuminance (or irradiance) of a surface to the cosine of the angle, q, between the normal to the surface...

A diffraction grating is an optical component consisting of a surface with a periodic structure of equally spaced, parallel...

A photodetector composed of a photoconductive material that, when exposed to radiation, conducts without the aid of added...

A kind of spectrograph in which some form of detector, other than a photographic film, is used to measure the distribution...

A spectrophotometer having a prism or, more frequently, a grating for the study and recording of infrared spectra. It...

Spherical aberration is an optical aberration that occurs when light rays passing through a lens or curved optical surface...

A condenser that forms a hollow cone-shaped beam of light with its focal point in the plane of the specimen. If it is used...

Image processing peripheral that converts video images from cameras into digital format and transfers these digital images...

Parallel scanning refers to a method of acquiring data or images simultaneously from multiple sources or in parallel, rather...

A passive infrared system that uses two line-of-sight telescopes to generate both narrow and wide field-of-view images of...

Attenuation refers to the gradual loss or reduction of intensity, force, or magnitude of a particular property as it...

The distance from the final optic within a system to the rear image point of the system. See focal length.

Chirality is a property of certain molecules and objects in which they are non-superimposable on their mirror images. In...

An optical system of variable focal length, the focal plane remaining in a fixed position. This result is achieved by moving...

An automatic camera that can record reduced images of documents at a rate of up to 30,000 documents per hour by having the...

An atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) is an analytical instrument used to determine the concentration of specific chemical...

A powerful and flexible machine-learning approach that can be used in machine vision to help solve difficult problems....

The law given by the formula: that is, the frequency of radiation emitted or absorbed by a system when E2 and E1...

That part of an infrared detector-Dewar assembly that limits the solid angle viewed by the sensor; it is maintained at a...

The point spread function (PSF) is a fundamental concept in imaging that describes the response of an imaging system to a...

Spectral domain optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in...

An optical instrument consisting of a well- corrected objective lens or mirror with a light source and or object/image (i.e....

When a lens system with a circular aperture is free of aberrations, the image of a point object will appear as a disc of...

An electroradiographic process that uses ionization of air by x-rays as a basis for forming electrostatic images.

A form of roof prism used to invert an image. The prism has faces cut normal to the optical axis; therefore, the prism may...

A CCD image sensor, or charge-coupled device image sensor, is a type of electronic device used to convert optical images...

The separation of unpolarized light into two plane-polarized elements by a doubly refracting crystal. When a crystal, such...

The study and analysis of images produced by a fluoroscope.

A telescope stand equipped with a polar axis that can be set parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation and a declination axis...

A double-surfaced catadioptric spherical mirror whose spherical first surface consists of a negative meniscus (concave) lens...

A five-sided prism containing two reflecting surfaces at 45° to each other, and two refracting faces perpendicular to...

A compound prism consisting of an assembly of small prisms cemented together that is used in a coincidence rangefinder to...

The power, expressed in prism diopters, that is the linear displacement, in centimeters, produced by the prism one meter...

A camera with two taking lenses and synchronized shutters. Two images are recorded simultaneously on separate frames,...

The combination of two waves having the same frequency and amplitude and traveling in opposite directions. Standing waves...

An autocollimator is an optical instrument used for measuring small angular deviations with high precision. It operates on...

An acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Predecessor to the laser, the maser or...

A projector used to project transparencies. A horizontal 8 x 10-in. stage for writing or laying down preformed...

A substrate refers to a material or surface upon which another material or process is applied or deposited. In various...

The science of producing, recording, storing, transmitting and displaying visual images by any system (photographic, video,...

In a visual optical system, the axial distance from the last mechanical surface of the eyepiece to the exit pupil.

The photographic recording of a subject that exhibits luminescence only for an extremely short time (10-8 s) after the...

A wide-field multiobject spectroscopy system used in astronomy, in which a bundle of low-loss optical fibers positioned on...

A linear image sensor is a type of solid-state electronic device used to capture and convert light into electrical signals....

Volumetric imaging refers to the capture, visualization, and analysis of three-dimensional (3D) information from a volume of...

A technique used to create a series of interrelated holographic images that give an appearance of motion when projected in...

A law that uses the square of the cosine between the plane of polarization of a beam of plane-polarized light and the plane...

In imaging technology, assigning color to black and white images to differentiate features or convey information. Also...

A sensor generally used for infrared imaging. It consists of two chambers separated by a thin, blackened membrane. An...

An optical projection device designed to project positive color transparencies onto a screen for viewing.

A device utilizing an electron beam for the observation and recording of submicroscopic samples with the aid of photographic...

A rangefinder similar to a pair of binoculars with a long base, a dot or other wander mark provided in each eyepiece field,...

A common aberration in lenses covering large fields of view; it results in images of objects near the edge of the field...

The use of a specialized optical microscope designed to provide a more three-dimensional view of a sample. Stereomicroscopy...

A concave mirror that has the form of a paraboloid of revolution. The paraboloidal mirror may have only a portion of a...

A vacuum tube with an electron gun at one end and a fluorescent screen at the other. Electrons emitted from a heated...

The formation of microimages for microreduction. The technique is used, for example, in the production of precision reticles...

Method for reducing laser speckle in which the object field comes from a real diffuse object or the reconstructed object...

A coarse diffraction grating that is used to form a scale of intensities to determine the relative magnitudes of stars. The...

An array of lines in the infrared region of the emission spectrum of atomic hydrogen. Their wave numbers are expressed by...

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is an optical device that modulates or manipulates the amplitude, phase, or polarization of...

A form of liquid crystal with an appearance of moving, threadlike structures, particularly visible when observed in thick...

Refers to the variety of techniques that use the interference pattern produced by laser light diffusely reflected by an...

MTF analysis/measurement equipment refers to instruments and tools used to measure and analyze the modulation transfer...

A lens aberration that causes a flat object surface to be imaged onto a curved surface rather than a plane.

A unit that converts images to the standard NTSC format for use with video recorders, projectors and discs.

Optoacoustic, or photoacoustic, refers to a phenomenon and related techniques that involve the generation of acoustic waves...

Liquid crystals are a state of matter that exhibits properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid...

QLED stands for quantum dot light-emitting diode. QLED is a display technology that utilizes quantum dots, which are...

A method for characterizing a fiber wherein an optical pulse is transmitted through the fiber, and the resulting light...

A microchannel plate (MCP) is a specialized electron multiplier device used in various applications such as particle...

Microscopy is a scientific technique that involves the use of microscopes to observe and study objects that are too small to...

A lens that has one convex surface and the other concave.

The pattern of lines traced by rectilinear scanning in display systems.

An image intensifier, also known as an image intensification tube or image intensification device, is a specialized...

A prism invented by William Nicol in 1828 that is made of calcite, the end faces of which are ground to an angle of 68°...

The basis of color vision in the human eye. Three types of cones have been identified, each having a unique spectral...

Light diffusion refers to the process by which light is scattered or spread out in various directions as it interacts with a...

A silicon photodiode is a semiconductor device that converts light into an electrical current. It is a type of photodetector...

In optics and photolithography, a phase mask refers to a device that modifies the phase of light waves passing through it....

In television, a lateral displacement of the lines from their normal position due to the instability of a synchronizing...

Frame rate refers to the frequency at which consecutive images, or frames, are displayed in a video sequence. It is...

A system incorporated into fiber optic data communications characterized by several spatially distributed terminals that are...

A colorimeter using a spinning disc made of different colored sections for colorimetric analysis.

Photogrammetry is a technique used to obtain accurate three-dimensional measurements of objects and environments through the...

Concerned with the transmission and reception of both sight and sound. An audiovisual system communicates pictorial images...

Sets of paired lines carefully designed to give the most accurate pointing possible for various lengths of sight.

The metal tube that maintains the optical components of a lens in proper relationship. Some lenses are mounted in metal...

A type of optical modulator with potential application in optical switching and displays, in which applied voltage causes a...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the...

Primary image memory that is built into a digital camera and stores the digital images generated by the camera's image...

Machine vision lighting refers to the use of specific lighting techniques and equipment in the field of machine vision,...

A pair of telescopes with prismatically erected images, mounted side by side with the eyepieces at the interocular distance...

Also known as reversed telephoto lens. A lens consisting of an ordinary objective with a negative component near its front...

The simplest lens in which all primary aberrations may be corrected. It consists of two positive crown elements on either...

Pushbroom scanning is a technique used in remote sensing and imaging systems, particularly in satellite and aerial sensors,...

A technique for obtaining improved resolution of images produced by large telescopes and distorted by the effects of...

The incident ray, the normal to the refracting surface at the point of incidence of the ray at the surface, and the...

Rolling shutter artifacts are distortions or visual anomalies that can occur in images or videos captured by cameras with...

Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is an international standard for medical imaging created by both the...

1. In a cathode-ray tube, the glow surrounding a bright spot that appears on the fluorescent screen as the result of the...

The optical reconstruction of image information contained in a sound field. First the diffraction pattern, formed by an...

Minimum object distance, often abbreviated as MOD, refers to the closest distance at which a camera lens or optical system...

An electrophoretic display, often referred to as an electronic paper display or e-paper display, is a type of electronic...

The imaginary line passing through both the centers of curvatures of the optical surfaces of a lens or mirror; the optical...

Camera designed for the imaging of the earth's surface in order to obtain high quality aerial images

A chart on paper or glass containing a series of sets of lines at progressively smaller spacing and used to ascertain the...

The color process that is used to form positive color cine films by dye transfer or imbibition, based on the use of separate...

A defect of a binocular instrument causing two images to be seen separately instead of being fused. It is caused when the...

A camera equipped with a lens and a long length of perforated film, the latter being moved intermittently between exposures...

An instrument that measures several optical parameters, such as optical power and wavelength, with a single measurement...

In the context of optics and lasers, a transverse mode refers to a specific spatial pattern of the electric field within the...

A camera that uses a rotating mirror to project sequential images onto lenses that are arranged in an arc. The reflected...

A laser having a material, such as ruby, that has an energy state structure of three levels: the ground state (1) wherein...

A rigid or flexible, concentrated assembly of glass or plastic fibers used to transmit optical images or light. See aligned...

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

Also known as f number, lens speed is commonly represented as the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the lens....

A system used for gratings that consists of a concave mirror, a grating and a plate holder mounted normal to the grating to...

Metabolic imaging refers to the visualization and quantification of metabolic processes within living organisms, tissues, or...

A toric lens generated by rotating a specific cross section about an axis beyond its area and used in the formation of...

A method of fabricating an optical waveguide by melting the core and clad glasses in two suitably joined concentric...

A colorimeter is a device used to measure and quantify the color characteristics of an object or a light source. It provides...

A device used to scan, with a small, intensely bright spot, portions of a picture surface and to transform the original...

An astronomical scanning technique for capturing images of stars without moving the sensor. To perform a drift scan, a CCD...

CoaXPress (CoaXPress or CXP) is a standardized digital interface and communication protocol used primarily in machine vision...

Of all the rays passing through a lens from an off-axis object point to its corresponding image point, there is always one...

A refracting telescope that uses a prism to bend the line of sight 90°.

The removal of the zero-order component of the Fourier spectrum distribution of an object with a small, opaque absorber or...

A microscope designed with two eyepieces (oculars), permitting the use of both eyes when viewing through the instrument.

An image processing device that displays pseudocolor images by assigning colors to the gray scales according to look-up...

A CCD camera, or charge-coupled device camera, is a type of digital camera that utilizes a CCD image sensor to capture and...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is an advanced imaging technique used in microscopy to obtain high-resolution,...

A device consisting of a microammeter, a photovoltaic cell and a battery. It is used for the measurement of scene brightness...

An infrared camera, also known as a thermal imaging camera or IR camera, is a device that captures and visualizes the...

A small instrument containing a picture support and a pair of magnifying lenses so arranged that the left eye sees only the...

A Fresnel lens is a type of optical lens that consists of a series of concentric grooves or steps carved into a flat, thin...

A cell filled with a transparent material that, when placed in a strong electrical field, exhibits double refraction. Since...

A broken circle used as the test object in distinguishing visual acuity. The width of the gap in the circle is equal to the...

A method of creating real three-dimensional models by using lasers driven by CAD software. In contrast to the normal...

A physical constraint, often a lens retainer, that limits the diameter of the axial light bundle allowed to pass through a...

The negative distortion that causes a square grid pattern to be imaged as barrel-shaped.

A lens consisting of two or more elements, usually of crown and flint glass, that has been corrected for chromatic...

A mid-infrared camera is a type of imaging device designed to capture images in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral range,...

An afocal optical device made up of lenses or mirrors, usually with a magnification greater than unity, that renders distant...

Modulation transfer function of an optical element when used for transporting images from a lambertian source such as...

The number of separate images exposed by a cine camera in a second or the number illuminated by a cine projector in a...

A bundle of filaments of optical glass or other transparent materials that transmit only light, not optical images. The...

The electron beam tube of a television camera that converts an optical image into a pattern of electrostatic charges and...

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a display technology that combines liquid crystal materials with silicon-based...

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

The range of image distances that corresponds to the range of object distances covered by the depth of field.

A device used to scan images or information on photographic film for the subsequent relay of information.

An instrument for determining the temperature of a hot object by examining the color spectrum of the visible light it gives...

Birefringence is an optical property of certain materials that causes them to exhibit different refractive indices for light...

A 3D profile sensor, also known as a 3D profiling sensor or 3D depth sensor, is a technology that is used to capture and...

A prism or prism assembly that serves to displace the instrument's optical axis.

A negative lens used to increase the effective focal length of a telescope objective.

The slits in a spectrograph that form images of spectral lines. Slits may be bilateral or unilateral, and generally close...

A telemicroscope in which a negative eyepiece is used to produce erect images.

Swept-source optical coherence tomography is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics, particularly in...

A photodetector, also known as a photosensor or photodiode, is a device that detects and converts light into an electrical...

Also known as roof prism. A type of prism designed by G.B. Amici. It consists of a roof edge produced upon the long...

Aplanatic points refer to specific points in an optical system where certain aberrations, such as spherical aberration or...

An infrared detector is a device that is used to detect and measure infrared radiation, which lies beyond the visible...

Machine vision, also known as computer vision or computer sight, refers to the technology that enables machines, typically...

A diode laser is a type of laser that uses a semiconductor diode as the active medium to generate coherent light....

Molecules composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid or tube. Also called buckyballs....

An ocular having two planoconvex lenses that are formed from similar glass and that are separated by a space equal to half...

Also called proximity focus image intensifier. A compact image intensifier that utilizes a microchannel plate...

Alphanumerical description of color according to Munsell hue, value and chroma.

Scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) refers to a type of image sensor technology specifically designed...

A device used in measuring attenuation in optical fiber. The loss caused by the bends in a short reference length of fiber...

A reflection hologram using multiple color lasers that integrates various graphical techniques to allow the display of...

Hyperspectral imaging is an advanced imaging technique that captures and processes information from across the...

An experimental lens used to produce interference fringes. A positive lens is cut into halves along its center, and the...

A high-speed motion camera, also known as a high-speed camera or slow-motion camera, is a specialized imaging device...

Illumination in which the light source is imaged at the object.

The field of view seen through some types of coincidence rangefinders. It is formed by the juxtaposition of opposite halves...

For light incident on a plane boundary between two regions having different refractive indices, the angle of incidence at...

The use of retroreflective projection technology (RPT) to project a background image onto a masked object, such as a vehicle...

An achromat, in the context of optics, refers to a type of lens or lens system designed to reduce chromatic aberration....

A fish-eye lens designed to photograph cloud formations over the entire visible sky.

The detection and analysis of the transmission and reflection properties of objects and photographic images.

A system for automatic industrial process control or measurement, consisting of an optical module for image acquisition, a...

Spectra can be conveniently recorded on photographic film or plates. The portions that are occupied by regions of the...

An assembly of optical fibers that will not transmit coherent images or information because the relationship of the fibers...

Multispectral imaging is a technique that involves capturing and analyzing images at multiple discrete spectral bands within...

An instrument used to record infrared images of large areas. The recorded data are used to produce maps in false color...

A device used to measure the intensity of radiant energy.

Dispersion refers to the phenomenon where different wavelengths (colors) of light travel at different speeds when passing...

A diverging lens is a type of lens that causes parallel rays of light to spread out or diverge. It is thinner in the center...

The formation and display of three-dimensional images by ultrasonic energy. In one technique, the energy pulses from an...

Ray tracing is a rendering technique used in computer graphics to simulate the way light interacts with objects in a scene....

A microscope that uses a flying spot scanner, directed through the eyepiece, as a light source to determine the features of...

A type of interferometer noted for producing narrow multiple-beam interference fringes. As a result, when compared with the...

An optical instrument designed to displace the line of sight in a vertical direction. For submarines and other military uses...

The law expressing the condition under which a crystal will reflect a beam of x-rays with the greatest amount of distinction...

An imaging technique used in radiology that is based on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to produce...

A large-scale, precise drawing of the contours of a perfect mechanical part, often with plus and minus tolerances drawn or...

A sensing or image-forming detector that serves to convert infrared rays into visible signals for communication purposes....

Spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) is an optical microscopy technique that belongs to the category of quantitative...

The locus of the points in the field of binocular vision that are observed singly. The images of these points correspond to...

A compound lens so constructed that its overall length is equal to or less than its effective focal length.

A small television tube originally developed for closed-circuit television. It is about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches...

A device containing an electro-optic crystal and using the Pockels effect. A voltage applied across the crystal generates...

An optical system having two sets of components separated by an air space, while successive lenses in each set are cemented...

An intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera is an advanced imaging device that combines the capabilities of both an...

An image intensifier tube that uses a magnetic field for focusing. It yields high-quality images, but its use is limited by...

An electrowetting display (EWD) is a type of electronic display technology that utilizes the principles of electrowetting to...

An imaging device originally created to image whole mouse brain volumes at microscopic resolution. The main component of the...

A fiber optic imaging bundle is a specialized optical device composed of multiple optical fibers bundled together. Each...

A type of quarter-wave retarder in the form of a glass rhomb; light entering the retarder undergoes two total internal...

A lamp that uses the transmission of an electric current through a gas or vapor to produce illumination. Neon, mercury and...

In fiber optic cable, containment of the fiber or fibers within an outer protective tube in which they can move to some...

A lens aberration in which the focal length varies radially outward from the center of the field. It has the effect of...

The physical area containing an assembly of computer graphics equipment for presenting generated images and allowing...

A lens aberration, resulting from different magnifications in the various lens zones, that occurs in that part of the image...

A method of producing magnified images by x-rays. The specimen is placed close to a point source of x-rays; the...

The interference of the two real images formed by a Billet split lens.

A form of lens assembly used in a projection system to maximize efficiency and assure uniform illumination of the object...

As a wavefront of light passes by an opaque edge or through an opening, secondary weaker wavefronts are generated,...

A digital camera is a device that captures and records still images or video in digital format. Unlike traditional film...

Spatial resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in an image or a spatial dataset. It is a measure of the...

The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is an optical device used for measuring the wavefront aberrations of an optical system....

A charge-coupled device (CCD) is a type of electronic image sensor used in various imaging devices, including digital...

Graphic representation of quantified values of image quality whose points all refer to images that are of a constant...

Time-lapse optical coherence tomography (OCT) refers to a medical imaging technique that captures a series of sequential OCT...

Abbreviated PAI. An imaging modality with a hybrid technique based on the acoustic detection of optical absorption from...

Optical design software refers to specialized computer programs used by optical engineers, physicists, and designers to...

An interference pattern that is recorded on a high-resolution plate, the two interfering beams formed by a coherent beam...

Three-photon microscopy is an advanced imaging technique that belongs to the family of multi-photon microscopy methods. It...

A telescope objective with excellent spherochromatic correction, consisting of a meniscus crown and a meniscus flint, both...

A rotating component with a series of flat reflective surfaces around the perimeter that is used in scanning systems to...

Also referred to as the V number in fiber optics; the normalized frequency is a dimensionless quantity, denoted by the...

An instrument in which an image of the sun is scanned by the entrance slit of a monochromator, the exit slit simultaneously...

A light-tight box that receives light from an object or scene and focuses it to form an image on a light-sensitive material...

The apparent difference in brightness between light and dark areas of an image. For a light target against a dark...

A coherent fiber bundle (CFB), also known as a coherent fiber optic bundle, is an assembly of multiple optical fibers...

Automated optical inspection (AOI) is a technology used in manufacturing processes, particularly in electronics, to...

A special form of microscope that utilizes interference for observing and measuring the phase and optical thickness in...

Chromatic aberration is an optical phenomenon that occurs when different wavelengths (colors) of light are refracted by a...

The pattern, formed by a character generation cathode-ray tube system, in which the characters are made up of wave shapes...

The formation of an interferogram by means of two holograms on the same recording medium, often used for determining small...

An eyepiece having a special prism arrangement linked to a micrometer screw to allow reading of the angular relations...

The series of images formed when periodic objects are exposed to collimated monochromatic radiation and that result from...

A set of algorithms used to study the structural and spatial characteristics of objects in a digitized image for...

The scanning of photographs or transparencies of images, either by a vidicon camera or flying spot scanner, for the...

There are three types of telecentric lenses: -Image-space telecentric lenses are those in which the aperture stop is...

Enhanced picture archiving and communication system (PACS) display (ePAD) is a software tool used in medical imaging to...

A type of high-speed cine camera that uses different image paths and a Kerr cell to produce a series of successive images at...

RGB stands for red, green, blue, which are the primary colors of light used in additive color mixing. The RGB color model is...

The number of unique ways in which a part can move in an alignment system. In static alignment, there are six: one in the...

An imaging process in which the single opening of a simple pinhole camera is replaced with many openings called,...

A vacuum tube in which a magnetic field is superimposed onto the tube's electrical field. When the two fields are aligned,...

An optical testing instrument is a device or system used to evaluate and measure the performance, quality, and...

A method of image dissection whereby a lens transfers images onto a lenticular plate that in turn illustrates the images as...

Text or images printed on paper or another tangible medium, as opposed to those viewed electronically on a cathode-ray-tube...

A lithography method that allows the transfer of fine-pitch gratings from a phase mask into photoresist. The exposure takes...

An optical instrument containing a gimballed sighting telescope, used to measure angular relationships in horizontal and...

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...

Two plane mirrors that are not wholly located in the same plane. When light from a point source or slit reflects from the...

A spectroscope having a diffraction grating for the resolution of light of various wavelengths.

A type of electroluminescent display that will record and maintain an irradiated image on its phosphor screen, provided a DC...

A fast, wide-angle lens used in television and photographic cameras, with excellent overall correction, but subject to...

A frame taken with a CCD camera of a surface that is evenly illuminated by diffuse light. This frame shows irregularities in...

Phototheranostics, a portmanteau of "photo" (light), "therapy," and "diagnostics," refers to an emerging field that combines...

A camera that consists of a concave spherical mirror with an aspheric plate situated at the center of curvature of the...

Optical fibers fused together to form a solid, vacuum-tight assembly in the form of a slab or rod. Discs or rectangular...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique used in medical diagnostics and biomedical research to obtain...

An instrument using a Michelson interferometer, a beamsplitter, two plane mirrors and a detector to give Fourier analysis of...

A hologram formed without lenses and with the object and reference points sharing the same plane. In the initial recording,...

Computer vision enables computers to interpret and make decisions based on visual data, such as images and videos. It...

Thermography is a technique that involves the use of an infrared imaging device, called a thermal camera or infrared camera,...

An aperture located at an image plane of an optical system that determines the size and shape of the image.

A type of stereoscopic photography in which a pair of lenses focuses a pair of images, relative to the positions of the two...

An aberration that remains after primary color is corrected. Primary color causes the back focus of a lens to vary with...

An opaque projector is a device used for enlarging and projecting images from opaque objects such as printed pages,...

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of...

A semiconductor laser diode that emits light perpendicular to the active region. The output radiation is taken through the...

Chemical vapor deposition is a process of applying dopants to a glass bait by flame reactions of gaseous compounds. See also...

The term light field refers to the spatial distribution of light rays traveling in all directions through a given space. It...

Whole slide imaging (WSI), also known as virtual slide microscopy or digital pathology, is a technology that involves the...

In image processing, the assigning of certain portions (or pixels) of an image a constant value of either 0 (black) or 1...

A telescope that transmits, enlarges and converts infrared images.

The use of miniature scanners to project raster-scanned video images directly onto the surface of the human retina,...

The photographic recording of images produced by the electrons from an electron microscope. The electron beam carries the...

The method by which photographic film is scanned by an electron beam. One technique uses the uniform light of a television...

An event-based image sensor, also known as a dynamic vision sensor (DVS), is a type of digital imaging device designed to...

A small card (10 x 15 cm) that has been treated with a photographic emulsion to record and store the microimages of...

A polarizing prism consisting of two calcite prisms cemented such that they deviate the two emerging beams (which are...

Ratiometry is a technique used in various scientific fields, particularly in analytical chemistry and biochemistry, to...

1. A device used to trace out an object and build up an image. One of the most common of these types is video scanning. The...

A polarizing beamsplitting prism similar in design to the Rochon prism. However, the Senarmont transmits the extraordinary...

A microscope design that involves apertures inserted in conjugate plane positions inside the microscope, with one aperture...

The array of methods used in the transmission and reception of pictures and images with a three-dimensional appearance.

Unlike the thermocouple or bolometer, the pyroelectric infrared detector is a current source with an output proportional to...

The use of a computer to generate a series of interrelated images so that the images give the illusion of movement in space...

A photovoltaic cell, commonly known as a solar cell, is a semiconductor device that directly converts light energy into...

The process of mapping the infrared emittance of an area through the use of an infrared detector and related scanning...

A GRIN (gradient index) lens is a type of optical lens that utilizes a gradient in refractive index across its volume rather...

A testing device that provides a contour map of the emergent wavefront for the observer in terms of the given wavelength of...

A lens aberration that results in the tangential and sagittal image planes being separated axially.

A type of internal photonic connection in an integrated circuit in which a holographic grating is used to focus light at...

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows for high-resolution, in vivo imaging...

A lens having an extremely high aperture and used in the recording of x-ray fluorescent screen images. It often is specially...

In optics, the term image jump refers to a displacement or shift in the apparent position of an image when a change occurs...

Device which measures the index of refraction of glass as well as the dispersion over visible range.

A camera system that uses a fine powder to diffract x-rays from the specimen. A beam of monochromatic x-rays passes through...

Differential interference contrast (DIC) microscopy, also known as Nomarski interference contrast microscopy, is an optical...

Azimuthal polarization refers to a specific polarization state of light where the electric field vector of the...

An endoscope is a medical device used for visualizing and examining the interior of hollow organs, body cavities, or...

A dielectric sphere with an index of refraction that varies with distance from the sphere center. A parallel beam of rays is...

An optical combiner, in the context of optics and display technologies, refers to a device or component that combines...

A holographic camera, also known as a holographic imaging system or holographic recorder, is a specialized device used to...

The line that divides the two half-images in a coincidence rangefinder. The two halves of the images formed by the two...

A device used to transmit and receive images that have been converted to electrical signals over regular telephone lines; it...

A method used in imaging to detect subtle differences between two apparently similar pictures. It can be achieved by...

High dynamic range (HDR) refers to a technology that allows for a broader and more dynamic range of luminosity in visual...

A reflecting prism that is rhomboidal in shape. It has two parallel transmitting faces, and two parallel reflecting faces;...

A camera designed to form a continuous record of an expansive section of the horizon. The typical panoramic camera is...

Virtual histology refers to the use of digital technology and computational methods to simulate or recreate histological...

A 30-60-90° spectrograph prism that is coated on the surface opposite the 60° angle with a reflecting film.

A paraboloidal surface on which the image is located when there is no astigmatism.

A projection printer that is capable of reproducing a multiplicity of images from a master transparency on a single support...

In a straight line. When applied to a lens, it indicates that images of straight lines formed by the lens are not distorted.

A quantitative measurement of the coherence of a light source; equal to the visibility (V) of the fringes of a two-beam...

The equivalent f number of a fictitious lens that has a circular opening and 100 percent transmittance, which would give the...

A term referring to various processes for forming visible images outside of a camera to be photographed on ordinary film....

A general-purpose lens, also known as the Celor lens, used widely in photography and commercial processing; it has the form...

Irradiation of a cylindrical crystal with an x-ray beam resulting in Bragg diffraction that produces a slightly enlarged...

An aplanatic surface is an optical surface that is specifically designed or shaped to minimize spherical aberration and...

A visual defect that produces a disparity in the sizes of the images formed by the two eyes.

The smallest angle through which light is bent by an optical element or system. In a prism, the angle of deviation is a...

A lens, usually having one or more cylindrical surfaces, used to produce distorted images and later to restore them to true...

The creation of topographical maps and charts from a stereographic record produced through the overlapping of consecutive...

A set of rays through a lens originating at a common point and contained in one plane.

A system in which a supplied signal causes the deflection of the electron beam in a cathode-ray tube, thus forming a visible...

The central peak (including everything interior to the first zero or dark ring) of the focal diffraction pattern of a...

A near-infrared (NIR) camera is an imaging device designed to capture images in the near-infrared region of the...

A microdisplay is a miniature electronic display technology that is designed to project visual information onto a small...

A theoretical, ideal lens capable of producing perfect images. Used as a lens design and analysis tool to image collimated...

In the region of a Gaussian beam focus by a diffraction-limited lens, it is the axial distance from the point of minimum...

An apochromat, often referred to as an apochromatic lens or apochromatic objective, is a type of optical system designed to...

An assembly of multiple prisms that disperses incident light into its spectral components without deviating light at the...

A multiple-beam interferometer, usually consisting of two flat plates, with high reflective ability. The plates are set...

Two microscopes that are coupled on a common stand, the two images being projected side by side in the field of view of a...

A line-scan camera, also known as a line-scan image sensor or linear array camera, is a type of digital camera designed to...

A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance, which is a phenomenon that occurs when an external force or...

A telescope with an ellipsoidal secondary concave mirror that reflects rays from a parabolic primary mirror through an...

A television system in which the images produced appear three-dimensional.

An Abbe condenser in which the upper lens element is fixed. The lower lens may focus the illumination between the elements...

A process used to detect minute gravitational fields and to display images from objects by means of radiated gravitational...

An eyepiece consisting of a planoconvex field lens and a cemented doublet as the eye lens.

A type of geometrical distortion that brings about a trapezoidal display of a nominally rectangular picture. Usually...

An X-Y electrically addressable series of arrays with individual electron emitters bombarding a phosphor-coated transparent...

The least angle of incidence at which total internal reflection takes place. The angle of incidence in a denser medium, at...

A prism block that, when used with a lens, is capable of forming two images of one object.

When a stereo pair of images is switched so that the right eye sees the left image and the left eye the right, the stereo...

Optical fiber is a thin, flexible, transparent strand or filament made of glass or plastic used for transmitting light...

The focal length of a lens is the distance between the lens's optical center (or principal point) and the image sensor or...

A camera designed to record at rates exceeding 50 fps. For frame rates up to about 500 fps, an ordinary pull-down mechanism...

An atomic force microscope (AFM) is a high-resolution imaging and measurement instrument used in nanotechnology, materials...

An infrared lens is an optical component specifically designed and optimized for transmitting, focusing, or manipulating...

A hologram in which the image of an object, or the object itself, is located near the hologram recording plane, for optimum...

A compound prism formed by cementing together two 30° prisms, one of right-handed and one of left-handed quartz. It has...

The coefficient termed by Callier as the ratio between the density of photographic negatives measured by parallel light and...

A telescope with a concave paraboloidal objective mirror and a small plane (diagonal) mirror that reflects rays from the...

A solid block of glass-ceramic material with holes drilled the length of all four sides, and mirrors attached to the corners...

A hollow sphere coated internally with a white diffusing material and provided with openings for incident beam, specimen and...

An artificial material, engineered to have a negative refractive index value, such that light or any other form of...

Integration time, in the context of optics, imaging systems, and sensor technology, refers to the duration over which a...

A visual, single-unit spectrophotometer with a biprism and a Wollaston prism. The Wollaston prism polarizes coincident...

Lensless microscopy, also known as computational or holographic microscopy, is an imaging technique that captures and...

Lens which, by altering the phase, efficiently images through a holographic process.

A microscope that has an annular stop in the lower focal plane of the condenser, and a quarter-wave retarding and absorbing...

Cemented prisms of differing refractive indices which refract incident light and, due to differing refractive indices, will...

Holography is a technique used to capture and reconstruct three-dimensional images using the principles of interference and...

A blue diode laser is a type of semiconductor laser that emits light in the blue wavelength range of the electromagnetic...

The photographing of a scene from positions corresponding to the locations of both eyes. A viewing device is used to present...

A fiber optic bundle split along its length with the ends of the fibers extending separately to illuminate different points...

A type of surface-emitting laser diode that uses dielectric mirrors to produce surface emission. The laser cavity is...

An electron-gun system is an assembly used to generate and control a focused beam of electrons. Electron guns find...

A CMOS camera refers to an imaging device that employs a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor to...

The measurement of the responsivity of photographic media and of the relations between exposure and density of developed...

Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance,...

Area scan, in the context of imaging and cameras, refers to a method of capturing an entire two-dimensional image in a...

The process by which the light from the images of photographic film is encoded into electrical signals for video...

Seidel aberrations refer to a set of monochromatic aberrations in optical systems, named after the German mathematician and...

A type of piezoelectric translator that uses two thin strips of piezoelectric material, one expanding while the other...

A mechanical device designed to smoothly vary the effective diameter of a lens, thereby controlling the amount of light...

Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) is a superresolution microscopy technique that enables imaging of...

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging technique used in medical and scientific fields to capture...

Superresolution refers to the enhancement or improvement of the spatial resolution beyond the conventional limits imposed by...

Return of radiation by a surface, without change in wavelength. The reflection may be specular, from a smooth surface;...

An optical experiment carried out conclusively in 1887 that demonstrated that the ether, a hypothetical medium postulated by...

With respect to a crystal, having three unequal axes intersecting at angles, only two of which can be equal and only one of...

Also termed eye distance. The distance between the vertex of the last optical surface of a visual optical system and the...

A prism made up of two air-spaced components. It has the ability to revert, and not invert, an image, and can be used in...

A detector-Dewar assembly typically refers to a combination of a detector and a Dewar flask used in scientific instruments,...

The law stating that the illuminance (or irradiance) from a point source varies as the inverse square of the distance...

CID, or charge injection device, camera refers to a type of imaging device that utilizes a specific kind of solid-state...

A form of liquid crystal in which flow does not take place in the usual manner. When examined with polarized light, the...

Property of a surface which, because of directional reflection, is responsible for the degree to which reflected highlights...

Videography refers to the process of capturing moving images and recording them in a digital format. It involves the use of...

The method by which Thomas Young in 1802 disproved Newton's corpuscular theory of light by the formation of interference...

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that is used to convert printed or handwritten text into...

A color-television viewing system with three kinescopes, three lenses and three deflection yokes used to form the red, green...

In the field of optics and imaging, a mesoscope refers to an optical instrument that is designed to observe and capture...

Line scan refers to a method of capturing images or data by scanning a single line at a time, as opposed to capturing the...

The angle formed between a ray of light striking a surface and the normal to that surface at the point of incidence.

A lens is a transparent optical device that focuses or diverges light, allowing it to pass through and form an image. Lenses...

The bending of x-rays by the regular layers of molecules in a crystal acting like a very small diffraction grating. The...

A form of prism invented by H.W. Dove. It resembles half of a common right-angle prism in which a ray entering parallel to...

The application of a cine camera in recording the images on a fluorescent screen. When x-rays are used to produce the screen...

The transmission of photographic images or pictures by radio waves.