Effect of detector noise in incoherent hybrid imaging systems

Abstract

Hybrid imaging systems involve the joint design of an optical image-gathering module and digital processing algorithms to obtain a required final image. They have the potential to achieve imaging performance hitherto unobtainable by conventional imaging techniques. A reduction in the signal-to-noise ratio of the final image is one of their main disadvantages when one is considering linear signal processing. We analyze the effect of additive white noise at the detector on the performance of hybrid imaging systems under quasi-monochromatic incoherent illumination. We also show numerical results and computer-simulated images for an extended depth-of-field hybrid system.