R C Staunton, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL, UK

IEE Proc. Vision, Image and Signal Processing, vol 145, no 3, 1998, 229-235

Abstract

A method for measuring the two dimensional modulation transfer function of an image acquisition system with a CCD TV camera input device is presented. The measurements are then used in the estimation of image edge operator performance. A high resolution edge profile is assembled after the analysis of many profiles from the image of a step. Modulation transfer function measurements beyond the system's Nyquist limit have been obtained. A minimum of apparatus is required. The performance of several systems have been compared. The band limiting of spatial frequencies are considered with respect to signal aliasing, matching components, feature representation and image operator accuracy. The results indicate the efficiency of system aliasing and reconstruction filters, differences in the vertical and horizontal responses of CCD arrays, and that the rectangular CCD element shape has not deflected the shape of the two dimensional modulation transfer function.

Key Terms: Transfer function, CCD Camera, Image sampling, Edge detector accuracy.