Customers judge the image quality of a digital camera by viewing the final rendered output. Achieving a high quality output depends on the multiple system components, including the optical system, imaging sensor, image processor and display device. Consequently, analyzing components singly, without reference to the characteristics of the other components, provides only a limited view of the system performance. An integrated simulation environment, that models the entire imaging pipeline, is a useful tool that improves understanding and guides design.
This course will introduce computational models to simulate the scene, optics, sensor, processor, display, and human observer. Example simulations of calibrated devices and imaging algorithms will be used to clarify how specific system components influence the perceived quality of the final output.