Real-time increase in depth of field of an uncooled thermal camera using several phase-mask technologies

Frédéric Diaz (1, 2) , Mane-Si Laure Lee (1) , Xavier Rejeaunier (3) , Gaëlle Lehoucq (1) , François Goudail (2) , Brigitte Loiseau (1) , Shailendra Bansropun (1) , Joël Rollin (3) , Eric Debes (1) , Philippe Mils (1)

1 Thales Research and Technology [Palaiseau]
2 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Scop
3 Thales Angénieux SA

Imaging systems that combine a phase mask in the pupil and digital postprocessing mayhave better performance than conventional ones. We have built such a system to enhance the depth of field of an uncooled thermal camera. The phase masks are binary, their structures are optimized thanks to an image quality criterion, and they have been realized with three different technologies that give equivalent results. The deconvolution postprocessing is performed in real time with a graphics processing unit. A significant increase of the depth of field of a factor 3 has been obtained.

Domains: Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Optics [physics.optics]

Frédéric Diaz, Mane-Si Laure Lee, Xavier Rejeaunier, Gaëlle Lehoucq, François Goudail, et al.. Real-time increase in depth of field of an uncooled thermal camera using several phase-mask technologies. Optics Letters, 2011, 36 (3), pp.418-420. ⟨hal-00747142⟩