Lower bound for LCD image quality

William P. Olson; Nikhil Balram

doi:10.1117/12.235343

11 March 1996 Lower bound for LCD image quality

William P. Olson, Nikhil Balram

Proceedings Volume 2651, Liquid Crystal Materials, Devices, and Applications IV; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.235343
Event: Electronic Imaging: Science and Technology, 1996, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

The paper presents an objective lower bound for the discrimination of patterns and fine detail in images on a monochrome LCD. In applications such as medical imaging and military avionics the information of interest is often at the highest frequencies in the image. Since LCDs are sampled data systems, their output modulation is dependent on the phase between the input signal and the sampling points. This phase dependence becomes particularly significant at high spatial frequencies. In order to use an LCD for applications such as those mentioned above it is essential to have a lower (worst case) bound on the performance of the display. We address this problem by providing a mathematical model for the worst case output modulation of an LCD in response to a sine wave input. This function can be interpreted as a worst case modulation transfer function (MTF). The intersection of the worst case MTF with the contrast threshold function (CTF) of the human visual system defines the highest spatial frequency that will always be detectable. In addition to providing the worst case limiting resolution, this MTF is combined with the CTF to produce objective worst case image quality values using the modulation transfer function area (MTFA) metric.

Citation Download Citation

William P. Olson and Nikhil Balram "Lower bound for LCD image quality", Proc. SPIE 2651, Liquid Crystal Materials, Devices, and Applications IV, (11 March 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.235343

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