Solid-State Area Scanning Arrays as Interface Devices Between Optical and Digital Computing Systems–A Simulation Study

This paper describes how, in spite of occasional performance limitations generally due to process defects, large-area solid-state image sensors can be applied to scan pictorial data. First, it is estimated to what extent the direct imaging of pictorial matter onto a defective area-scanning device for acceptable scanning quality is possible. A novel concept is then proposed in which the optically generated Fourier-transform hologram of a picture rather than the picture itself is imaged onto a defective solid-state photosensitive array, scanned, digitized, filtered, and reconstructed by fast Fourier transform (FFT) techniques on a digital processor. The operating principle is discussed and the effects of scanner defects, digitization, and filtering on the scanning quality are investigated by computer simulation.