Modeling of image shutters and motion blur in analog and digital camera systems

For motion imaging the perceived smoothness of a sequence highly depends on motion blur. The exposure for each frame is started and ended with a shutter mechanism. There are different implementations and some of them have non-ideal behavior which can introduce artifacts. In this paper an overview of real-world shutter implementations both for analog and digital camera systems is shown. We develop a general description that models all types of shutters and their imperfections. Specific models for common shutter types are presented. Measurements are used to estimate unknown parameters. The modeled shutters are finally used for a virtual camera simulation. Typical artifacts can be simulated and directly compared for different shutter types and parameters. This powerful tool is useful for the construction of camera systems and allows design decisions to be directly compared before building the camera system.