Image Formation & Display

Images are a description of how a parameter varies over a surface. For example, standard visual
images result from light intensity variations across a two-dimensional plane. However, light is
not the only parameter used in scientific imaging. For example, an image can be formed of the
temperature of an integrated circuit, blood velocity in a patient's artery, x-ray emission from a
distant galaxy, ground motion during an earthquake, etc. These exotic images are usually
converted into conventional pictures (i.e., light images), so that they can be evaluated by the
human eye. This first chapter on image processing describes how digital images are formed and
presented to human observers.
CHAPTER
Image Formation & Display
23

Images are a description of how a parameter varies over a surface. For example, standard visual
images result from light intensity variations across a two-dimensional plane. However, light is
not the only parameter used in scientific imaging. For example, an image can be formed of the
temperature of an integrated circuit, blood velocity in a patient's artery, x-ray emission from a
distant galaxy, ground motion during an earthquake, etc. These exotic images are usually
converted into conventional pictures (i.e., light images), so that they can be evaluated by the
human eye. This first chapter on image processing describes how digital images are formed and
presented to human observers.




Digital Image Structure