Abstract

The combined effect of the spectral variations in the distributions of ambient radiation, the response of the imaging device, and the reflectance of the objects on the field performance of low-light-level (LLL) imaging systems is analyzed. It is shown that the effect can be taken into account by introducing correction factors in terms of luminous equivalence ratio and equivalent contrast. The values of these factors are computed for different combinations of night-sky radiation, photosurfaces, and objects. The effect of these factors on the range of a typical LLL imaging system for certain commonly encountered object–background combinations is discussed with reference to the optimization of the system design.

© 1985 Optical Society of America

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