Claims
- 1. A digital image comprising a plurality of image pixels, each image pixel comprising information from about one sensor pixel, each sensor pixel comprising substantially all information from about one associated diffraction limited spot in an object plane.
- 2. The digital image of claim 1 comprising at least about 2,000 image pixels.
- 3. The digital image of claim 1, wherein each sensor pixel comprises at least about 60% of the information from an associated diffraction limited spot.
- 4. The digital image of claim 1, wherein each sensor pixel comprises at least about 70% of the information from an associated diffraction limited spot.
- 5. The digital image of claim 1, wherein each sensor pixel comprises at least about 95% of the information from an associated diffraction limited spot.
- 6. A digital image comprising a plurality of image pixels, each image pixel comprising substantially all information comprised by one diffraction limited spot in an object plane.
- 7. The digital image of claim 6 comprising at least about 10,000 image pixels.
- 8. The digital image of claim 6, wherein each image pixel comprises at least about 60% of the information from an associated diffraction limited spot.
- 9. The digital image of claim 6, wherein each image pixel comprises at least about 80% of the information from an associated diffraction limited spot.
- 10. A method of making a digital image, comprising
capturing object data on a pixelated sensor, wherein substantially all object data comprised in each diffraction limited spot in the object plane is projected onto about one associated pixel on the pixelated sensor; and forming a digital image comprising image pixels, each image pixel displaying image data from about one sensor pixel.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein each pixel on the pixelated sensor comprises at least about 60% of the object data from the associated diffraction limited spot.
- 12. The method of claim 10, wherein each pixel on the pixelated sensor comprises at least about 70% of the object data from the associated diffraction limited spot.
- 13. The method of claim 10, wherein a ratio of diffraction limited spot size in the object plane to projected pixel size in the object plane is from about 1:1.9 to about 1.9:1.
- 14. The method of claim 10, wherein substantially all object data is captured through a multiple lens configuration, the multiple lens configuration comprising a first lens positioned toward the object plane and a second lens positioned toward the pixelated sensor, the first lens sized to have a focal length smaller than the second lens.
- 15. A method of increasing the signal to noise ratio in making a digital image, comprising collecting substantially all spatial frequencies of interest from a diffraction limited spot in the object plane by about one pixel on a sensor.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein each pixel on the sensor collects at least about 60% of the spatial frequencies of interest from an associated diffraction limited spot.
- 17. The method of claim 15, wherein each pixel on the sensor collects at least about 80% of the spatial frequencies of interest from an associated diffraction limited spot.
- 18. The method of claim 15, wherein a ratio of diffraction limited spot size in the object plane to projected pixel size in the object plane is from about 1:1.9 to about 1.9:1.
- 19. The method of claim 15, wherein substantially all spatial frequencies of interest are collected through a multiple lens configuration, the multiple lens configuration comprising a first lens positioned toward the object plane and a second lens positioned toward the sensor, the first lens sized to have a focal length smaller than the second lens.
- 20. A method of forming a digital image, comprising
capturing object data on a sensor comprising pixels, wherein each pixel on the sensor receives substantially all object data comprised in an associated diffraction limited spot in the object plane and each pixel generates image data; and applying Nyquist criterion to the image data generated by the pixels to form the digital image.
- 21. The method of claim 20, wherein each pixel on the sensor receives at least about 60% of the object data comprised in an associated diffraction limited spot.
- 22. The method of claim 20, wherein a ratio of diffraction limited spot size in the object plane to projected pixel size in the object plane is from about 1:1.9 to about 1.9:1.
- 23. The method of claim 20, wherein substantially all object data is captured through a multiple lens configuration, the multiple lens configuration comprising a first lens positioned toward the object plane and a second lens positioned toward the sensor, the first lens sized to have a focal length smaller than the second lens.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application of Ser. No. 10/758,836 which was filed Jan. 16, 2004 entitled IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHODOLOGY, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application of Ser. No. 10/616,829 which was filed Jul. 10, 2003 entitled IMAGING SYSTEM, METHODOLOGY, AND APPLICATIONS EMPLOYING RECIPROCAL SPACE OPTICAL DESIGN, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/189,326 which was filed Jul. 2, 2002 entitled IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHODOLOGY EMPLOYING RECIPROCAL SPACE OPTICAL DESIGN, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/900,218, which was filed Jul. 6, 2001, entitled IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHODOLOGY EMPLOYING RECIPROCAL SPACE OPTICAL DESIGN now U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,528, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Continuation in Parts (4)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10758836 |
Jan 2004 |
US |
Child |
10874053 |
Jun 2004 |
US |
Parent |
10616829 |
Jul 2003 |
US |
Child |
10758836 |
Jan 2004 |
US |
Parent |
10189326 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Child |
10616829 |
Jul 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09900218 |
Jul 2001 |
US |
Child |
10189326 |
Jul 2002 |
US |