Infrared single-pixel imaging utilising microscanning

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that applying microscanning to infrared single-pixel cameras enhances image quality by increasing SNR and provides real-time low-resolution previews, offering greater flexibility in resolution and noise trade-offs.

Contribution

The work introduces the use of microscanning in infrared single-pixel imaging, significantly improving SNR and enabling real-time low-res previews for better imaging flexibility.

Findings

Microscanning improves SNR by approximately 50%.

Provides low-resolution preview images during high-resolution acquisition.

Enhances flexibility in resolution-noise trade-offs.

Abstract

Since the invention of digital cameras there has been a concerted drive towards detector arrays with higher spatial resolution. Microscanning is a technique that provides a final higher resolution image by combining multiple images of a lower resolution. Each of these low resolution images is subject to a sub-pixel sized lateral displacement. In this work we apply the microscanning approach to an infrared single-pixel camera. For the same final resolution and measurement resource, we show that microscanning improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of reconstructed images by approximately 50%. In addition, this strategy also provides access to a stream of low-resolution 'preview' images throughout each high-resolution acquisition. Our work demonstrates an additional degree of flexibility in the trade-off between SNR and spatial resolution in single-pixel imaging techniques.