A brief history of principles used in high speed cameras

Abstract

High-speed imaging records valuable information of events that occur in microscopic timescales and provides an insight into fast changing phenomena that eludes visual understanding. Over the past hundred and fifty years cameras have evolved from very basic devices to present day complex electro optical imaging systems that require computers programmed with innovative software to manage the multitude of operational parameters. This evolutionary process has passed through numerous stages advancing alongside other technologies as they have become available. However, two overriding factors have been influential in camera development; the first being the need to generate sufficiently bright images that can be recorded in microscopic timescales, and the need to synchronize the framing window to allow the critical dissection of the area of interest. Unless these fundamental requirements are satisfied other parameters such as resolution and image numbers become less relevant. The extraction of temporally related data was difficult and time consuming particularly if multiple cameras were used which introduced parallax errors. However, the continued development of solid state imaging sensors has provided flexibility for integration into imaging systems that record image sequences which can be critically interrogated providing a detailed account of events that occur in microscopic timescales.

Keywords:

• DIGITAL
• IMAGE CONVERTER
• SYNCHRONISATION
• ICCD SENSOR
• BEAMSPLITTER
• PHOTO CATHODES
• DATA EXTRACTION
• OPTICAL PATH