Methods of Measuring the Modulation Transfer Function of Photographic Emulsions

Abstract

The different methods of measuring the modulation transfer function of photographic emulsions are discussed in four sections; (i) sine wave methods, (ii) Fourier transformation of the line spread function, (iii) coherent light processing methods, and (iv) calculation from scattering measurements. Particular attention is paid to the effects of the non-linearities of the photographic process, and to the effects of film grain noise on the measured transfer function. A brief discussion of the related microdensitometry is also included.