CAMERA SPECTRAL SENSITIVITY CHARACTERIZATION USING A BLACKBODY SOURCE

Abstract

With digital cameras emerging as more effective tools for scientific research, there is increasing need for accurate and inexpensive ways to calibrate them. In particular, to date there has been no simple method to measure camera sensitivity as a function of wavelength. For example, narrow bandwidth monochromator beams are expensive and have calibration problems, while color chart method is unreliable owing to illumination dependence. This thesis presents a novel technique for spectral sensitivity calibration of a camera (or any black-and-white cameras or color sensors) using blackbody furnace operating at 650 - 1250 °C. Images recorded at 11 different temperatures are observed for red, green, and blue camera outputs. Using Planck ’ s Law to calculate the incident light intensities, the three color sensitivities as functions of wavelength are computed using MATLAB function that optimizes the spectral sensitivities until the blackbody measurements are closely matched. The results are in reasonable agreement with published sensitivities.