Abstract

With the tremendous development of video signals, the subject of image formation, acquisition and processing is at the center of many investigations in optics. For fundamental reasons, as well as for applied purposes, it is important to know precisely in which respect the quantum nature of light influences the determination of optical images, and in particular to ascertain whether the unavoidable quantum fluctuations in light impose a limit to the quality of such measurements. Within the last few years, an increasing number of papers has been devoted to the quantum aspects of images produced or processed by various optical devices, in particular to the concept of "quantum images" (1).

© 1998 IEEE