Abstract

An optical correlator plays a major role in optical information processing and computing. As the technology progresses, various schemes for optical correlation have been proposed. Basically, almost all these schemes can be classified into either VanderLugt or joint transform types. We discuss the peak intensity performance of the VanderLugt correlator (VLC) and the joint transform correlator (JTC). The analysis is carried out with the same illumination and optimum spatial filters. Objects embedded in random noise and multiple input objects are considered. For the case of simple input objects (i.e., correlation with the reference image), the JTC offers a higher correlation peak intensity than the VLC. For the case of objects embedded in random noise, the correlation intensity of the JTC monotonically decreases as a function of noise, whereas the peak intensity of the VLC is independent of noise. For multiobject cases, the correlation intensity of the JTC is inversely proportional to N, and the correlation intensity is unchanged.

© 1988 Optical Society of America