Abstract

Optical disks have emerged as attractive candidates for both memory and SLM elements in optical information processing architectures. The features which make optical disks particularly well suited for these types of application include their large storage capacity (>10¹⁰ bits), parallel readout capability, convenient scanning mechanism, and their computer addressability. We have previously described disk based image correlators which can compare a 2-D input with as many as 40,000 computer specified reference images per second. In this paper we present two specific applications of optical disk based architectures. First we describe a disk based correlation architecture for use in a handwritten character recognition system.

© 1989 Optical Society of America