Abstract

The currently used minimum-resolvable-temperature-difference (MRTD) model for characterizing IR imaging systems, referred to as the Ratches model, is a static performance model.¹ However, when the object in the scene moves, its picture on the cathode-ray-tube screen may be so severely degraded that the object may not be recognizable. Accordingly, MRTD, which is determined by the static modulation transfer function, fails to account for such target degradation. A recent work, however, has identified a dynamic modulation transfer function (DMTF) for a phosphor-based cathode-ray-tube display device.² In our work, we first develop the DMTF for IR imaging systems and then use it to identify a dynamic MRTD (DMRTD). In particular, we identify the DMRTD of a staring IR system.

© 1990 Optical Society of America