Image data compression based on non-negative incoherent imaging systems

Channel and memory capacities are limited and expensive resources in optical communication. In this work we propose several approaches to reduce the required capacity by using the a priori knowledge about the optical system used to capture the spatial information. The alpha priori knowledge is related to the triangularlike shape of the optical transfer function and to its spectral symmetry. In our work we will demonstrate a reduction in memory capacity required for the same image quality or a resolution enhancement for the same physical memory capacity. We will also present a nearly all-optical implementation of these techniques. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America