OTF Historical Background

doi:10.1117/3.2265056.ch1

Book: Introduction to the Optical Transfer Function

Author(s): Charles S. Williams, Orville A. Becklund

Published: 2002

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2265056.ch1

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

The Optical Transfer Function (OTF) si the frequency response, in terms of spatial frequency, of an optical system to sinusoidal distributions of light intensity in the object plane; the OTF is the amplitude and phase in the image relative to the amplitude and phase in the object as a function of frequency, when the system is assumed to respond linearly and to be space invariant. The OTF depends on and potentially describes the effect of diffraction by the aperture stop and the effects of the various aberrations.