Mathematical Theory of OTF

doi:10.1117/3.2265056.ch5

Book: Introduction to the Optical Transfer Function

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

Published: 2002

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2265056.ch5

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

As we have already indicated in discussing geometrical optics in the previous two chapters, rays from a point object in a perfect optical system form a homocentric pencil of rays that converge to a point image; and the wave fronts (which, by definition, are perpendicular to the rays) are spherical. However, if in this approach abberrations keep the rays from passing through a common point, the wave fronts cannot be spherical.