Optical Color Image Processing For Product Inspection

Several optical processors using color information for product inspection are described. The systems described employ the use of inputs in different colors (RGB) to provide: enhancement of portions of the product, reduced noise, and improved contrast ratio for better optical Hough transform mensuration data. They also include a new frequency-multiplexed multi-color correlator and new and efficient techniques to employ only one or two wavelength sources in color procesng with a color liquid crystal television (LCTV). Real time optical laboratory data using an LCTV and thermoplastic light modulator are presented for optical Hough transform and correlation systems for product inspection. The color LCTV's phase distortion, contrast ratio and pixel size and the thermoplastic camera's parameters are quantified and analyzed.