Home Search Collections Journals About Contact us My IOPscience

Fourier theory explanation for the sampling theorem demonstrated by a laboratory experiment

This content has been downloaded from IOPscience. Please scroll down to see the full text.

1996 Phys. Educ. 31 368

(http://iopscience.iop.org/0031-9120/31/6/017)

View the table of contents for this issue, or go to the journal homepage for more

Download details:

IP Address: 128.59.222.12
This content was downloaded on 01/02/2015 at 16:40

Please note that terms and conditions apply.

 N E W A P P ROAC H E S
The project is attracting international interest with,
for example, a major Australian input to the
developing module on Optics. The existing modules
on 'Waves and Vibrations' and 'Measurement and
Uncertainty' are being used in the UK and overseas.
The UK Higher Education Funding Councils have
recently awarded additional funding to assist in the
dissemination of SToMP, and to nurture the project
toward a self-supporting existence.
Acknowledgements
The SToMP team consists of academics and research
associates from the Universities of Cambridge,
Cardiff, Keele, Manchester, Portsmouth, Queen’s
(Belfast), St Andrews, Salford, Southampton and
Surrey, also the Open University and Queensland
University of Technology (Brisbane). The project was
funded by the Higher Education Funding Councils of
England, Scotland and Wales and the Department of
Education for Northern Ireland through the Teaching
and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP). The
SToMP material can be obtained by contacting
Dr R A Bacon, Department of Physics, University of
Surrey, Guildford GU2 5XH (email:
SToMP@surrey.ac.uk).
Received 30 April 1996, in final form 4 June 1996
Fourier theory explanation for the
sampling theorem demonstrated by
a laboratory experiment
A Sharma, B Tong and N R Axford University of Westminster,
Harrow, UK
A simple experiment is described that uses a CCD
video camera, a display monitor and a laser-
printed bar pattern. The imaging process is used
as an example to illustrate the concepts involved
in the correct sampling of an analogue signal. The
analysis uses basic results from optics such as the
368
References
Albert, winner of the German Academic Software
Award, is distributed in the UK by Steve Barret, PT
Distribution, 30 Perseverance Lane, Great Horton,
Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7 3LE (email:
spike@kplusi.demon.co.uk)
Bacon R A 1993 The Computers in Teaching
Initiative: a view from the Physics Centre Phys. Educ.
28 97
CUPLE is available from the Academic Software
Library, Box 8202, North Carolina State University
(http://www.ciue.rpi.edu/cuple/cuple.htm)
CUPS courseware is available as a series of nine
book/program packages published by John Wiley.
Information is available from the CTI Physics WWW
server (http://www.ph.surrey/cti/cups/main.html)
Fuller R G 1993 Millikan Lecture 1992:
Hypermedia and the knowing of physics: Standing
on the shoulders of giants Am. J. Phys. 61 300
Hall W 1994 IEEE Multimedia 1 60
Interactive Physics is available from Pasco Scientific,
Admail 394, Cambridge CB1 1YY (email:
sales@pasco.com)
Watkins J, Davies J, Calverley G and Cartwright T
1995 Evaluation of a physics multimedia resource
Comput. Educ. 24 (2) 83
lens equation and magnification, as well as more
advanced topics from Fourier theory such as
convolution and the sampling theorem. The
experiment is suitable for use in undergraduate
courses in imaging, signal processing, engineering
and physics.

Figure 1. The figure represents a sinusoidal image being sampled by a CCD sensor. (a) Sampling is adequate
to record correctly the incident pattern. (b) Aliasing occurs when a rapidly changing waveform is
inadequately sampled. The result of inadequate sampling is a false low frequency or moiré fringe pattern.
Incorrect sampling of continuous analogue signals
can produce anomalous and misleading results. In
imaging this is readily visible, for example in
television pictures of news readers wearing clothes
containing fine detail. The imaging system is unable
to correctly sample and reproduce the high spatial
frequency information contained in a detailed tie
pattern, and the image displayed to the viewer
contains brightly coloured interference fringes
known as aliasing or moiré fringes. The relevance of
physics and optics is enhanced by the exploration of
a phenomenon that is evident in the world around
us. This investigation can arouse and develop critical
thinking and encourage students to seek scientific
explanations for occurrences in their everyday life
[1]. Since this experiment was conducted in our
laboratories many of our students have reported
that watching television has never been the same, as
they notice and are distracted by aliasing in the
images, even the pattern caused by the goal net in
televised football matches!
The physical world consists of continuously changing
conditions or analogue functions, for example
temperature and time. Scientific studies nowadays
depend almost exclusively on digital computer
systems and digital electronics. It is required
therefore to digitize continuous functions into
discrete sampled values using analogue-to-digital (A-
to-D) converters or suitable sampling circuits. As
digital processing systems deal solely with the
sampled values, care must be taken in obtaining
these values so that no information in the original
function is lost. Correct sampling aims to obtain a
'good' digital representation of the underlying
N E W A P P ROAC H E S
continuous signal. Generally this means that the
sampled data should retain all the information
contained in the continuous signal. Figure 1
illustrates aliasing and shows how it can occur
during the digitization of a one-dimensional space-
varying signal. The figure suggests that if regular
samples of the signal are taken, it is possible to
digitize accurately the slowly varying signal.
However, the same sampling rate is inadequate for a
signal which is changing very rapidly and contains
high spatial frequency information. The sampled
data in the second case suggest the presence of a
false low spatial frequency instead of the correct
high spatial frequency. This situation of under-
sampling where fine detail (high spatial frequency
information) is corrupted, and appears as a false low
spatial frequency or moiré fringe, is known as
aliasing. Thus, samples must be made often enough
to allow the original image to be correctly
reconstructed, and the choice of sampling interval
depends on the frequencies present in the image.
The sampling theorem states that the highest spatial
frequency that can be resolved is equal to the
reciprocal of twice the sampling interval [2]. Stated
mathematically, v 5 1/2dx, where v is the highest
spatial frequency that can be resolved and dx is the
sampling interval.
Imaging is an example of an A-to-D conversion,
where the scene consists of continuous intensity
variations and a CCD sensor forms an image by
sampling the incident intensity at regular horizontal
and vertical positions. For alias-free imaging, using
any CCD-based camera (video or still) the sampling
theorem must be obeyed. For the imaging situation,
369
 N E W A P P ROAC H E S

Figure 2. The figure shows the situation for (a) correct sampling, (b) sampling at the Nyquist frequency and
(c) sampling at 'zero' frequency. The figures on the left-hand side are all in real space, while those on the
right-hand side represent Fourier space.

370

v refers to the maximum spatial frequency in the
image falling on the sensor, and dx relates to the
CCD pixel separation. This experiment uses a bar
pattern to produce images of known spatial
frequency and illustrates how aliasing can occur
when the sampling theorem is violated. The
sampling theorem is also used to calculate the CCD
pixel attributes. In general, aliasing in CCD sensors
is related to both the size of the CCD pixels and their
separation [3]. For the purposes of this experiment
the size of the individual CCD pixels is ignored and
only the centre-to-centre pixel separation is
considered.
Sampling: a Fourier theory explanation
The Fourier transform is a means of representing
real-space functions in terms of their sinusoidal
components. As it deals with spatial frequencies, it
provides an appropriate and elegant means to
explain the sampling theorem and the aliasing
phenomenon in CCD-based sensors.
The imaging situation can be thought of as an
incident image being sampled by some CCD pixels
with a fixed separation. Multiplication of a function
by a comb function provides a mathematical
representation of the sampling process [4]. A comb
function is an array of equi-spaced spikes drawn as
vertical arrows of unit height and represented by the
shah symbol, III. Mutliplication of any function by a
comb function produces discrete values at the
sampling points and zero in between. Imagine for
simplicity that the incident image is a 1D sinusoidal
pattern, figure 2(a). A 1D CCD can be represented
by a Dirac comb, III(x), which consists of a row of
impulses dx apart, where dx is the CCD pixel
spacing. In real space, sampling of the incident
image is represented by a multiplication of the sine
wave by the Dirac comb, which produces discrete
values dependent on the value of the sine wave at
the sampled points. In Fourier space the equivalent
process is represented by a convolution between the
Fourier transform of the sinusoidal wave and the
Fourier transform of the Dirac comb. The simple sine
wave image consists of only one frequency and in
Fourier space is represented by spikes (positive and
negative) at the appropriate frequency. The spikes in
the Fourier transform of the sine wave are shown as
an impulse response pair, II(v), where the spacing of
the pair is determined by the frequency of the sine
N E W A P P ROAC H E S
wave. The height of the spike is related to the
amplitude of the sine wave. The Fourier transform of
a sine wave can also contain a constant in space
(DC offset) component, shown by the central spike
at zero frequency. This constant in space component
does not alter the shape of the sine wave, and only
serves to move the sine wave up or down on the
y-axis. The real-space Dirac comb III(x) has spacing
dx, and its Fourier transform is a reciprocal Dirac
comb III(v) in which the comb spacing is 1/dx.
Convolution between the impulse response pair and
the Dirac comb, II(v) 3 III(v), gives a replicated
impulse response. If adjacent response pairs do not
overlap, the CCD samples the image correctly and
inverse Fourier transformation produces a real-space
sinusoidal wave without aliasing. In figure 2(a) the
sinusoidal wave is of low enough frequency to be
correctly described by the given CCD sampling rate.
It should be noted that the convolved spectrum
repeats itself with a period relating to the sampling
interval, 1/dx. Because of this periodicity it is
sufficient during inverse Fourier transformation, to
compute values within the 'fundamental' interval,
21/2dx # v # 11/2dx. Nothing new is added to
the real-space function by computing values outside
this fundamental interval.
Consider what happens as the incident sine wave
image increases in frequency, figure 2(b). At a
particular incident frequency, a limiting situation is
reached where a real space sample is being taken
exactly at every peak and trough of the sine wave.
Sampling any closer does not add any further
information, but sampling further apart will miss the
sinusoidal shape. This limiting situation can also be
described in Fourier space. The sine wave has
increased in frequency from that shown in figure
2(a), so its impulse response pair II(v) has become
wider. The CCD sensor remains the same, so the
Dirac comb III(x) and its Fourier transform III(v),
remain the same. At this limiting situation the
response spikes in the convolved spectrum II(v) 3
III(v), will just overlap. The Nyquist frequency is
easy to recognize experimentally because image
structures that initially get finer and finer change
suddenly at the Nyquist frequency and start getting
bigger and bigger. In Fourier space this is explained
by examining the convolved spectrum II(v) 3 III(v),
in figures 2(a) and 2(b). As the incident sine wave
increases in frequency the impulse response pairs
widen and at vn they will just overlap. The
371
 N E W A P P ROAC H E S
frequency of the image falling on the detector, vn, is
known as the Nyquist frequency and is the maximum
frequency that can be accurately recorded for the
given CCD pixel separation. If the incident image
frequency continues to increase beyond vn an
impulse response from an adjacent pair will appear
in the spectrum and a low spatial frequency (due to
the neighbouring impulse spike) appears in the
image. Thus all frequencies higher than the Nyquist
frequency are 'folded' to lower frequencies and a
broad low frequency fringe is seen in the image
wherever fine detail should be. So, the incident sine
wave will be sampled correctly as long as (from
figure 2(b)) 2vn # 1/dx. This is a statement of the
sampling theorem described earlier. Rearranging
this equation gives an expression for the CCD centre-
to-centre pixel spacing, dx 5 1/2vn.
If the incident frequency is increased beyond the
Nyquist frequency, lower and lower frequencies are
produced until eventually a uniform image is
obtained, a so-called zero frequency response. Figure
2(c) illustrates this second limiting situation which
Figure 3. The experimental set-up. As the camera is moved away from the bar target its images show various
stages of aliasing.
372
occurs at twice the Nyquist frequency. In real space,
a sample is being taken so infrequently that the
sinusoidal structure of the function is completely
missed out and the resulting image is of constant
intensity or zero frequency. The incident real-space
frequency at this second limiting situation is called
v0. The sine wave is represented in Fourier space by
an impulse response pair II(v) postitioned at v0.
The convolved impulse response II(v) 3 III(v) has
spikes exactly 1/dx apart. The inverse Fourier
transformation of this convolved spectrum is a
uniformly flat, real-space image. At this point the
CCD spacing can again be calculated. From figure
2(c), the frequency falling on the CCD, v0, is now
exactly equal to the inverse CCD pixel spacing, thus
v0 5 1/dx.
In this example the real space or Fourier space diagrams
of figure 2 can be used to examine the sampling
theorem. Either could be used only because the
chosen example image is very simple, containing
only one spatial frequency. In reality images will
contain more than one frequency and the real-space

explanation in figure 2 will not be possible. It is
therefore usual practice to use the Fourier space
diagrams of figure 2 to evaluate the sampling
theorem.
Results
An experiment was conducted using a Nemco CC31
monochrome CCD video camera. The camera was
mounted on an optical bench and the image
displayed on a 256 grey scale monitor, figure 3. A
bar chart of known frequency was made using a
laser printer. (A bar chart is easier to produce than a
sine wave and is an acceptable approximation if
higher order harmonics are ignored.) To obtain
different effective frequencies on the CCD sensor,
the camera was moved along the optical bench. In
order to calculate the effective frequency of the bar
chart on the CCD sensor, the lens equation is used,
1/f 5 1/u 1 1/v, where f is the focal length of the
camera, and u and v are object and image distances
respectively. Magnification, M, is given by M 5 v/u,
and as the focal length of the camera is known and
the distance from test chart to lens can be
measured, the image distance and the
magnification can be calculated. The effective
frequency of the bar pattern falling on the CCD
detector is given by 1/magnification 3 original bar
chart frequency.
The camera was placed very near the target and
moved back slowly, with constant refocusing. When
alias fringes first appeared this position was noted
and corresponds to the Nyquist frequency, figure
2(b). Then at about twice this distance a uniform
zero-frequency image was produced which
corresponds to the situation described by figure 2(c).
The camera was rotated by 90o and the process was
repeated to calculate the vertical CCD pixel
separation. Based on this data, the calculations
shown in table 1 were made.
Conclusions
Aliasing is an annoying artifact that can potentially
always occur when digitizing analogue signals.
Aliasing depends on two factors — the sampling rate
and the frequencies in the function being sampled.
N E W A P P ROAC H E S
Table 1.
Pixel separation
Horizontal Vertical
(mm) (mm)
From Nyquist frequency position 14.93 11.01
From zero frequency position 14.90 11.05
From manufacturer’s literature 14.67 11.00
In electronic imaging the sampling rate is governed
by the CCD sensor pixel separation. One way to
avoid aliasing is to improve the CCD sampling rate
by using a CCD detector with very small pixel
separations. The other approach would be to make
sure that the image has no spatial frequencies above
the Nyquist frequency, vn. High spatial frequency
information can be eliminated by an anti-aliasing
filter that removes such information from the data
before it is digitized. In imaging this may consist of
simply smearing Vaseline on the lens or using a pair
of tights over the lens as a low pass filter. The
controlled removal of high spatial frequencies is
better than the uncontrolled losses of aliasing.
As aliasing depends on two variables — the sampling
rate (in this case the CCD pixel separation) and the
frequencies in the image — a simple experiment has
been used to show that if a calibrated test target is
used, then the image frequency is known and the
other variable, the CCD centre-to-centre pixel
separation, can be calculated.
Received 28 December 1995, in final form 4 May 1996
References
[1] Mazurova J and Slabeycius J 1995 Phys. Educ.
30 297
[2] James J F 1995 Student’s Guide to Fourier
Transforms (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
p33
[3] Greivenkamp J E and Lowman A E 1994 Appl.
Opt. 33 5029
[4] Gonzales R C and Woods R E 1992 Digital
Image Processing (Reading, MA: Addison Wesley)
p111
373