Optics coupled with electronics enables imaging systems with previously impossible performance

The potential advantages of jointly designing a combined optical/digital imaging system have long been known. Only recently, however, have several demonstrations of this been done. These include extending the depth of focus of an imaging system, aberration invariance, passive ranging, wide-spectrum imaging, and high-performance single-lens imaging. Progress and developments in designing special optical/digital imaging systems, using new design software, are discussed.