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Imatest is a complex, rich application involving a great many image quality factors, modules, and test charts. The tables below, sorted by Quality Factor, Module, and Test chart are designed to help navigate the site. A Table of contents is also available.
Suppliers
| Supplier | Chart(s) and comments | Location |
| Applied Image | ISO 12233 (original and modified: QA-77 with low contrast edges) ; several charts described in Stepchart: Applied Image and ISO charts (including ISO-16067-1, QA-62, ISO-14524 OECF). | Rochester, NY USA |
| Image Engineering |
Siemens star chart (proposed for the ISO 12233 revision) ; several color and monochrome charts | Cologne (Köln), Germany |
| Danes-Picta | ColorChecker equivalent = BST11 ; several color and monochrome charts | Prague (Praha), Czech Republic |
| Stouffer | The Stouffer T4110 transmission step wedge is recommended for the older Dynamic Range measurement. (Reflective step charts can be used for the new DR measurement.) | Chicago, IL USA |
| Wolf Faust (Coloraid.de) |
IT8.7 (standard color target with reference file, printed on photographic paper). Used in Multicharts. Available in the US from Digital Light and Color. | Frankfurt, Germany |
Sorted by image quality factors
Image quality factors have their own page. A brief list of recommended test charts is given in the FAQ.
| Quality factor | Charts | Module | Comments |
Camera, lens |
|||
| Color accuracy | GretagMacbeth ColorChecker (24-patch) | Colorcheck, Multicharts | |
| IT8.7 | Multicharts | ||
| ColorChecker SG | Multicharts | Imatest Master only | |
| Custom "pie" charts | Multicharts | Imatest Master only | |
| Dynamic range, Tonal response, Contrast | Step charts | Stepchart | Transmissive charts such as the Stouffer T4110 recommended for older Dynamic Range measurement. |
| Reflective step charts | Dynamic Range | More convenient for measuring DR than Stepchart because it doesn't require a transmission chart. | |
| Special charts: ISO-16067-1, QA-62, ISO-14524 OECF, ISO-15739 Noise, 20-patch OECF charts | Stepchart | Imatest Master only. Most are available from Applied Image. | |
| ColorChecker, ColorChecker SG, IT8.7, Step Charts | Multicharts | ||
| Exposure accuracy | Step chart (reflective) such as the Kodak Q-13/Q-14 | Stepchart | |
| GretagMacbeth ColorChecker | Colorcheck | ||
| Lateral chromatic aberration | Slanted edge (can be printed from Test Charts) | SFR Rescharts SFR |
Printable by Test Charts |
| ISO 12233, Applied Image QA-77 | Printed on photographic media | ||
| Lens distortion | Square or rectangular grid (can be printed from Test Charts or displayed with Screen Patterns) | Distortion | Printable by Test Charts |
| Light falloff, vignetting | plain, uniformly lit surface | Lightfall | Best: Screen Patterns with LCD flat screen. |
| Noise | Step charts such as the Kodak Q-13/Q-14 | Stepchart | |
| GretagMacbeth ColorChecker | Colorcheck | ||
| Sharpness (MTF) | Slanted-edge (can be printed from Test Charts) ISO 12233, Applied Image QA-77 Log Frequency chart Log F-Contrast chart Star chart |
SFR Rescharts SFR Log Frequency Log F-Contrast Star Chart |
Printable by Test Charts Printed on photographic media Printable by Test Charts Printable by Test Charts '' or purchase from Image Engineering |
| Veiling glare (lens flare) | Reflective step chart with "black hole" | Stepchart | |
| Color moiré | Log Frequency | Log Frequency | Part of Rescharts |
| Software artifacts | Log F-Contrast | Log F-Contrast | Part of Rescharts |
| Data compression | Log F-Contrast | Log F-Contrast | Not yet fully supported |
Prints |
|||
| Dmax (deepest black tone) | Custom test chart printed from file, scanned on profiled flatbed scanner |
Print Test | Gamutvision extracts these properties from ICC profiles. |
| Color gamut | |||
Sorted by module
Modules are listed on the Tour page.
| Module | Quality factor | Charts | Comments |
| Colorcheck | Color accuracy, Tonal response, Contrast, | GretagMacbeth ColorChecker | |
| Distortion | Lens distortion | Square or rectangular grid | |
| Lightfall | Light falloff, vignetting | plain, uniformly lit surface | |
| Multicharts | Color accuracy, Tonal response, Contrast | GretagMacbeth ColorChecker, IT8.7, ColorChecker SG, Step charts, special charts: ISO-16067-1, QA-62, EIA Grayscale, ISO-14524 OECF, ISO-15739 Noise, 20-patch OECF charts | ColorChecker SG, Step charts, special charts: Imatest Master only |
| SFR, Rescharts SFR | Sharpness (MTF), Lateral chromatic aberration | Slanted-edge (printable by Test Charts), ISO 12233, Applied Image QA-77 | Also measures Subjective Quality Factor (SQF). |
| Stepchart | Tonal response, Contrast, Noise, Dynamic range, Exposure accuracy, Veiling glare (lens flare) | Step charts, Special charts: ISO-16067-1, QA-62, EIA Grayscale, ISO-14524 OECF, ISO-15739 Noise, 20-patch OECF charts | Special charts in Imatest Master only. Transmissive charts such as the Stouffer T4110 recommended for DR. |
| Dynamic Range | (Postprocessor for Stepchart) Tonal response, Dynamic range | Reflective step charts such as the Kodak Q-14/Q-14. | Usually more convenient than Stepchart for measuring DR because it doesn't require a transmission chart, special light source, and darkened room. |
| Print Test | Dmax (deepest black tone), Color gamut | Custom test chart printed from file, scanned on profiled flatbed scanner | Gamutvision extracts these properties from ICC profiles. |
| Log Frequency | Sharpness (MTF), Color moiré | Log Frequency (can also use Log Frequency-Contrast chart) | Part of Rescharts |
| Log F-Contrast | Sharpness (MTF), Software artifacts | Log Frequency-Contrast | Part of Rescharts |
| Star Chart | Sharpness (MTF) | Star chart | Part of Rescharts |
Sorted by test chart
This list is primarily commercially-available test charts. You can print out additional charts from files generated by the Test Charts module.
| Chart | Quality factor | Module | Comments |
| Color accuracy, Tonal response | Multicharts | ||
| Color accuracy, Tonal response | Multicharts (Special charts) | Imatest Master only. | |
| Color accuracy, Tonal response | Multicharts | Imatest Master only. | |
| Color accuracy, Tonal response, Noise | Colorcheck, Multicharts | Widely available; consistent pigments. A compatible chart is available from Danes-Picta. | |
| Sharpness, Lateral chromatic aberration, Subjective Quality Factor (SQF) | SFR | Printed on high resolution photographic media. Slanted-edge charts printed on a high quality inkjets can perform the same function, but aren't as fine. | |
| Color accuracy, Tonal response | Multicharts | Requires reference file | |
![]() Monochrome charts: ISO-16067-1, QA-62, EIA Grayscale, ISO-14524 OECF, ISO-15739 Noise, 20-patch OECF charts |
Dynamic range, Tonal response, Contrast | Stepchart, Multicharts (Special charts) | Imatest Master only. Most are available from Applied Image. |
| Color accuracy, Tonal response | Multicharts | Inexpensive chart | |
Step charts (reflective): Kodak Q-13, Q-14, etc. |
Tonal response, Contrast, Noise, Exposure accuracy, Veiling glare | Stepchart, Multicharts. Dynamic Range |
Veiling glare is measured with "black hole" next to the Q-13. May be purchased from professional camera stores or Danes-Picta. |
Step charts (transmissive): Stouffer T4110, etc. |
Dynamic range, Tonal response, Contrast, Noise | Stepchart | Best for measuring dynamic range |
| Sharpness, Color moiré, Detail lost to software noise reduction | Rescharts Log Frequency, Log F-Contrast | MTF is a check on the slanted-edge method; more direct but less accurate. | |
| Sharpness | Star chart | Imatest Master only. May be created for printing by Test Charts or purchased from Image Engineering. |
Test images
These images were put online for testing Imatest API/EXE, but they are generally useful for testing Imatest. This is not a comprehensive list of charts, which can be found in the above table.
| Module | Image file | Description |
| Webcam image of high and medium contrast custom charts created by Test Charts and printed on an Epson R2400 printer: these can have larger regions of interest (ROIs) than the ISO 12233 chart below. | ||
| Webcam image of ISO 12233 chart. At this distance the available regions of interest are very small. | ||
| Webcam image of the Kodak Q-14 grayscale and GretagMacbeth ColorChecker. | ||
| Image of the Stouffer T4110 transmission test chart taken with the Canon Powershot G2. Excellent dynamic range measurement. | ||
(image in Colorcheck, above) GMB_Q-14_webcam.jpg |
Webcam image of the Kodak Q-14 grayscale and GretagMacbeth ColorChecker. | |
| 12-patch OECF chart (for API and Imatest Master only ). Available from Applied Image. | ||
| Image of Kodak Q-14 chart with "black hole" cavity for measuring veiling glare (susceptibility to lens flare) | ||
distortion_webcam_a.jpg |
Webcam image of distortion grid. | |
uniformity_1600_JPEG80.jpg |
Image of nearly uniformly illuminated surface taken with the Canon 10-22mm lens on the EOS-20D, f/4.5, 22mm, ISO 1600. | |
| Image Log-Frequency-Contrast chart (cropped), acquired by the EOS-20D camera, 24-70mm f/2.8L lens set at 42mm, f/5.6, ISO 100. Can also be used with Log Frequency. |
Algorithms
| Module | Algorithm link | Brief description |
| Stepchart | www.imatest.com/docs/q13.com#Algorithm | |
| Slanted-edge MTF measurement. The calculation is derived from ISO-12233. The average edge is calculated using a 4x oversampling binning algorithm. MTF is the Fourier transform of the derivative of the differentiated edge (the average line spread function (LSF)). The Imatest algorithm is more immune to noise and lens distortion than the standard ISO algorithm, which can be selected in a checkbox if desired. |
| Digital Image Quality Testing - Copyright © 2008 Imatest LLC |









