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Cross-reference tables

Tables to help you navigate Imatest

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Suppliers Image quality factors Image quality factors Modules Test charts Test images

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.
SFR Custom charts
ISO 12233, Applied Image QA-77
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
20-patch OECF target crop
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.
QPcard 201
QPcard 201
Color accuracy, Tonal response Multicharts Inexpensive chart
Q13 grayscale step 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
Log Frequency-Contrast chart
Log Frequency, Log F-Contrast (sine or bar)
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.
Siemens star chart
Siemens star chart
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)
Webcam image of distortion grid.
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.