Anti-aliasing in image recording and display hardware: lessons from nature

In English If images are undersampled during electronic recording and reproduction, regular patterns in the image may form interference patterns-aliases-with the mosaic of picture elements (pixels). Aliasing distorts visual information and is a serious technical problem. In a variety of animal eyes, images are also undersampled such that aliasing may occur. Nature's measures to reduce aliasing include (i) mosaics of photosensitive cells (pixels in technical applications) that include many spatial frequencies and are different in geometry for the basic colours red, green, and blue, (ii) electrical coupling between cells of different spectral sensitivities, and (iii) overlap between the spectral sensitivities of different cell types. Computer simulated renderings of images show that the measures are effective. Technical implementation seems to be possible in a variety of applications, such as cameras, television sets, scanners, monitors, data projectors, and digital photocopying machines.