MODULATION TRANSFER FUNCTION
AUTHOR
Thomas Salmon: Northeastern State University, USA
PEER REVIEWER
Scott Steinman: Southern California College of Optometry, USA
THIS CHAPTER WILL INCLUDE A REVIEW OF:
• Modulation transfer function (MTF)
MODULATION TRANSFER FUNCTION (MTF)
Since all images can be made of sine wave gratings, and all optical systems, as well as our neural visual system,
process images by means of Fourier transformation, a good way to evaluate both optical and visual performance
is to test using sine wave gratings.
All image-forming optical systems, including the human eye, create less than perfect images. We can say that the
optical system transfers the luminance distribution of the object to the image, but in the process, something is always
lost. Even in an eye that is perfectly corrected for spherical and astigmatic refractive errors, optical effects such as
diffraction, higher order aberrations, and perhaps some scatter, degrade the image to some degree. Compared
to the object, even the best image will have slightly less contrast. The degree to which contrast is lost varies
depending on the spatial frequency of the sine wave grating in the image. That is, high spatial frequency images
tend to lose more contrast than low spatial frequency images. One way to characterize the imaging performance of
an optical system is to describe how much contrast is lost across a range of sine wave gratings with various spatial
frequencies.
This can be done in the following way, which is illustrated in Schwartz, 2004 Fig. 7-6. If a sinusoidal test pattern
is presented to an optical system, the image will still be a sinusoidal pattern with the same spatial frequency, but
with slightly reduced contrast. Sometimes contrast is referred to by the term modulation. The contrast reduction
varies with spatial frequency, and usually there is a greater loss for higher frequencies. We are interested
in measuring how well the contrast (or modulation) is transferred from the object to the image for every frequency.
We can restate the same concept in another way. One way to evaluate the optical performance of, for example,
a camera, is to see how good its images are compared to the real objects. A very good camera would produce
extremely clear images that look almost exactly like the object, but a cheap camera would produce a poorer quality
photograph that is less sharp (more blurred).
Engineers are more systematic, and they use standard high-contrast test patterns. By comparing the test pattern
(the object) and its image, they can determine how well the optical system transfers contrast from object to image.
The test patterns cover a wide range of spatial frequencies, and it allows them to see how good the optical system
is. Figure 13-1 shows one example of an optical test pattern used by the U.S. Air Force. Note that this particular
pattern does not use sine wave gratings, but rather, square-wave gratings.
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Modulation Transfer Function
MODULATION TRANSFER FUNCTION (MTF) (CONT.)
Figure 13-1: USAF 1951 test pattern
Q. How would sine wave gratings differ in appearance from the chart shown in Figure 13.1?
A. _________________________________________________________________________________________
Q. What are two advantages to using sine wave gratings as the test pattern?
A. _________________________________________________________________________________________
The modulation transfer function (MTF) is a standard way to describe the imaging performance of an optical
system, and it is based on the principle of testing the system using sine wave gratings. To measure the MTF, various
high-contrast sine wave gratings are presented to the optical system and the contrast in the image is compared to
the contrast in the test pattern. For each spatial frequency, the modulation (or contrast) transferred (MT) from
object to image, is computed according to the equation below:
(image _ contrast)
MT =
(object _ contrast)
A value of 1.0 indicates that the image contrast equals that found in the object, that is, no contrast is lost, and for that
frequency the image is perfect. If, for example, we test MT using a large set of vertical sine wave gratings of various
spatial frequencies, as is typically done, we can plot a graph of the MTF, with spatial frequency along the x-axis and
modulation transferred along the y-axis (Fig. 13-2).
Figure 13-2: Examples of ocular MTFs drawn with a linear (left) and log (right) scale for MT
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Modulation Transfer Function
MODULATION TRANSFER FUNCTION (MTF) (CONT.)
Figure 13-3 also illustrates the concept of describing optical performance in terms of the MTF. In that figure, the
target in front of the eye contains many different spatial frequencies (stripes with different widths), so we can see
how the loss of contrast in the image is different for different parts of the image. Notice the following features, both in
Figures 13-2 and 13-3:
• There is almost no loss of contrast for the lowest spatial frequency. That is, the MT has a value of 1.0
at the far left of the MTF curve
• As spatial frequency increases, there is a steady drop in the MT value
• The cut-off frequency is the frequency at which the MTF drops to zero
Figure 13-3: The modulation transfer function describes optical performance in terms of how well contrast is transferred from the
object (left) to the image (right). Notice the loss in contrast for the retinal image compared to the object. Which spatial frequencies
show the greatest loss in contrast? (Courtesy of Dr. Susana Marcos, Instituto de Optica, Madrid, Spain)
Schwartz, 2004 Fig. 7-7 shows other examples of ocular MTFs and the affect of different optical defects
on image quality.
• Defocus, which degrades optical performance and blurs images, reduces the MTF at the higher, but not lower
spatial frequencies. With greater defocus, the high frequency cut-off will come sooner; the curve will be shifted
to the left and down. Refractive errors cause defocus. Defocus removes the higher spatial frequencies from the
image, so it acts as a filter that removes high spatial frequencies. It can be thought of as a low-pass filter
• Scatter in the optical media reduces the MTF at low as well as high spatial frequencies.
Cataracts cause scatter.
SUMMARY
The modulation transfer function (MTF) tells how well an optical system forms images. Since sine wave gratings are
the fundamental building blocks of all images, the MTF can completely characterize imaging performance by stating
how well the system forms images of sine wave gratings.
In general, optical blur, such as an uncorrected refractive error, reduces the MTF at high frequencies only and
causes a lower cut-off frequency. On the other hand, media opacities that scatter light in the eye tend to reduce the
MTF across a broader range of spatial frequencies, including mid or even low spatial frequencies.
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Modulation Transfer Function
SELECTED READING/REFERENCES
• Schwartz SH. Visual Perception - A Clinical Orientation, 3rd Edition. Appleton & Lange, Stamford,
Connecticut, 2004
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