Chromatic aberration

The color or the nuance sensations which result from the simulation of the retina with the help of the successive wave length of the visual spectrum and extra spectral color, purple, makes the chromatic series. Its paradox that the usual series gives a lack of color-its considered a form of the color view, the achromatic series. The Achromatic and chromatic series. The objects that reflects in our eye all the visible rays of solar light gives us a white color sensation. The black color instead its the sensation produced by the lack of light. To see the black color we need to have a retina. In the blind sting region, a human doesnt see black, in fact he doesnt see anything. Its possible that the black could be a sensation tided to a certain retinal activity. In the chromatic series can be observed many different colors- some observes noted 160 of this kind of nuances. In general, we give specific names only to those who represent distinct sensations. The length of a limitary wave (m) of the usual colors are: red-723-647, orange 647-585, yellow 585-575, green 575-492, blue 492-455, indigo 455-424, violet 424-397. The color saturation . The term saturation represents the color quantity or absence of the dilution by the white sensation. Paled or pasteled nuances represents the no technique name for the no saturated colors still not even the mono chromatic light can produce a color completely free from the white sensation because the mono chromatic rays give birth to the retinal processes that causes the white color and her own special color. The chromatic aberration laws. There is a number of laws that any theory regarding chromatic aberration has to explain. Some of them are more psychological then physiological. 1. The merge or the fusion of colors - when two or more wave lengths fall above the same retinal area, the resulting sensation falls down on the same retinal area, the sensation which results its usually very different from the one made by individual wave lengths. 2. Primary colors- The merge experiences of the colors shows that from the spectrum can be chosen three wave lengths: oan from the red extremity, another from the blue extremity, and one from the middle whose combinations in different proportions will give a white sensation, a nuance of color with an intermediary tent or extra spectrum purple (obtained from the fusion of the two extremities of the spectrum). This three wave lengths are usually called primary colors. 3. Complementary colors-for every color there is a complement that combined with her will give the white color. Because the spectrum colors saturation is different is necessary to use different intensitation.The colors which are closely one of the other then the complementary colors gaves after their fusion an intermediary color. 4. Post made images- after a person stops looking at a color could happen to see that color a short time (positive image) or could see the complementary color (negative image). This is a retinal phenomenon. 5. Color contrast-if a piece of blue paper is putted on a tallow paper both of the colors will became more accentuated this being the color contrast.

Theories about chromatic aberrations

There are many theories regarding chromatic aberrations. None of this actually figures the problem. The oldest and simplest theory is the one of Young and Helmholtz. Emited by Thomas Young in 1801 and later modified by Helmholtz this theory emits the hypotheses of the existence of three fundamental color sensations: red, green, and purple. Corresponding this ones are three classes of cones which are three photochemical substances. The discomposing of every of this substances stimulates diferent nervous fibres and the impulses are let to different type of nervous cells from the visual cortex. This is why the theory resume the existence of some specific nervous fibers, corresponding the red, green and purple photochemical substances.

When this three types of cones are equally excited results a white sensation. All the other color sensations inclusive yellow are made by the combine simulation of the three receptors in different proportions. Is presumed that above every photochemical substance acts every visible rays of the spectrum, but lik the length waves from the red extremity of the spectrum they act the power over the red substance. The Helmhotz theory is tided with specific nervous energy theory, because every photochemical substance is made to excite a nervous fiber and the quality of the nervous sensation depends of the termination of this fiber in the brain. The specific color receptors- in the past the number of the hypothetic color receptors and their sensitivity for the wave lengths were specially deducted by the technical experiences made with the color mix. Granit succeeded with the help of micro electrodes to register impulses fro the isolated ganglion cells from the mamifers retina. In this way was determined the minim quantity of light of different wave lengths, adequate for the download of the ganglion cell, meaning the visibility curve for a single functional retinal unity. All the studied units have presented a sensibility for the high rage of wave lengths. The sensibility curve obtained at the dark adapted eye was concordant with the absorption curve at the visual purple. In the conditions of the light adaption was obtained a similar curve for the photonic visibility curve. Polyak showed that the sticks asnd the cones converted by bipolar cells in the same ganglion cell. The moving from the scotopic curve to the photopic curves mans probabli that the sticks sees to function at intensities that stimulate the cones. Granit gaved this answer the call Photopic sctopic dominator response. The conscious answer is probably achromatic. Beside this dominate answers some uities from the light adapted eye represents the activity of the individual cones. The visual curves are different but they are in three grupes: red, yellow (500-700 m), green (520-540 m) and blu (450-570 m). The visibility curve its like a humans eye. This direct prove shows that the three secor theory Helmholtz can be real in the statistical sense of the three groupes of cones inside where the receptors are similar but not identical as sensibility.

Clinical correlations
Colors cecity and chromatic aberrations anomalies The cecity descover for colors (1794) its because of the English chemist and physician John Dalton who didnt see the colors. The cecity classification for the colors-was based on the Helmhotz theory about the three specific receptors. The cecity for colors being caused by the modification for one of this receptors. The anomalies of the chromatic aberration are not described in cecity terms for red,green and purple. Instead of this classification are used the categories submitted by Von Kries: preotanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia involving a defect of the first, second and third neuron. The suffixes anomaly and anopy mark the differents between the chromatic aberration and the cecity for colors.The classify is: 1. Three-chromatics -normal chromatic view -protanomaly -deuteranomaly 2. Bychromatics-protanopy -deuteranopy -tritanopy 3. Mono chromatics

(the color orientation)

When different colors of light propagate at different speeds in a medium, the refractive index is wavelength dependent. This phenomenon is known as dispersion. A well-known example is the glass prism that disperses an incident beam of white light into a rainbow of colors [1]. Photographic lenses comprise various dispersive, dielectric glasses. These glasses do not refract all constituent colors of incident light at equal angles, and great efforts may be required to design an overall well-corrected lens that brings all colors together in the same focus. Chromatic aberrations (CA) are those departures from perfect imaging which are due to dispersion. Where the Seidel aberrations are monochromatic, i.e. they occur also with light of a single color, chromatic aberrations only make their appearance in polychromatic light. One discriminates between two types of CA. Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration (LCA) is the inability of a lens to focus different colors in the same focal plane. For a subject point on the optical axis the foci of the various colors are also on the optical axis, but displaced in the longitudinal direction (i.e. along the axis). This behavior is elucidated in figure 1 for a distant light source.

Figure 1. Illustration of LCA. The focal planes of the various colors do not coincide. In this sketch, only the green light is in sharp focus on the film. The blue and red light have a so-called circle of confusion in the film plane and are not sharply imaged. Obliquely incident light leads to the transverse chromatic aberration (TCA), also known as lateral color. It refers to sidewards displaced foci. In the absence of LCA, all colors are in focus in the same plane, but the image magnification depends on the wavelength. This behavior is illustrated in figure 2. The occurrence of TCA implies that the focal length depends on the wavelength, whereas the occurrence of LCA in a complex lens does not strictly require a variable focal length. This seems counterintuitive, but in a lens corrected for LCA the principal planes do not need to coincide for all colors. Since the focal length is determined by the distance from the rear principal plane to the image plane, the focal length may depend on the wavelength even when all images are in the same plane.

Figure 2. Illustration of TCA. The size of the image varies from one color to the next.

Figures 1 and 2 distinguish two simplified cases because in practice the longitudinal and lateral components are coexistent. A polychromatic subject fills a volume in the image space, which is comprised of a continuum of monochromatic images of various sizes and positions. The chromatic aberration is particularly manifest in wideangle lenses of the retrofocus type and with older-generation tele lenses. The aberration does no visual damage to areas with a uniform color or brightness; the archetypal manifestation is color fringing along boundaries that separate dark and bright parts of the image. This said, descriptions of the perceptible effects of CA do vary in literature. It is read that TCA is a more serious aberration than LCA, because the former gives rise to colored fringes while the latter merely reduces the sharpness [2]. Oberkochen holds a different view and points to LCA as the most conspicuous color aberration [3]. Hecht describes the cumulative effect of CA as a whitish blur or hazed overlay [4]. The residual color errors of an optical system with achromatic (under)correction for LCA lead to a magenta halo or blur around each image point [5,6].

Comparison: 2.8/180 vs. 4/80-200

I compared the Sonnar 2.8/180 with a Vario-Sonnar 4/80-200. The 2.8/180 derives from an old design and is not a winner in terms of color correction. The purpose of the comparison is not so much to show that the zoom is the better lens (it is) but to demonstrate that the observed color fringing, or at least the difference between the two images, is due to the lenses themselves and not to other components in the reproduction chain. For all other factors are equal. The top picture of figure 3 shows the scenery for the comparison. My interest is in the chimney pot indicated by the red arrow. Enlargements of the pot are shown in the middle image (2.8/180 @ f/8) and bottom image (4/80-200 @ 180mm @ f/8). To attain sufficient detail, I rephotographed the chimney off my projection screen. Some texture of the screen may noticed.

Figure 3. CA occurring with two Sonnar lenses. Top: the photographed scene; middle: chimney pot rendered by the 2.8/180; bottom: chimney pot by the 4/80-200.

The chimney pot rendered by the 2.8/180 shows a distinct purple border at the left side and a less pronounced green border at the right side. The fringing in this case results from both LCA and TCA. The pot rendered by the 4/80-200 shows the same symptoms, but to a much lesser degree. As a result, this pot stands out with an appreciably better contrast and definition. Color errors are often the limiting factor of otherwise well-corrected tele designs and TCA is a primary cause for the separation of the sagittal and tangential curves in the modulation transfer function of a tele lens.

Comparison: 4/18 vs. 2.8/21

As a second illustration of CA I consider two retrofocus wideangle lenses. The Distagon 4/18 is an old but respectable lens, whereas the Distagon 2.8/21 is a state of the art design comprising 15 elements in 13 groups. Carl Zeiss say about the latter lens: "All of the possibilities of correcting residual chromatic aberration were utilized to the full. The systematic use of glass featuring extreme anomalous partial dispersion combined with high-index glass resulted in a level of correction never achieved before." How could I resist verification of such a statement? I targeted on a church cross under dull but constant lighting. The camera was tilted so as to point the main bar in a radial direction and the crossbar along a tangential line. (Strictly speaking, the tilt was needed only because I also photographed the crosses in the far image corner.) Figure 4 shows the results. The top image shows the scenery captured with the 4/18. I backed off several meters with the 2.8/21 to render the cross with the same image magnification at the same position in the frame. Both shots were taken at f/8.

Figure 4. TCA manifest with two Distagon lenses. Top: the scene photographed with the 4/18. Middle: the cross rendered by the 4/18. Bottom: the cross rendered by the 2.8/21.

The crosses were again photographed off a projection screen (hence the texture in the sky) for a detailed inspection. In both cases the crossbar evidences lateral color while the radial bar remains free of noticeable CA. Although the 2.8/21 does show some residual TCA, it behaves better than the 4/18. Unlike the preceding Sonnar examination, which revealed dominantly purple fringes, the Distagons lead to green and purple borders of comparable intensity. Note that the order of the colors is reversed when going from Distagon to Sonnar or vice versa. This rules out any influence of the projection or reproduction lens on the observed fringes. For what it is worth, I cannot find color errors with members of the excellent Planar family.

Remedies
Like many aberrations, chromatic errors are successfully eliminated by a symmetrical design. CA lead to difficulties mostly in retrofocus wideangle designs and tele lenses, which are markedly asymmetrical. An uncorrected design is called chromatic. The human eye is most sensitive to green light, and when a chromatic lens is focused for the green part of the visible spectrum, the blue and red ends are out of focus (see figure 5). The incorporation of simple achromatic doublets is quite effective against CA. A famous example of such a doublet is the combination of a convex crown glass element with a concave flint glass element [7]. The achromatic correction for a photographic lens applies to two wavelengths toward the blue and red ends of the spectrum. Figure 5 shows a typical achromatic correction. The zero crossings occur for the two matched wavelengths, the residual focal error of the other colors is known as the secondary spectrum.

Figure 5. Principles of color correction. The colored faces are known as the secondary spectrum.

The advent of exotic glasses featuring low or anomalous dispersion enabled great progress in chromatic correction of photographic lenses. A design that brings three visible colors together is called apochromatic. A superachromatic lens corrects for four or more wavelengths and virtually eliminates color errors [8,9]. Strictly speaking it is not the number of zero crossings that determine the image quality, but the departures of the in-between wavelengths (the secondary spectrum). The designation APO is nowadays used by many a manufacturer to indicate such a reduced secondary spectrum, but true apochromatism is of rare occurrence in photographic lens designs. The typical correction curves shown in figure 5 are usually found with a 'focus shift' along the ordinate [2,7,10] but sometimes with the 'focal length'. This may appear unimportant, but it makes a difference as the former case implies correction for LCA and the latter for TCA. Likewise, the term secondary spectrum is most often encountered in relation to LCA. Nonetheless some authors use the term to describe TCA [3,11] or explicitly plot correction curves with 'focal length' along the ordinate [12].

Discussion
For a while I wondered why the fringes that I observe are green and purple. The answer is found in the achromatic design (figure 5), which is the minimum correction level that I expect in a photographic lens. Zero crossings occur at the two 'corrected' wavelengths. The colors in between average out to a green tint, while the sub-blue (violet) and far-red light combine to a magenta or purplish tint. The achromatic scheme in figure 5 (but then with the focal length along the ordinate) would account for the Distagon fringes observed in figure 4 with purple toward the image center and green toward the image corner. For the case of TCA a longer focal length corresponds to a larger image magnification. This implies that for the achromatic diagram in figure 5, the blue and red images of a nonaxial detail are displaced slightly more outward from the image center than the green image. Figure 6 shows a cross, where the blue and red images are displaced upward relative to the green image. The addition of the three monochromatic images results in the aberrated cross at the bottom right. Blue, green and red add up to white, blue and red add up to purple. To be sure, figure 6 is a simplified scheme of pure TCA with only three colors and merely serves as an illustration. As it appears, the fringes are both inside and outside the original cross. The crossbar is broadened, but at the same time part of its interior is eaten away by the aberration.

Figure 6. Origin of color fringing due to TCA. The addition of the constituent colors leads to fringes in the bottom right image.

The question remains why the situation is reversed for the Sonnar fringes of figure 3, with the purple fringes toward the image corner and the green ones toward the center. A clue to the answer is found in the observation that TCA has several properties in common with distortion [5]. For instance, a single positive element with an aperture stop placed in front leads to barrel distortion and negative TCA (i.e. the red image is larger than the blue image). With the aperture stop in rear (pincushion arrangement), positive TCA results with the blue image being larger than the red image. This is readily verified by drawing a couple of colored rays for both schemes. I suppose that a similar relationship between distortion and TCA exists for complex, color-corrected lenses. (Generally, retrofocus wideangle lenses are subject to barrel distortion and tele lenses to pincushion distortion.) Lateral color is referred to as a chromatic variation of distortion, while LCA combines with spherical aberration to yield a phenomenon known as spherochromatism [12,13]. Distortion and TCA depend on the position of the aperture stop but are not affected by its size, i.e., stopping down the lens does not improve matters. Spherical aberration and LCA are independent of the position of the aperture stop, but their adverse effect on the image quality is reduced upon stopping down the lens. A last practical example. From figure 5 (achromatic scheme) and from figure 1 one may expect interesting changes to occur upon defocusing a lens with some degree of LCA. Indeed, figure 7 shows a vane captured with the Sonnar 180/2.8. The left vane results from normal focusing, i.e. by judging the image in the viewfinder like I always do. The right vane was realized by slightly defocusing the lens toward closer focus.

Figure 7. Detail of an image captured with the 180/2.8 at 'best focus' (left) and slightly defocused (right).

As it appears, the fringing changes from all purple to all green. This is not that remarkable, as the human eye is most sensitive to green, thus yielding a sharp green image and defocused blue and red (i.e. magenta) for the left vane. For the right vane, the image which appears out of focus in the viewfinder is unsharp for the green light but sharp for blue and red. Unlike the previous examples, the images in figure 7 are direct scans from slides. At 2900 dpi a scan is sufficiently detailed to reveal the fringing.

The defects of the chromatic aberration

The most known of ths defects is the confounding of the colors red and green caused by the lack of the con cells from the retina.

The spectrum
For the scientists, the light is one of the electromagnetic forms. In the wide electromagnetic spectrum caught up between the radio waves and the gamma waves, the rays of light occupy a small place .The radio waves can achieve lengths of several miles while the gamma rays can only be measured with sub unities of the centimeter. Measured in manometers, the visible length is on the wave length between 400-700 manometers. In the chromatic imagine the biggest wave length is occupied by the colors yellow, orange and red(550-700 manometers), the medium length is occupied by the sight and the shortest by blue and purple. The white light is the result of the mix of this colors. She can decompose like at a rainbow but only when its passed throw a prism. Its amazing that the retina acts at colors that pass ultra purple, so placed outside the normal spectrum. This thing is not obvious because the crystalline filters the ultra purple rays before this can even get on the retina. Sick people whose crystalline was chirurgical removed (because of the cataract) and replaced with the glass lets or plastic material, see light objects of ultra purple who remain invisible for the crystalline seers.

The spectrum a spectacular image

Colored objects can be seen colored through the pigments. This substances selectively filters some wave lengths, some are kept, others are released. The result of this filtration can be explained by the fact that the light rays that enter in the eye do not contain equally the different areas of the wave length and to fix this the eye separates them in some color. This process takes place in the con cells, foto sensible, of the retina, where the three types of cells with cons answer it by electric answers at the receive of the primary color witch it corresponds. The same impulses always prevent the receive of complementary colors. The red light excites the con cells sensible to red, whose signals are appreciated by the brain as being red, but under this influence the sensibility shrinks to green. The blue signals prevent the red and green signals(witch together form yellow, the complementary color of blue). If the con cells sensible to red miss, the red light witch enters in the retina doesnt form the perception of the color red, but does not prevent the perception of the green colors. The turbulent of chromatic aberration appear when the retina contain all types of con cells but their proportion is not corresponding. This manifestation is called tricomazie, through the balance degradation appear inexact perceptions of color because the eyes sensibility shrinks in a zone of the spectrum.