How do lens resolution figures like lp/mm or micron resolution relate to sensor pixel size?

Asked 3/10/2015

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I’m choosing a lens/camera setup for machine-vision inspection and I’m confused by lens resolution specs. Lenses are often rated in lp/mm or as a micron resolution at a given wavelength (for example, 6 µm at 550 nm). How should those numbers be interpreted?

Example: for a 600 × 500 mm field of view at a 500 mm working distance, several sellers suggested a 10 MP camera with a telecentric lens to clearly see 1 mm surface details. The lens is specified at 6 µm resolution, while the camera sensor has 1.6 µm pixels.

If I convert those figures, the sensor seems capable of roughly 300+ lp/mm, while the lens is only around 166 lp/mm. Does that mean I can’t use the full sensor resolution? As a general rule, should lens resolution match or exceed sensor resolution if I want maximum detail?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

11y ago

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Resolution is a complex thing. For one, there is a LOT of misinformation about resolution floating around the net, and many photographers do not quite understand it. First, I believe it is incorrect to say "A outresolves B" when talking about lenses and sensors. Sensors do not outresolve lenses. Neither do lenses outresolve sensors. As a matter of fact, the two work together in concert to convolve an image...and that image has a resolution of its own.

(NOTE: A 1.6 micron pixel can resolve 1/(1.6 / 1000) lines per millimeter, which comes out to 625 l/mm. Divide by two, for pairs of lines, and you get 312 lp/mm (line-pairs per mm). Similarly, a lens that can resolve a 6 micron spot can resolve 1/(6 / 1000) lines per millimeter, which comes out to 166 l/mm. Again divide by two and you get 83 lp/mm. Whatever this $6000 lens is, it is probably diffraction limited, but at an aperture of around f/8 (assuming MTF50). The price tag seems rather high for that...many lenses can get quite close to a resolution of 83 lp/mm at f/8...as that aperture is usually very close to fully diffraction limited on a majority of modern lenses.)

Resolution can be reported in line pairs per millimeter (lp/mm), or as a spot size (microns). The spot size, which is ultimately what a point of light resolves to, is the result of the light from the original source of that point being "convolved" as it passes through all the things between it and the sensor's pixels (which themselves are part of the convolution). That includes the air between the light source and the lens, each and every element in the lens, as well as all the air gaps between them, the air between the back of the lens and the sensor, the cover glass or filters over the sensor, the microlenses on the sensor, and the nature of the sensor's pixel layout itself (i.e., their size and whether they have a CFA or not). All of that works in concert to produce the spot size of that original light source in the final image.

The original light source may be infinitely small, however as its light passes on towards the sensor surface, it is being spread out. You don't end up with a mathematically infinitely small point in your final image, you end up with a point that is many pixels in size.

The lens in question may be able to resolve a diffraction limited (maximum potential) point of light at 6 microns in size. The sensor's pixels are 1.6 microns in size, and let's just assume for now it's monochrome. The size of that point of light in the final image is going to be the RMS of the components involved in making the image:

imageSpot = SQRT(lensSpot^2 + sensorSpot^2)

If we plug our numbers into this formula, we get:

imageSpot = SQRT(6um^2 + 1.6um^2) = SQRT(36um + 2.56um) = SQRT(38.56um) = 6.21um

The resolution of an image output by using this lens, which can resolve a 6 micron spot, with a sensor that has 1.6 micron monochrome pixels, is a 6.21 micron spot. That comes to an output resolution of 80.5 lp/mm. That is slightly less than the 83.34 lp/mm the lens is capable of delivering itself, however it is still very close. That is thanks to the fact that the sensor has such tiny pixels.

It is actually very rare for camera systems to resolve that close to the "upper limit", which is the resolution of the lowest power component. To get better resolution than 83 lp/mm, you would need to use a lens that is capable of resolving a smaller spot size than 6 microns. If you were able to find a lens that had a 3 micron spot, the lens would be truly capable of resolving 166.67 lp/mm, and your output resolution would jump to 147.1 lp/mm.


Resolution is the result of a convolution, it does not have a hard stop. As such, sensors cannot outresolve lenses, nor can lenses outresolve sensors. The two work in concert to resolve the information in an output image. We are generally quite far from the limits of resolving power with current optics. We are getting close to the limits of resolving power with sensors, which are now down to around 0.95 microns in pitch (950nm, infrared light wavelengths). Your sensor in this situation is actually holding you up; a lens that can only resolve a 6 micron spot is actually holding you back. You could continue to gain resolution well past the point where the lens is resolving a 1.6 micron spot, same as the sensor, since that is:

SQRT(1.6^2 + 1.6^2) = 2.26 microns

Your resolution would be 220 lp/mm, still well below the individual resolving power of each which is 312 lp/mm.

Originally by user124. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user124

11y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

lp/mm means line pairs per millimeter: how many alternating black/white line pairs can be distinguished in 1 mm. A “6 µm resolution” lens corresponds roughly to 1/0.006 mm = 166 lines/mm, or about 83 lp/mm.

The key point is that lens and sensor resolution do not act independently; they combine. A sensor with very small pixels does not guarantee that the final image resolves that much detail, because the lens blur, sensor sampling, and often the sensor’s low-pass filtering all reduce system resolution together.

Also, the sensor’s theoretical Nyquist limit is only achieved under ideal alignment. In practice, oversampling helps reduce aliasing and gives more reliable detail capture.

So yes: if the lens resolves less finely than the sensor can sample, the sensor won’t deliver its full theoretical detail. But that does not mean the setup is unusable. For seeing 1 mm features over a 600 mm field, a 10 MP camera may still be sufficient depending on magnification and contrast requirements.

As a rule of thumb, for maximum detail you generally want the lens resolution to be at least as good as, and preferably better than, the sensor sampling resolution.

UniqueBot

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11y ago

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