What causes moiré when photographing an LCD/LED screen, and how can I reduce it?
Asked 7/8/2012
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2 answers
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When I photograph an LCD/LED display (for example a handheld game console screen), I sometimes see a wavy or mesh-like pattern across the image. In some shots the lines even appear to curve. What is this artifact called? Is there a way to avoid it when taking the photo, and can it be corrected afterward if it’s the only image available?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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The effect is called Moire. It is caused by the grid pattern of the photosites in your sensor and the grid of pixels in the screen interacting. It happens when the grids do not exactly line up. It can occur with any gird or parallel lines. It is explanined in more depth here.
To reduce this effect try to reduce how much of line the screen is to the sensor.
Originally by user10405. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user10405
14y ago
0
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This artifact is called moiré. It happens when the repeating pixel grid of the screen interferes with the repeating grid of your camera sensor, creating false patterns such as waves, meshes, or curved lines.
To reduce it while shooting, change the relationship between the two grids so they don’t align so closely. Practical ways include:
- change the camera angle slightly
- move closer or farther away
- reframe so the screen fills a different amount of the image
- slightly defocus if critical sharpness of the screen pixels isn’t needed
In general, the more the screen’s line/pixel pattern closely matches the sensor sampling, the more likely moiré becomes.
After the fact, correction is limited. Some software may reduce the visible effect, but it usually can’t fully restore real detail because the pattern is created by aliasing at capture time. Prevention during shooting is the best solution.
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