Hughes Aircraft Company

Joseph A Spagnolia

Anthony J Kay

Gary M Lindgren

A method and apparatus for non-uniformity compensation for infrared focal plane arrays in an infrared imaging device (10) including a calibration operation and a correction operation. The calibration operation measures the response (24) generated by the detector elements (14) in the focal plane array (16) to a wide range of known signal flux levels of infrared radiation (22) produced by a uniform black body under controlled conditions. The responses (24) are then stored as a digital video signal (27) in a look-up table memory (38). The correction operation achieves the near real-time compensation of a second response of the detector element (14) to the signal flux level of infrared radiation (22) produced by objects in the field of view surveyed by the imaging device (10) by comparing the second response to the stored digital video signals (27) and interpolates the second response to a corrected digital video output signal (31).

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Canoga Park, CA, United States of America

Joseph A Spagnolia