Comparison on image quality of intra-frame high dynamic range infrared imaging with multiple integration time arrangements

Intra-frame HDR imaging with multiple integration times effectively expands the dynamic range of infrared focal plane array systems at the cost of image quality decreasing due to the loss of spatial resolution. To obtain a positive strategy for improving the intra-frame HDR image quality, a comparison of infrared images obtained from six different integration time arrangements is made. Four image quality assessment metrics, peak-signal-to-noise ratio, structural similarity index measure, natural image quality evaluator and perception-based Image quality evaluator are calculated for comparative analysis. The comparison result shows that the <table style="font-size:small;display:inline;vertical-align:middle;"><tr><td style="border-bottom:1pt solid black;">1&nbsp;&nbsp;2</td></tr><tr><td>3&nbsp;&nbsp;4</td></tr></table> arrangement with four different integration times exhibits the best improvement in image quality and demonstrates that the <table style="font-size:small;display:inline;vertical-align:middle;"><tr><td style="border-bottom:1pt solid black;">1&nbsp;&nbsp;2</td></tr><tr><td>3&nbsp;&nbsp;4</td></tr></table> arrangement has excellent visualization effect in high-quality intra-frame HDR imaging applications.