2023/7/18 下午3:28 Moiré and the Fashion of Harry Nyquist 

- The American Society of Cinematographers (en-US)

JANUARY 4, 2022

Moiré and the Fashion of Harry Nyquist 

What happens when we try to photograph a pattern that exceeds what a camera system can
reproduce? What if we violate the Nyquist limit of the system? Jay Holben

What happens when we try to photograph a pattern that exceeds what

a camera system can reproduce? What if we violate the Nyquist limit of
the system?

When a costume designer brings a swatch of

At top, An example of a moiré pattern
material or an early wardrobe sample to a
appearing on fabric. (Image by Andrew Fish)
cinematographer to ask whether it will work
for camera, they are inquiring, of course, about the hue and reflectivity of the
material — but they are also asking, though probably not in so many words,

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“Will this texture exceed the Nyquist limit of your digital camera system and
cause a moiré pattern on the screen?”

Even as most costume designers are unlikely to use that specific terminology,
they’re aware that certain materials (and certain patterns) will cause moiré,
and that this is a significant issue. Likewise, many cinematographers don’t
have the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem on the tip of their tongue, nor
would they necessarily conceive of the moiré phenomenon as an interference
pattern caused by conflicting spatial frequencies in relation to the photosite
count of a particular digital sensor — but they generally, instinctively know
what will or will not cause moiré.

This month’s Shot Craft will investigate the Nyquist-Shannon sampling

theorem to clarify what causes moiré in a particular textile or pattern, and
how to avoid it. 

Definitions and Measurements

Harry Nyquist was a Swedish physicist and electronic engineer who
conducted R&D at AT&T from 1917 to 1934. His research into reproducing
sound signals, which was expanded upon by American mathematician and
electrical engineer Claude Shannon, has come to be known as the Nyquist-
Shannon sampling theorem. This theorem states that for any given sampling
system, the maximum detail that can be faithfully reproduced is half the
number of samples taken. Although Nyquist and Shannon were referencing
audio samples, the same concept applies to images sampled by a digital
sensor. To produce a digital image of a real-world subject, every photosite on
the digital sensor takes a sample of the photons of light reflecting off the
objects being photographed. By applying the Nyquist-Shannon theorem, we
conclude that the maximum image resolution that can faithfully be
reproduced is half the number of samples captured by the photosites.

To determine resolution — that is, the system’s ability to resolve detail —

there must be two high-contrast elements in order to see the difference
between them. To accomplish this, we use a series of Ronchi grates (or Ronchi
charts), each of which comprises a row of black lines on a white background,

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with each successive grate featuring narrower lines with a decreasing

distance between them.

“If we try to photograph a pattern that exceeds what the camera

system can reproduce, this will introduce image artifacting that
presents itself as moiré.”

A series of Ronchi charts of increasing spatial frequency, from left to right. (Image courtesy of Jay Holben)

If we consider the white space between each black line to be a line in itself,
and we take into account the Nyquist-Shannon theorem — which indicates
that the maximum number of lines any digital camera system can reproduce
is half the number of its sensor’s photosites — then it can be concluded that a
camera system with 4,096 photosites across the imager can give us a
maximum of 2,048 lines. (Granted, this is a simplification of the Nyquist-
Shannon sampling theorem, but it aptly illustrates this important aspect of
the sensor. We’re also keeping things simple by looking only at an example
dealing with black and white; reproducible resolution in color, which typically
involves subsampling with a Bayer-pattern color-filter array, is a subject for
another column.)

Those 2,048 lines equate to a real-world physical measurement, defined by

line-pairs per millimeter (or lp/mm). If the sensor is 36mm wide, and we can
resolve detail down to 2,048 lines, the measurement is 57 lp/mm (2,048
divided by 36mm). This measurement can also be called a spatial frequency,
referring here to the frequency of respective black and white lines within

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1mm of space. That’s the finest detail the camera system can reproduce
without artifacting. The system is capable of faithfully reproducing any detail
larger (at a lower spatial frequency) than 57 lp/mm. 

Causes of Moiré
So, what happens when we try to photograph a pattern that exceeds what the
system can reproduce? In other words, what if we violate the Nyquist limit of
the system? If this is a repeating pattern of high-spatial-frequency fine detail
— like one might find in a woven fabric — then, given the specific parameters
above, any detail smaller (at a higher spatial frequency) than 57 lp/mm will
end up introducing image artifacting that presents it-self as moiré.

If moiré is recorded by the camera, it cannot be easily removed from the

image in postproduction. There are no hardware or software tools in post that
achieve this, so — barring a reshoot — the object in question must be
replaced by a moiré-free CG version of the object. The seriousness of the
moiré issue helped lead digital-camera manufacturers to incorporate an
optical low-pass filter (OLPF) into their cameras. This filter allows low spatial
frequency to pass through the quartz filter while blurring high spatial
frequency above the Nyquist limit for that specific sensor. 

The OLPF does not always eliminate moiré, however, which is why
cinematographers and costume designers must carefully consider the textile
patterns that will be presented on camera. The likelihood of moiré is affected
by the number of photosites on the sensor, as discussed, and also by the
contrast of lighting, the re-solving power of the individual lens, the
compression algorithm of the recording format, and the compression
algorithm of the postproduction delivery format. The cinematographer must
consider all these points in the workflow to ensure that no moiré is ever
captured on camera.

One particular complication is that moiré can appear on a monitor that is

downsampling the resolution of the camera even if the artifact is not actually
recorded in the image itself. If your camera has 4,096 photosites across the
sensor but you’re assessing the image on a 1,920-pixel monitor, the Nyquist
limit of the monitor is significantly lower than that of the camera (960 as
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opposed to 2,048), which means the image will moiré on the monitor long
before it will on the camera. The best way to check is to use a monitor with a
1:1 pixel function to magnify the image so that it is in parity with the camera’s
sensor. 

“If moiré is recorded by the camera, it cannot be easily removed from

the image in postproduction.”

For a theoretical digital sensor with 4,096 photosites, any detail equal to the Nyquist limit (half the full sample rate) or
lower will be faithfully reproduced by the system. Pattern detail above the Nyquist limit may have artifacting, such as moiré,
introduced into the image. (Image courtesy of Jay Holben)

Moiré Solutions
If you end up working with a textile that is causing moiré and there is no way
to replace it with a different material, there are several things you can try.
Moving the camera slightly closer to the subject or shifting to a tighter focal
length, thus increasing the size of the pattern in the frame — and removing
the resonance between the textile pattern and the digital sensor — can help
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eliminate moiré. You can also move the camera slightly farther away from the
pattern or shift to a wider focal length, thus removing the ability of the sensor
to discern the fine detail that’s causing the issue.

If you really need the precise shot that’s causing the moiré problem, you can
increase the sampling size (or number of photosites on the sensor) by
switching to a larger-format camera. An 8K sensor with 8,192 photosites
across the imager, for example, will have a Nyquist limit of 4,096. If we
assume the same 36mm width of this sensor as submitted above, then the
finest detail the system can reproduce is 114 lp/mm — twice as fine as a 4K
imager. 

The interplay between contrast and resolution. Without contrast, you cannot measure resolution. (Image courtesy of Jay
Holben)

Aliasing in the Eye

The Nyquist limit is not confined to digital sensors. The human eye has a
Nyquist limit, too; there is a finite spatial frequency our eyes can resolve
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before we see aliasing. When you look at the fine pattern of a window screen,
for example, you might notice a wavy variation of contrast that “swims”
when you move your head slightly. That’s moiré happening in your eye
because the spatial frequency of that pattern violates your Nyquist limit. If
you step closer to the screen, the moiré might disappear. That’s because the
spatial frequency of the pattern you’re looking at has dropped because you
have moved closer to it, and the pattern subtends a larger angle on your
retina. In essence, by moving closer, you have reduced the spatial frequency
of the window screen according to your eye.

LED Walls and Moiré

Another situation in which the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem rears its
head, and one that is becoming more common, is when digital cameras
photograph LED walls. LED walls comprise a finite pattern of pixels — an
isotropic grid — and this rigid geometric pattern of pixels has its own fixed
spatial frequency. Therefore, when the camera focuses on the LED screen, it
can cause significant moiré in the image. The finer the pixel pitch of the
screen and the higher the photosite count of the sensor, the less chance there
is of seeing moiré, and, generally speaking, the farther away and the more out
of focus the LED screen is, the less likely you are to encounter it.

Jay Holben is an ASC associate member and AC’s technical editor.

You’ll find all Shot Craft posts here.

Tagged: moiré pattern , Ronchi charts , Harry Nyquist, Claude Shannon, Nyquist-Shannon
sampling theorem , aliasing, LED walls

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