ERROR REDUCTION IN CENTROID ESTIMATES USING NONLINEAR IMAGE DETECTORS

When detecting in low-light-level conditions, the dead time that appea rs in actual intensified image detectors increases both the systematic and the statistical error in the centroid estimate. We develop a simp le technique to reduce these errors. This technique enables extending, with a good level of accuracy, the applicability of experimental meth ods involving the centroid measurement to those fields dealing with fa int light sources. (C) 1996 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation E ngineers.