DYNAMIC INFRARED SCENE PROJECTION - A REVIEW

Since the early 1990s, there has been major progress in the developing field of dynamic infrared scene projection, driven principally by the need for hardware-in-the-loop simulation of the oncoming generation o f imaging infrared missile seekers and more recently by the needs for realistic simulation of the new generation of thermal imagers and forw ard-looking infrared systems. In this paper the current status of the dynamic infrared projection field is reviewed, commencing with an outl ine of its history. The requirements for dynamic infrared scene projec tion are examined, allowing a set of validity criteria to be developed . Each class of infrared projector that has been investigated-emissive , transmissive, reflective, laser scanner and phosphor-together with t he specific technology initiatives within the class is described and e xamined against the validity criteria. In this way the leading dynamic infrared scene projection technologies are identified. Crown Copyrigh t (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.