A spatial-encoding scheme for the one-step implementation of the optic
al hit-miss transform (HMT) is presented. The rank-order HMT, which yi
elds better performance in the presence of noise and clutter, can also
be carried out by the use of this scheme. Numerical simulations and e
xperimental results have proved the scheme to be feasible. (C) 1996 Op
tical Society of America