Contrast change of the test object image in single-pixel and focal-plane array imaging through a scattering medium

In recent years, the single-pixel imaging technique which uses a detector without spatial resolution and spatially modulated illumination patterns to reconstruct an object image has been finding its application for imaging objects in visibility obstructing conditions such as smoke or fog. The unifying feature of the studies published so far is the proof of workability of the methods proposed by the authors to improve the quality of single-pixel imaging images at their chosen scattering medium parameters without revealing the limits of applicability. This work experimentally demonstrates the influence of the number of scattering particles in the medium on the contrast of single-pixel images, and also compares the results with images obtained with a CCD camera, which allows not only to compare imaging methods under varying conditions, but also to evaluate the influence of losses introduced by the presence of a scattering medium on the contrast of single-pixel images. This work uses the classical experimental scheme of single-pixel imaging in which the single-pixel detector and focusing lens were replaced by a CCD camera to obtain images for comparison. A cuvette containing milk solution of different concentrations was placed between the object and the detector. For each concentration, an image of the object was reconstructed using the single-pixel imaging method and then recorded on the CCD camera until the concentration of the scattering agent was reached at which no image could be obtained by either method. The contrast was then calculated for each image obtained. It is shown that the single-pixel imaging method for milk concentrations up to 1/150 has an average contrast of 0.21, which does not decrease as the scattering increases. At the same time for CCD camera the contrast in the absence of scattering is 0.70, and with increasing milk concentration monotonically decreases to 0.07. The main feature of images obtained by single-pixel imaging through scattering media is the preservation of contrast as the concentration of the scattering medium increases indicating that the relationships between all the recorded on a single-pixel detector intensities used in the construction of the correlation function are preserved. A single-pixel image ceases to be reconstructed only when information about the object does not reach the detector due to multiple scattering and absorption produced by a milk solution. The considered features show the prospect of using single-pixel imaging for the construction of remote sensing systems with pattern recognition, as they allow obtaining similar images at different scattering coefficients of the scattering medium.