Dynamic Range Calculator
Imaging system dynamic range, noise floor, and ADC-limited performance analysis.
Dynamic Range
83.22 dB
13.82 stops, (FW − D)/temporal dark noise
Temporal Noise Floor
2.070 e⁻
√(σ_read² + D + σ_q²); dark charge 0.0050 e⁻
ADC Step
1.831 e⁻/DN
Quantization noise 0.529 e⁻
Noise Floor in DN
1.13
The ADC samples the noise floor
SNR at Half Full Well
77.45
122.46 after flat-field correction
Shot = Read Noise at
4.00 e⁻
Read-noise-limited below
Shot = PRNU Noise at
10000 e⁻
PRNU-limited above; SNR → 1/PRNU
Spatial Dark Noise (DSNU)
0.50 e⁻
Removed by dark-frame subtraction
σ_total² = σ_read² + D + σ_q² + S + DSNU² + (PRNU·S)², σ_q = K/√12, K = FW/(2^bits − 1)
DR = 20·log₁₀(FW/σ_floor), σ_floor = √(σ_read² + D + σ_q²)
Shot = read noise at S = σ_read²; shot = PRNU noise at S = 1/PRNU²
Model and references
Textbook approximation. A standard approximation from the literature (for example paraxial, plane-wave or Gaussian-beam), valid within the range the page states. About the tiers
EMVA 1288 noise model: PRNU as a fraction of the signal, DSNU in e⁻ rms, quantization noise K/√12 with the ADC full scale matched to the full well. Dynamic range is the full well over the temporal dark noise (Janesick; EMVA 1288 takes the signal at SNR = 1 as the floor, ≈ 20·log10((σ_d + ½)/σ_d) dB less), and dark charge that fills the well leaves none; flat-field correction removes PRNU and DSNU. Nonlinearity near saturation is left out.
- EMVA Standard 1288, Release 3.1 (2016). Standard for Characterization of Image Sensors and Cameras, Eq. (45)–(48). DSNU in e⁻, PRNU relative to the signal and the total SNR with spatial noise. emva.org
- Janesick J. R. (2007). Photon Transfer: DN → λ. SPIE Press, ch. 5. Read, shot and fixed-pattern noise regimes of the photon transfer curve. doi:10.1117/3.725073