Patent ID: 8248511

Claim:
A digital-optical imaging system comprising: an optics module that produces an optical image of an object; and a detector module positioned to capture the optical image produced by the optics module, the detector module characterized by a sampling frequency, the detector module capturing at least two different color channels k of the optical image, each color channel defined by a peak wavelength λ pk , all of the color channels together characterized by a center wavelength λ c =(min{λ pk }+max{λ pk })/2; wherein the optics module is characterized by D b ≧D* and D g ≧1.1 D b , where D*=the monochromatic depth of field, defined as the depth of field (measured in waves of λ c ) over which an ideal equivalent optical module that is monochromatic and aberration-free at wavelength λ c has an MTF at the sampling frequency greater than 0.1, D b =the broadband depth of field, defined as the depth of field (measured in waves of λ c ) over which the optical module has an MTF at the sampling frequency greater than 0.1 for all λ pk , and D g =grayscale depth of field, defined as the depth of field (measured in waves of λ c ) over which the optical module has an MTF at the sampling frequency greater than 0.1 for at least one λ pk .