Abstract: A method and apparatus for measuring an optical property of an optical device, such as a convex or concave reflector surface, by locating a main converging lens having a focal length f.sub.1 in front of an optical measuring system capable of measuring collimation, and providing a carrier including an auxiliary converging lens for receiving a beam from the optical measuring system, and the optical device to be tested for reflecting back, via the auxiliary converging lens to the optical measuring system, the beam passed through the auxiliary converging lens from the optical measuring system. The carrier is located at a first position wherein the back focal plane of the auxiliary converging lens coincides with the front focal plane of the main converging lens, and the optical device to be tested is located on the carrier in the front focal plane of the auxiliary converging lens.

Abstract: A method and apparatus measuring the orientation of the body in space with respect to first, second and third orthogonal axes, by projecting a collimated beam of light onto a non-axially-symmetrical mirror carried by the body in space; directing the light beam reflected from the mirror through an instrument measuring beam deflections or curvatures; and measuring the beam deflections or curvatures about the three axes to determine the orientation of the body in space.

Abstract: Optical examination apparatus is described including a basic setup comprising a point source of light, a first optical system forming a converging beam of light reflected from the examined object, and a second optical system located to receive the intercepted beam of reflected light, to collimate it, and to direct the collimated beam to a viewing device. The basic setup is capable of combined operation as a Fizeau interferometer, a schlieren device, and/or a moire deflectometer.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for moire ray deflection mapping for determining properties of an object in which a point source of light producing a diverging beam of direct light is passed through a first optical system including the object to be examined, which system retraces the light in the form of a converging beam of reflected light from the examined object back towards the point source. The converging beam of reflected light is intercepted before reaching the point source and is passed through a second optical system which collimates the beam of reflected light. The collimated beam is then directed through first and second gratings at a preselected angular orientation with respect to each other to produce moire fringe patterns providing an indication of the properties of the examined object. An important advantage in the above novel method is that the same setup can be used for measurements of both phase objects and specular surfaces.

Abstract: A method of encoding an optical image comprises: converting the optical iamge to an image grid comprised of an image matrix of pixels each having at least two possible intensity values; providing a master grid comprised of a master matrix of pixels each having at least two possible intensity values; and transmitting, for each pixel location of the image matrix, a pixel intensity value representing the intensity value of the master matrix at the corresponding location, its complement, or a random intensity value, depending on the intensity value of the pixel in the image matrix at the corresponding location. Also described is an apparatus for carrying out the above encoding method.