Color gradient background oriented schlieren imaging

Background oriented schlieren (BOS) imaging is a method of visualizing refractive disturbances through the comparison of digital images. By comparing images with and without a refractive disturbance visualizations can be achieved via a range of image processing methods. Traditionally, backgrounds consist of random distributions of high contrast speckle patterns. To image a refractive disturbance, a digital image correlation algorithm is used to identify the location and magnitude of apparent pixel shifts in the background pattern. Here a novel method of using color gradient backgrounds is explored as an alternative. The gradient background eliminates the need to perform an image correlation between the two digital images, as simple image subtraction can be used to identify the location, magnitude, and direction of the image distortions. This allows for quicker processing. Two-dimensional gradient backgrounds using multiple colors are shown. The gradient backgrounds are demonstrated to provide quantitative data limited only by the camera's pixel resolution, whereas speckle backgrounds limit resolution to the size of the random pattern features and image correlation window size. Additional results include the use of a computer screen as a background.