Fundamentals of image formation and re-use

In this section of the course we consider the basic questions of image content and re-use. In particular, we describe the physical information content of a typical image, based on the simplest camera model and the complex behavior of light in a 3D scene. After reviewing the important effects contributing to the appearance of an image, we focus on the issue of image re-use: when and how is it possible to re-use image fragments to assemble a plausible new view of a scene? Several techniques involving the re-use of synthetically generated images to accelerate the display of a complex synthetic scene are discussed.