I kind of understand how fiber optics works when it’s carrying a 0/1 signal. But is this technology capable of carrying a visual image?
Say, for instance, I have a lens that focuses an image onto one end of an optical fiber. Can I have an identical lens on the other end that will display the image?
If it is possible, what kind of limits would there be with regard to distance between lenses, minimum brightness of original image, etc?
Here’s a little catalog of fiber optic imaging components. Coherent fiber bundles are used in all sorts of places where conventional lenses and mirrors aren’t up to the job.
No, the light inside the fiber is kept inside a small “chamber” inside it, which is much skinnier than the overall width of the fiber. For modern single-mode fibers, the diameter of the part where the light actually travels is only 9 micrometers. To produce an image, light entering at one angle would have to exit at a unique angle, but with a fiber, all the light that enters is channeled down the middle, and sprays out the end.
A single fiber optic wire won’t carry a useful image any worthwhile distance. Squink is referring to a whole mess of wires, each of which carries one pixel. Focus an image on one end of the bundle, have sensors at the other end that measure what comes thru, display image on a monitor.
The optical properties of a fiber optic cable are set up so that as a photon approaches the side of a cable, it is gently refracted back in, to later bounce off (near) the opposite side. Such refraction causes dispersion of waves. It makes things “cloudy” as it were.
Note also that cables are very thin, and basic laws of optics such as Rayleigh’s say you really can’t feed much of an image thru such a narrow pipe. The lenses at either end just can’t be made good enough.