Analysis and research progress of deep-sea optical illumination and imaging system

The deep-sea optical imaging system is divided into four subsystems : illumination system, camera system, image processing system and data storage and transmission system. On the basis of above, a systematic study and development trend analysis of deep-sea optical imaging is conducted in this paper. Then, the two sub-systems of the forefront of deep-sea optical imaging, illumination system and camera system, are described in detail. Among them, the deep-sea illumination system is further subdivided into three smaller systems : light source system, light distribution system and lamp array system; and for the deep-sea camera system, according to its application areas and technical characteristics, it can be subdivided into 6 categories, namely, normal imaging, laser imaging, polarized light imaging, 3D/panoramic imaging, microscopic imaging and spectral imaging. Based on the history and current situation of deep-sea optical imaging both at home and abroad in recent years, its future development trend can be summarized as follows; higher resolution, deeper working depth, larger observation range and more diverse imaging method.