Standardization of line‐scan NIR imaging systems

Abstract A simple and easy to use method is proposed for standardizing NIR imaging systems for differences among detectors in the charge‐coupled device (CCD) array and illumination unevenness. The standardization equations are then used to pre‐treat NIR image data to reduce the systematic errors introduced by a line‐scan NIR imaging system. The method requires only easily available homogeneous standards with relatively uniform spectral response. The effectiveness of the standardization in reducing the pixel‐to‐pixel biases and other systematic effects is illustrated with examples, and the improved sensitivity in results obtained from a multivariate image analysis (MIA) based on multi‐way principal component analysis (MPCA) is demonstrated. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.