Polarimetric Imager from High-End 1980s Video Camera

Our eyes see the world in shades of black and white, along with all the colors of the rainbow. As you may know, the color of light that you see when looking at something is based on the wavelength, and how bright it is is based on the amplitude. What we as humans can’t tell is on what axis light waves are vibrating, though some animals actually are able to perceive and use this light characteristic.

If you as a mere human would like to see an image in all of its polarimetric glory, a scientific instrument for viewing will set you back tens of thousands of dollars. However, physics hacker David Prutchi has come up with a way to make your own for much less.

The project starts out with obtaining a JVC KY-1900, a video camera that was at one time very high-end but now goes for around $50, and swapping out its color splitting apparatus for a beamsplitter that splits light up by polarization. This split light is then received by the camera’s three sensors normally used for red, green, and blue and turned into an image based instead on polarization angle.

The basics of this concept and build are explained here, and for even more information you can download a full whitepaper on the project.