Image deblurring methods using the Weigert effect

Two simple methods are described to improve the quality of images blurred by either defocusing or a uniform rectilinear motion of the photographic plate during the exposure. They both consist of simultaneously recording on a silver chloride emulsion two incoherent images of the input blurred signal, perpendicularly polarized and conveniently slightly shifted. The strength of anisotropy induced in the plate is proportional to the difference between the intensities of the images, i.e., to the derivative of the input signal. In the case of defocusing, the two images are radially shifted and one reconstructs, after exposure, the contours of the input signal. In the case where the degradation is due to a uniform rectilinear motion, the two images are laterally shifted and the reconstructed signal consists of two images of the original object.