Underwater optical imaging typically is limited by light scattering in the common volume of water intersected by the field of view of the camera and the illumination source. In such cases, the imaging system is contrast-limited. In other situations, the image contrast may be extremely high, however the amount of power falling upon the receiving sensor may be too small to be detectable: in this case the imaging system is power-limited.

Jaffe, J.S. 1988. Underwater optical imaging: The design of optimal systems. Oceanography 1(2):40–41, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.1988.09.

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