Abstract:
A spectral camera for producing a spectral output is disclosed. The spectral camera has an objective lens for producing an image, an array of mirrors, an array of filters for passing a different passband of the optical spectrum for different ones of the optical channels arranged so as to project multiple of the optical channels onto different parts of the same focal plane, and a sensor array at the focal plane to detect the filtered image copies simultaneously. By using mirrors, there may be less optical degradation and the trade off of cost with optical quality can be better. By projecting the optical channels onto different parts of the same focal plane a single sensor or coplanar multiple sensors can to be used to detect the different optical channels simultaneously which promotes simpler alignment and manufacturing.