Effect of Noise on Auto-find Performance

The ability of the auto-find feature to detect spots on a single frame is tested with a grid of 25 Gaussian spots on a 400 by 400 pixel image. The Gaussian spots have a standard deviation 5 and maximum value 0.3, and the background has a brightness of 0.4. Varying levels of noise are added to images to observe the effect of noise on auto-find performance, and each noise level is tested with different values of the fluorescent_spot_threshold setting. The table indicates how many beads out of the possible 25 the Video Spot Tracker detects. For all trials, the Video Spot Tracker maintain_fluorescent_beads option is set at 25. All trials use a symmetric tracking kernel with a radius of 13.

Noise Level	Threshold Level	Beads Found	VST Log	Image
Mean=2 Var=1e4	0.5	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=2 Var=1e4	0.4	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=2 Var=1e4	0.3	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=2 Var=1e4	0.2	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=20 Var=1e5	0.5	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=20 Var=1e5	0.4	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=20 Var=1e5	0.3	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=20 Var=1e5	0.2	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=200 Var=1e6	0.5	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=200 Var=1e6	0.4	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=200 Var=1e6	0.3	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=200 Var=1e6	0.2	0	VST Log	Image
Mean=2000 Var=1e7	0.5	25	VST Log	Image
Mean=2000 Var=1e7	0.4	0	VST Log	Image
Mean=2000 Var=1e7	0.3	4	VST Log	Image
Mean=2000 Var=1e7	0.2	1	VST Log	Image
Mean=20000 Var=1e8	0.5	1	VST Log	Image
Mean=20000 Var=1e8	0.4	1	VST Log	Image
Mean=20000 Var=1e8	0.3	1	VST Log	Image
Mean=20000 Var=1e8	0.2	1	VST Log	Image

Example images follow:

gaussian_5_sym_flat.2_1e4.0000.bmp	gaussian_5_sym_flat.20_1e5.0000.bmp	gaussian_5_sym_flat.200_1e6.0000.bmp
gaussian_5_sym_flat.2000_1e7.0000.bmp	gaussian_5_sym_flat.20000_1e8.0000.bmp