tb_spad_deadtime_apply — 2D typed op

Data kinds: countscounts

Call: fullseye.apply(img, "tb_spad_deadtime_apply", a=0.5, b=0.5) (the 2-D model is one image plus two scalar knobs a,b∈[0,1])

Usage

Distort a true photon rate by the detector's dead time (counts lost).

After every detection a SPAD is blind for a recharge (dead) time `tau`, so

the *measured* rate `m is always below the *true* incident rate n`.

Two classical laws, and this op implements both:

non-paralysable (default) — an arriving photon during the dead time is

simply lost: `m = n / (1 + n*tau). Monotonic, saturating at 1/tau`.

paralysable (`paralyzable=True`) — an arriving photon *restarts* the

dead time: `m = n * exp(-n*tau). This law **peaks** at n = 1/tau`

(where `m = 1/(e*tau)`) and then falls, so a bright scene can read

*darker* than a dim one. That is why no inverse op exists for it (see

:func:spad_deadtime_correct).

*rate_hz* is a 1-D array of true rates in counts per second; *dead_time_ns*

is the dead time in nanoseconds, defaulting to 50 — the middle of the

10-100 ns range a passively quenched SPAD occupies, and a placeholder to be

replaced by the datasheet value, never a measurement of your detector.

Returns the measured rates as a float64 1-D array of the same length.

Ground truth (pinned in the tests): at `n = 1/tau` the non-paralysable law

gives exactly `n/2`; the paralysable law's maximum is exactly

`1/(e*tau) at n = 1/tau; both reduce to m = n as n*tau -> 0`.

Raises `ValueError`: negative, non-finite or non-1-D *rate_hz*, a

non-positive *dead_time_ns*, and a non-bool *paralyzable*.

Typed bridge of the photon op `spad_deadtime_apply into the 2-D evolution registry: the same implementation, called under the op(v, a, b) convention. a drives dead_time_ns (default 50); b` is unused.

References (sample data, literature)

• Sample-data catalog (download URLs / licences) — 2-D uses skimage.data (BSD/public domain) plus synthetic images; 3-D lists download URLs for real data sources (Stanford, PDS, …).

• Operator provenance and references — the sources of the research/methods this op family came from.

Runnable examples (verified samples that actually call this op)

• (none yet)

Ops the type connects to (they accept counts as input)

identity · tb_spad_deadtime_correct · tb_tcspc_coates_correct · tb_tcspc_irf_convolve · tb_tcspc_background_subtract · tb_dtof_depth · tb_countrate_to_counts · tb_counts_to_countrate

Same category (typed)

tb_points_to_voxel · tb_estimate_point_normals · tb_iss_keypoints · tb_angle_3points · tb_project_points · tb_render_point_depth · tb_statistical_outlier_removal · tb_radius_outlier_removal


*Provenance: ops.py — 2D operator registry. This per-op note is generated by tools/opdocs.py md (do not hand-edit).*

© 2026 Kazufumi Furuse — Fullseye operator documentation. Licensed under Apache-2.0.