The Reflectance Transformation Imaging Technique applied to the epigraphs of the MAR and to an unpublished reading of the anthroponyms of the so-called "Tomb of the Scribe"
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2017
Publisher
Regione autonoma Valle d'Aosta
Abstract
RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) is an imaging tech- nique used to document surface details and create interactive images. The term Reflectance Transformation Imaging is often used interchangeably with PTM (Polynomial Texture Mapping), an early form of RTI developed by Tom Malzbender and Dan Gelb of Hewlett-Packard laboratories in 2001.1 In RTI, a series of photographs is taken of an object using a stationary camera and a single light source. Between shots, the light source is moved slightly, so that the resulting set of photographs records an array of shadows and highlights. The set of photographs can then be processed into a single file, an interactive image of the object’s surface that can be re-lit and mathematically enhanced to reveal otherwise imperceptible surface details. Since the invention of PTM by Malzbender and Gelb, Cultural Heritage Imaging, a non-profit organization in San Francisco, has further developed the process with the University of Cali- fornia Berkeley, the University of Southampton and the Uni- versity of Oxford and made available open-access software to process RTI datasets and view RTI images.
Recommended Citation
Maria Cristina Ronc and Carolynn Roncaglia. 2017. “The Reflectance Transformation Imaging Technique applied to the epigraphs of the MAR and to an unpublished reading of the anthroponyms of the so-called ‘Tomb of the Scribe’.” Bollettino della soprintendenza per i beni e le attività culturali 13, 40-42.
