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- Search Infrared Reflectography distlist archives
Since its introduction in the 1960's by J.R.J. van Asperen de Boer, infrared reflectography has become a vital tool for the non-destructive examination of paintings. The vidicon system used by van Asperen de Boer was a tube camera with a lead sulfide detector with a spectral sensitivity of around .75-2 microns (µ). An evaluation of this system in the early 1990's by researchers at the Uffizi Gallery and the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC revealed the vidicon cameras, when compared with solid-state cameras, had a lower signal to noise ratio and spectral sensitivity resulting in poorer resolution of fine lines and details and less penetration of certain paints. These findings and an increase in market availability of platinum silicide and indium gallium arsenide detectors resulted in a move from vidicons to solid-state cameras in many conservation studios. Recently, with access to computers, scientific capture boards and imaging software, advances have been made in the digitization, assembly and analysis of infrared images.
Though a lot of progress has been made in understanding and improving infrared imaging procedures, the field is still developing. Most conservation studios cannot devote the time and money needed for perfecting and upgrading their imaging systems. Consultations with colleagues at other museums have been crucial to problem solving.
The IRRdistlist will provide an online forum for individuals working with infrared reflectography to share technical information, ask and answer questions regarding equipment, methods and analysis, and announce events and discoveries of interest to the participants. It will be issued approximately once every two weeks or as often as participants contribute. The IRRdistlist is modeled after the Cons DistList, but is meant to provide discussion more focused on the topic of infrared reflectography and related technology. It is meant to be informal and provide quick dissemination of information and discussion rather than carefully developed argument. In addition, a directory of email addresses, known as the IRRDir would be made available via CoOL and be updated regularly.
In the future, a website will be created that could include equipment specifications, short articles, bibliographies, and images as well as links to relevant web-sites.
In order to participate in the IRRdistlist you must
1) send a message to majordomo@lists.stanford.edu saying
subscribe IRRdistlist
If for some reason you are sending this from a different address than the one you intend to use, append your new email address to the subscribe command:
Subscribe IRRdistlist yourusername@youraddress
If you include your address remember that your address must be complete, including the full domain name, not just your user name (e.g.
Mary@aol.com, notMary, orMar@aol) and that it can not include spaces.If you have any trouble, contact Pamela Betts or Bonnie Rimer at:
2) fill out a short questionnaire so that we can add your address to the IRRDir, you will receive the questionnaire after you register and before your subscription is complete. You must fill out the questionnaire before we can complete your subscription.