In an infrared image, what does reversing polarity do?

In an infrared image, what does reversing polarity do?

• A. Increasing the Image Brightness Uniformly
• B. Inverting the Colors or Grayscale (Black for White)
• C. Changing the Spatial Resolution
• D. Preserving the Original Polarity

Answer: (B)

Reversing polarity in an infrared image changes how the pixel values map to brightness, not the actual temperatures. Normally, warmer areas are shown as brighter and cooler areas as darker. When polarity is reversed, this mapping flips: hotter regions become darker and cooler regions become brighter. It’s a display change, like swapping a grayscale or color ramp, and it can help reveal features that aren’t as obvious in the standard view. It doesn’t alter spatial detail or the underlying data; it simply changes the visual interpretation by inverting the brightness.

Reversing polarity in an infrared image changes how the pixel values map to brightness, not the actual temperatures. Normally, warmer areas are shown as brighter and cooler areas as darker. When polarity is reversed, this mapping flips: hotter regions become darker and cooler regions become brighter. It’s a display change, like swapping a grayscale or color ramp, and it can help reveal features that aren’t as obvious in the standard view. It doesn’t alter spatial detail or the underlying data; it simply changes the visual interpretation by inverting the brightness.