Images acquired through modern sensors may be contaminated by a variety of noise sources. By noise we refer to stochastic variations as opposed to deterministic distortions such as shading or lack of focus. We will assume for this section that we are dealing with images formed from light using modern electro-optics. In particular we will assume the use of modern, charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras where photons produce electrons that are commonly referred to as photoelectrons. Nevertheless, most of the observations we shall make about noise and its various sources hold equally well for other imaging modalities.
While modern technology has made it possible to reduce the noise levels associated with various electro-optical devices to almost negligible levels, one noise source can never be eliminated and thus forms the limiting case when all other noise sources are "eliminated".