A system which measures the Stokes parameters of light automatically over a wide range of wavelengths is described. The method requires two piezooptic modulators, three lock-in amplifiers, and an on-line minicomputer for data processing. The absence of a static retardation plate provides an unprecedented insensitivity to beam wandering. Typical performance parameters such as response time, accuracy, and detectivity as a function of the incident polarization are given.

A new class of axially apodizing continuously transmitting filters is analytically determined and numerically implemented. The longitudinal and lateral properties of the associated point-spread function are displayed both for a single filtered lens and for a combination with a laterally superresolving mask in a confocal configuration. Interesting imaging properties relative to the increase in axial contrast and transverse resolving power for dephasing ring-free pupil filters of moderate losses in luminosity are predicted.