  Imaging based on successive repeated snapshot measurement is modeled as a
source coding process in information theory. The necessary number of
measurement to maintain a certain level of error rate is depicted as the
rate-distortion function of the source coding. Quantitative formula of the
error rate versus measurement number relation is derived, based on the
information capacity of imaging system. Second order fluctuation correlation
imaging (SFCI) experiment with pseudo-thermal light verifies this formula,
which paves the way for introducing information theory into the study of ghost
imaging (GI), both conventional and computational.
