  The dark-speckle method (Labeyrie 1995) combines features of speckle
interferometry and adaptive optics to provide images of faint circumstellar
material. We present preliminary results of observations, and simulations
concluding to the feasibility of exo-planet imaging from the ground. Laboratory
simulations with an avalanche photodiode indicate the detectability of a
stellar companion of relative intensity 10^{-6} at 5 Airy radii from the star.
New, more general, expressions for the signal-to-noise ratio and integration
time are given. Comparisons with direct long-exposure imaging indicate that the
method improves the detectability of circumstellar nebulosity, faint companions
and planets.
