Paper on direct imaging of exoplanets

Some takeaways on direct imaging of exoplanets from a scientific paper at arXiv:

Extra-solar planets or candidates as close to their host star as the Solar System planets (within
30 AU) are still very rare with β Pic b, HR 8799 e, PZ Tel B/b, and HR 8799 d being the only exceptions at 8.5, 14.3, 18.3, and 24.2 AU, respectively, all nearby young stars (19 to 52 pc). As far as angular separation is concerned, the closest planets or candidates imaged directly are PZ Tel B/b, HR 8799 e, β Pic b, HR 8799 d, and GQ Lup b with separations from 0.36 to 0.75 arc sec. 

New AO imaging techniques like ADI, SAM, and locally optimized combination of images
have improved the ability to detect such planets. Future AO instruments at 8-meter ground-based telescopes will improve the accessible dynamic range even further. Imaging with a new space based telescope like JWST (Beichman et al., 2010) or AO imaging at an extremely large telescope of 30 to 40 meters would improve the situation significantly. Imaging detection of planets with much lower masses, like e.g. Earth-mass planets, might be possible with a space-based interferometer like Darwin or TPF, but also only around very nearby stars.

Direct Imaging of Extra-solar Planets - Homogeneous Comparison of Detected Planets and Candidates (via @AllPlanets)