Self-calibration of a General Radially Symmetric Distortion Model

Abstract. We present a new approach for self-calibrating the distortion function and the distortion center of cameras with general radially symmetric distortion. In contrast to most current models, we propose a model encompassing fisheye lenses as well as catadioptric cameras with a view angle larger than 180o . Rather than representing distortion as an image displacement, we model it as a varying focal length, which is a function of the distance to the distortion center. This function can be discretized, acting as a general model, or represented with e.g. a polynomial expression. We present two flexible approaches for calibrating the distortion function. The first one is a plumbline-type method; images of line patterns are used to formulate linear constraints on the distortion function parameters. This linear system can be solved up to an unknown scale factor (a global focal length), which is sufficient for image rectification. The second approach is based on the first one and perform...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: ECCV
• Authors: Jean-Philippe Tardif, Peter F. Sturm, Sébastien Roy
• Keywords: Computed Distortion Functions, Computer Vision, Distortion Center, Distortion Function Parameters, ECCV 2006, Global Focal Length, Symmetric Distortion