Image processing for correcting lens distortion

Labor
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,1

Rigoberto Juarez-Salazar , Carlos Robledo-Sanchez , and Fermin Guerrero-Sanchez

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Sistem

Divisin de Ingeniera Informtica, Instituto Tecnolgico Superior de Zacapoaxtla

2
Facultad de Ciencias Fsico-Matemticas, Benemrita Universidad Autnoma de Puebla

rjuarezsalazar@gmail.com

Abstract

Distortion model

A simple and efficient image processing method to

correct the distortion caused by a imaging lens is
presented. The operation principles of the proposed
method are explained. Numerical examples processing distorted images are given to show the feasibility
of the proposal.

A radially symmetric distortion can be represented by

Introduction
Correction of the distortion caused by an imaging system is a problem of interest in many areas such as
photogrammetry, machine vision, robotics, industrial
inspection, among others [6, 3]. There are many approaches to address such undesired phenomenon in
order to increase the accuracy of measurements performed through imaging systems [1, 5]. However, in
general, they requires either expensive calibration targets or are cumbersome to implement [4].
In this work, a simple model to describe radial imaging distortion and a direct method to suppress such an
undesired effect is proposed.

de In
vest
iga
ci
n

Radial distortion

p = a + c,

(1)

q = (a)
a + c,

(2)

where q is the distorted version of the point p, c is the

center of distortion, a is the description of p from the
center of distortion, and (a) is a function of the radial
distance a which describes the distortion.
By assuming that the distortion has a Taylor expansion, we can approximate it by a n-degree polynomial;
i.e.,
q p = A,
(3)
where is a regression matrix containing the canonical polynomial basis, and and appropriate parameter
vector.

(x0 , y0 )
c

a
p

(, )

(x, y)

Distorted
image point

Undistorted
image point

x
Fig. 1. If it is possible to identify a known point p,
and the distorted version q obtained from the camera,
the distortion can be measured by only solving the
parameters in (3), in a least-squares sense, for
example [2].

Correction of imaging distortion

Conclusions
A simple model to describe imaging distortion and
a direct method to correct the distortion effect was
presented. With the proposal, radial distortion is addressed by using a single parameter to model the distortion. The results obtained by processing synthetic
images show the feasibility of the proposal.

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References
[1] D. Celinskis and A. Katashev. On criteria for wide-angle lens
distortion correction for photogrammetric applications. volume 38 of IFMBE Proceedings, pages 153158. Springer Berlin
Heidelberg, 2013.
[2] X. Chen, Y. Hu, Z. Ma, S. Yu, and Y. Chen. The location and
identification of concentric circles in automatic camera calibration. Optics & Laser Technology, 54(0):185 190, 2013.
[3] T. Rahman and N. Krouglicof. An efficient camera calibration
technique offering robustness and accuracy over a wide range of
lens distortion. Image Processing, IEEE Transactions on, 21(2):626
637, Feb 2012.
[4] R. von Gioi, P. Monasse, J. M. Morel, and Z. Tang. Lens distortion correction with a calibration harp. In Image Processing
(ICIP), 2011 18th IEEE International Conference on, pages 617620,
Sept 2011.
[5] J. Wu and G. Liu. Noniterative calibration of a camera lens
with radial distortion. Measurement Science and Technology,
23(10):105013, 2012.
[6] J. Xu, J. Douet, J. Zhao, L. Song, and K. Chen. A simple calibration method for structured light-based 3d profile measurement.
Optics & Laser Technology, 48(0):187 193, 2013.

Fig. 2. Correction of barrel (1st column) and pincushion (2nd column) imaging distortions. In both cases, the
distortion center is not in the origin of the coordinate system. (1st row) Original patterns. (2nd row) distorted
images. (3rd row) corrected images.