Using the camera pin-hole model restrictions to calibrate the lens distortion model

Camera calibration required the computation of camera pin-hole and lens distortion models. The lens distortion is estimated alone or together with the pin-hole model, by using some existing lens distortion non-metric or self-calibration methods. If both models are computed together, then the models are adjusted to training data, but not to real camera. This is because both pin-hole and lens distortion models are coupled. If they are computed separately, difficulties arise since calibration of lens distortion alone is an unstable process. To improve existing camera calibration methods, this paper proposes a metric calibration method to compute lens distortion separately from the pin-hole model. This method is solved under stable conditions, independently of the computed lens distortion model, since pin-hole and distortion models are computed separately. Images of a planar template are used. First, using distorted control points extracted from images, a set of undistorted points which fits in the pin-hole model are computed. Second, with distorted and undistorted control points, lens distortion is calibrated by using a metric calibration process.