Camera Calibration for Lens Distortion Compensation

Abstract

This thesis investigates the principles of camera calibration and lens distortion compensation. Accurate calibration is essential for ensuring that images can correctly reflect the world. This is critical for applications such as 3D reconstruction, robotics, and augmented reality. The study explores key models used in camera calibration, including the pinhole camera model for estimating intrinsic and extrinsic parameters, and distortion models for compensating radial and tangential lens distortions. Using Zhang’s method, calibration was performed to a physical camera setup with multiple focal settings to analyze how intrinsic parameters and distortion coefficients vary as the lens focus changes. Results show that effective focal length decreases with increasing diopter values, while radial distortion coefficients vary between settings. Tangential distortion remained negligible, and overall distortion had minimal visual impact after compensation