ESTIMATING AND REMOVING LENS DISTORTION FROM SCENES

• US 20110122149A1
• Filed: 01/31/2011
• Published: 05/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Christophe Souchard
• Original Assignee: Christophe Souchard
• Inventors: Souchard, Christophe
• Granted Patent: US 8,116,586 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/611
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20096 Interactive definition of curve of interest
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/047 Fisheye or wide-angle transformations
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/006 Geometric correction correction of chromatic aberrations adapted to be used in an image pickup device containing an electronic image sensor H04N23/10; detecting, correcting, reducing or removing artefacts resulting only from the lens unit, e.g. flare, shading, vignetting or "cos4" H04N25/61
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/80 Geometric correction

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a method of editing images with distortion caused by a camera lens. The method identifies a set of geometries on a set of images taken by the camera lens. The method finds transformations for applying on the set of identified geometries to remove distortion on the geometries. The method applies the transformations to images taken by the camera lens to remove distortions. In some embodiments the identified geometries are curvilinear lines that correspond to straight lines in the scene being captured by the lens.

Some embodiments provide a method of matching distortion for adding graphical objects to images. The method first removes the distortion on the images as described above. The method then adds the graphical objects to these images. Finally, the method applies inverse transformations on the images to restore them to their original form.

Claims

1-24. -24. (canceled)

25. A computer readable medium storing a computer program that when executed by at least one processor implements a graphical user interface (GUI) for removing distortion from an image, the GUI comprising:

a display area for displaying the image; and

a distortion removal tool for (i) allowing a user of the GUI to identify, in the image, a curvilinear line representing the distortion that should appear straight, (ii) determining a set of transformations based on the identification, and (iii) applying the set of transformations to the image in order to remove the distortion from the image.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the curvilinear line is a first curvilinear line, wherein the distortion removal tool allows the user to identify the first curvilinear line by drawing, on the image, a second curvilinear line over or near the first curvilinear line.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the distortion removal tool includes a spline tool for drawing the second curvilinear line to identify the first curvilinear line.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the display area is further for displaying a version of the image with the distortion removed and the second curvilinear line straightened.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the distortion removal tool allows the user to identify the curvilinear line by specifying a plurality of points on the image.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the distortion removal tool allows the user to specify the plurality of points by adding, deleting, or moving a set of points.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the distortion removal tool (i) allows the user to identify a plurality of curvilinear lines that represent the distortion, and (ii) determines the set of transformations based on the identification of the plurality of curvilinear lines.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the curvilinear line represents a distortion caused by a lens of a camera.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 25, wherein the distortion removal tool is further for distorting a set of graphical objects added to an undistorted version of the image.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein distorting the set of graphical objects comprises applying an inverse of at least one transformation in the set of transformations.

35. A method for removing distortion from an image, the method comprising:

displaying the image having the distortion;

identifying, in the image, a curvilinear line representing the distortion that should appear straight;

determining a set of transformations based on the identification; and

applying the set of transformations to the image in order to remove the distortion from the image.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the curvilinear line is a first curvilinear line, wherein identifying the first curvilinear line comprises drawing, on the image, a second curvilinear line over or near the first curvilinear line.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein drawing the second curvilinear line comprises specifying a plurality of points by adding, deleting, or moving a set of points on the image.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein drawing the second curvilinear line comprises using a spline tool to draw the second curvilinear line over or near the first curvilinear line.

39. The method of claim 35 further comprising:

adding a set of graphical objects an undistorted version of said image; and

distorting the set of graphical objects added to the undistorted version of said image.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein distorting the set of graphical objects comprises applying an inverse of at least one transformation in the set of transformations.

41. A computer readable medium storing a computer program for execution by at least one processor, said computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

receiving identification of a distortion in a first image;

identifying a transformation that represents the distortion;

adding a set of graphical objects to at least a second image; and

distorting, based on the transformation, the set of graphical objects added to the second image in accord with the distortion in the first image.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein the second image is an undistorted version of the first image.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein the computer program further comprises a set of instructions for adding the distorted set of graphical objects to the first image.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein the set of instructions for receiving identification of the distortion comprises a set of instructions for receiving a set of inputs using a spline tool to draw on the first image.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 41, wherein the distortion is a lens distortion caused with a camera lens.

46. A computer readable medium storing a computer program that when executed by at least one processor removes distortion from an image, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying the image having the distortion;

identifying, in the image, a curvilinear line representing the distortion that should appear straight;

determining a set of transformations based on the identification; and

applying the set of transformations to the image in order to remove the distortion from the image.

47. The computer readable medium of claim 46, wherein the curvilinear line is a first curvilinear line, wherein the set of instructions for identifying the first curvilinear line comprises a set of instructions for drawing, on the image, a second curvilinear line over or near the first curvilinear line.

48. The computer readable medium of claim 47, wherein the set of instructions for drawing the second curvilinear line comprises a set of instructions for using a distortion removal tool that includes a spline tool to draw the second curvilinear line over or near the first curvilinear line.