Computational method for correcting complex optical distortion based on FOV division

We propose a computational method for correcting complex optical distortion in off-axis optical systems, such as the optical systems found in head-mounted and head-up displays. The proposed method divides the wide field of view (FOV) into subsections, thereby allowing the distortion to be calculated for each small FOV. Instead of applying the conventional distortion model, the distortion coefficients for each small FOV can be calculated using a simple linear polynomial. In addition, in contrast to the conventional distortion coefficients that refer to the deviation between the real and paraxial image, the distortion coefficients employed by this method directly characterize the relationship between the object and its image. Thus, using the polynomial in the reverse manner repeatedly for each small FOV with the corresponding distortion coefficients, a pixel lookup table is obtained, which can be used to accurately compensate for the distortion in the optical system. This method avoids complicated computations, and there are no requirements for intrinsic or extrinsic parameters. Our experiments verified the effectiveness of the method where the root-mean-square deviation of the projected distorted straight lines was corrected from 23 to 65 pixels to approximately 1 pixel.