Rational Radial Distortion Models of Camera Lenses with Analytical Solution for Distortion Correction

The common approach to radial distortion is by the means of polynomial approximation, which introduces distortion-specific parameters into the camera model and requires estimation of these distortion parameters. The task of estimating radial distortion is to find a radial distortion model that allows easy undistortion as well as satisfactory accuracy. This paper presents a new class of rational radial distortion models with easy analytical undistortion formulae. Experimental results are presented to show that with this class of rational radial distortion models, satisfactory and comparable accuracy can be achieved.