What’s the difference between a 3D camera and a stereo camera?
Asked 10/6/2018
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I’m learning image processing and keep seeing the terms “3D camera” and “stereo camera.” Are they the same thing? I thought a stereo camera had two lenses, with one lens used for the normal image and the other for depth sensing. How do stereo cameras actually work, and are all 3D cameras stereo cameras?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
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are 3d cameras same as stereo camera's?
Stereo cameras are a type of 3D camera. There are other types of 3D cameras.
my understanding of stereo camera is that, there will be two lenses, where one of it is used for depth sensing.
Not really. It's more like both lenses are used together at the same time for depth sensing via triangulation.
very basically speaking:
- both cameras see a 3D point X in their respective images at 2D points Y1 and Y2
- the distance between both cameras is known
- from 2D point Y1, Y2 and the distance, the 3D point X can be calculated
Originally by user35348. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user35348
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A stereo camera is one type of 3D camera, but the terms are not identical.
A stereo camera uses two views of the same scene at the same time. These can come from two lens/sensor units or from an optical system that splits one camera into two viewpoints. Both views are regular images; one is not just for color and the other just for depth.
Depth is estimated by comparing where the same subject point appears in the two images. Because the distance between the two viewpoints is known, the camera or software can calculate distance by triangulation.
So:
- stereo camera = a 3D camera that derives depth from two images
- 3D camera = a broader category that can include stereo cameras and other designs
Other 3D cameras may use different methods, such as producing an image plus a depth map, only a depth map, or using more than two viewpoints.
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