Skip to main content

Theia develops innovative distortion-free ultra-wide-angle lenses

Today’s high-resolution cameras have many advantages if they have the right lens for the job. When that includes covering large areas or reducing cost by installing fewer cameras, you need a wide-angle lens. Fisheye style lenses with barrel distortion are routinely used to cover an ultra-wide field of view; however, they create a curved and distorted image which causes significant loss of resolution at the image edges. This presents a variety of issues for ITS applications such as difficulty in identification or recognition of objects and details.
October 26, 2022 Read time: 2 mins

 

To counter the drawbacks of fisheye-style optics, Theia Technologies has developed a suite of rectilinear lenses offering a different, ultra-wide field of view without the barrel distortion or loss of edge resolution characteristic of fisheye style lenses. Theia achieves this optically, without the use of image correction software or its inherent latency.

The company employs its patented Linear Optical Technology to create a family of multi-megapixel lenses that offer horizontal fields of view up to 135 degrees with very low distortion while improving the resolution at the image edge compared to typical wide-angle lenses.

Applications for Theia’s family of ultra-wide, low distortion lenses include providing great peripheral vision for situational awareness in navigation and remote operation of vehicles and robots used in a variety of ITS applications from logistics to assisted and unmanned vehicles. They capture wide areas at short distances such as in under-vehicle surveillance and shipping container identification, among many other imaging tasks, including applications in close-up applications such as ATMs, card-locked garage entries, and multi-door entryways where both high image detail and wide fields of view are required. Other applications for Theia’s family of ultra-wide, low-distortion lenses include effectively monitoring large areas like parking lots, multi-lane tolling stations, and warehouses.

Choosing the right lens for an application depends on many factors including field of view, required image resolution, multi-spectral capability, image format and mount, among others. To assist in lens selection, Theia offers an image resolution simulator and lens calculator that relates FOV, resolution, and object distance.

Visitors to the Theia website will find it also offers other tools and white papers for a better understanding of its lens technology and selection of the optimal lens for your application.

Content produced in association with Theia Technologies

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • NYSERNet utilises ADVA technology to create automated transport network
    April 18, 2018
    The New York State Education and Research Network (NYSERNet) is using ADVA Optical Networking’s (ADVA) technology to create an open and automated transport network. The system, according to Bill Owens, NYSERNet’s chief technology officer, will provide member institutions with next-generation bandwidth and optical services. NYSERNet will use the open infrastructure to transport native and alien wavelengths at up to 200Gbit/s across New York State. The solution is built on the ADVA FSP 3000 platform and
  • Public transport operators implement passenger safety systems
    December 4, 2012
    Operators of public transport systems are arming themselves with sophisticated systems of technology to ward off terrorism threats to passenger safety. David Crawford reports. City transportation authorities worldwide are looking more keenly than ever for mass transit solutions to overcome traffic congestion and manage commuter flows. As they do so, concerns over passenger security are driving development of new technologies for terrorist incident detection, response and emergency passenger evacuation. The
  • Navtech Radar and Vysionics ITS announce strategic partnership
    October 24, 2012
    Navtech Radar and Vysionics ITS are to enter into a strategic partnership that will combine Navtech’s expertise in millimetre-wave wide-area surveillance technology with Vysionics’ machine vision-based Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and average speed measurement competencies.Navtech Radar and Vysionics ITS are to enter into a strategic partnership that will combine Navtech’s expertise in millimetre-wave wide-area surveillance technology with Vysionics’ machine vision-based Automatic Number Plate
  • Growth of contactless parking payment systems
    May 22, 2012
    Wave and pay credit and debit cards have arrived. In the parking sector, authorities and operators quick to accommodate new contactless payment technology are already benefitting We’re on the edge of a contactless revolution,” declares Parkeon’s parking director for the UK and Ireland Danny Hassett. Parkeon reports a groundswell of customers gravitating to contactless credit and debit card payment for parking, and the company is by no means alone in this. Use of ‘wave and pay’ technology is on the verge of