Skip to main content

Theia Technologies works to cover the angles

Rectilinear lenses provide ultra-wide field of view without distortion
March 1, 2025 Read time: 2 mins
When covering large areas, reducing costs by installing fewer cameras requires the use of wide-angle lenses

When covering large areas such as intersections, wide-lane highways and parking lots, reducing costs by installing fewer cameras requires the use of wide-angle lenses. Traditional ultra-wide angle lenses cause fisheye or barrel distortion, leading to curved and compressed images, which reduce resolution at the edges. 

Similarly, systems that install fisheye lenses require costly and time-consuming software correction. These issues greatly limit object identification and recognition capabilities mandatory for ANPR, LPR and intelligent traffic systems. 

Theia Technologies has developed a suite of rectilinear lenses that provide an ultra-wide field of view without barrel distortion or edge resolution loss. Unlike fisheye lenses, Theia’s patented Linear Optical Technology corrects distortion optically, eliminating the need for image correction software and avoiding associated processing delays.

By offering horizontal fields of view up to 135 degrees with very low distortion, Theia’s lenses allow for effective monitoring of intersections,  parking lots and multiple lanes with fewer cameras. This leads to lower installation and maintenance costs while maintaining comprehensive coverage. Fewer cameras also mean reduced power, data processing, storage and bandwidth requirements, improving overall efficiency.

Theia’s ultra-wide lenses support real-time monitoring, crucial for traffic flow and congestion analysis, accident detection, and law enforcement. Their high-resolution, distortion-free imaging ensures accurate object detection and license plate recognition, enabling wide coverage from short working distances. 

Modern traffic management and surveillance require high-performance, wide-angle lenses capable of delivering high-resolution images in real-time. Unlike fisheye lenses that introduce distortion and require software correction, Theia’s rectilinear lenses correct distortion optically, maintaining image clarity and reducing latency. With ultra-wide coverage and cost-effective implementation, Theia’s lenses offer a superior solution for a variety of ITS applications.

Content produced in association with Theia Technologies

Related Content

  • Here’s why WiM is value for money
    January 23, 2025
    Weigh in Motion systems are not new. What is new is their ability to collect more data and – importantly – more accurate data about axle loading and vehicle weight. Despite the obvious benefits, including safer highways and possibility of automated legal weight enforcement, obstacles remain for faster uptake. David Arminas reports on the manufacturers’ perspective…
  • San Diego: Let there be (street)light
    March 30, 2020
    The influence of intelligent streetlights is spreading. David Crawford finds that San Diego’s deployment – and attendant legislation – may offer a blueprint for other cities going forward
  • Econolite keeps an open mind
    May 11, 2021
    If we’re going to take advantage of new technologies to improve safety, collaboration at the traffic management cabinet edge is vital, thinks Eric Raamot of Econolite
  • Keeping a watching brief over traffic flows
    March 11, 2015
    Monitoring traffic flows is set to become an even bigger challengebut a revolution in camera technology can help, as Patrik Anderson explains. By 2025 almost 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas and in those cities there will be an estimated 6.2 billion private motorised trips every day. In order to manage this level of traffic growth, traffic management centres (TMCs) will need to both increase their monitoring capabilities and be able to detect traffic problems quickly, efficiently and r