A sub-pixel correspondence search technique for computer vision applications

This paper presents a technique for high-accuracy correspondence search between two images using Phase-Only Correlation (POC) and its performance evaluation in a 3D measurement application. The proposed technique employs (i) a coarse-to-fine strategy using image pyramids for correspondence search and (ii) a sub-pixel window alignment technique for finding a pair of corresponding points with sub-pixel displacement accuracy. Experimental evaluation shows that the proposed method makes possible to estimate the displacement between corresponding points with approximately 0.05-pixel accuracy when using 11 × 11-pixel matching windows. This paper also describes an application of the proposed technique to passive 3D measurement system.