Single image-based depth estimation using dual off-axis color filtered aperture camera

In this paper, we present a dual off-axis color filtered aperture (DCA)-based computational imaging system for depth estimation in a single-camera framework. The DCA has one primary (red) color and its complementary (cyan) color filtered apertures located off the optical axis to generate misalignment between color channels depending on the distance of a region-of-interest from the camera. Disparity of color shifting values (CSVs) between color channels in the image acquired by the DCA-based imaging system is estimated using L₁-norm minimization of energy functional considering both brightness and gradient constancies and only translation of x-axis. The two data terms both red to green (R-G) and red to blue (R-B) are combined in a single data term. The proposed imaging system can be implemented by simply inserting an appropriately resized DCA into any general optical system. Experimental results show that the proposed DCA can estimate the distance of the scene from the camera in the single-camera framework.