Nonlinear effect of the structured light profilometry in the phase-shifting method and error correction

Digital structured light (SL) profilometry is increasingly used in three-dimensional (3D) measurement technology. However, the nonlinearity of the off-the-shelf projectors and cameras seriously reduces the measurement accuracy. In this paper, first, we review the nonlinear effects of the projector-camera system in the phase-shifting structured light depth measurement method. We show that high order harmonic wave components lead to phase error in the phase-shifting method. Then a practical method based on frequency domain filtering is proposed for nonlinear error reduction. By using this method, the nonlinear calibration of the SL system is not required. Moreover, both the nonlinear effects of the projector and the camera can be effectively reduced. The simulations and experiments have verified our nonlinear correction method.