Adding Additional IR to the Scene, can it be helpful?
Our team has been sending out supplementary IR light since our product release.
(It's never been explained well, and I've always considered it witchcraft. I've no evidence it's ever helped.)
Today I decided to test this idea, and I made a little video here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4m2k8hekfiw9e19/AdditiveIR.mp4?dl=0
It seems when I add the additional IR light, the data gets worse.
- This is a D435
- I'm using 850nm light.
- The video doesn't show it, but I've tried it with the "high accuracy" preset.
- I've checked the camera distances the Stereo Module
- I've tried it with and without the laser.
If I had to guess... the added IR light overwhelms the projected dots (they disappear), making the camera less accurate.
Thoughts?
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Hi Stevew When using a RealSense camera model equipped with a projector such as D435, adding an additional IR light source would likely be of most benefit in a scene where there is darkness, such as night-time or a dark room, and where the objects / surfaces are more than a couple of meters away from the camera. The link below is a useful technical reference about infrared light.
https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/issues/1070
RealSense 400 Series cameras can make use of any light sources in a scene that are visible to it in order to aid depth analysis. If the IR light is placed close to the camera though then it is possible that the additional light may be saturating the camera's IR sensors, having a significantly detrimental effect on the image. So you could try moving the IR light further from the camera if it is currently positioned at close range.
Rather than adding additional IR light, adding an external LED-based pattern projector to the scene to increase the number of dots should also aid depth analysis.
The number of dots that are in a scene the better, which is why it can be beneficial to have more than one camera and overlap their fields of view to increase the density of dots in the area where the fields of view overlap. Alternatively, an LED-based external pattern projector could be added to the scene to increase the number of dots and also the range at which they can be projected (as an external projector will have a higher power output than the camera's built-in projector).
Intel have a white-paper guide at the link below about use of projectors with 400 Series cameras.
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Adding additional IR to a scene can be helpful in certain situations, such as when the existing IR lighting is insufficient or when you want to improve the quality of the depth data captured by a depth sensor. Donkey Kong
By adding additional IR lighting, you can increase the amount of infrared radiation in the scene, which can improve the accuracy and range of depth measurements. This can be particularly useful in low-light or outdoor environments, where the existing IR lighting may not be sufficient.
Adding additional IR lighting can also help to reduce the amount of noise and interference in the depth data, which can result in clearer and more accurate 3D reconstructions.
However, it's important to note that adding additional IR lighting may not always be necessary or beneficial, depending on the specific application and environment. In some cases, it may be more effective to optimize the existing IR lighting or adjust other parameters, such as the exposure time or gain, to improve the quality of the depth data.
Overall, adding additional IR to a scene can be a helpful technique for improving the quality and accuracy of depth data, but it should be done judiciously and in a manner that is appropriate for the specific application and environment. -
Thanks so much Tracyberge69 for sharing your experience of IR!
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