Focal stack camera: depth estimation performance comparison and design exploration

Abstract

The concept of focal stack cameras based on transparent sensors has been recently demonstrated, enabling depth sensing in a single exposure from a focal stack. This study investigates how the depth estimation accuracy is affected by numerous camera parameters, including aperture size, sensor resolution and number of sensor planes. We investigate the dependence of these parameters on the deep learning based depth estimation performance and make a comparison between the focal stack camera and the light field camera, thus providing guidelines for future focal stack camera design.