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What is the difference between a range image and a depth map?

Signal Processing Asked by UXkQEZ7 on February 21, 2021

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_map

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range_imaging

To me, it sounds like they are the same thing, except depth map implies only having the z coordinate info.

But then again, if you have a range image vs depth image, is this something one can tell the difference by examining the data or is the term mostly contextual?

One Answer

Your understanding is correct, it's z-values vs distances.

A depth map contains the distances of points in the scene to a plane.

A range image contains the distances of points in the scene to another point. This point is very often the camera's position.

For a depth map the plane that the distances are computed with respect to can be any plane, but it is often parallel to the image plane. Examples of common planes:

  • The image plane
  • The focal plane
  • A plane closer to the object, such that the points closest to the camera have distance zero.

If you of the same scene have:

  • A range image with the distances to the camera
  • A depth map with the distance to the image plane

these two images will look very similar, and it's not possible to conclude whether it's a range image or depth map, unless you have something you know is a plane in the image.

Answered by Atnas on February 21, 2021

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