SPECIFICATION

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application

62/244, 171 , filed 20 October 2015, further claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application S.N. 14/708,171 , filed May 8, 2015, which is a Section 371 conversion of PCT Application No. PCT/IB2015/000409, filed on January 8, 2015, and further claims the benefit of CIP U.S. Patent Application S.N. 14/708, 163, filed May 8, 2015, which in turn is a conversion of Provisional Patent Applications SN 61/925,215, filed 1/8/2014, and further is a continuation-in-part of PCT/US2013/69288 [now PCT/IB2013/002905], filed 1 1/8/2013, which in turn claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Applications, SN 61/874,333, filed 9/5/2013, and SN 61/724,221 , filed 8 November 2012. The present application claims the benefit of priority of each of the foregoing applications, all of which are incorporated herein for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[002] This invention relates generally to low distortion optics, and more particularly relates to optics for matching the area of best optical

performance to the area of the sensor. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[003] The general task of an optical design is to make a perfect

conjugation between the object plane and the image plane, with no aberrations, distortions or other errors. Although many lenses are very good, such perfection is elusive.

[004] Rotational symmetry is widely used in conventional lenses, with the field view and the aperture stop both being rotationally symmetric. With only rare exception, this results in the final design comprising rotationally symmetric elements. An example of such a conventional design is shown in Figure 1 .

[005] However, most sensors - the photosensitive structures that record the image - are rectangular in shape. Thus, as shown in Figure 2, the image space created by the lens of Figure 1 creates a circular field of view, while the sensor that records the image is a rectangle. In an effort to optimize the mismatch, the diameter of the field of view of the lens system is matched to the diagonal size of the sensor.

[006] Lens designs using only rotationally symmetric lenses attempt to achieve as good as possible image quality (IQ) inside the circular image space field of view. The objective includes minimizing optical aberrations such as spherical errors, coma, astigmatism, field curvature, distortion, axial and lateral aberration, color, and others. An inherent characteristic of rotationally symmetric designs is that the optical errors in the lenses are the same at all points equidistant from the center of the lens, even though points outside the area of the sensor are of no consequence to the stored image. Thus, optimal lens performance cannot be matched to the sensor's field of view, and the result is similar to that shown in Figure 3.

[007] Conventional optical systems introduce perspective aberrations for wide angle, low distortion lenses. The larger the field of view and the lower the distortion, the more pronounced such perspective aberrations become. As an example, it is common for objects at the edge of a wide angle image to appear stretched. This can be seen whether the undistorted wide angle image is the result of the optics, or is digitally dewarped from a distorted image. This perspective aberration is less apparent in images that have significant distortion, and becomes more apparent as distortion is reduced.

[008] For lenses capturing fields of view larger than 180deg, the image which actually reaches the typical rectangular sensor is a circle that does not fill up the whole rectangular sensor. This results in a lower resolution image than the sensor is capable of detecting. However, traditional rotationally symmetrical lenses typically are unable to create a non-circular image plane without introducing unacceptable image degradation due to aberrations.

[009] As a result, there is a need for an optical design that matches

optimal optical performance to the field of view of the sensor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The present invention provides an optical design which overcomes the limitation of conventional rotationally symmetric designs. More particularly, the optical design of the present invention permits different aberration correction to be made along the X axis than along the Y axis. To achieve this improvement, an optical element having double plane symmetry is introduced into the optical system.

[0011] Depending upon the embodiment, a freeform optical element as contemplated by the present invention can have one optical surface with double plane symmetry, while the other surface is rotationally symmetrical. Alternatively, both surfaces can have double plane symmetry, or one surface may have another form of asymmetry. Multiple such freeform optical elements are also possible in the optical system. In the case of multiple elements having double plane symmetry, the orientation of the freeform elements in the assembly has to be aligned.

[0012] Through the use of such a freeform optical element, the image

projected onto the sensor is better matched to the field of view of the sensor, resulting in enhanced resolution of the captured imaged and, effectively, higher resolution.

[0013] The lens design of the present invention is particularly well suited to wide angle lenses, but is also advantageous for normal and telephoto or zoom lenses. In addition, the lens design can be implemented as a fixed focal length lens attachment to an existing lens, such as might be integrated into a smart phone.

[0014] Perspective aberration can be corrected with these types of freeform optical elements. As noted above, perspective aberration results in an elongation, or stretching, of the object on the image plane of the sensor. The larger the field of view and the lower the optical distortion, the more apparent such perspective aberration becomes. Traditional optical system typically results in a constant effective focal length of the optical system throughout the field of view. The use of such freeform lens elements in accordance with the present invention implements a varying effective focal length of the optical system with respect to the field of the view. The changing effective focal length can be implemented for lenses that are rotationally symmetric, as discussed below in connection with Figure 22. This changing effective focal length can, alternatively, be implemented with different rates of change of focal length along the X-axis and Y-axis. In an embodiment, this minimizes perspective aberration and can be

accomplished while maintaining other optical performance such as image resolution.

[0015] For rotationally symmetric optical systems having a field of view

larger than 180 degrees, the image plane on the sensor is a circle that does not completely fill the sensor. The freeform optical elements of the present invention allow a different effective focal length in the X-axis than in the Y- axis. This results in an image plane that is not a circle and maybe an oval which fills up more of the rectangle sensor. This increases the effective resolution of the image.

[0016] The elements of the lens, and the lens itself, can be fabricated using existing techniques and can be scaled in size for a variety of applications, including security cameras, smart phone attachments, dash cams, action cams, web cams, drone cameras, front facing selfie cameras, and so on. [0017] These and other benefits of the design of the present invention can be appreciated from the following detailed description of the invention, taken together with the appended figures.

THE FIGURES

[0018] Figure 1 [Prior Art] depicts the relationship between an object plane, a lens and an image plane.

[0019] Figure 2 illustrates the relationship between the field of view of a rotationally symmetric lens and the field of view of a rectangular sensor.

[0020] Figure 3 illustrates the inability of rotationally symmetric lens designs to optimize image quality within the sensor area.

[0021] Figure 4 illustrates the improved image quality at the sensor possible with the present invention.

[0022] Figure 5 illustrates an embodiment of a Kepler-type afocal telescopic lens design in accordance with the present invention.

[0023] Figures 6A-6B illustrate in ray diagram and table form details of an embodiment of a lens design in accordance with the invention.

[0024] Figures 7 and 9 shows the improved optical image quality

achievable with a lens design in accordance with the present invention.

[0025] Figures 8 and 10 [Prior art lens design] graphically illustrate optical image quality for a conventional, rotationally symmetric lens design, especially edge softness.

[0026] Figures 1 1 A-1 1 B show an embodiment of a five-element afocal

Galileo-type telescopic lens design in accordance with the present invention.

[0027] Figures 12A-12B show a ray path diagram of the lens design of Figures 1 1 A-1 1 B.

[0028] Figures 13 and 14 graphically illustrate image quality for the lens design of Figure 1 1A.

[0029] Figure 15 illustrates in ray path form the performance of a low

distortion wide angle lens in accordance with the present invention.

[0030] Figure 16 shows a double symmetry lens element in accordance with the present invention.

[0031] Figures 17-19 graphically illustrate the performance of a wide angle lens design in accordance with the present invention.

[0032] Figure 20 illustrates the traditional optical systems having a constant effective focal length of the whole field of view of the sensor

[0033] Figure 21 illustrates an optical system where the effective focal length changes with the field on the sensor

[0034] Figure 22 illustrates how the effective focal length changes over the image sensor in a rotationally symmetric manner

[0035] Figure 23 illustrates the effective focal length changes differently along the X-axis and Y-axis on the image plane

[0036] Figure 24 illustrates a conventional image circle for a larger than

180deg FOV lens (left) and a non-circular image circle for increased pixels

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] Referring first to Figure 1 , illustrated therein is a general description of the improvement in image quality that can be achieved by permitting different optimization at different distances from the axis of the lens. The area of the sensor, indicated at 100, is shown to have best image quality, while areas outside of the sensor, indicated at 1 10, are permitted a reduced quality since these areas are irrelevant to the image captured by the sensor.

[0038] Next with reference to Figures 5 and 6A-6B, an embodiment of a lens system in accordance with the invention can be better appreciated. In the illustration of Figures 5 and 6A, a seven element lens system is shown in perspective and ray trace form, although not necessarily shown to scale. Figure 6B presents in table form the details of the lens elements, while Figures 7 and 9 illustrate image quality and distortion information of the design as compared to the image quality and distortion information of a conventional rotationally symmetric lens shown in Figures 8 and 10.

[0039] Thus, as can be seen from Figure 6A and 6B, the first lens element, 500, can be seen to be aspheric and fabricated from a plastic such as E48R or equivalent. The second lens element, 505, is spherical and can fabricated from Schott SF14. The third element, 510, is also spherical but can be made from E48R plastic. Element 515 is, in the embodiment shown, aspherical and can be made from OKH4HT plastic. Element 520 is aspherical and can be made from E48R plastic, while element 525 is spherical in the embodiment shown and can be made from N-PK51 Schott glass. Finally, element 530 is a double plane symmetrical in shape and can be made from E48R plastic. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the particular materials are shown for exemplary purposes only, and numerous other materials provide substantially equivalent results with appropriate adjustments for the changed materials. The design of Figures 5, 6A-6B can be seen to be a Kepler type afocal telescopic system, comprising two major portions. Elements 500-515 comprise the objective portion, while lenses 520-530 comprise the eyepiece portion. For the example shown, both portions have positive optical power. The resulting lens has a nominal field of view of 17.4 degrees along the X axis, and 13.1 degrees along the Y axis, with a magnification of 4X, a total track of 31 mm, a distance from the last surface to the exit pupil of 3 mm, and an objective and eyepiece f-number of 1 .67.

[0040] The lens design of Figure 5 is particularly useful as an afocal

telephoto lens of a fixed focal length, suitable for attaching to the front of a smart phone. This arrangement can be better appreciated from Figure 6A, where the lens of Figure 5 is indicated as portion I, and a smart phone camera is indicated as portion II. For purposes of clarity, the lens of the smart phone camera is presumed to be an ideal lens. For the example shown, the distance D1 , the distance from the front surface of element 500 to the entrance to the phone's camera, can be ~30 mm, which the distance D2, total track, can be ~34 mm.

[0041] The optical performance of the lens of Figure 5 can be better

appreciated from Figure 7, which shows a geometric map of the lens' modulation transfer function (MTF) at 220 cyc/mm frequency, as compared to Figure 8, which shows the geometric MTF of a rotationally symmetric lens system having the same technical specifications other than features of the present invention. In particular, the advantages of the present invention can be understood most easily by comparing the edges of the field view. Those skilled in the art will understand that green zones depict a higher MTF value, and thus the green zones at the edges of Figure 7, compared to the blue zones at the edges of Figure 8, demonstrates the performance improvement.

[0042] Similarly, Figures 9 and 10 are grid distortion maps for, respectively, the lens of Figure 5 and a conventional rotationally symmetric lens. For the example shown, grid distortion for the lens of Figure 9 is less that 0.63%, while the lens of Figure 10 shows a distortion of less than 0.78%. While both values are acceptable in some instances, the benefits of the present invention offer significant value in more demanding applications.

[0043] A Galileo type afocal telescopic system in accordance with the

present invention, together with its performance characteristics, are shown in Figures 1 1 A-14. The lens system of Figure 1 1 , shown in cross-sectional ray path view in Figure 12A, again comprises two parts, both with positive optical power. Elements 1 100-1 1 10 comprise the Objective, while elements 1 1 15-1 120 comprise the Eyepiece part, to project an image onto sensor 1 125. Element 1 100 is a double plane symmetric lens, while the other four elements are rotationally symmetric lenses. For the design shown, the field of view along the X axis is 21 .9 degrees, and the field of view along the Y axis is 16.5 degrees. The magnification is 3x, with an f- number of 2.3. The total track is 35 mm, with a one mm distance from the last lens surface to the exit pupil. As before, those skilled in the art will recognize that these characteristics are exemplary and not limiting, and are provided simply to aid in understanding the benefits of the present invention as well as the ease of implementation.

[0044] Referring particularly to Figure 12A, the relationship between the afocal lens of the present invention, indicated as portion I, and a camera with an existing lens such as a smart phone camera indicated as portion II, can be better appreciated. The table of Figure 12B provides details regarding each element, similar to Figure 6B. In the exemplary

embodiment shown, the distance from the front surface of element 1 to the entrance to camera of portion II is ~35 mm, with a total track of ~39.2 mm. Performance information for the lens of Figure 1 1 is shown in Figures 13- 14, where Figure 13 illustrates geometric MTF and Figure 14 illustrates grid distortion, similar to Figures 7 and 9.

[0045] While the afocal lenses of Figure 5 and Figure 1 1 are telescopic, the present invention can also apply to wide angle lenses. Thus, shown in Figure 15 is a cross-sectional ray plot of a wide angle lens system

comprising six lens elements, where the sixth element is configured with double plane symmetry. The performance of such a lens system, again designed as an attachment to an existing camera such as a camera integrated into a smart phone, can be appreciate from the plot of Figure 17, which shows polychromatic diffraction MTF, Figure 18, which illustrates field curvature in both millimeters and percent, and Figure 19 which is a plot of grid distortion.

[0046] Traditional optical systems have a constant effective focal length throughout the whole field of view of the sensor as in Figure 20. Figure 21 illustrates an optical system where the effective focal length changes depending on the location within the field of view on the sensor. The relation defining this change in effective focal length can be linear, a polynomial or an equation that varies only with the distance of the coordinate from the optical center of the image plane. In the example shown in Figure 22, the effective focal length changes over a plurality of zones with the distance from the center on a lens having rotational symmetry. In some embodiments the image projected on the sensor is more oval than circular and thus the shape is defined by an axis or foci rather than the center of a circle.

[0047] Another way that the effective focal length can change to reduce the perspective aberration using double symmetry freeform lenses is to have the same or different rates of change parallel to the X-axis and Y-axis. In this manner, lines parallel to the X-axis or Y-axis in the object plane remains straight in the image plane when captured by the sensor as show in Figure 23.

[0048] Figure 24 illustrates a conventional image circle for a larger than 180deg FOV lens. The resultant image does not fully utilize the whole sensor and thus obtain the full pixel count. A double symmetry freeform lens allows a non-circular image to be projected on the sensor to increase the number of usable pixels.

49] Those skilled in the art can, given the teachings herein, appreciate that a new and novel design for a low distortion lens has been disclosed, where an design having at least one element with double plane symmetry can be used in a Kepler type telescopic lens, a Galileo type telescopic lens, and a wide angle lens. While various embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail, it will be appreciated that the features of the exemplary embodiments discussed herein are not to be limiting, and that numerous alternatives and equivalents exist which do not depart from the scope of the invention. As such, the present invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.