Novel scene calibration procedure for video surveillance systems

Video surveillance systems require a scene calibration procedure to acquire conversion parameters from image positions to physical positions. A monocular system must resolve the three-dimensional ambiguity by assuming that objects rest on the ground. Thus the scene calibration gives a special status to a model of the ground (assumed planar here) and to the gravitationally vertical direction. A novel scene calibration procedure is described, developed for use in a fast-deployment video surveillance system. The procedure uses the video system itself as the only measuring instrument.