Checkerboard calibration target

A checkerboard calibration target is a planar pattern of alternating dark and light squares with known geometry, used to estimate camera calibration parameters. Image measurements of internal corner intersections are paired with known target coordinates. Several tilted views constrain the image projection and distortion model.^[ref]

For a board with nine squares across and six down, the internal-corner grid has eight columns and five rows. If square spacing is 20 millimetres, one can assign corner coordinates $(20i,20j,0)$ millimetres for $i=0,\dots ,7$ and $j=0,\dots ,4$. Supplying only unit grid spacing instead yields translation estimates in square-size units. A useful experiment varies the target's orientation and image position, then examines reprojection error. Repeated identical views provide less geometric information; a warped board or inaccurate corner measurements can also bias the fitted camera model.