Intercamera

Intercamera is a descriptor used in imaging and computer vision to denote the coordination and communication between multiple cameras within a shared system. The term encompasses synchronization of capture timing, calibration between cameras, and fusion of their image streams for downstream processing. There is no formal standard widely known as InterCamera; rather, it appears in research papers and industry discussions as a generic concept describing inter-camera coordination.

Technical foundations rely on two core tasks: synchronization and calibration. Synchronization uses hardware triggers or a common time base, with time stamping and clock drift compensation aided by protocols such as IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) or, where network constraints apply, approximate synchronization. Calibration comprises intrinsic calibration of each camera (focal length, principal point, distortion) and extrinsic calibration to recover the relative pose between cameras, enabling multi-view geometry, depth estimation, and accurate data fusion. Data streams are synchronized to enable coherent stitching, depth maps, or 3D reconstructions.

Applications for intercamera coordination include multi-camera rigs used in broadcast studios, surveillance and security systems, autonomous vehicles and mobile robots, virtual production and VR/AR capture, 3D scanning, and sports analytics. It also supports advanced capture pipelines for immersive media and real-time 3D reconstruction.

Challenges involve achieving robust sub-frame synchronization at high frame rates, maintaining calibration as rigs move or experience temperature changes, reconciling different resolutions and frame rates, and managing bandwidth and latency for real-time fusion. Note that the term may also appear as a product name or brand in some contexts; this article discusses the generic concept of inter-camera coordination.