Optical design in the digital age: Integrated optimization of the imaging chain

Can optical design be significantly simplified in terms of cost and/or size if software based aberration correction on distortion or chromatic aberration is applied? Discussing concrete optical designs of smartphone and digital camera lenses including complex zoom lenses we are showing potential and limits of a priori lens data based corrections. In general, digital corrections have side-effects on other performance criteria. It is necessary to take all these pros and cons into consideration. Therefore this methodology of the integrated optimization process of optics and image processing has been implemented into one optical-design-tool at ZEISS.