baseline

The physical distance between the two camera centers in a stereo pair.

The baseline $b$ is the physical distance between the two camera centers in a stereo pair. Together with focal length $f$ and disparity $d$ , it sets the disparity-to-depth relationship $Z = fb/d$ : a wider baseline gives more precise depth for distant points, at the cost of a physically larger device.

Examples

A robot built for long-range outdoor depth sensing uses a wider baseline than a phone's stereo camera, trading a bigger device for more precise depth at distance.