Image-based rendering (IBR) is a technique for synthesizing arbitrary views of real scenes from a set of pre-acquired images. We have proposed a real-time IBR system using a lens array, which can capture thousands of multiple viewpoint images of a 3D scene. The quality of synthesized images depends on the configuration of the optical system, but detailed analysis based on optics has not been proposed. In this paper, we formulate the upper limit of the spatial frequency captured by the optical system by analyzing the blurring effect and the sampling effect on the image sensor. Based on this result, the trade-off relationship between several system features is clarified, which is applicable to the configuration of the capturing system. We examine our theory by experiment using the actual system.
