SELF CORRECTING STEREOSCOPIC AUTO-RANGEFINDER

A stereoscopic rangefinder is disclosed for determining the distance of a target object by measuring the angle of parallax of light scattered by the target. The rangefinder includes two arrays of photosensitive elements upon each of which a distinct target image is projected. A measurement of the pixel displacement between the two target images is used in measuring the angle of parallax. A novel computational scheme is included in the rangefinder wherein it is self-correcting with regard to mechanical shock and thermal influences such that a user need only "point and shoot." Further, the rangefinder is insensitive to target image blur and is embodied as a hand held rangefinding binocular having no moving parts.