diff --git a/src/config.test.ts b/src/config.test.ts
index dc7a409..1295d1a 100644
--- a/src/config.test.ts
+++ b/src/config.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, it, expect, vi, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { loadConfig, DEFAULT_RENDER } from './config';
+import { estimatePolyWarp } from './geometry/polywarp';
 
 function mockFetch(body: unknown, ok = true) {
   vi.stubGlobal('fetch', vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
@@ -20,18 +21,16 @@ describe('loadConfig', () => {
   });
 
   it('keeps a valid calibration', async () => {
-    const calibration = {
-      imagePoints: [[0, 0], [1, 0], [1, 1], [0, 1]],
-      machinePoints: [[0, 0], [1, 0], [1, 1], [0, 1]],
-      homography: [1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1],
-    };
+    const square = [[0, 0], [10, 0], [10, 10], [0, 10]] as [number, number][];
+    const warp = estimatePolyWarp(square, square, 1);
+    const calibration = { imagePoints: square, machinePoints: square, warp };
     mockFetch({ streamUrl: 'x', calibration });
     const cfg = await loadConfig('config.json');
     expect(cfg.calibration).toEqual(calibration);
   });
 
   it('drops a malformed calibration to null', async () => {
-    mockFetch({ streamUrl: 'x', calibration: { homography: [1, 2, 3] } });
+    mockFetch({ streamUrl: 'x', calibration: { warp: { degree: 2 } } });
     const cfg = await loadConfig('config.json');
     expect(cfg.calibration).toBeNull();
   });
@@ -50,12 +49,11 @@ describe('loadConfig', () => {
     expect(cfg.renderDefaults).not.toHaveProperty('bogus'); // extra key dropped
   });
 
-  it('rejects a calibration whose homography contains NaN', async () => {
-    const calibration = {
-      imagePoints: [[0, 0], [1, 0], [1, 1], [0, 1]],
-      machinePoints: [[0, 0], [1, 0], [1, 1], [0, 1]],
-      homography: [1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, NaN],
-    };
+  it('rejects a calibration whose warp coefficients contain NaN', async () => {
+    const square = [[0, 0], [10, 0], [10, 10], [0, 10]] as [number, number][];
+    const warp = estimatePolyWarp(square, square, 1);
+    warp.fwd.cu[0] = NaN;
+    const calibration = { imagePoints: square, machinePoints: square, warp };
     mockFetch({ streamUrl: 'x', calibration });
     const cfg = await loadConfig('config.json');
     expect(cfg.calibration).toBeNull();
diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index d047a8a..a83be00 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import type { AppConfig, Calibration, Mat3, Vec2, RenderStyle } from './types';
+import type { AppConfig, Calibration, PolyMap, PolyWarp, Vec2, RenderStyle } from './types';
 
 export const DEFAULT_RENDER: RenderStyle = { cutColor: '#00e5ff', rapidColor: '#ff9800', lineWidth: 1.5 };
 
@@ -10,18 +10,46 @@ function isVec2Array(v: unknown): v is Vec2[] {
   return Array.isArray(v) && v.every((p) => Array.isArray(p) && p.length === 2 && p.every(isFiniteNumber));
 }
 
+function isNumArray(v: unknown, len: number): v is number[] {
+  return Array.isArray(v) && v.length === len && v.every(isFiniteNumber);
+}
+
+function isVec2(v: unknown): v is Vec2 {
+  return Array.isArray(v) && v.length === 2 && v.every(isFiniteNumber);
+}
+
+function termCount(degree: number): number {
+  return ((degree + 1) * (degree + 2)) / 2;
+}
+
+function parsePolyMap(m: unknown, degree: number): PolyMap | null {
+  if (!m || typeof m !== 'object') return null;
+  const o = m as Record<string, unknown>;
+  const norm = o.norm as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+  if (!norm || !isVec2(norm.off) || !isVec2(norm.scl)) return null;
+  const n = termCount(degree);
+  if (!isNumArray(o.cu, n) || !isNumArray(o.cv, n)) return null;
+  return { degree, norm: { off: norm.off as Vec2, scl: norm.scl as Vec2 }, cu: o.cu as number[], cv: o.cv as number[] };
+}
+
+function parseWarp(w: unknown): PolyWarp | null {
+  if (!w || typeof w !== 'object') return null;
+  const o = w as Record<string, unknown>;
+  if (!isFiniteNumber(o.degree)) return null;
+  const fwd = parsePolyMap(o.fwd, o.degree);
+  const inv = parsePolyMap(o.inv, o.degree);
+  if (!fwd || !inv) return null;
+  return { degree: o.degree, fwd, inv };
+}
+
 function parseCalibration(c: unknown): Calibration | null {
   if (!c || typeof c !== 'object') return null;
   const obj = c as Record<string, unknown>;
   if (!isVec2Array(obj.imagePoints) || !isVec2Array(obj.machinePoints)) return null;
-  if (!Array.isArray(obj.homography) || obj.homography.length !== 9) return null;
-  if (!obj.homography.every(isFiniteNumber)) return null;
   if (obj.imagePoints.length !== obj.machinePoints.length || obj.imagePoints.length < 4) return null;
-  return {
-    imagePoints: obj.imagePoints,
-    machinePoints: obj.machinePoints,
-    homography: obj.homography as Mat3,
-  };
+  const warp = parseWarp(obj.warp);
+  if (!warp) return null;
+  return { imagePoints: obj.imagePoints, machinePoints: obj.machinePoints, warp };
 }
 
 function parseRenderStyle(r: unknown): RenderStyle {
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 52abd87..5992e39 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ export interface Calibration {
   imagePoints: Vec2[];
   /** Corresponding machine coordinates, mm. */
   machinePoints: Vec2[];
-  /** machine-mm → normalized [0,1] image coords. */
-  homography: Mat3;
+  /** Bidirectional polynomial warp (machine-mm ↔ normalized image). */
+  warp: PolyWarp;
 }
 
 export interface RenderStyle {