Cylindrical or Spherical?
| Cylindrical |
Spherical |
We offer two formats of 360º panorama: Cylindrical and Spherical.
A cylindrical panorama is a 360 degrees photograph with a vertical field of view of approximately 100 degrees. The user can look through 360 degrees horizontally and up and down a little. The advantages of a cylindrical panorama are:
- Faster download time
- Better suited to exterior panoramas of wide open spaces
- Ideal for print
- Cylindrical panoramas cost less than their spherical counterpart
A spherical panorama is a 360 degree photograph with a vertical field of view of 180 degrees. The user is truly immersed in the scene with an uninterrupted view in every direction, all around and vertically up and down much as if the viewpoint is hovering in midair. The advantages of a spherical panorama are:
- 180° vertical field of view is ideal for situations where there are interesting features within the scene either above or below the viewpoint that would otherwise be missed out with a cylindrical panorama
- Ideal when space is limited, such as the interior of an aircraft or ship
- High-resolution, full screen spherical panoramas provide real impact and unsurpassed detail - the ultimate 360° panorama!
Note: Spherical panoramas are sometimes incorrectly called ‘360º by 360º panoramas’, even though it is impossible to have a vertical field of view greater than 180º!!
Both cylindrical and spherical panoramas can be viewed using Java, QuickTime VR, Flash or DevalVR, both standard and full screen.
