Glossary
Please add the entry alphabetically to the list.
A
B
Banding Visible steps in smooth gradients. Early versions of Panorama Tools software could introduce obvious banding, for example during radial luminance correction as discussed by John Houghton. This problem is largely corrected in current versions of the software.
C
Cylindrical Projection A projection capable of mapping 360 degrees horizontally by roughly 120 degrees vertically with acceptable distortion. The horizon becomes a straight line across the middle of the image. Vertical lines in the world become vertical (straight) lines in the image; all other straight lines except the horizon become curved. Areas near the poles get stretched both horizontally and vertically, worse vertically. (The poles would map to plus and minus infinity.) See Mathworld for formulas.
D
E
Entrance Pupil The special point that you have to rotate your camera around, to avoid parallax errors. Commonly referred to as the Nodal Point, which see for more information.
Equirectangular Projection A projection capable of mapping the entire sphere to a rectangle with 2:1 aspect ratio. See Equirectangular Projection for more information.
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
Nodal Point The special point that you have to rotate your camera around, to avoid parallax. Also called "entrance pupil". Click the term for more info.
O
P
Pitch Angle up-and-down (above and below horizon). See also "roll" and "yaw".
Q
R
Rectilinear Projection A projection in which every straight line in the world stays straight in the image. Stretches both horizontally and vertically away from the center. Limited to roughly 120 degrees field-of-view with acceptable distortion. Most ordinary (non-fisheye) lenses are rectilinear. Geographers call this projection "gnomonic"; see Mathworld for the formulas.
Roll Rotation angle around the lens axis. See also "pitch" and "yaw".
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Yaw Panning angle, left-and-right. See also "pitch" and "roll".