Panoramic Image Projection Uniformity via Spherical Transformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The equidistant cylindrical projection method for panoramic images results in wasteful information distribution, with high amounts of data in low-latitude areas and low amounts in high-latitude areas, leading to inefficient image representation and storage.
Innovation Solution
The development of a new image generating apparatus and method that transforms panoramic images into a format where the entire sky scene is projected onto a hypothetical sphere, dividing it into areas that are then transformed into triangular or rectangular shapes, reducing the difference in information density across the image.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If equidistant cylindrical projection is used for panoramic images, then the entire sky scene can be projected onto a two-dimensional plane, but the amount of information per pixel becomes extremely small in regions near the upper side and lower side, resulting in wasteful information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by transforming the projection method to achieve uniform information density across different regions of the panoramic image. Instead of using equidistant cylindrical projection which concentrates information unevenly, the patent uses a transformation that distributes information uniformly across the entire image area, ensuring that each pixel contains comparable amounts of information regardless of its position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the projection parameters from equidistant cylindrical coordinates to a new coordinate system based on spherical geometry. This parameter change involves transforming the mapping relationship between three-dimensional sky coordinates and two-dimensional image coordinates, resulting in a projection that eliminates the information density imbalance inherent in traditional methods.
2Manufacturing precision
If equidistant cylindrical projection is used, then panoramic images can be displayed in rectangular format, but the information distribution becomes unbalanced with high information density in middle regions and low information density at poles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs spheroidality by using spherical geometry as the basis for the projection transformation. Instead of projecting onto a cylindrical surface as in traditional methods, the patent projects the sky scene onto a spherical surface and then maps this to a two-dimensional plane, preserving the natural curvature relationships and achieving more uniform information distribution across the image.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediate spherical dimension in the projection process. By first mapping the three-dimensional sky coordinates to a spherical surface and then transforming to two-dimensional image coordinates, the patent creates a more efficient projection path that balances information distribution while maintaining rectangular output format.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C
Figure 2
AI summary
An image generating apparatus generates a panoramic image by transforming at least one divided area including a range onto which a scene viewed from an observation point is projected, out of eight divided areas obtained by dividing the surface of a sphere having at least a partial range onto which the scene is projected, with three planes that pass through the center of the sphere and are orthogonal to each other, into such an area that the number of pixels corresponding to mutually equal latitudes is progressively reduced toward higher latitudes, and placing the transformed area on a plane, and outputs the generated panoramic image.