Panomorph

A panomorph lens is a type of wide-angle lens designed to capture a hemispherical or greater field of view, typically exceeding 180 degrees. Unlike traditional fisheye lenses, panomorph lenses are specifically designed to be used with advanced image processing techniques to create rectilinear or other corrected perspective views. This correction process typically involves specialized software that dewarps the highly distorted raw image into a more usable and visually intuitive format.

The key distinction of panomorph lenses lies in their tailored optical design. They are optimized to maintain higher image quality and resolution, particularly in the central region of the image, compared to some other extreme wide-angle lenses. This characteristic makes them suitable for applications requiring both a very wide field of view and a reasonable level of detail.

Panomorph lenses find application in various fields, including surveillance, robotics, virtual reality, automotive vision systems, and scientific imaging. The ability to capture a broad scene with subsequent perspective correction allows for flexible viewing options and analysis after the image has been captured. The controlled distortion profile of panomorph lenses enables more accurate reconstruction and measurement within the captured scene, which is crucial in applications requiring spatial awareness. The design of a panomorph lens aims to minimize or manage optical aberrations across the entire field of view, facilitating better image correction and analysis.