Equirectangular Projection
Definition
A panoramic map projection that preserves angular relationships in all directions; preferred for 360-degree room documentation and virtual reality scene reconstruction.
- Property preserved
- Angular relationships in all directions
- Field of view
- 360 degrees horizontal, 180 vertical
- Forensic use
- Room documentation, VR scene reconstruction
Common questions
Why is an equirectangular projection preferred over a standard photograph for documenting a crime scene room?+
A single equirectangular image captures the entire surrounding environment in one continuous panorama, letting a reviewer look in any direction later, whereas a standard photograph only records the field of view the camera was pointed at.
Does an equirectangular projection preserve true distances between objects?+
No, it stretches areas near the top and bottom of the sphere to fit the rectangular format, so it suits angular navigation and visual review rather than direct distance measurement.
Related terms
- ABFO No. 2 Scale
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- ENFSI
- European Network of Forensic Science Institutes: the voluntary network of national forensic institutes across Europe and neighbouring regions, focused on method harmonisation,...
- EXIF Metadata
- Exchangeable Image File Format data embedded in a digital image by the camera. Includes date, time, camera model, exposure settings, and GPS...
- Four-Tier Protocol
- The standard crime-scene photography sequence: overall (establishing), mid-range (relationship), close-up with scale, and close-up without scale. Each tier answers a distinct spatial...
- IAI
- International Association for Identification; includes the Crime Scene Certification programme requiring demonstrated forensic photography competency.
- Light Painting
- A technique where a handheld light source is moved across a scene during a long camera exposure to evenly illuminate large areas;...
- Nodal Point
- The optical centre of a lens from which perspective relationships are computed. Panoramas must rotate around the nodal point to avoid parallax-induced...
- Parallel-Plane Requirement
- The requirement that the camera sensor plane be parallel to the evidence-and-scale plane to eliminate keystoning distortion and allow accurate metric measurement...
- Photo Log
- The contemporaneous record tying each forensic image to its capture time, location, equipment, exposure settings, and subject description. The primary chain-of-custody document...
- SWGIT
- Scientific Working Group for Imaging Technologies (US); publishes multi-section guidelines on crime-scene photography, digital imaging, and specialised photographic techniques for law enforcement.