Panoramic cameras

Panoramic cameras provide wide-area coverage in an efficient one-camera installation. You essentially get several cameras rolled into one. With fewer cameras, installation and operation is easier and more cost-efficient. Fewer cameras also mean less maintenance and reduced storage needs. In our panoramic cameras portfolio, we have fisheye cameras, panoramic multisensor cameras, multidirectional cameras, and multidirectional cameras with PTZ.

The relatively small and compact fisheye camera has a single sensor that efficiently provides a 360º overview. Its default circular “fisheye” view can be conveniently dewarped into various views adapted to the scene.

A panoramic multisensor camera uses multiple image sensors to provide a detailed and seamless 180º view. It has multiple sensors and lenses combined into one unit. Images from these sensors are stitched together to make a complete 180º image.

Multidirectional cameras offer great flexibility with their individually adjustable camera heads that can give separate, detailed views in several directions simultaneously. A multidirectional camera with PTZ combines wide-area coverage with the ability to deliver sharp and detailed close-up video with high forensic value in selected areas, all powered and controlled through one network cable.

When choosing which panoramic camera to use, you must consider both the challenges of your scene, and the purpose of your surveillance. For example, do you need to identify people, or is it enough to detect whether anyone is present? By optimally choosing the camera and the installation, you get your required level of detail in the right field of view. The versatility of panoramic cameras makes them the right choice in countless scenarios with diverse requirements on video image detail.

A panoramic camera provides an area of coverage between 180º and 360º, depending on the model. It serves as an efficient alternative to installing two or more fixed cameras when you need to cover a large area, for example, to detect activities, track the flow of people, or improve area management.

A panoramic camera is either a single-sensor camera with one wide-angle lens or a camera with multiple sensors and lenses.

1. Top left: single-sensor camera
2. Top right: multisensor camera
3. Bottom left: multidirectional camera
4. Bottom right: multidirectional camera with PTZ

With a panoramic camera, you essentially get several cameras rolled into one. By reducing the number of cameras, you make installation and operation easier and more cost-efficient. For example, you need less cabling and less ports on your network switch. It makes your surveillance system easier to manage.

The type of panoramic camera to use depends on the purpose of the surveillance: the type of scene you have, the level of resolution you need and the distance between the camera and the scene. See section 8 for more information about choosing the right panoramic camera.

Axis panoramic cameras come with key features that distinguishes them from other panoramic cameras on the market.

Axis panoramic cameras support Axis Zipstream technology which keeps the high quality of the video while reducing bandwidth and storage requirements by an average of 50% or more. It uses algorithms that ensures important details in an image get enough attention in the video stream while unnecessary data is removed.

These cameras are designed to minimize power consumption while still delivering high-quality video.

Furthermore, with power-efficient IR LED illuminators and Axis OptimizedIR technology, specific panoramic cameras work in total darkness. This reduces the need for extra lighting.

A fisheye camera is a single-sensor camera that has one wide-angle lens and provides a 360º circular “fisheye” view of the surveillance area. The camera is small, discreet, affordable, and easy to place, either on a ceiling or on a wall. When mounted on a ceiling, it can provide an overview of an entire room, effectively eliminating any blind spots, for example, in a small retail store. When mounted on a wall, the camera can give a valuable overview at a viewing angle that is better suited for seeing people’s faces.

Left: a ceiling-mounted camera provides a complete overview of the whole room.

Right: a wall-mounted camera provides an overview at an angle suitable for seeing people’s faces.

The circular view can easily be transformed or dewarped into various views adapted to the scene, for example, panoramic view, double panoramic view, and quad-view, which simulates four different cameras.

The circular view provides a complete overview where movements within the area are easy to follow. Dewarped views, on the other hand, may look more natural and be more suitable in many scenarios. Also, a dewarped view does not exhibit the barrel distortion of the circular view.

In ACS and in other VMS, it is possible to use digital pan, tilt, and zoom on a recorded stream. This means that you can record the circular view to get a complete overview of the scene. Then it is possible to use the dewarping possibilities in the VMS to pan, tilt, and zoom in the recorded stream.

With a single-sensor panoramic camera, you can also digitally pan, tilt, and zoom, in up to four individually cropped-out view areas. These settings are reflected in the quad view.

Some single-sensor panoramic cameras use stereographic lenses, which project their edges toward a larger area of the sensor than regular wide-angle lenses do. This means that stereographic lenses provide a higher resolution near the edges of the circular view, compared to its center, making peripheral objects retain their shape better. This is particularly useful when the camera is ceiling mounted.

Multisensor panoramic cameras have multiple sensors and lenses in a single casing. The separate images from the sensors overlap slightly, and are aligned to provide one, cohesive, detailed 180° panoramic overview.

Horizon straightening, a feature in panoramic multisensor cameras, compensates for the tilt by removing distortion and straightening the horizon, thereby, producing a straight image. For more information, see the white paper on Horizon straightening.

While providing a 180 degree horizontal field of view (FoV), multisensor cameras are available with different vertical FoV.

A camera with a 90° vertical FoV provides full coverage. A camera with a lower vertical FoV, but equipped with the same high-resolution sensor, can provide a higher pixel density within a smaller viewing angle. Below images show camera views with different vertical FoV.

In some multisensor cameras, the different sensors adapt individually for their best interpretation of the scene. Each sensor may use its own settings for gain, white balance, and exposure time. While sometimes not delivering the ideal viewing experience, the resulting panoramic view is perfect from a forensic perspective, enabling optimally detailed views for each sensor. If the camera is placed in a less complex scene, with more uniform lighting, the panoramic view will also have a more coherent appearance.

In other multisensor cameras, the separate images are transformed into one cohesive image through a “stitching” process. This includes using a universal white balance setting and synchronized exposure for all the sensors. The individual images are then aligned to form one consistent image. This is done through projecting the images onto a common surface, which could be spherical, cylindrical, or of another curvature. This projection also corrects any other image distortions that may be present in the original images, such as barrel distortion.

Just like a single-sensor camera, a multisensor panoramic camera gives total coverage within its field of view, with no blind spots. Despite its several sensors, it acts like one camera in the VMS, using only one IP address.

In the latest multisensor panoramic camera, you can digitally pan, tilt, and zoom, in several individually cropped-out view areas. For convenience, preset positions facilitates the adjustment of the camera for different view areas. Some of the multisensor cameras work closely with PTZ cameras and radars through one-click PTZ functionality and radar pairing.

Multisensor cameras are especially useful for surveillance in sizable areas such as railway stations and airports, or city squares which need monitoring in high image detail. The multisensor technology is also ideal for perimeter surveillance around critical infrastructure.

A multidirectional camera with 360° coverage has four separate camera heads in one casing, and can monitor four directions simultaneously. This is a camera that offers a very high degree of flexibility, since each varifocal lens allows you to optimize the field of view for your specific surveillance requirement: a wide field of view for overview surveillance, and a narrow field of view for zoomed-in views where greater detail is needed. For optimal positioning, each camera head can be tilted and has the flexibility to slide +/-90° along a circular track.

The standard sensor positioning, with equidistantly placed sensors, gives a 360° quad view.

By placing the movable sensors differently, sensor usage can be optimized for each installation. If the camera is placed on the outer corner of a building, for example, three sensors are enough to provide the 270° coverage needed. Then, the fourth sensor can, instead of just facing the wall, be directed downwards or at another area that requires more attention. For example, it could zoom in on the area just below the camera.

In some multidirectional cameras, each camera head can be rotated 90° to support corridor format. This makes it easier to capture long corridors, roads, or other vertically oriented scenes.

Multidirectional cameras are ideal for wide areas both indoors and outdoors, for outer corners of buildings, and intersections of hallways or roads. They are especially suitable in locations such as schools or retail stores.

A multidirectional camera with PTZ is a combination of a multidirectional 360° camera and a motorized PTZ camera, mounted as one unit. The multidirectional camera gives a complete overview and the PTZ camera delivers sharp and detailed close-up video with high forensic value, all powered and controlled through one network cable.

This camera combination can be used as an effective tracking system. The multidirectional camera heads continuously monitor each direction, and upon the detection of an event, the PTZ automatically tracks and zooms in on key objects or persons.

Left: Quad view 360°

Right: PTZ zoomed-in view

Axis multidirectional cameras with PTZ allow flexible tilting of the camera heads. With exchangeable lenses, the standard lens can also be replaced in one, or more, of the camera heads, to offer higher pixel density in a key area.

Multidirectional cameras with PTZ can provide city surveillance overviews of town squares and traffic intersections, but can also secure forensic details in high-security areas, such as airports and governmental buildings. To be able to get the most out of this camera’s functions and capabilities, active viewing by an operator is required, especially for the PTZ functions.

When you decide which panoramic camera to use, you must ensure that it will provide the appropriate level of detail for your scene and purpose. For example, do you need to identify people, or is it enough to detect whether anyone is present? And what is the distance between the camera and the key surveillance objects?

The level of detail depends on the pixel density on the object in the video: how many pixels per meter or per foot? The pixel density is affected by the sensor resolution and the lens, and by the distance between the camera and surveillance object. Axis recommends 25 px/m(8 px/ft) to detect presence, 63 px/m(19 px/ft) to detect number of people present and their characteristics, 125 px/m(38 px/ft) to be able to recognize a person that you have seen before, and 250 px/m(76 px/ft) to identify someone.

A single-sensor panoramic camera, with its complete 360° field of view, is ideal for overview surveillance with detection or recognition purposes. Since the camera covers such a wide angle, the pixel density needed for recognition or identification can primarily be achieved rather close to the camera.

Multisensor cameras can generally deliver high pixel densities in their 180° total field of view, all lenses combined. Apart from good overview, they enable recognition and identification, even at larger distances from the camera.

Multidirectional cameras offer many choices. With standard lenses, or with varifocal lenses in wide-view mode, they deliver pixel densities that allow mainly wide-area detection. If instead using special lenses on a multidirectional camera with PTZ, each sensor can achieve very high pixel densities and enable identification in a limited field of view. The two view modes can be combined in order to maintain a detection-level 360° overview while also achieving identification-level pixel density in a limited area. On a multidirectional camera with PTZ, the PTZ camera also provides excellent identification possibilities in its field of view, up to several hundred meters or feet away.