Examining Geovision's Panoramic Cameras

•Published Oct 06, 2010 00:00 AM

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Geovision has announced 2 panoramic camera models including a 1.3MP [link no longer available] and 4MP model. Both models use fisheye lens with dewarping of the video inside the Geovision VMS software. The software can also provide multiple virtual camera views selected from the dewarped image.

The cameras do not have any 3rd party VMS support and therefore must be used with Geovision's own VMS. (Also, 3rd party support for dewarping software is generally rare as it is complicated and not standardized).

Pricing is not yet available. The 1.3MP is shipping now and the 4MP is planned for shipment before the end of the year.

A limited number of panoramic camera (using fisheye lenses) exist (the most well known is likely the Mobotix Q24 at approximately $1000). Given Geovision's relatively inexpensive pricing and their recent version to provide a free 32 channel VMS (when using GeoVision cameras), this could be a useful option for budget VMS applications looking for immersive imaging.