QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF SPHERICAL PANORAMIC IMAGES

Abstract

In recent years, the production of panoramic images has been boosted by the increasing use of digital photographiccameras and mobile phones. However, for highly demanding applications such as long-range deformation monitoring, theaccuracy and quality control of panoramic images and processes used to obtain accurate 3D models should be properlyassessed. Therefore, prior to being applied in real projects, the quality of the spherical panoramic images generated bythree widely used computer programs (Agisoft Metashape, GigaPan Stitch and PTGui) is evaluated using the same imagesof a photogrammetric laboratory full of control points and an outdoor environment by shooting from several stations. Inaddition to the assessment of the geometrical accuracy, the study also includes important aspects for practical efficiencysuch as workflow, speed of processing, user-friendliness, or exporting products and formats available. The results of thecomparisons show that Agisoft Metashape meets the required geometric specifications with higher quality and has clearadvantages in performance if compared to the other two tested programs.