cilindrical image distorted

  • Resolved heerenleed

    (@heerenleed)


    6 months, 2 weeks ago

    Until recently, I used dermandar.com to host my 360 panoramas. Since they recently ‘retired’ I have downloaded all my panoramas and tried to use many different plugins to display them. To no avail, as they all distort my panorama images, which are cylindrical with a limited vertical angle, and all plugins, including this one, treats them as if they were spherical, thus stretching the height of the image to unacceptable proportions. The link I put in is to an active page, and I need to solve this quickly, so I would be very grateful for any help.

    thanks, Peter

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Plugin Author Md Shamim Islam

    (@shamim10)

    6 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi Peter,

    Thanks for reaching out and for explaining the issue in detail.

    The plugin is designed specifically to display true 360° panorama images — meaning equirectangular images intended for spherical viewing. If a flat or cylindrical image (with a limited vertical angle) is used instead, it can appear stretched or distorted, since the viewer assumes it’s a full spherical panorama.

    However, if you’ve seen any viewer or example where a cylindrical (non-360) image is displayed correctly without distortion, please share the link or reference with me. I’d be happy to explore that approach and see if it can be supported in a future update.

    Best regards,
    Md. Shamim Islam

    Thread Starter heerenleed

    (@heerenleed)

    6 months, 2 weeks ago

    Thank you for your fast reply, Shamim. But that is just it: I tried all available plugins as far as I could, but none is able to render the panorama images I downloaded back after Dermandar stopped its service. I can´t help wondering how all the other Dermandar users solved this. They did have software that displayed non-spherical panoramas, and even a panorama limited to, say, 180 degrees horizontal anlge was displayed beautifully, with the image rotating to one side until it reached the edge, then rotating back the other way. When they announced their retirement, they explained how to salvage the existing panoramas, but they did not point us to a way of displaying them. I am still trying to find a workaround. If I find one I will tell you. Thanks again,

    Peter

    Plugin Author Md Shamim Islam

    (@shamim10)

    6 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi Peter,

    Thank you for the detailed follow-up — that makes perfect sense now.

    Yes, Dermandar’s viewer had a custom cylindrical projection system, which is quite different from the standard equirectangular (360° spherical) format most panorama plugins rely on today. That’s why those older panoramas don’t display correctly in current 360 viewers — they expect a full spherical image rather than a cropped or cylindrical one.

    Unfortunately, most modern WebGL-based panorama viewers (like Photo Sphere Viewer, Marzipano, etc.) are also optimized for spherical projection. However, if you manage to find a tool or method that can properly render those limited-angle cylindrical panoramas, I’d really appreciate it if you could share the reference or link with me. I’d love to explore whether it’s possible to integrate such support into the plugin in a future update.

    Thanks again for taking the time to explain — and for your patience and helpful feedback.

    Best regards,
    Shamim

    Thread Starter heerenleed

    (@heerenleed)

    6 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi Shamim,

    I have continued my search – until very late at night 😀 and I found that I had a very old account with what is now called TeleportMe. It works in conjunction with the Android app Panorama360. It turns out to do more or less what I need, and I could also upload all my old Dermandar cylindrical panoramas and display them in my WordPress site. It does show black semi-circles as you can see when you check my page here: https://www.thuisopmadeira.nl/house-in-madeira/ . The first 360 cylindrical panorama is large enough to be acceptable ‘as is’ on the page, but you will see what I mean in full-screen mode, which I unsuccesfully tried to block in my HTML code. The second one is a 180 degrees wide panorama and is more difficult to display in an acceptable way. This was the best I could do. Again, full screen shows the flaws at once.

    It is also not ideal, as the panoramas are hosted externally and they are pretty slow to load. Interestingly, I saw during my google search that the TeliportMe software is open source, so maybe you could try and play with it a little.

    Also, I found a very interesting feature in their Android application. When I open the Gallery of my panoramas in their app, there is a button (the bottom left) that shows the panorama in the correct rectangular way. Tap it again and the screen goes back to the ‘sort-of 3D’ mode.

    It is a pity that this feature is not useable in an embedded URL of their panoramas. I keep searching for a better solution and I will get back to you if I do find anything interesting. Mind that I am just a 76 year old user, not quite digibetic, but not a code expert either.

    Greetings from Madeira Island (Portugal)

    Peter

    • This reply was modified 6 months, 2 weeks ago by heerenleed.
    Plugin Author Md Shamim Islam

    (@shamim10)

    6 months, 2 weeks ago

    Hi Peter,

    Just to clarify a bit about how the plugin works — it’s built using Panolens.js and Pannellum, which are both designed primarily for spherical panoramas.

    That means they expect an equirectangular image covering about 360° horizontally and 180° vertically. If a normal or cylindrical image is used (where the top and bottom angles are limited), the viewer automatically tries to map it as a full sphere — which causes the stretching or “cone-like” distortion you’ve noticed.

    Since my plugin relies on these two libraries, any non-spherical image will appear distorted in the same way.

    But I really appreciate you sharing your experience with TeleportMe — I’ll explore their open-source implementation to see if cylindrical projection support could be added in a future update.

    Best regards,
    Shamim

    Plugin Author Abu Hayat

    (@abuhayat)

    6 months, 2 weeks ago

    Dear @heerenleed,
    This is Hayat, CEO bPlugins.
    Thanks for writing us. Could you please just send a note about that at [email protected]

    I’d like to talk, and help you getting what are you want.

    Thread Starter heerenleed

    (@heerenleed)

    6 months, 2 weeks ago

    Done @abuhayat

    Cheers

    Peter

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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