360 DEGREE CAMERAS

INTRODUCTION
You share incredible videos with your fans every second of the day, but what if you could share even more in that
video? Like, sharing the entire moment that youre filming? You could let viewers see the stage and the crowd of
your concert, the sky and the ground as you wingsuit glide, or you could even have a choose-your-own-adventure
video where people see a different story depending on where they look. Just by moving your mobile device you
can see the entire video.

NEW TRENDS AND APPLICATIONS OF 360 DEGREE CAMERA

In the automobile sector, they are being used for 360 degree view of the roads and hence prevent the chance of
accidents. In the electronics industry, it can be used as 3D video Surveillance IP cam, as a DVR for security purpose,
as a spherical camera, etc. In military it find a very important medium to find the enemy heading ahead or behind
and streaming the video to other soldiers behind so that they could help them fight the enemy. In each field 360
degree camera will be a great replacement to an ordinary camera.

KEY COMPONENTS OF A 360 DEGREE VIDEO SYSTEM

The diagram below shows a typical video system which does the video capture, compression, encapsulation, and
finally either store the video to disk or stream it over Network.

TRANSFER
CAPTURE

Switching
SWITCHING

COMPRESSION

ENCAPSULATE
ENCAPSULATION

STORAGE

DISPLAY

The key components of a typical 360 degree video system are; Video capture module
Video switching module
Video processing, stitching and compression module
Encapsulation module
Streaming , Storage and display module

Video capture module: Video capture module is responsible for the raw video capture at high frame rates

from multiple cameras and in real time. It captures the video at full HD resolution and makes it available for
further processing like compression.
Video Switching Module: Video switching module is responsible for switching the multiple camera
modules at a very high rate so that the image appears as a continuous video to our eyes.
Video processing, Stitching and compression module: The multiple Video Frames are stitched together

to form a single video and the quality of video is enhanced in the Video Processing section. Video compression
module compresses the raw video using standard compression techniques such as H.264 and makes the video
available to be transmitted over a wired or wireless network. Typical bandwidth of 8-12 Mbps is used for
configuring this module, so that the generated compressed video can be easily sent out over the network.
Encapsulation module: This module encapsulates the compressed video with timing Information so that the
resulting video can be played back in time-controlled manner. Typical container formats such as MPEG2TS are
used for encapsulation. This module is also responsible for storing the audio and metadata, within the same
stream. Container formats like MP4 can also be used; however the use of MPEG2TS encapsulation simplifies the
transmission of this data over Internet.
Streaming, Storage and display module: This module sends the stream over the network using advanced
streaming protocols like RTSP. Alternatively, the video can be stored on board and downloaded later for analysis.
Display module will let you watch the video simultaneously while capturing the video.

SELECTION OF SENSORS, LENSES & PROCESSOR

Selection of Lenses:
Selection of lenses is done on the basis of two important terms described below:

(A) Focal Length: Shorter focal length lenses provide a wider field of view, but offer less magnification.
Conversely, longer focal lengths offer a shorter field of view, but provide greater magnification.
(B) The Lens Ratio: When you look upon the front end of your lens barrel, youll see a ratio number (1:2.8,
1:2.8-4, 1:3.5-5.6, etc.), which is the maximum aperture of the lens. The aperture determines how much light
the lens transmits to the image sensor. The lower the maximum aperture value will indicate the quality of the
lens in terms of brightness.
Based on these two basic features of lenses, there are various types of lenses in use based on the application of
use. For example Telephoto lenses have focal length of 100mm 800 mm. These Long Lenses enables you to
compress the distance and pick out specific objects from far off. So these Lenses find a great use in Wild Life
Photography, Sports and Documentary. As an Another Example, Fisheye lens is a specialized, wide-angle lens that
provides extremely wide images by changing straight lines into curves. It can sometimes produce circular, convex,
or oval images by distorting the perspective and creating a 180 image. Hence for a 360 degree camera, only two
cameras with fish eyes lens can capture the whole 360 view.

Selection of Sensor:
Selection of sensor does not depend only on the megapixel. There are many criteria to select a sensor based on
our application. Recently CMOS sensors are widely used in many mobile devices. The sole reason behind its
popularity is its low cost, low power and efficiency of capturing the Light. Charged coupled devices are also been
used as they posses little problems in exposure of light as compared to a CMOS sensor. The Frame Rate,
Responsivity, Dynamic Range, Shutter type, SNR are the important parameters which decide the quality of the
Image or Video. As our eyes have high Dynamic Range of hearing and vision we can hear both the loud rock songs
to a very silent quiet murmur. Similarly, the sensors should also have a high dynamic range for better quality. Full
frame sensors and cropped sensors is a further way of classification of sensors. Full Frame sensors (24mm* 36mm)
have low signal to noise ratio as they are wide angle sensors. They find use in portraiture or natural lightning scenic
photography. For nature, wildlife and sports enthusiasts, it might make more sense to stick with a smaller sensor.
You can take advantage of the crop factor to get maximum detail at long distances.

Switching of Sensors:
Switching of the sensor needs to be done at a very high rate so that the captured data can be converted into a real
time 360 degree Image/ Video. As our eyes can see any image which is moving at 24 frames per second as a
continuous video, the switching of sensors needs to be done according to this principal. As an example parallel
CAM interface works at 96Mp/sec. So if we have a 720p video, it will have 720*1280(=0.92Mp) pixels in one frame.
So for 30 frames in a second, it will have 0.92*30 Mp= 27.6Mp in a second. So we will have 96/27.6 =3 cameras can
be attached in the module which will work at 720p.The switching Frequency should be 1/3=0.33 Hz. So by taking 3
1080p HD 120 degree Field of View Cameras, Complete 360 degree can be captured. But some of the Pixels will be
interleaved.

Selection of Processor:
Selection of Processor is made on the basis of digital signal capturing handling and processing speed. A good choice
of processor have a separate video capturing module, compression module, DSP, Face Detect Engine, Auto focus,
auto white balance engine, Auto Exposure to process the image in real time and display it simultaneously on the
screen. Based on the Serial (Mipi or HiSPi) or Parallel (CAM) Interface of the Sensor, we need to check whether this
interface could be supported by processor. A typical Example of processor is a Texas Instruments DM8127.

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES AND THEIR RESOLUTIONS

While designing a 360 degree camera, there are many constraints that need to be taken care of. Exposure Time,
Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS), Focusing Time, Low Light Imaging, Motion Blurring, Multiple Cameras see
different Lighting Conditions, Face Detection, Image Stitching are some amongst them. With a longer Exposure
time there could be a motion blurring effect while shorter Exposure time Image will be dark. As our hand is not
stable at all times, an Electronic Image Stabilization feature is incorporated in the Image sensors which allows you
to capture a stable picture. A good sensor should have a low focusing time. So if we need to see closer distances
and farther distances adjacently it is possible with a low focusing time. In a 360 degree camera, as there are many
cameras to be viewed simultaneously the lightning of the cameras may not be the same. Hence the image will be
formed with light and dark patches. To reduce such an effect, the setting of all the cameras can be altered
simultaneously. Most important is the Image stitching. Since any two cameras will have some common area of
capture, stitching the common area into a single image requires image processing. Also the common area of Image
may have different Lightning condition. So to identify these common areas and intelligently deciding the correct
image requires a deep knowledge of image processing.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES CAPABILITY

Beyond just a 360 degree camera it can have a multiple useful features. HDMI port allows you to display the
image/ Video directly to a bigger LCD screen or a TV. A direct Wi-Fi capability helps to connect the camera device
directly to any hand held device like mobile. You can attach the module on the ceiling and can directly watch the
actions of your children sitting or moving next to the Room. You can have a GPS module in built which can trace
the exact location wherever you are wandering along with your Image. You can store all the cheerful memories in
the Hard disk or Memory Card Present in the module. You can broadcast any Message from Your mobile phone to
the Module through internet, since we can attach a speaker too onboard on the device.